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!
Industry looks to spur short code adoption with six-digit plan
Wireless industry trade association CTIA is hoping to spur direct-to-consumer revenues by expanding the industry’s short code program. The industry group, along with short-code administrator NeuStar Inc., announced open registration for six-digit short codes, which allow mobile users to access content or services by sending a key word or phrase to the code. The move allows businesses more flexibility in creating memorable short codes—a music label could use the code HIPHOP, for instance—and increases the number of available codes tenfold. The previously established short-code program only supported five-digit codes. … Read More
ADC to acquire Andrew in $2B move
Wireline connectivity equipment leader ADC Telecommunications Inc. announced it’s willing to pay $2 billion in stocks to acquire Andrew Corp., a move that would give ADC a major boost in the wireless gear arena. Indeed, a combined Andrew and ADC will reap almost half of its revenues from sales of wireless equipment. The companies said their combined customer base breaks out into 44 percent wireless, 24 percent original equipment manufacturers, 23 percent to wireline, 6 percent enterprise, and 3 percent to other customers. … Read More
Vodafone records $41B loss, reworks strategic plans
Vodafone Group plc posted a massive $41.1 billion loss for 2005, mainly from impairment charges over assets it acquired during the telecom boom days, but promised its investors an even larger than expected payout, which sent its stock up slightly in early trading in London and New York. Excluding the asset impairment charge, the European-based operator’s revenues witnessed 7.5-percent organic growth and Vodafone added 21.5 million proportional customers during the past year. The company promised to return $17 billion to its shareholders, one-third more than had already been promised. … Read More
Industry cheers defeat of federal excise tax
The wireless industry applauded the Bush administration’s decision today to abandon the U.S. government’s long-held support for the federal excise tax on wireless and long-distance services. The tax, incorporated in 1898 to fund the Spanish-American War, adds 3 percent to monthly bills of the 214 million cellular subscribers. The U.S. government has lost several FET challenges in federal appeals courts around the country in past months. The wireless industry has been lobbying for years to ax the 3-percent federal tax. … Read More
BREW: Alive and well, headed for battle over direct-to-consumer
“News of my death has been greatly exaggerated,” Mark Twain is said to have written in 1897, when he remained hale and hearty. Qualcomm Inc. has taken a page from Twain and added a biblical twist, as it hails its new incarnation of BREW as “the second coming of BREW.” As with any effective marketing slogan, there’s more than a kernel of truth at its heart. BREW, which stands for Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, is now more of a branding strategy than the execution environment it began life as, according to Qualcomm. BREW today is positioned at a crossroads-still under construction-where network operators, handset vendors and mega-content brands will meet to slice up the direct-to-consumer pie. … Read More
Wireless looks to capitalize on FIFA World Cup action
All eyes will be on Germany next week as teams from 32 nations open play in the FIFA World Cup, a four-week, 64-game tournament to determine the planet’s best soccer club. And the wireless industry is hoping many of those eyes will be watching through their mobile phones. The tournament should generate about $300 million in mobile video revenues, according to figures released last week by Informa Media and Telecoms. Astoundingly, World Cup broadcasts and downloads are expected to account for one-fourth of wireless video revenues worldwide this year, Informa said. It’s no surprise, then, that European carriers are hoping to use the tournament to showcase their 3G video offerings. … Read More
Sprint Nextel delves deeper into 4G
Sprint Nextel Corp. says it is testing so-called “4G” technologies for use on its expansive 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings and that it plans to choose one that has a “global reach and presence.” The carrier said it was currently in talks with “other global operators” to create a vendor network which will support the new technology. According to information from the operator, Sprint Nextel’s NASCAR Nextel FanView device, which the company introduced in February, offers the first preview of what service would be like using the advanced technology and spectrum position. … Read More
China continues GSM commitment with infrastructure awards: Despite pledge to TD-SCDMA technology
Siemens AG is the latest in a series of vendors to announce new contracts in China, signs that the country continues to stand as a major opportunity for infrastructure makers. Siemens announced two deals with mobile operators for GSM equipment and an order for GSM-Railway network equipment. Siemens said it inked a network expansion deal for $115.6 million with China Mobile Communications Corp. Ltd., the world’s largest carrier with more than 246 million subscribers. The company also scored a $64.2 million contract for GSM equipment with China United Communications Corp. Ltd., the nation’s second-largest carrier with more than 127 million subscribers. … Read More
Carrier cat fight over best network
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. stirred up some controversy when it rolled out a new advertising campaign claiming that it has the least number of dropped calls on its network, claims that have led to a lawsuit. Sprint Nextel Corp. challenged Cingular’s claim with the usual referee of such disputes, the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau. Cingular responded by filing a lawsuit against Sprint Nextel in federal court in Atlanta, according to Sprint Nextel spokesman Matt Sullivan. The recently filed lawsuit, Sullivan said, not only asks the court to declare that Cingular’s claim is true-it takes issue with Sprint Nextel’s advertising claim that “no one has a more powerful network.” … Read More
Carriers plead their cases to investors
Gas prices and higher mortgage rates have not affected the demand for Sprint Nextel Corp.’s wireless services, the carrier’s chief financial officer told analysts last week. Paul Saleh’s remarks were made during a parade of wireless executives at conferences in New York, hosted by investment firms Lehman Bros. and Morgan Stanley. Saleh said that Sprint Nextel has “seen no correlation” between rising costs for American consumers and either demand for wireless or bad debt. … Read More
