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!
Bell Atlantic to adopt wireless-unit strategy in its other businesses
The wireless telecommunications business may account for a minority of Bell Atlantic Corp.’s revenues, but its entrepreneurial example has influenced profoundly the incumbent carrier’s entire strategy, according to Ivan G. Seidenberg, the company’s president, chairman and chief executive officer. Seidenberg told attendees of Warburg Dillon Read’s 1998 Global Telecom Conference that Bell Atlantic aims to “increase growth, improve shareholder return and create a sustainable business model for the next 10 to 15 years,” operating according to three strategic beliefs. These are to “build an industry-leading domestic wireless business; meet business customers’ needs worldwide for data; (and) provide high-speed connectivity to the mass market.” The chief executive also said Bell Atlantic’s “aggressive business plan moves are magnified by the pending GTE (Corp.) merger.” … Read More
European Parliament vote could escalate 3G talks
A critical European Parliament vote last week, which could effectively mandate a third-generation mobile phone standard dominated by Sweden’s L.M. Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia Corp. and lock out American technology, will ratchet up the stakes in upcoming negotiations here among U.S., European Union and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute officials on 3G. The European Union directive, set to become law before year’s end, provoked loud protests from the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. company Qualcomm Inc., which stands to lose the most from the debate on a standards issue that some policy makers believe the EU has finessed into a technical trade barrier. … Read More
Iridium turns on paging; U.S. service expected in 1999
Iridium L.L.C. has activated its global paging and messaging network, about two weeks after the commercial launch of its global satellite phone system. Messaging tests have gone well, and Motorola Inc. and Kyocera Corp., which make the Iridium pagers, are shipping the devices to the 12 Iridium gateway providers around the world, said the satellite company. Iridium has paging distribution agreements with Paging Network Inc. in the United States, Hutchinson in the United Kingdom and DSS Mobilink in India. Although the mobile satellite services provider has made the system available for commercial deployment, not all paging distribution partners are selling the product yet. … Read More
FCC may change cap; allocates MSS spectrum at 2 GHz
The Federal Communications Commission last week officially proposed rules that could lead to the end of spectrum caps. Additionally, the FCC announced rules to relocate incumbents in the 2 GHz spectrum band that has been allocated to mobile satellite services. Both decisions could have dramatic impacts on the future of the wireless industry as policy makers prepare for the third generation of wireless services-originally envisioned as a global mobile phone service but now seen as having Internet, video, and data services, as well as voice capabilities. Today carriers are limited to 45 megahertz of spectrum in a given geographic area. The spectrum cap was put in place before the rollout of personal communications services to promote competition by limiting the amount of spectrum that could be controlled by cellular licensees. The results in urban areas have been positive with many new players entering the market offering competition and lowering prices for consumers. The results in rural areas, as pointed out by FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani, have not been as positive. … Read More
ETSI considers 3G compromise
In a surprising letter to the International Telecommunication Union, Europe’s standards body said it will consider harmonizing all CDMA-related third-generation proposals sent to the ITU, including cdma2000. The move is a positive sign for vendors and U.S. carriers that have pushed heavily for convergence of cdma2000 technology, based on cdmaOne second-generation technology, with Europe’s chosen wideband Code Division Multiple Access technology for 3G. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute systematically has said it is not interested in convergence with cdma2000 technology and has rejected submissions on the topic, vendors claim. Now, ETSI is calling for contributions from companies and regional standards bodies on convergence and harmonization of all the CDMA standards. … Read More
American Tower aims for 10,000 towers
American Tower Corp. last week bolstered its leading position among independent tower companies when it announced plans to acquire TeleCom Towers L.L.C. and OmniAmerica Inc., the latter considered a major player in the tower industry. When completed, the mergers will add about 1,036 towers to American Tower’s portfolio and bring the company closer to its objective of owning 10,000 towers by 2005. The combined company has 3,044 towers-2,475 of which are owned and 569 managed-and 843 in development or construction. Steve Dodge, chairman and chief executive officer of American Tower, said he expects the company could reach the 5,000-tower mark as early as 2000, without any significant acquisitions or transactions. … Read More
Wireless making a push into online shopping arena
This year’s holiday season promises to be an interesting one for wireless carriers and vendors offering their products to online buyers. Jupiter Communications, a new media research firm, predicts holiday shoppers will spend $2.3 billion online this season, up from $1.1 billion in 1997. According to other estimates, about 10 percent of the population is expected to shop for gifts online this year. Andrew L. Sernovitz, president of the Association for Interactive Media, said electronics and computers are by far the most popular items for online shoppers, followed by gift items similar to what would be available in a mail-order catalog. Sernovitz said last year was a warm-up for a selling season this year that he expects will attract 10 times as many shoppers, due in part to a wider availability of products on the Internet. … Read More
Carriers weigh promotional pricing and profitability this season
This holiday season will see an unprecedented number of mobile phone competitors in the market, but carriers still seem unwilling to compete with break-neck pricing as they aim to keep average revenue per user at high levels. It’s a “digital Christmas” this year, said Miles David, executive vice president of New York-based Trade One Marketing, a firm that tracks wireless advertising. Advertising clearly will be focused around digital products and rate plans. “There will be a considerable emphasis on the features that digital makes possible …, and I think that success for marketers will really revolve around getting to the customers with the largest potential for growth.” “You’re going to see promotions where there may be a very special price but customers have to set it up on the high-end plan,” said Perry Walter, analyst with Robinson-Humphrey Co. Inc. in Atlanta. … Read More
Nextel testing waters on one-rate plan
Nextel Communications Inc. is testing nationwide pricing plans that fall in line with high-end one-rate plans offered by national mobile phone competitors. Analysts say the company quietly is rolling out the plans, which eliminate long-distance fees, to test the market’s demand for nationwide pricing. Nextel says the national rate plans are in line with the earlier introduction of the Motorola i1000 handset, a sleek clam-shell shaped handset integrating cellular service and dispatch service, designed to attract the high-end cellular user. … Read More
Paging carriers agree on standards to improve information delivery
For some time, the paging industry has looked to information services as one possible means to increase revenue, but several technological obstacles have restricted the level of customization required for such services to offer real value. Last week, those obstacles were cleared when 11 paging carriers agreed on a group of broadcast standards that create a common transmission path between content providers and paging networks, as well as a means for carriers to manage customer accounts wirelessly. The carriers endorsing the standards are AirTouch Paging, Ameritech Cellular and Paging Inc., Arch Communications Group Inc., Metrocall Inc., MobileMedia Communications Inc., PageMart Wireless Inc., Paging Network Inc., SkyTel Communications Inc., Network Services L.L.C., Preferred Networks Inc., and Teletouch Communications Inc. The carriers developed the standards with help from Motorola Inc. and Glenayre Technologies Inc. … Read More
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