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 those sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Multimedia messages sent by nearly 8% of US mobile users
SEATTLE-Multimedia messaging service activity continued to grow at an impressive clip in April, with nearly 8 percent of U.S. wireless users sending photos from their handsets to another phone or e-mail address, according to mobile usage measurement firm M:Metrics. The latest figures from the company’s monthly report indicate more than 14 million subscribers sent pictures from their phones in April, representing an increase of more than 10 percent from usage patterns in March. Ringtone transactions continued to increase, as well, with 24.5 million users down loading music clips to their handsets. More than 60 percent of ringtone buyers downloaded two or more clips, according to the survey, and more than one-third downloaded three or more. And as the demand for ringtones increases, so does the number of ringtone providers. … Read more
Downloads are up at Verizon
Verizon Wireless subscribers have downloaded more than 120 million applications during the past year, nearly doubling the number of downloads from the previous 12 months, the carrier announced at the BREW Developers Conference Wednesday. Verizon said the total number of downloads through its Get it Now service is expected to surpass the 200 million mark by the end of June. More than 50 million games have been downloaded since the mobile storefront launched in September 2002. “This broader market penetration is a direct result of our joint efforts with the developer community,” said John Stratton, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon. “While we celebrate our successes, we must anticipate the future; customers are more sophisticated, increasingly savvy about mobile and exhibit much broader and more diverse tastes.” … Read more
New industry group sees WiMAX as 3G competitor
Mobile Internet access solutions company RemotePipes Inc. announced it has formed an alliance focused on roaming and interoperability mechanisms for networks based on the 802.16 WiMAX specifications. The WiMAX Global Roaming Alliance targets commercial entities, state and city governments, wireless Internet service providers and equipment manufacturers, said the company. Membership is currently free to qualified candidates. Doug Bonestroo, chief executive officer of the company, added, “We realize that the larger telecom providers have a virtual lock on the EV-based 3G marketplace, and that the best way to counter that leverage is with a large group of partners in the U.S. and around the world that are committed to standards-based WiMAX roaming. We will welcome any carriers that want to join the effort, but unlike industry groups striving to make WiMAX appear complementary to 3G, we will continue to view it as a directly competitive offering.” … Read more
T-Mo upbeat on growth, expects 3G launch in 2006
Despite increasing competition and spectrum concerns, T-Mobile USA Inc. said it expects to continue posting around 1 million net customer additions per quarter through the rest of 2005, and with the help of upcoming spectrum auctions to begin rolling out next-generation services by the end of next year. The carrier, which has posted around 1 million net quarterly additions since late 2003 and ended the first quarter of this year with 18.3 million subscribers, told reporters it saw plenty of growth potential in the U.S. market that has yet to achieve penetration levels posted in parts of Europe and Asia. “I believe we can keep up this speed of growth,” T-Mobile USA chief executive Robert Dotson told Reuters. “We are a growth machine. We have to grow, grow, grow.” T-Mobile USA noted that much of that growth will come from wireline customers cutting the cord and migrating to wireless services. The carrier added that between 10 percent and 15 percent of its customer base has cut the cord. Analysts have noted that another strong growth segment for T-Mobile USA will be prepaid customers, which made up an increasing percentage of the carrier’s customer base during the first quarter of this year, after years of stable growth. T-Mobile USA is also reinforcing its position as the industry’s low-cost leader, recently dropping the price of its signature 1,000 anytime calling minute plans with unlimited night and weekend calling from $60 per month to $46, and to $40 in some markets. … Read more
Who’s interested in mobile data services?
Users in the youth and young adult segment showed strong interest in using wireless entertainment and multimedia services, according to a new market research report by The Management Network Group Inc. The online study polled 1,000 people between the ages of 13 and 34 earlier this year to gauge interest in forthcoming broadband multimedia services and the willingness of users in that category to pay for services. Service concepts studied were commercial-free radio, music downloads, mobile television, video clips and multiplayer 3D gaming. TMNG studied both pay-per-use and monthly fee models. TMNG said more than half of this age group consider their mobile phone to be their primary phone line, and about 12 percent do not have a fixed-line phone. Although the age category studied was broad, the biggest differences were related more to gender than to age. “There is often the perception that when people reach adulthood their interest in entertainment or content declines, but we found that wasn’t the case at all,” said Paul Petersky. About 40 percent of those polled said they were either extremely or very interested in using at least one of the five service concepts outlined in the study. Overall, male users between the ages of 13 and 24 expressed the most interest in all of the services. In addition, users who actively use existing wireless data services, as well as those who are frequent purchasers of traditional music and video media, had a greater interest in future wireless multimedia services, said the report. … Read more
Study looks at ‘social benefits’ of spectrum
WASHINGTON-Spectrum in the 700 MHz band is worth $20 billion to the federal treasury, but has a social value of at least $233 billion, according to a study sponsored by Intel Corp. “The current market value of licenses to use the unsold 60 megahertz would be $20 billion to $24 billion,” said Coleman Bazelon, vice president of Analysis Group. “These estimates of the spectrum’s value are dwarfed by the social value, which would be an estimated $233 billion to $473 billion.” Peter Pitsch, Intel communications policy director, previewed the study May 26 before the House telecommunications subcommittee as the subcommittee held a hearing on the staff discussion draft of the Digital TV Transition Act of 2005. Both the House and Senate are expected to consider legislation this summer to end the DTV transition Dec. 31, 2008, with auctions of 700 MHz spectrum earlier that year. In 1997, Congress said that in 2007, broadcasters would have to return the extra 6 megahertz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band given to TV broadcasters to facilitate the DTV transition. The plan has been mired in proposed legislation and protests since. … Read more
MTV to launch mobile content service in Japan
TOKYO-MTV Network will launch a subscription-based mobile entertainment service in Japan by the end of the month, the Viacom Inc. subsidiary said Thursday. Flux, which is expected to launch June 30, will deliver short videos and music clips through mobile and online networks, allowing subscribers to make recommendations to others and provide feedback. Content for the offering will include programming from the MTV Networks library, including Nickelodeon character SpongeBob SquarePants and MTV’s Dirty Sanchez and Gutter Pups. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
