Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Verizon takes aim at Nextel with PTT launch
Fulfilling repeated claims to launch service by the end of this year, Verizon Wireless introduced its highly anticipated Push to Talk service last week, which, in addition to providing Verizon Wireless customers with another way to communicate, is expected to supply the first serious competition for Nextel Communications Inc.’s Direct Connect service. Verizon Wireless said its Push to Talk service, which uses the carrier’s CDMA2000 1x network and infrastructure from Motorola Inc.’s recently acquired Winphoria division, would be available nationwide beginning today. While the service is expected to be compared against Nextel’s Direct Connect offering, which Nextel has offered for more than 10 years and recently enhanced to provide nationwide capabilities, analysts noted Verizon Wireless’ service includes a number of advantages, including a self-provisioning contact list allowing customers to add contacts and set up calling groups from a specially designed Web site, an easy-to-understand user interface and the use of one phone number for both cellular and push-to-talk calls. … Read More
Largent takes CTIA reins Nov. 1
The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association Aug. 18 officially announced that former Rep. Steve Largent (R-Okla.) will replace Thomas Wheeler as president and chief executive officer effective Nov. 1. “After an exhaustive search, it became clear that Steve Largent was the right person for the job. As a result of his past House Commerce Committee experience, he has an appreciation for the complexity of telecommunications and the unique competitive nature of wireless,” said Scott Ford, CEO of Alltel Communications Inc. and CTIA chairman. “Steve has also demonstrated the ability to lead and build consensus in an environment that is rife with differing opinions. Steve clearly possesses the skills, energy and enthusiasm to be the wireless industry’s chief advocate.” RCR Wireless News broke the story that Largent was the leading candidate to replace Wheeler Aug. 13. … Read More
Motorola looks to exit Symbian
Despite just releasing a phone based on the Symbian operating system, Motorola Inc. said it will exit the OS venture. Nokia Corp. said it and Psion plc have begun procedures with Motorola to transfer Motorola’s shares in Symbian to Nokia and Psion. Once the transaction is completed, Nokia would increase its shareholding from about 19 percent to 32 percent, and Psion would increase its Symbian ownership to about 31 percent. Nokia said the transfer would not affect Motorola’s existing licensing arrangement with Symbian. Nokia said the transaction values Symbian at about $470 million. … Read More
T-Mobile couples music, cameras in new promo
T-Mobile USA Inc. will continue its innovative marketing campaign with five simultaneous music concerts across the country, all in an effort to help sell its camera phones, messaging features and other advanced services. T-Mobile’s upcoming concerts are part of the wireless industry’s attempt to drum up interest for advanced wireless services. Indeed, T-Mobile’s latest marketing effort comes on the heels of its previous contest aimed at promoting its camera phones, an event carrier executives describe as generating a “ton of traffic.” Earlier this year T-Mobile held its See, Send, Share contest, asking camera-phone users to send in their best pictures. The winner scored a free trip with his friends with his entry of a picture of a police officer writing him a ticket while he was on the way to pay off a previous ticket. … Read More
NextWave gets approval to go forward with Cingular license sale
Bankruptcy Judge Adlai S. Hardin Jr. has given bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. the green light to proceed with the sale of 34 licenses to Cingular Wireless L.L.C., a sale that according to bankruptcy law must first be put out for higher and better offers. Cingular has agreed to pay $1.4 billion for the licenses, a portion of which will be surrendered to the Federal Communications Commission. If a higher and better offer is made, it must include a $21 million breakup fee for Cingular. As part of the proposed NextWave/Cingular sale, the FCC will be paid $714 million unless a better and higher offer is found, and then the FCC could receive as much as $734 million. … Read More
Verizon Wireless labor talks hit snag
Contract negotiations between union representatives and Verizon Wireless, which to date have been overshadowed by labor talks involving workers employed by the parent landline company, apparently have hit a snag and stolen the spotlight. Talks are scheduled to resume Wednesday in New Jersey to hammer out a new Verizon Wireless labor deal, which expired Aug. 1. Verizon Wireless has 51 cell site and switch technician workers in lower Manhattan in New York who are represented by the Communications Workers of America, a number dwarfed by the 78,000 unionized Verizon wireline employees. CWA on Tuesday took out an ad in the New York Times and staged a rally in front of a Verizon Wireless store in Chicago (site of the CWA convention) to voice their grievances about Verizon Wireless, the No. 1 mobile-phone carrier in the nation. … Read More
Qualcomm announcement signals growing storage need for mobile phones
CDMA giant Qualcomm Inc. announced it will add support for removable miniSD and SD cards in its line of Mobile Station Modem chipsets. The move is a nod to the growing power of mobile phones and the resulting need for additional storage capabilities. Such advances in storage create significant new opportunities in wireless. Imagine: A “Simpsons” fan could buy the entire first season of the TV show on quarter-sized cards, which could then be slipped into a phone’s memory card slot for viewing. Or an MP3 buff could download a few hundred songs onto a storage card and listen to them later using a mobile phone. … Read More
FCC begins inquiry into whether towers kill birds
The Federal Communications Commission released a notice of inquiry-the first step in what could be a multi-year process before rules become effective-on whether towers kill or harm birds. “The NOI takes a critical step forward by calling for a record to assess exactly how, and to what extent, migratory birds may be affected by our nation’s critical communications infrastructure. While we must continue to deploy infrastructure to enhance public safety and improve communications service, the record gathered here will guide us in deploying such facilities in the most environmentally sound way possible,” said FCC Chairman Michael Powell. … Read More
Competitors see RIM’s legal battles as business opportunity to track enterprise market
Although Research In Motion Ltd. has worked to diffuse concerns over its ongoing legal troubles, some of the company’s competitors see RIM’s high-profile court battles as an opportunity to promote their own products. “We certainly don’t want to knock RIM,” said Martin Schwartz, managing partner with Wireless2Web L.L.C. “It occurred to us that there may be others out there that may be concerned about RIM’s problems looking for alternatives.” RIM has largely come to serve as a beacon for the wireless enterprise industry, and its BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices have received high-profile backing from congressional members and others. Indeed, it seems RIM has become the company to beat in the wireless enterprise market, although RIM’s sales and customer numbers do no necessarily reflect its command of the industry. … Read More
Alternative 3G solutions try to gain followers
While most wireless operators are in the midst of launching third-generation wireless data services using traditional base stations over licensed airwaves, an increasing number of smaller, independent companies have begun deploying high-speed wireless data services using unlicensed spectrum and both proprietary and standards-based technologies that could alter the 3G landscape. Many industry analysts and wireless carriers have dismissed competition between wide area network-based 3G services and local area network services, citing distinctively different coverage areas from each network. Analysts have noted that wide area networks can cover several square miles with a single base station while a local area network access point generally covers less than 300 feet in most urban surroundings. … Read More
Check out RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
