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!
RIP WMF
DENVER—The Wireless Multimedia Forum ceased operations early this year, and its more than 60 members have moved on to work with other standards bodies, including the Third Generation Partnership Project and the Internet Streaming Media Alliance. “The WMF will be ending operations shortly,” the group’s program director, Nancy Moss, wrote in a February e-mail to WMF members obtained by RCR Wireless News. “Several companies have asked recently whether the Interoperability Test efforts will continue in any form. Interop testing was a primary focus of WMF last year, and I am very proud of the pioneering work that was done by the companies who participated. The good news is that even though WMF is ending, the work on interoperability continues in other organizations.” … Read more
Sprint ponies up half the dough for Virgin Mobile
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint PCS and the Virgin Group reported they would each have an equal interest and mutual governance roles in their Virgin Mobile USA mobile virtual network operator joint venture that is expected to launch this summer. Sprint PCS said it would fund up to $150 million, of which a majority will be in the form of services and the remainder in cash, while Virgin will fund up to $150 million in cash. … Read more
Vodafone would like more China Mobile, please
LONDON—Vodafone Group plc said it increased it ownership of China Mobile Hong Kong to 3.27 percent from 2.18 percent by subscribing US$750 million for new ordinary shares in the Chinese operator. China Mobile will use the proceeds to help finance its proposed acquisition of mobile companies in eight provinces of China. … Read more
Check out these antique rate plans
REDMOND, Wash.—AT&T Wireless introduced a pair of nationwide calling plans designed to take advantage of the carrier’s GSM/GPRS and TDMA network technology. The plans include the Multi-Band One Rate plan, which begins at $60 per month for 450 minutes, including no roaming or domestic long-distance charges, and the Multi-Band National Network plan, which begins at $35 per month for 300 minutes and does not charge for roaming or long-distance when calling from the carrier’s TDMA or GSM network. For an additional fee customers can also access AT&T Wireless’ GPRS network, which is currently available in more than 25 markets. … Read more
Charges for incoming emails?
OXFORD, United Kingdom—While sending e-mails via cell phones is up to 10 times cheaper than short message service (SMS), mobile operators must still charge users to receive e-mails so their networks are not swamped with messages. This viewpoint, put forward by executives from Dutch operator KPN, is thought to reflect the concerns of many European operators faced with the issue. … Read more
Boosting GPRS speeds in Europe
OXFORD, United Kingdom—Finnish company First Hop claimed that a number of European cell-phone operators are conducting trials of its compression and caching technologies, which could significantly speed up the data transmission rates on General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks. According to Timo Laaksonen, chief executive officer (CEO) of First Hop, European operators have either signed contracts for its GPRS accelerator or products from competing developers, or are set to do so. “We cannot say which operators are testing our system, but implementation is at the trial phase and commercial contracts have been signed,” he said. “All the big mobile operators have either made a decision or are about to in the next two or three months.” … Read more
Siemens and Nokia get a little more friendly
DUBLIN, Ireland—In a further indication of the necessity of closer cooperation between previously fierce rivals, Nokia and Siemens have announced plans to collaborate on mobile terminal software. Open standards is the hot term among mobile handset vendors, and this agreement is expected to lead to much more uniformity among user interfaces for next-generation devices. Operators realize that they face a stern challenge convincing customers to purchase third-generation (3G) handsets in sufficient quantities without additional concerns over interoperability between handsets on their networks. … Read more
Chinese operators check out MMS
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Both Nokia and Ericsson said they have demonstrated what they described as the first inter-operator live demonstration of multimedia messaging service (MMS) technology with leading Chinese operators. Ericsson demonstrated its technology using its Sony Ericsson T68I handset in Guangzhou over the networks of China Mobile with its counterpart, SmarTone Mobile Communications. … Read more
John Stanton of Western Wireless calls for more industry consolidation
WASHINGTON—The wireless industry needs consolidation, said one of the titans of the industry on Tuesday. “The industry does need to be consolidated,” said John Stanton, chief executive officer of Western Wireless Corp. and VoiceStream Wireless Corp. “In contrast to Western, most companies in the industry are not generating free cash flow. The strength of our business—the business of the franchise is different than other companies. Frankly, the pricing environment in urban markets argues for consolidation. Absent spectrum, or the absence of immediately available additional spectrum argues for consolidation.” Stanton does not see Western being a takeover target since he believes the first mergers will be among the industry’s biggest players. … Read more
Check out RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
