Nokia dominated the sales charts, and AT&T posts robust growth despite capacity issues … 16 years ago this week
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!
Nokia dominates; Audiovox gains
Handsets from Nokia Corp. and Code Division Multiple Access technology dominated the U.S. cellular and personal communications services industry in 1999, while international powerhouse L.M. Ericsson struggled to keep its share of the U.S. market, said reports from The Strategis Group and Dataquest. Nokia claimed more than 34 percent of all cellular and PCS handset sales, followed by Motorola Inc. with 23 percent, and Qualcomm Inc. with 12 percent, according to “U.S. Wireless Handsets: Marketshare and Trends,” from The Strategis Group in Washington, D.C. … Read More
AT&T ups ad efforts, customer base
Increasing its advertising efforts during the fourth quarter, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. added 440,000 subscribers the last three months of 1999, ending the year with about 12 million subscribers. The carrier had stopped advertising its services in some markets during the third quarter because of capacity problems and handset shortages, adding just 269,000 subscribers during that three-month period. AT&T Wireless’ additions during the traditional holiday push, however, fell short of the 473,000 subscribers it added in the second quarter of 1999. The carrier said it added the majority of its fourth-quarter customers in December as advertising penetrated the market. … Read More
Business customers keep paging alive, mass market prefers cellular
A division, not an exclusion, of interests seems to be emerging between cellular and paging services. Business customers are keeping the paging market in check while the cellular phone continues to be the preferred device for personal use. These trends and others were revealed in The Strategis Group’s “CellTrac: Cellular and PCS Consumer Trends,” and “PageTrac: Consumer Trends in Paging” reports, released last Thursday. Almost 40 percent of business users surveyed said they use their pager 81 percent to 100 percent of the time, whereas about 20 percent said they use their wireless phone for the same amount of time, according to CellTrac. … Read More
Dialing for ad dollars
Wireless carriers and Wall Street are excited about the huge revenue potential advertising via mobile phones could bring in the future, but just how to offer it to customers is a looming question. Regulatory requirements to allow wireless 911 location will drive the advent of location-based services in the coming years. This will give carriers the opportunity to follow their subscribers with customized real-time paid advertisements that in turn could translate into additional transaction-based revenue. The opportunities seem endless for operators, content providers and advertisers. They salivate at the prospect of a customer receiving a notice of a discount for clothing at Eddie Bauer as they walk by the store with their phone in hand. … Read More
Lines between messaging and wireless data blur
Perhaps the greatest indicator of the wireless data industry’s rise to popularity is the way paging carriers are positioning themselves in the space today. Pioneering wireless data carriers like American Mobile Satellite Corp. and BellSouth Wireless Data L.P. started the trend by offering paging-like services aimed at business users in a bid to jump-start their lackluster vertical market businesses. At the same time, paging carriers looked to add technology and applications historically associated with wireless data carriers to diversify beyond the slowing traditional paging delivery business. At the heart of this transformation is the gradual upgrade to two-way messaging networks. … Read More
SBC rips out CDMA systems
SBC Communications Inc. said it will convert the remaining Ameritech Corp. wireless properties it owns from Code Division Multiple Access technology to Time Division Multiple Access technology. SBC and Ameritech merged last year and sold 20 Ameritech cdmaOne wireless properties, including Chicago and St. Louis, to GTE Corp. to comply with spectrum cap rules. Analysts since have wondered whether TDMA operator SBC, which also owns Global System for Mobile communications operator Pacific Bell Wireless, would pursue a wireless strategy with three separate technologies. … Read More
Qualcomm shells out $1B for SnapTrack
Qualcomm Inc. took a major step last week to expand its patent and technology portfolio to include mobile location-based services and wireless Internet systems, announcing it acquired San Jose, Calif.-based SnapTrack Inc. for $1 billion in stock. SnapTrack will become a wholly owned subsidiary, operating under its own name. The acquisition will contribute to the development of Qualcomm’s gpsOne technology, and accelerate the introduction of more advanced global positioning system-enabled mobile phones, the company said. … Read More
Qualcomm drives for 700 MHz spectrum
Qualcomm Inc. on Friday officially asked the Federal Communications Commission to grant it spectrum in the upcoming channel 60-69 auctions. Qualcomm wants the commission to quickly award it spectrum to make up for the pioneer’s preference license it repeatedly denied Qualcomm in the last decade and fears the commission will run out of immediate remedies. A U.S. appeals court in July ordered the FCC to swiftly find spectrum comparable to the Miami major trading area license, a license Qualcomm had hoped to gain in 1993 to help early adoption of its pioneering technology, cdmaOne. … Read More
Spectrum scarcity `near-term’ problem due to cap
With the exception of some very large carriers in some very large markets, cellular carriers today are not starved for spectrum capacity, but they expect to be in the future. Spectrum scarcity “is a near-term problem. It is not a current problem, but it is not a long-term problem. It is a two- to three-year problem,” said Donald C. Brittingham, government relations director of wireless matters for Bell Atlantic Corp. Notwithstanding a current need, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association continues to wage a campaign to urge the Federal Communications Commission to lift the spectrum cap that restricts carriers from controlling more than 45 megahertz of spectrum in urban areas and 55 megahertz in rural areas. … Read More
Holiday sales still significant for cellular
New sales records of all kinds were set during last year’s fourth quarter, reinforcing the importance of the last three months of the year for the wireless industry. “In the cellular market, the battle for market share is won and lost in the fourth quarter, with Christmas sales being a critical benchmark for network operators and handset vendors alike,” said a Strategy Analytics report, which noted fourth-quarter sales continue to account for more than 40 percent of annual unit volume. Strategy Analytics expects U.S. cellular and (personal communications services) operators to report dramatic fourth-quarter results over the next few weeks,” said the report. “Overall we can anticipate Q4 net addition gains of 15 percent to 20 percent or higher for the leading U.S. wireless operators.” … Read More
Check out RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
