Editor’s note: At the end of each year, the RCR Wireless News editorial staff looks back on the news events that made headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting stories during the past 12 months. While our list does not include the ins and outs of some of the ongoing stories we covered this year, the stories here were selected as a representative collection of trends and events that marked the wireless industry for the year. Here are our picks for 2005 in chronological order. Some headlines have been changed to fit this space.
Jan. 10
Verizon, Sprint build on DO, Verizon offers Vcast video, 3D games
The slow rollout of high-speed wireless data networks continues as CDMA-based carrier Verizon Wireless last week said it will expand its BroadbandAccess network to 12 additional markets on top of the 20 metropolitan areas already launched. Rival Sprint PCS reported that it plans to have similar capabilities available in 39 markets by the middle of this year.
Jan. 17
Alltel to pick up Western Wireless for $6 billion
Merger-mania trickled down the food chain last week as super-regional operator Alltel Corp. said it had reached an agreement to buy rural operator Western Wireless Corp. for approximately $6 billion in stock, cash and debt assumption. Alltel noted that when completed later this year, the acquisition would result in the largest physical wireless network of more than 1 million square miles, serving 10 million customers in 33 states.
April 18
Can T-Mobile USA make it alone?
T-Mobile USA Inc.’s position as the nation’s fourth-largest wireless operator, as well as one of the industry’s fastest growing, might not be enough to guarantee its long-term prospects. Several industry observers have questioned the carrier’s ability to remain a standalone entity in the face of increasing competitive pressure from much larger wireless operators, as well as carriers that can offer more robust telecommunications services.
May 9
American Tower, SpectraSite form tower powerhouse
Consolidation among the players at the top of the wireless market is starting to trickle down to the vendors and suppliers that serve them. Independent tower companies American Tower Corp. and SpectraSite Inc. announced plans last week to merge. The overriding theme of the $11.3 billion deal was scale.
May 16
Cingular Wireless takes worldwide HSDPA lead with DoCoMo delay
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. will delay its High-Speed Downlink Packet Access network launch until sometime later next year, a move that puts Cingular Wireless L.L.C. at the world’s bleeding edge of wireless innovation. DoCoMo’s news also serves to add an extra layer of caution around the as-yet-unproven technology.
July 4
CTIA asks for billing framework, states aim to keep regulation turf
The mobile-phone industry proposed a national framework for wireless billing based on its voluntary code of conduct for service, while consumer groups and states are urging the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen billing rules and to refrain from pre-empting state regulation of carrier billing practices.
July 11
House of Mouse to offer cell service
The big mouse is finally loose in the wireless house as the Walt Disney Co. announced plans to launch a family-oriented mobile virtual network operator wireless service using Sprint Corp.’s nationwide network. The decision has been expected for some time and follows a similar announcement made last year by its ESPN division to launch a sport-oriented MVNO.
July 11
Nextel Partners takes Nextel to court for brand
Sprint Corp.’s pending acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. was thrown another curve last week as Nextel affiliate Nextel Partners Inc. sent a notice to Nextel claiming the deal and recently announced branding campaign would violate their current joint-venture agreement signed in early 1999. Nextel Partners also filed for an injunction preventing closure of the acquisition until the claims are resolved.
Aug. 1
Verizon Wireless inches closer to Cingular
The second quarter is shaping up as a one-horse affair as Verizon Wireless appears set to take substantial market share away from its competitors and move ever closer to its larger rival Cingular Wireless L.L.C.
Aug. 8
RadioShack calls up Cingular
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. staged a minor coup last week as the industry’s largest operator signed a 10-year deal to replace smaller, but faster-growing rival Verizon Wireless at RadioShack Corp.’s more than 5,000 retail outlets beginning next year. The deal provides Cingular with access to RadioShack’s expertise in wireless sales, which the electronics store said it hopes to enhance with its new retail partner.
Aug. 15
Qualcomm paves way to 4G with Flarion buy
Qualcomm Inc. augmented its wireless reach with the $600 million acquisition of OFDM technology startup Flarion Technologies Inc., a move that pushes the company beyond its CDMA roots and gives it a solid position in the race to fourth generation.
