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 those sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Android takes top mobile OS spot from Symbian
We all knew this moment was going to come sooner or later. Symbian, Nokia’s floundering mobile OS, has ruled the roost essentially forever in terms of sales (although it has been fairly absent in the mindshare stakes as of late), but that lead has been slowly crumbling as the twin forces of iOS and Android snapped at its heels. The question wasn’t if, but when, one of them would overtake it. According to one research firm – Canalys – Android has now dethroned Symbian and taken up residence in the number one spot. According to their numbers, phones powered by Google’s OS sold 32.9million in the last quarter of 2010, compared with 31million Symbian sales. Hold on, you may think – who the hell is buying all those Symbian phones? Nokia’s latest flagship device, the N8, fell pretty flat. Well, bear in mind that Symbian has been around for a decade, and has powered every Nokia phone made in recent history, as well as a good percentage of Sony, Samsung and Motorola phones until recently. Couple that with Nokia’s dominance in emerging markets such as India and parts of Africa, and you’ve got a recipe for big sales. However a flood of decent quality, cheap Android phones is now stemming the Symbian tide, and trouncing Google’s perennial rival, Apple. … Read more
SingTel expands mobile music service
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) today announced that it has expanded the library of its award-winning mobile music service, AMPed, to more than two million tracks. In a new agreement signed with Warner Music Group, which also represents EMI in Singapore, AMPed customers will now be able to download music by popular artistes such as Bruno Mars, Linkin Park, Katy Perry, Madonna, Derrick Hoh, Jolin Tsai and Jam Hsiao. Mr. Edward Ying, SingTel’s Chief of Multimedia, said: “With the addition of the EMI and Warner catalogues, customers can now download music from all major international music labels. This represents the lion’s share of the content in the global music market. “Increasingly, customers are using their mobile devices to listen to music instead of traditional music players. This trend has seen AMPed grow from strength to strength since its launch in 2009 – in fact, the number of subscribers has more than tripled within a year. Now, with Warner Music and EMI onboard, we expect a significant leap in the number of new subscribers.” … Read more
Comcast launches 4G-based data service
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) launched its Internet2go wireless data service in Colorado, the most recent launch of service in more than 40 markets. Pricing for the service remains the same as it is for other Comcast markets. Its Xfinity Internet2go Metro service uses a 4G-only data card operating on Clearwire Corp.’s WiMAX network, while customers who choose the Nationwide service get a 3G-only data card that operates on Sprint Nextel Corp.’s 3G network. Customers who choose Nationwide Preferred service get a dongle that can be used on both the 3G and 4G networks. Nationwide access starts at $25 per month for the first year, while Nationwide Preferred starts at $40 per month for the first year. Metro 4G pricing starts at $40 a month as part of a bundle and $60 per month as a standalone service. … Read more
Verizon buys cloud company Terremark
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) has acquired Terremark Worldwide Inc. (TMRK) in a cash-for-stock deal value at $1.4 billion. While significant in its potential reach and early-mover status, the move by Verizon does follow a trend toward more operator involvement and ownership of enterprise services delivered in the cloud. “Communication service providers continue to transform themselves into technology providers. We see this issue in spades with the Verizon acquisition of Terremark,” Steve Hilton, lead analyst for Analysys Mason’s enterprise research program, wrote in a note to clients. The deal, which will close later this quarter, comes at a 35% premium over Terremark’s closing price per share when the agreement was reached. “Cloud computing continues to fundamentally alter the way enterprises procure, deploy and manage IT resources, and this combination helps create a tipping point for everything as a service,” said Lowell McAdam, president and COO at Verizon. … Read more
LightSquared’s spectrum realignment deal
The news kept rolling for LigthSquared Subsidiary L.L.C. today as the company said it has triggered “Phase 2” of its spectrum realignment deal with fellow satellite communications provider Inmarsat. The second phase of the 2007 Cooperation Agreement between LightSquared and Inmarsat calls Inmarsat to make additional spectrum available to LightSquared at an annual cost of $115 million that will increase at a rate of 3% yearly.
“When Phase 2 is fully executed, LightSquared will have the use of up to 59 megahertz of terrestrial and L-Band ATC spectrum over the continental United States and Canada to operate its nationwide integrated 4G-LTE and satellite network,” explained Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and CEO of LightSquared. Plans for this latest “trigger” were announced last October and had originally been planned to begin before the end of 2010. This followed up on the aptly-named Phase 1 of the agreement that was announced last August. … Read more
GSMA’s finalists for the ‘Mobile World Capital’
The GSMA today announced that Barcelona, Milan, Munich and Paris have been selected as the short list of cities vying to become the “Mobile World Capital™”. These four cities will now move to the next stage of the selection process which will culminate in the winning city being named the Mobile World Capital for the five-year period from 2013 to 2017. Launched in November 2010, the concept of the Mobile World Capital includes not only the industry-leading annual Mobile World Congress event, but also a range of academic and business development opportunities, cultural festivals and programmes, and the creation of a centre for the industry. “We congratulate Barcelona, Milan, Munich and Paris as they move forward in the last phase of the evaluation process to become the Mobile World Capital,” said John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd. “The quality of the proposals from the candidate cities to date has been outstanding, making our decision that much more difficult. The four finalists announced today each have a clear, multi-faceted vision for how they will make their city the Mobile World Capital, and we look forward to seeing these visions unfold as we move through the process.” … Read more
Obama calls for wireless broadband expansion
Mobile broadband had a few moments under the spotlight during President Barack Obama’s wide-ranging State of the Union address last night. One of the themes of Obama’s speech was the new global competitive landscape that America’s workforce finds itself in today.
There are millions of “proud men and women who feel like the rules have been changed in the middle of the game. They’re right, the rules have changed,” he said. “In a single generation, revolutions in technology have transformed the way we live, work and do business,” Obama continued. “Within the next five years, we’ll make it possible for businesses to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98% of all Americans. This isn’t about faster Internet or fewer dropped calls, it’s about connecting every part of America to the digital age.” Obama also took the opportunity to talk about the need to reorganize the government in the face of this technology revolution. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
