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!
OS: Who is the fairest of them all?
In the short lifespan of the still nascent wireless Internet, the owners of the operating systems have already learned that best is not always enough. Palm, Windows CE and Symbian are the three OSs trying to slug it out with marketing strategies, technical appeals and partnerships. While history, the great leveler, has shown that success crowns marketing, that strategy alone does not guarantee a great following. … Read More
Trying times reach tower industry: Expenses, jobs cut in efforts to keep revenues in line
Crown Castle International Corp., SpectraSite Holdings Inc. and SBA Communications Corp. reported positive revenues for the second quarter ended June 30, but they did not escape the current telecom shakedown unscathed. All three companies laid off employees and cut back on general expenses during the quarter, and Crown Castle and SpectraSite shut down certain foreign operations, hoping to ease the burden of decreased carrier spending. … Read More
Industry must deal with wireless vice
Just like the beginnings of the wired Internet, content on the wireless Internet is growing by leaps and bounds. Wireless Internet users now can schedule a flight out of Denver, challenge a stranger to a game of chess, check their stocks and access all kinds of other useful and not-so-useful sites. So it’s not really surprising that-just like wired Internet users-wireless Internet surfers can also now look at pictures of naked women or place a bet on the next big game. … Read More
FCC asks for ruling by Supreme Court
Bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. insisted last week in meetings with industry, federal regulators and the press that it plans to build out its network, and further litigation only delays that from happening. “For all practical purposes, this litigation has kept us in jail, kept the handcuffs on,” said Allen Salmasi, NextWave’s chief executive officer. … Read More
Industry wades into wireless ad waters
Advertisers, like everyone else, want the biggest bang for their buck. They want to reach as many people as possible without a lot of expense, and they want to get those people to see and understand their ad. Advertisers want to own the eyeballs of whoever might be around. For this reason, TV is a fantastic medium for advertisers. It’s colorful, it’s loud and people sit in front of it for hours on end. Other mediums also can be used well, such as magazines, newspapers and billboards. In each instance, advertisers use the medium to show people something, and with enough impact that they’ll remember it. … Read More
NextWave details funding; Verizon DE makes offer
The NextWave Telecom Inc. saga continued last week as the hopeful wireless wholesaler unveiled funding plans to roll out its network, while its potential wireless competitors/customers continued to look for ways to wrestle some control over licenses that are still waiting for a proper owner. The company’s $5.5 billion financing plans were outlined in a filing with a New York bankruptcy court on Aug. 6. NextWave said the funding, which included $2.5 billion in debt financing and up to $3 billion in convertible preferred stock, would take it through the complete buildout of its network and pay off outstanding debts. … Read More
Carriers begin to feel pinch of economic slowdown
A handful of wireless affiliates and regional cellular operators reported mixed results last week, showing the economic slowdown has not entirely missed wireless operators. Heading the list of mixed results, Western Wireless Corp. reported 30,000 net customer additions for the quarter, ending the quarter with 1.1 million wireless subscribers. Analysts were expecting customer additions of around 40,000 subscribers for the quarter. Western Wireless put some of the blame on higher customer churn, reported at 2.6 percent, due to poor network quality as the carrier migrates more of its customers and investment away from analog services. … Read More
Carriers must help develop enterprise channels to meet business needs
The disjointed approach of the diverse players involved in mobile data communications is a major hindrance to their ability to capitalize on the potential of the corporate enterprise market, which could total $29 billion worldwide by 2006, a new Ovum report concluded. Cellular and PCS carriers so far have focused their marketing efforts primarily on consumer services, while largely ignoring the huge opportunity to connect mobile workers to their enterprise databases, said the London-based consulting firm whose U.S. headquarters is in Boston. … Read More
Nokia wins profits race
In profits, the category that counts the most, Nokia Corp. retained top billing, with Ericsson Inc. holding on to second place, according to information from Standard & Poor’s. Lucent Technologies Inc., which ranked sixth last year, moved into third place, displacing ADC Telecommunications Inc., which took seventh place in this year’s profit leaders ranking. General Dynamics Corp., which was not part of the major players listings last year, took sixth place. … Read More
Chip-maker deals intended to increase mobile device processing speed
Two of the world’s leading chip makers last week announced deals they said would lead to the creation of faster and more efficient processors for 2.5- and third-generation mobile devices. Texas Instruments Inc. and Intel Corp. separately said they would license microprocessing technology from ARM Holdings plc, a United Kingdom-based company that designs reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessors and related technology and software that enhances the performance and power efficiency of embedded applications. … Read More
