Editor’s Note: The RCR Wireless News Time Machine is a way to take advantage of our extensive history in covering the wireless space to fire up the DeLorean and take a trip back in time to re-visit some of the more interesting headlines from this week in history. Enjoy the ride!
Will U.S. consumers keep spending? On smartphones?: The year’s second act
The maturing U.S. handset market continued to chug along in the first half of the year – though slowing relative to years past – and analysts offered an array of views on what forces will shape the market in the second half of the year. Most agreed that smartphone pricing – enabled by a few, high-profile carrier subsidies – has brought those devices within reach of mainstream consumers in an effort to ignite the nascent data market and amass high-spending subscribers. … Read More
I want my m-TV free
If there’s one lesson to be gleaned from all the mobile TV trials in the last year or so, it’s that users aren’t very interested in paying for the stuff. In just the last couple of weeks: Toshiba said it will shutter its Mobile Broadcasting Corporation in Japan – at a cost of nearly a quarter-million dollars – citing a failure to find an audience amid a host of free competing offerings. … Read More
New cellphone health litigation surfaces in California court
A new health lawsuit has surfaced in California against T-Mobile USA Inc., Motorola Inc. and Samsung Telecommunications America Inc., the complaint coming after a relative lull in litigation against the wireless industry and amid a resurgence of concern over whether mobile phones pose a hazard to throngs of consumers here and abroad. … Read More
Unlimited calling dribbles into no-contract crowd
Just like Ronald Reagan claimed with his trickle-down economic plan, wireless customers are beginning to see unlimited offerings filter down to cheaper price points and in some cases to offerings that do not require a cumbersome contract. Last week Tracfone Wireless Inc. subsidiary Net10 jumped into the increasingly popular unlimited-service-plan play with its new Net10 Unlimited Plan, which offers unlimited calling and texting for $80 per month. Per Tracfone’s modus operandi, the unlimited offer does not require a contract or credit checks, though a customer does have to set up a recurring payment system using a credit card. … Read More
FCC OKs Verizon Wireless purchase of Rural Cellular
The Federal Communications Commission gave the green light to Verizon Wireless’ $2.67 billion purchase of Rural Cellular Corp., with the transaction and a separate pending deal involving the No. 2 mobile-phone operator bringing to the forefront a number a key policy issues. The FCC, like the Department of Justice previously, conditioned approval of the Verizon Wireless-RCC acquisition on the divestiture of six licenses in Vermont, New York and Washington. It is not yet clear where the divested spectrum will go. … Read More
Jha sets 90 days for review and action at Motorola: New handset CEO expects products on his watch to launch in a year
Sanjay Jha, the newly minted co-CEO of Motorola Inc. and designated turnaround artist for its handset division, told an audience of analysts and media this morning that within 90 days he would review Motorola’s device platforms, product roadmap and make hires in areas where he doesn’t have experience. The latter includes product design, or what Jha called “compelling form factors.” “You’ll see me make some strategic hires in areas where I don’t have experience,” Jha said in the course of a brief presentation to analysts and media this morning with co-CEO Greg Brown. … Read More
VZW quietly rolls out Rev. A PTT service: Pair of phones target business users
Verizon Wireless has re-placed itself in the push-to-talk arena. As promised earlier this year, Verizon Wireless has released two new PTT phones, running on the carrier’s CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A network. The new devices are the Motorola Inc. Adventure V750 and the Casio G’zOne Boulder, both of which sport rugged construction, hinting at the target audience. … Read More
Sprint Nextel dinged $73M for ETF policy: California court decision seen as harbinger for other ETF cases
A California Superior Court judge ordered Sprint Nextel Corp. to pay $73 million after finding its early termination fee policy violated California law. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Sabraw said the carrier must pay $18.25 million to users who paid the ETFs, and provide a credit of $54.75 million to those who were charged but didn’t pay the fees. Citing “Sprint’s motivation in creating and setting the amount of the ETF and its decision not to vary the ETF in proportion to its actual damages” – among other factors – Sabraw deemed the fee unlawful under California law. … Read More
Linux group adds more members, embedded handsets hit markets
The LiMo Foundation announced nine new members today and said that more handsets with its operating system are launching in North America and Japan. The organization is a leading proponent of an open-source, Linux OS for handsets, and said that its latest members represented key, diverse constituents in the open-source space. The seven new devices bring to 21 the number of commercially launched handsets with a LiMo-inspired Linux OS. … Read More
AT&T, VZW battle over international data offerings
Just in time for the 2008 Olympics set to kick off in China later this week the nation’s two largest carriers expanded their international data plans. AT&T Mobility introduced two new plans, one for smartphone users and one for PC card users. The new smartphone bundle will feature 50 megabytes of data transmission available in 67 countries for an additional $60 per month on top of a current domestic data package; the LaptopConnect plan provides 5 GB of data transmission in the United States, plus 200 MB in 67 countries from $230 per month. (Until now, data packages were only compatible in 41 countries.) … Read More
