RCR Wireless News articles from January 2007

RCR Wireless News archives from January 2007

Family plans, like family reunions, littered with challenges.(News)
January 8, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL Conventional wisdom says, and consumers certainly seem to think, that family wireless plans offered by cellular carriers are a great deal. In exchange for tying other family members into one service plan at the standard...

Chertoff pledges to cooperate on public-safety issue.(Upfront)
January 8, 2007... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he would cooperate with Congress if it pursues legislation to increase the supply of public-safety spectrum. Chertoff acknowledged federal, state and local first...

Campbell named chief of FCC's Wireless Bureau.(News)
January 8, 2007... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin appointed his wireless adviser to head the agency's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, which had lacked a permanent chief since Martin took over the agency in...

Wireless issues face tough slog through new Congress; Newly gained Democratic control of House, Senate will mean test of old arguments on new legislators.(News)
January 8, 2007... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Wireless carriers are renewing their fight for relief from new regulations and taxes levied by cities and states, while manufacturers find themselves caught in the crosshairs of a dispute headed for Capitol Hill...

Carriers in concert; More than just wireless promotion, sponsorships let fans interact with artist.(News)
January 8, 2007... Byline: MATT KAPKO It's not a phenomenon unique to any of the major wireless carriers, but the forum that concert sponsorship and promotion has entered is now as evolved as the technology it relies on for delivery. When carriers began...

'Boatload' of 2.5 GHz spectrum up for grabs; A number of WiMAX companies likely interested in spectrum that AT&T must sell.
January 8, 2007... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA CLEARWIRE CORP. COULD EMERGE a dark-horse winner of AT&T Inc.'s $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp., with Craig McCaw's wireless broadband firm getting the chance it sought to buy additional 2.5 GHz spectrum...

Sizing up the '07 handset space; Analysts watching volume vs. niche sales, data opportunities.(Upfront)
January 8, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON In the hard light of early January, the shape of the year unfolding ahead remains somewhat amorphous. What to watch for in the handset space, the wireless industry's most tangible interface with consumers? An...

RIM licenses Kodiak's push-to-talk platform.(News)
January 8, 2007... Kodiak Networks announced a global licensing agreement with Research In Motion Ltd. to include mobile applications-including push-to-talk functionality-on BlackBerry handsets. Kodiak's applications already are available on the BlackBerry Pearl...

Blake Krikorian.(Interview)
January 8, 2007... Byline: COLIN GIBBS For the wireless industry, it may be the most disruptive technology of 2006. And it all happened because Blake Krikorian couldn't watch a baseball game. Krikorian, a San Francisco native and baseball fan, was working...

SlingBox shows consumers value video, music on-the-go.(News)
January 8, 2007... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Sling Media Inc. was only a blip on the wireless industry's radar screen until April, when the company released its SlingPlayer Mobile software. The $30 software allows SlingBox owners to watch TV on any smartphone...

Tipping point.(Opinion)
January 8, 2007... Byline: Jeffrey Silva As New Year beginnings go, this one has an especially odd, mixed feel. President Ford's funeral-beginning stately in the District of Columbia and ending solemnly in Grand Rapids, Mich., was sad and touching. The...

New year, new looks.(Opinion)
January 8, 2007... Byline: Tracy Ford As the wireless industry rings in 2007 at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, we'll likely see some hot new looks from the nation's top wireless players. You might also notice RCR Wireless News got a...

Finishing touches; Like cars, leather, chrome packages come to cellphones.
January 8, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON Colors, materials and finishes-aka CMF-have returned to center stage as a conveyor of value, product differentiator and sales clincher. Focused efforts to use CMF to give a handset legs in the market began with face...

Hedgehogging.(Briefs)
January 8, 2007... hedge*hog*ging v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube. Cellphones are everywhere! They rule! Indeed, the new James Bond remake, Casino Royale, (seen over the holidays) should have...

RCR Wireless News hires Kapko in L.A.(News)
January 8, 2007... RCR Wireless News is pleased to announce it has hired Matt Kapko as a reporter. Kapko is stationed out of Crain Communications Inc.'s Los Angeles offices and will tackle the increasingly busy intersection of the wireless industry and Hollywood....

Virgin Mobile: 4.6M users and counting; MVNO plans more SugarMama promotions, social donations.(Upfront)
January 8, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL At the close of a year that saw Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. introduce penny texting, hybrid price plans and an ad-time-for-airtime service called SugarMama, the company announced that it finished 2006 with 4.6 million...

