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!
AWS’ recent troubles likely pushed decision to sell
AT&T Wireless Services Inc.’s presence in the wireless industry is set to come to an end sometime later this year when Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s pending $41 billion acquisition of the nation’s third-largest operator is set to close. Along with the reduction in number of nationwide competitors, the demise of AWS will leave the wireless market devoid of the AT&T moniker since its brief foray in the early ’80s and its constant presence since the company acquired McCaw Cellular in 1994 for $11.5 billion. While few questioned the need for wireless consolidation, AWS’ position as the first carrier to cry uncle, as well as how quickly the process was completed, caught some by surprise. … Read More
Manufacturers gear up for biggest handset year ever
As mobile-phone makers gear up for what likely will be their biggest year ever, Motorola Inc., Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. and several other manufacturers kicked off the season with a glut of new, advanced handsets. Indeed, the pace is likely to quicken with CeBIT and CTIA Wireless just around the corner. The impetus for such booming activity comes from predictions of a jumping market: Research and consulting firm Gartner Inc. just last week said it increased its 2004 phone-sales predictions to 580 million units, and Credit Suisse First Boston said the first quarter was shaping up to meet or exceed its global handset sales estimate of 137 million units. … Read More
Conservative Nokia looks down road less traveled
Neither edgy nor solitary, Nokia Corp. has all the hallmarks of a conservative company. As a leading player in both the handset and infrastructure businesses, the Finnish vendor always has worked with industry associations and marquee players to push products and enhance its markets share. But this mainline player may be ready to play lone ranger, separating from other topflight players like Nortel Networks Ltd., L.M. Ericsson, Siemens AG and Motorola Inc. … Read More
Infrastructure players sculpt 3G strategies
The CDMA2000 1x EV-DO contract wins by Lucent Technologies Inc. and Nortel Networks Ltd. with Verizon Wireless may be compelling other major infrastructure players to take the bait. Rivals L.M. Ericsson, Samsung Electronics and Motorola Inc. announced solutions not only in the DO realm, but pushed the envelope with EV-DV, which covers voice and data. Bell Mobility and Sprint PCS have said they expect to roll out DV solutions, skipping the DO step. Sprint PCS said it needs to get its return on its CDMA2000 1x investment before deploying another major technology. CDMA200 1x offers both voice and data but with much slower speed and carries fewer high-octane applications. … Read More
Europe grapples with spectrum issues as U.S. finds no market yet for secondary spectrum
As the Federal Communications Commission tries to encourage a secondary market for spectrum, Europe is also trying to figure out how to have the market-not government-manage spectrum use by discussing license transfers and spectrum flexibility, said Gerry Oberst, a lawyer with Hogan & Hartson L.L.P. While the issues may be similar, the structures between the two continents are different so the approach has been different. In the U.S., there has always been an assumption that when a merger or acquisition takes place, spectrum licenses transfer to the new entity. In Europe, there are more legal hoops necessary to ensure the spectrum follows the new owner. … Read More
Growth predicted for semiconductors, even as TI stock drops on 1Q news
Texas Instruments Inc. may have experienced the flip side of optimism when its stock fell on its guidance last week. But a recent study assures the industry that the semiconductor space is not on the verge of a slowdown. In a study titled, Worldwide Desktop and Mobile PC Semiconductor Forecast, 2003-2008, IDC predicts that the mobile PC semiconductor market will enjoy an overall revenue growth rate of 18 percent to $53.6 billion in 2004, a figure that surpasses the PC market. … Read More
Nextel gets 10 MHz, but will pay more under FCC staff plan
The Federal Communications Commission is considering a staff proposal that would give Nextel Communications Inc. 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band in a rebanding plan to solve the public-safety interference problem in the 800 MHz band, but Nextel would be required to pay more than the $850 million it suggested in late 2002. … Read More
Monet closure adds to list of data-only defeats
When Monet Mobile Networks Inc. launched service in November 2002, many in the industry believed that the promise of advanced wireless data technology had finally become a reality-which is why the carrier’s bankruptcy filing came as such a surprise. Monet’s business plan was to offer wireless Internet access in eight cities in Wisconsin, Minnesota and North and South Dakota. The carrier offered unlimited data to laptop, desktop and handheld computer users for about $40 per month with a $100 modem. The carrier operated a CDMA 1x EV-DO network, providing speeds of between 300 to 700 kilobits per second, and users could roam throughout Monet’s coverage area. … Read More
The story on storage
The future market for mobile-phone memory will total almost $6 billion, according to some in the industry, and could surpass the potential of the massive desktop computer industry in just three years. Indeed, the amount of storage available in next year’s high-end mobile phones could surpass the total amount of storage available inside a laptop computer built only a few years ago. … Read More
Canadians use phones less, prepaid services more
Canadians are often referred to as more polite, humble and reserved versions of their southern counterparts with whom they share a relatively open border stretching for thousands of miles. That demure demeanor, which seems to lapse during certain hockey events, has translated to the wireless industry, where a recent report from the Yankee Group noted Canadians spend nearly half as much time per month talking on their cell phones than U.S. wireless customers. … Read More
Check out RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