Aug. 29
Banking on broadband; Clearwire adds $250M
Clearwire Corp. raised an additional $250 million in financing, according to reports, bringing the carrier’s total war chest to a staggering $600 million. The news highlights investors’ apparent interest in the wireless broadband space, as well as the technology’s potential to agitate entrenched wireless players like Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and Cingular Wireless L.L.C.
Sept. 26
Some rural players begin to look at exit strategies
With the wireless industry’s six largest operators now serving more than 90 percent of the country’s wireless subscribers, regional players continue to scramble for their pieces of the pie. Many of these carriers have managed to lower their dependence on volatile roaming revenues, but have found it difficult to make up for roaming income with internally driven revenues. Some players are beginning to look for exit strategies.
Oct. 10
Muni Wi-Fi marches along
By the end of the year, the world will have more than 100,000 Wi-Fi hot spots, according to Informa Telecoms & Media research. And the Asia-Pacific region is not in its usual predominant spot, as North America and Europe are getting into Wi-Fi in big ways. Wi-Fi hot spots no longer are just for coffee shops and other businesses hoping to attract customers with free Internet access, as giant Wi-Fi hot spots soon could hover over entire metropolitan cities. But not so fast. As cities march into Wi-Fi planning, opinions about the economic and technological ramifications of municipal Wi-Fi projects are blowing around the industry like leaves on a blustery fall day.
Oct. 31
Companies rally against Qualcomm licensing game
Wireless heavyweights L.M. Ericsson, NEC Corp., Nokia Corp., Texas Instruments Inc. and Panasonic Mobile Communications joined chipmaker Broadcom Corp. in filing formal complaints against Qualcomm Inc.’s licensing tactics. The move stands as the first coordinated attack on Qualcomm over antitrust issues and could ultimately change the 3G playing field.
Nov. 7
Sprint Nextel taps toward multimedia beat
Sprint Nextel Corp. took a significant step in fulfilling chief executive Gary Forsee’s plans to expand the carrier’s reach into other media distribution channels, and at the same time may have altered the balance of the wireless industry. Following months of speculation, Sprint Nextel said it reached agreements with four cable companies to pro
vide wireless services using Sprint Nextel’s nationwide wireless network. Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications, which serve a combined 41 million customers, will use Sprint Nextel’s network to sell bundled services. Sprint Nextel serves more than 45 million total customers on its wireless networks.
Nov. 14
Motorola dominates U.S. phone sales; Nokia in 4th
The world’s No. 2 handset maker, Motorola Inc., continued to dominate the fractured U.S. mobile-phone market in the third quarter, while the world’s largest handset supplier, Nokia Corp., sits at a distant fourth place. According to numbers from research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics, Motorola commanded a solid 34.4 percent of the U.S. mobile-phone market in the third quarter. Indeed, Strategy Analytics said Motorola “is possibly the only vendor that is profitable in the U.S. market and this advantage that has fueled its rise to the top of the market will help it remain there through 2006.”
Nov. 28
With Alamosa buy, Sprint Nextel pick ups largest cargo yet
The Sprint Nextel Corp. affiliate acquisition train continued to roll as the carrier picked up its largest cargo yet-CDMA affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc. for $4.3 billion.
Dec. 5
Verizon receptive to MediaFlo TV
Qualcomm Inc. snared its first customer for MediaFLO last week, as Verizon Wireless said it will use the chipmaker’s new network to broadcast live TV to subscribers. The nation’s second-largest carrier announced plans to use the $800 million network to offer live mobile video services in about half of the markets already covered by its CDMA2000 1x EV-DO network. Verizon Wireless will be the first U.S. operator to use MediaFLO, which is set for commercial deployment late next year.
Dec. 12
EA shakes up gaming world with Jamdat buy
Video-game giant Electronic Arts Inc. shook the mobile gaming world last week with the announcement it would shell out $680 million to acquire publisher Jamdat Mobile Inc.