Carriers warming up to mobile marketing.(Upfront)
January 8, 2007... Byline: COLIN GIBBS The major U.S. carriers are rushing to cash in on the mobile marketing craze by selling ad space on their WAP decks. But consumers aren't thrilled about using the third screen as a billboard. Sprint Nextel Corp. was...

Second time a charm? MetroPCS files for $1.1B IPO.(Upfront)
January 8, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL Regional, flat-rate carrier MetroPCS Communications Inc. filed for a $1.1 billion initial public offering, and plans to use the money to expand into new markets where it recently won spectrum licenses. MetroPCS'...

Cingular to offer real-time video sharing.(Upfront)
January 8, 2007... Cingular Wireless L.L.C. plans to launch a live, one-way video sharing service that will work during a voice call. The carrier said it plans to demonstrate the offering at the AT&T Inc. booth this week at the CES in Las Vegas. Cingular...

WIRELESS DRM DRAMA; 2 years after royalties dispute, industry no closer to single solution.
January 8, 2007... Byline: COLIN GIBBS In the bleak world of digital rights management, wireless service providers may actually serve as a beacon out of the darkness. But don't count on it. Anti-piracy software may be nearing a crossroads. A handful...

Post-holiday handset prices waver.(Upfront)
January 8, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON Changes in online handset prices keep raising questions for observers: Is the post-holiday retail model one of continued discounting to milk any lingering consumer desires to shop and spend money? Or, does the arrival...

IDC PREDICTION: 50 MILLION WIRELESS GAMERS BY 2010.(Metrics)
January 8, 2007... Mobile gaming in the United States will gain steady ground over the next several years even as titles get more expensive, according to new figures from IDC. The market research firm predicts the number of wireless gamers will grow more...

...ETC...(Etc.)
January 8, 2007... Pump up the mobile motivation People who made a get-fit new year's resolution this year can find motivation to stick with their goals on their cellphones. PumpOne, a company that provides visual personal training programs for handheld...

NextWave pays $13.3M for muni Wi-Fi vendor.(News)
January 8, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL NextWave Wireless Inc. has agreed to acquire Go Networks Inc., which develops Wi-Fi networks for campus and municipal deployment. NextWave will pay about $13.3 million in cash for the company, and will also assume Go's...

Amp'd Mobile branches beyond MVNO mold.(Upfront)
January 8, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL Amp'd Mobile Inc. is racking up deals to offer its unique content and user interface abroad, and reap the benefits of revenue sharing without the effort and expense of expanding its mobile virtual network operator...

Alcatel-Lucent closes on $320M UMTS purchase.(News)
January 8, 2007... Byline: MATT KAPKO Just as 2006 came to a close, so too did Nortel Networks Ltd.'s sale of its UMTS radio access business to Alcatel-Lucent Inc. The $320 million purchase closed on Dec. 31, after regulatory approvals. Approximately...

Cingular's future tied to one parent.
January 8, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL WIRELESS IS EXPECTED to be the heart of the newly merged AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp., bundling multiple services with cellular and allowing advertisers to reach multiple media platforms through one company. And that...

Washington universities file Bluetooth lawsuit against trio of handset vendors.(Upfront)
January 8, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON Patent-related lawsuits are part of the high-tech landscape. Here's a new twist: a nonprofit group representing the state of Washington's public universities has filed suit against Nokia Corp., Samsung Electronics Co....

Moving beyond the keypad; Stubborn consumers, not technology, remain hurdle.(News)
January 8, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON The keypad on the mobile handset is due for an extreme makeover. Like the television program, fashion-that age-old tyrant-and the need to update it is one fundamental driver of change. After all, the current...

Motorola ships 66M phones, but profits disappoint.(News)
January 8, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON It's official-the fourth quarter was financially rough for Motorola Inc., as a handful of financial analysts had warned in mid-December. The disappointing results came despite a prodigious leap in the company's unit...

Paramount goes direct to mobile consumers.(Upfront)
January 8, 2007... Paramount Pictures is the latest mainstream media giant to target consumers on the wireless Web. The Viacom subsidiary launched a mobile portal designed to serve as both a storefront for content and a platform for promotional efforts....

MOBILE GAMING TO HIT $6.1B IN REVENUES IN 2010.(Metrics)
January 8, 2007... A separate study from iSuppli Corp. predicts the worldwide base of mobile gamers will more than double by 2010 as publishers develop better games and carriers market the offerings more effectively. The market research firm predicts revenues...

