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!
I got ’99 products and a watch phone is one
Nortel Networks introduced a portfolio of subscriber services, called e-mobility services, that provide rapid, flexible deployment of leading-edge voice and data capabilities optimized for the Internet Protocol environment. The services include Wireless Prepaid, Group Conferencing, Smart Mobile Access, Wireless Voice-Activated Dialing, Mobile Messaging Gateway and Information Management Services. Its e-mobility platform is a part of Nortel’s plan for delivering wireless Internet products. Samsung Electronics Co. introduced a CDMA-based watch phone, the SPH-WP10, which the company said is part of a market-segmentation strategy designed to respond to the nearly saturated market for wireless handsets in South Korea. The product combines the functions of a digital watch with that of a wireless handset. The SH-WP10 comes with a miniature duplexer, super-small base-band analog processor chip and a tiny fixed antenna. The product weighs 39 grams without the battery and 50 grams with the battery, and measures 67mm by 58mm by 20mm. It offers 90 minutes of continuous talk time and 60 hours of standby time. In addition, the watch phone comes with voice-activated dialing, phone directory, ear microphone and vibration alert. … Read more
WAP: Right now, it’s everything. … What are you waiting for?
Recently I have read a few opinions casting doubt on the value of the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) in today’s converging wireless and Internet industries. I consider these opinions to be under-informed because the authors of these criticisms missed the basic goal and motivations for WAP, as well as the basic strategies carriers are using to deploy WAP. In the following paragraphs, I will attempt to provide a brief summary of the market need that WAP was created to fill, as well as the technological future of WAP integration. The facts are simple: Today there are 180 million Internet users and 400 million wireless phones users worldwide. WAP is the glue between these fast-growing industries. It has been designed to allow mass-market phones to perform information-access functions by leveraging the technology of the Web. WAP is not designed for a “surfing” function or general-purpose browsing tool. Instead, it allows wireless phone users to access small but critical amounts of Internet and intranet-based information while they’re “on the go,” while providing wireless phone carriers with an opportunity to add rich functionality to a previously single-function device. WAP is the defacto industry standard. More than 95 companies have joined the forum and endorsed WAP’s technological premise. … Read more
Wake us up before you 3G
DENVER, United States-For mobile phone operators around the world, one key question remains unanswered: What will be the demand for mobile data services? Mobile phone carriers today are attempting to answer this question as they consider what investments to make to transition to third-generation data-centric networks. “The business model is still voice, with a need to offer data,” said Larry Swasey, vice president of the communications research practice with U.S.-based Allied Business Intelligence. “The question is: How much of your network do you dedicate to data?” This question has taken a back seat in the wireless telecommunications arena to the political infighting over CDMA-based 3G standards. Qualcomm and Ericsson ended their battle over CDMA patents in March, paving the way for carriers to iron out their differences over W-CDMA and cdma2000 technology and allowing the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to proceed quickly with its 3G standards-setting process. The two companies have agreed to cross-license patents to all CDMA-based technologies. The patent standstill did not threaten to slow down TDMA carriers’ migration to 3G systems, but the ability to move from GSM technology to W-CDMA technology in a timely manner was in question. … Read more
iDEN iDEN baby
VANCOUVER, Canada-eDispatch.com Wireless Data announced recently it signed an evaluation and installation agreement with Southern Linc, under which Southern Linc will demonstrate the eDispatch.com system to customers on its iDEN network, as part of a beta test of wireless data services. eDispatch.com is a wireless Internet data system that helps manage, support and track mobile workers. Aimed at companies that manage fleets of 20 to 100 mobile workers in field service, transportation and security applications, eDispatch.com will use Motorola’s i1000plus handset, which integrates the capabilities of a digital phone, two-way radio and pager with Internet microbrowser, e-mail, fax and two-way messaging capabilities, said the company. … Read more
Finland: Let’s get 3G started
OXFORD, United Kingdom-If an Olympic games in cellular communications were ever staged, there is little doubt who would head the medals table. Finland would take gold in almost every event. The Finns take great pride in being first. Finland has been at the forefront of cellular communications since the launch of the world’s first commercial GSM network by Radiolinja in 1991. The country has long topped the league table of cellular penetration rates, with the current penetration exceeding 60 percent. At the GSM World Congress earlier this year, Finland’s Sonera won the GSM Association’s 1999 Customer Growth Award. Sonera was the network achieving the highest percentage increase in domestic market penetration during 1998, increasing from 20.3 percent to 32.5 percent of the population. Sonera first won the Customer Growth Award in 1997. It is the first network to win the award twice. Now Finland has clocked up another first. It is the first country in the world to grant licenses for 3G mobile networks. … Read more
If AT&T had 10 million subscribers (they’d buy your love)
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. announced record revenue growth in the first quarter, adding 378,000 customers and surpassing 10 million total customers. AT&T Corp. said it was raising its revenue growth target for the wireless division to more than 20 percent for 1999. While revenue increased 40 percent in the quarter, adjusted for the sale of the company’s messaging division in October, the carrier’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) less other income was flat year-over-year. “All of the margin deterioration year on year can be explained by the additional investment we are making in new customers and digital migration,” said AT&T Wireless Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse. Average revenue per user increased 15 percent in the first quarter, reaching $60.60 per month. Revenue growth of $446 million far exceeded the growth in off-network roaming costs, said Hesse. Analysts have been concerned about the impact of off-network roaming costs since the carrier introduced a digital one-rate plan that eliminates long-distance and roaming fees nationwide. Off-network roaming charges and higher costs of wireless handsets primarily were to blame for its parent company’s overall network and communications services expenses, which increased 3.6 percent year-over-year. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
