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!
A lull in the PCS price wars
Robinson-Humphrey Co. L.L.C’s latest quarterly survey of U.S. mobile phone prices indicates the pricing wars may be over. The Atlanta-based company said pricing decreased since December just .8 percent to 1.6 percent on average, the smallest price decrease the company has seen since beginning the survey five quarters ago. “The packaging of large `baskets’ of minutes continues to be a popular practice of the cellular and PCS providers, encouraging subscribers to use their phones more,” said the firm. “However, we note that many `double your minutes’ promotions seen in the fourth quarter have been discontinued. In many markets, we actually saw the price per plan go up as AT&T and Sprint PCS have discontinued `double your minutes’ and other promotions.” Further, in a limited sample of wireless operators, Robinson-Humphrey said it discovered that fourth-quarter cash costs per subscriber declined about 12.2 percent from 1996. … Read more
Moto stumbles
This year’s financial outlook appears gloomy for Motorola Inc., which released poor first-quarter results last week and told analysts this quarter’s results won’t look much better. “The primary factors likely to prevent sequential earnings improvement include further gross-margin pressure from higher shipments of new cellular telephone products whose initial manufacturing costs are high and a larger loss recognition from the Iridium L.L.C. investment,” said Ed Gams, corporate vice president and director of investor relations. “Pricing remains very competitive in all of our major businesses. We not only expect this to continue but expect that the economic conditions in Asia will put further pricing pressure not only on products sold in that region, but those manufactured elsewhere in the world,” Gams commented. Motorola’s shares fell $6.38 Tuesday to $53.50 and rebounded slightly Wednesday to close at $54.94. The company warned investors in early March that its first-quarter financials would fall well below expectations. The primary culprit, says Motorola, is the economic crisis in Asia, but analysts also say the company is impacted by the increasing number of players entering the market. “Motorola is facing a number of issues, not just an Asian crisis,” said Ira Brodsky, president of Datacomm Research in St. Louis. “It’s worldwide competition.” … Read more
Chinese network equipment market surges
Motorola Inc.’s announcement that its overall sales in China slowed during the first quarter doesn’t indicate this market is in any trouble, say analysts. China is still seen as one of the largest markets for telecom equipment and service providers with its large pent-up demand for telecommunications and a gross domestic product growth rate that is twice the United States’. But analysts have been concerned that China may devalue its own currency in light of the economic problems its neighboring countries are experiencing, sending business there into a tailspin. “There’s no concern in the near-term,” said David Roddy, chief telecom economist with Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group Inc. in Washington, D.C. “Analysts have now concluded that Chinese currency is less risky within the Asia-Pacific region.” Business for the wireless industry’s major vendors appears to be prosperous. Northern Telecom Ltd., Motorola, L.M. Ericsson and Nokia Corp. all have announced in recent months several multimillion dollar contracts to supply equipment in China. Last week, Motorola announced a $42-million contract to supply Global System for Mobile communications equipment to China Unicom and a $10-million contract with Yunnan Posts and Telecommunications Administration for paging equipment. … Read more
Abracadabra, it’s MagicTalk!
Editor’s note: For some other interesting historical tidbits on General Magic — which started out as a project within Apple — check out its Wikipedia entry
SUNNYVALE, Calif.-General Magic Inc. introduced MagicTalk, the intelligent voice user interface platform for its integrated voice and data network, code named “Serengeti.” Based on a distributed VUI (voice user interface) model, MagicTalk is the foundation technology for Serengeti–a second-generation virtual assistant designed to provide users access to e-mail, voice mail, address book, news, stock quotes and other information using a voice-based interface. MagicTalk “will act as `the voice of the network’ much like a graphical user interface acts as the `face’ of the personal computer,” explained Steve Markman, chairman, president and chief executive of General Magic. “The distributed VUI would allow users to gain all the benefits of human interaction using the simplest devices, like a [personal digital assistant]or even a watch,” said Markman. … Read more
Jockeying over digital wiretap requirements
WASHINGTON-Wireless and wireline carriers last week tabled a plan to sue the FBI over implementation of the 1994 digital wiretap law, just as Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) was putting the final touches on draft legislation that is not expected to give carriers the relief offered by Rep. Bob Barr’s (R-Ga.) bill. New developments evolving in the high-stakes battle between the telecom industry and the Justice Department over the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act suggest some level of disorganization and indecision by the industry over just how to take on federal law enforcement on this contentious issue. The Justice Department declined to comment on the prospect of being taken to court over CALEA. The industry, for its part, is in a dilemma for several reasons. … Read more
Low-earth orbit licenses granted
The Federal Communications Commission’s International Bureau granted low-earth-orbit licenses to four companies, authorizing them to operate non-voice, non-geostationary mobile satellite systems, also known as little LEOs. E-Sat Inc., Final Analysis Communications Services Inc., Orbital Communications Corp. and Volunteers in Technical Assistance each received little LEO licenses. The commission granted a fifth Little LEO applicant, Leo One USA Corp., a license in February. Little LEO systems operate below 1 GHz and are able to send and receive short data-only messages from smaller and less expensive mobile user terminals than those used by big LEO systems, such as Iridium L.L.C. and Globalstar L.P. “Overall, this has been a big milestone for this industry,” said Mike Ahan, chief executive officer of Final Analysis. “Now our excuse cannot be that there’s no license. We have to get our services up and running and let the customer benefit.” First-time licensee Final Analysis said it is reviewing conditions of the license to make sure it blends with its business plan, Ahan said. The company hopes to launch and operate a 26-satellite system, called Faisat, to offer two-way data messaging, vehicle tracking and remote meter reading in 2000. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