Rent or own? Borrow, burn? Carriers offer diverse music downloads, but no one sure what consumer wants.(Focus)
January 8, 2007... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Sprint Nextel Corp. was the first U.S. carrier on the mobile music dance floor in October 2005, launching a full-track, dual-download service for its music-loving subscribers. For now, though, Verizon Wireless is...

Stockwatch: December 28 - January 4.(Metrics)
January 8, 2007... 3 tables: Stockwatch * Top Gainers * Top Losers * 3 graphs: Market Diary * Indices * RCR Index: see print copy

RCRNEWS.COM ? OF THE WEEK; Text Messages.(News)
January 8, 2007... How many text messages do you send per month? 43% 1-100 29% 100-1,000 14% none 14% too many Visit RCRNEWS.COM to answer this week's question.

12 years ago this week.(News)
January 8, 2007... Qualcomm Inc. said the Chinese government had agreed to test the technology company's CDMA cellular digital technology using 900 MHz spectrum in the city of Tainjin. At the time China counted less than 1 phone per 100 people.

Mobile video banking on potential.
January 15, 2007... Byline: COLIN GIBBS The countless players lumbering around on the user-generated mobile video playground aren't just looking for consumers. They're also hoping to find a viable business model or two. The success of Internet sites such...

Amp'd milestone: 100,000 subs; CEO asks other MVNOs to release statistics.(News)
January 15, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL Amp'd Mobile Inc. continues to tout its success in the mobile virtual network operator space, gaining more than 70,000 customers in the fourth quarter to end 2006 with more than 100,000 customers. The company is one...

Live free or die.(Opinion)
January 15, 2007... Byline: Jeffrey Silva And Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin thought he had only Democrats like House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) to worry about. Last week, it was Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.)...

Kerry, Sununu push unlicensed white space; Lawmakers criticize Bush administration, FCC for lack of progress on broadband.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Lawmakers staked claim to pet telecom issues, with bipartisan support emerging out of the gate for legislation forcing the Federal Communications Commission to exploit vacant broadcast guard-band spectrum for...

XE inks handset, distribution deals.(News)
January 15, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL, MATT KAPKO Mobile virtual network operator XE Mobile has worked out a distribution deal with Office Depot stores, aiming to land college-age customers as they shop for school supplies. The company also said it is...

January pricing gymnasts: Alltel, T-Mobile USA.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON Handset prices at the major carriers continue to gyrate, week-by-week, suggesting that carriers-like retailers changing their window displays-are perennially in search of the right combination of brand, features and...

Retail experience tug-of-war.(Focus)
January 15, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL There used to be essentially two types of places to buy wireless: directly from the carrier store, or through an indirect retailer. But as online sales become an increasingly important part of the overall buying...

RATTLING THE CAGE; Handset vendors aim to satisfy carriers, but also explore alternative channels.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON Shiny gadgets, big and small, drive the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In that sense, the show levels the playing field for a few halcyon days in early January in the desert. Mobile handset vendors, for...

Hedgehogging.(Briefs)
January 15, 2007... hedge*hog*ging v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube. * * * What did the RCR Wireless News staff spend the week hedgehogging about? The iPhone, MediaFLO TV and TVs in...

Big 3?(Opinion)
January 15, 2007... Byline: Dan Meyer As a self-proclaimed impartial observer of the wireless industry-I criticize all companies equally-I have to say I have been getting little pleasure out of Sprint Nextel's ongoing struggles to integrate the former Nextel...

Mobile TV moves forward; Verizon Wireless debuts channel lineup, Modeo turns on New York City trial.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Byline: MATT KAPKO The nascent mobile TV market received a jolt last week as Verizon Wireless released more details of its forthcoming Vcast Mobile TV service, while potential competitor Modeo L.L.C. launched a trial of its service in New...

ICO: FCC should not reward Inmarsat 'manipulation'.(News)
January 15, 2007... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Inmarsat Global Ltd. is fighting a request by New ICO Satellite Services G.P. for another deadline extension on its planned launch of a 2 GHz mobile satellite service spacecraft. "Inmarsat fully supports the...

iDEN losses take down Sprint Nextel; Carrier hopes job cuts, lower churn help financials.
January 15, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL Sprint Nextel Corp.'s loss of postpaid iDEN customers accelerated during the fourth quarter, and investors jumped ship late last week after the company announced weak customer metrics. The carrier tried to temper fears...

Headsets, EV-DO cards sell well.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Byline: Kelly Hill Editor's Note: In this new monthly feature, RCR Wireless News will talk to retail managers across the country to get a first-hand view of what's hot in wireless. Sprint Nextel Store No. 72 is in a bustling complex of...

Cingular fades to black.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL So long, Cingular. The wireless carrier's parent company announced that it will begin dismantling the Cingular Wireless L.L.C. brand this week with a series of broadcast TV and print ads proclaiming to consumers that...

Sprint Nextel considers flat-rate pricing like Leap, MetroPCS in some cities.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL Sprint Nextel Corp. plans to target the growing prepaid/sub-prime wireless market by launching an unlimited local calling service through its Boost Mobile L.L.C. sub-brand, CEO Gary Forsee told analysts at a conference...

FCC could fine Sprint Nextel, others for failing to meet E-911 mandate.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Federal Communications Commission rejected the mobile-phone industry's petition for regulatory relief from an already one-year-old deadline for meeting enhanced 911 handset-based location requirements, sending...

Etc.(Briefs)
January 15, 2007... No more freebies Mobile-phone manufacturers are declining to cozy up to the Hollywood elite at Monday's Golden Globe Awards show. In years past, everything from cellphones, MP3 players, iPods and Palm Pilots found their way into the box of...

Device pricing akin to buying airline tickets; Strategy nearly impossible for outsiders to predict.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON It's easy to see the carriers' logic in dropping the online price of handsets in the holiday season: fire sales attract consumers in droves. Mentioning "free'' to an American consumer is like waving a red cape at a...

iCANDY; iPhone looks tempting, but users have to wait until June to see if it satisfies.
January 15, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON In a Gahan Wilson cartoon several presidential campaigns ago, an alien steps from a flying saucer and a crowd of humans surge forward. At the back of the crowd, one human confides to another, "I don't know who he...

BY THE NUMBERS.(Metrics)
January 15, 2007... Consumers express interest in wireless home monitoring A survey released last week further highlighted the growing field of Americans who would like to wirelessly monitor their home from afar. Z-Wave Alliance surveyed 1,000 people and found...

Ringback tones continue modest growth; But operators see more potential for big payback.(News)
January 15, 2007... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Full-track, over-the-air downloads have yet to gain any serious traction, and ringtones are so 2006. But when it comes to mobile music applications, U.S. carriers increasingly are looking to ringback tones to boost data...

Yahoo aims to pass Google in growing mobile search space.(News)
January 15, 2007... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Internet behemoths and pure-play startups are hastily inking deals and positioning themselves for a long, hard slog on the mobile search battlefield. Yahoo Inc. continued its aggressive move into wireless last week,...

AMP'D, MTV TO MAKE COMEDY.(News)
January 15, 2007... Amp'd is partnering with MTV to produce a made-for-mobile comedy series. The yet-to-be-named program, slated to come to market later this year, will be co-produced by Amp'd, MTV franchise Comedy Central and comedy writer and producer Donick...

RBC closes Daniels deal.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... RBC Capital Markets, a corporate investment bank, completed its acquisition of Daniels & Associates, L.P. The merged companies will now operate under the name RBC Daniels. Daniels & Associates is one of the nation's most active...

Warner Music snags two new distribution deals.(News)
January 15, 2007... Warner Music Group struck its second mobile deal in as many days, announcing an agreement to distribute videos through MobiTV Inc. The music company said it will offer made-for-mobile videos including artist-created clips from Linkin Park and...

Visa enters mobile payment space with new platform.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Visa launched a mobile payment platform designed to support contactless payments, coupons and other m-commerce-related applications. The offering "is designed to foster collaboration between the financial services and mobile...

Stockwatch: January 4 - January 11.(Metrics)
January 15, 2007... 3 tables: Stockwatch * Top Gainers * Top Losers * 3 graphs: Market Diary * Indices * RCR Index: see print copy.

18 years ago this week.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... K Mart announced a deal with Cellular One to sell the 3-watt Audiovox BC-20 cellular phone in 57 metro Chicago/Gary, Ind., locations for a discounted price of $450. The price included a hands-free speakerphone, choice of antenna and...

RCRnews.com ? of the week.(Upfront)
January 15, 2007... Flippie or spinner? What style of cell phone do you prefer? 67%: Flip 21%: bar 9%: slider 3%: spinner Visit RCRNEWS.COM to answer this week's question.

RCRnews.com ? of the week.(News)
January 22, 2007... iphone interest What are your thoughts on the iPhone? 71%: it's overblown 15%: will revolutionize cellphone industry 14%: will command significant mkt share Visit RCRNEWS.COM to answer this week's question.

Stockwatch January 11 - January 18.(Metrics)
January 22, 2007... 3 tables: Stockwatch * Top Gainers * Top Losers * 3 graphs: Market Diary * Indices * RCR Index: see print copy.

The 'TV key': one click to the tube; It's all about simplicity and revenue generation.(Upfront)
January 22, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON It's obvious, it's not new and it's at the forefront of the latest major, consumer-oriented innovation. Phone keys dedicated to a single functionality, such as mobile TV, may see increased use in the near-term to...

Dirty cheap WiMAX.(Opinion)
January 22, 2007... Byline: Mike Dano I have bought into the WiMAX hype. I'm a true believer. When Nortel, Motorola, Alvarion and other WiMAX vendors gush over all the great things WiMAX will do-level the playing field for carriers, speed up data rates...

RFID remains wildcard.(News)
January 22, 2007... Byline: MATT KAPKO The business opportunities enabled by WiMAX and other broadband wireless technologies are as abundant as those being touted for the mobile-minded consumer. After all, it promises nothing short of increased...

Telecom officials have full plate of issues.(News)
January 22, 2007... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Bush administration's top two telecom officials said wireless issues will have high priority this year, with policymakers anxious to see wireless networks evolve into a competitive alternative to the...

Skeptics be damned. WiMAX supporters shoot for the stars.(News)
January 22, 2007... Byline: TRACY FORD The potential for mobile WiMAX is as big as the Internet itself, if you trust the true believers gathered last week in San Jose, Calif., for the Wireless Communications Alliance International's 13th annual symposium. ...

Comedy Central heads miniscule mobile TV audience; Entertainment content more popular than news, weather.(News)
January 22, 2007... Byline: DAISY WHITNEY Television Week Comedy Central's "The Daily Show'' is far and away the television program that consumers are most interested in watching on mobile telephones. During the second quarter of 2006, the Comedy Central...

Waiting for a crowd...Mobile content industry remains desperate for viewers.(News)
January 22, 2007... Byline: ANDREW HAMPP AdAge The only thing holding up the explosion of the mobile phone content and advertising business continues to be the lack of interested viewers, panelists bemoaned last week at the second annual NATPE Mobile...

ISuppli: $500 iPhone will cost $246 to make.(Upfront)
January 22, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON ISuppli Corp. has concluded-without performing a physical teardown-that Apple Inc.'s iPhone can generate 50-percent gross margins, based on a preliminary estimate of the device's bill of materials (BoM). The market...

Verizon Wireless undercuts Cingular's new phone launches.(Upfront)
January 22, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON The heated battle between rivals Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. edged up a notch as Verizon Wireless cut its prices on several handsets similar to ones recently introduced by Cingular. Just days after...

Moto and Sony Ericsson: A tale of two vendors.
January 22, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON The mobile handset business plays out in a dynamic and sometimes cruel landscape. Opportunities abound, yet conditions can be harsh. Giants may rule, or be humbled by ambition and prevailing winds. Nimble competitors...

Analyst: W-CDMA royalty rates drag on 3G uptake.(Upfront)
January 22, 2007... Byline: PHIL CARSON High average royalty rates for W-CDMA technology are one among several elements dragging on the uptake of 3G handsets and service, according to a study by ABI Research. These high royalty rates are particularly irksome...

Industry suit against Kentucky back on.(News)
January 22, 2007... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Mobile-phone carriers' tax lawsuit against Kentucky is back on track, giving center stage to a federal pre-emption argument that's also at the heart of industry efforts to prevent states from meddling in line-item...

Kababyboom!(Opinion)
January 22, 2007... Byline: Jeffrey Silva An odd thing is going on in Washington policymaking circles. Folks are beginning to talk again about the budget, specifically about erasing the deficit and how the situation could woefully worsen if lawmakers stay the...

New year rings in new carrier marketing campaigns.(Upfront)
January 22, 2007... Byline: MATT KAPKO With a fresh year just under way, many wireless carriers are re-evaluating their marketing strategies-in some cases putting their accounts up for review. Cingular Wireless L.L.C. last week began a nationwide re-branding...

Etc.(Briefs)
January 22, 2007... Aromatherapy NTT DoCoMo Inc. is incorporating features that appeal to the senses in its latest handset offering. One of the carrier's phones features a touch screen that allow users to input data by using a stylus or their finger. Another...

Space-agey and retro; In first move outside of California, Helio opens in Mile High City.(Upfront)
January 22, 2007... Byline: KELLY HILL The Helio store gleams from a distance in the early dark of a cold Denver evening, its floor-to-ceiling windows enclosing a modern, warehouse/boutique-chic space that is brand spankin' new and very, very shiny. You...