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!
C-block spectrum tussles
WASHINGTON-The gloves finally are off in the fight for the most desirable C-block broadband personal communications services markets. Instead of taking the battle outside to duke it out, certain C-block bidders are using the Federal Communications Commission as the venue of choice. In a March 12 letter to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, GO Communications Corp. President Steve Zecola urged the commission to investigate “illegitimate bidders” who are causing the rapid rise in marketplace values. “Bona fide C-block entrepreneurs are faced with a `prisoners dilemma’ requiring a choice between falling out of the auction or paying escalating prices,” Zecola wrote. Without naming names, Zecola pointed a finger at rival NextWave Telecom Inc.-which GO backed to the hilt recently when the competing bidder warned the commission in a similar letter to watch out for rulebreakers-by making thinly veiled accusations regarding NextWave’s foreign-ownership limitations. “Now GO has learned that the most aggressive auction participant has approached the FCC regarding a waiver of the 310(b) ownership restrictions while simultaneously bidding billions in such a manner as to drive out numerous legitimate small businesses,” Zecola added. In a reversal of its opinion two weeks ago that nothing should stop the C-block auctions, even temporarily, GO asked the FCC to “halt the auction if it concurs with GO that several bidders are disqualified under FCC rules*…*these parties should be disqualified from the auction before it is restarted.” … Read more
“The days of free spectrum are over”
WASHINGTON-Only time will tell what the Federal Communications Commission will do with the information it gleaned from last week’s en banc hearing on spectrum policy. The all-day session, which involved some 30 panelists representing industry spectrum consumers and academia, was designed to collect information on four fronts: spectrum demand, technology trends, spectrum allocation and spectrum assignment. Questions from the audience were not solicited, but comments from attendees will be accepted for the record through March 26. It is safe to surmise that, in the words of panelist Mark Crosby, president of the Industrial Telecommunications Association, that “the days of free spectrum are over.” The overriding emphasis of the hearing was how to maximize the value of the remaining frequencies without displacing too many incumbents or jeopardizing personal or public security. “The FCC must adopt a market-based mechanism for the bulk of the spectrum,” said former FCC staffer Peter Pitsch, now an adjunct fellow with the Progress and Freedom Foundation. “The most important goal of management is to maximize value from low-value uses to high-value uses.” On a similar note, others pointed out that the commission should not be the body to decide what services will be available in the marketplace. Rather, the marketplace should decide. “There is no substitute for trial and error in the marketplace,” said Tom Hazlett of the American Enterprise Institute and a former FCC economist. “The FCC should look at its recent successes, like PCS. Let the market determine the services and the need, and let auctions decide who the operators will be.” … Read more
Nokia serves up the ‘Big Mac’ of wireless devices
The Big Mac of wireless devices has arrived. Shaped like a regular cellular phone, the Nokia 9000 Communicator opens to expose an interactive digital world of voice, data, fax, e-mail, computer, on-line and organizer features to appease the cravings of today’s business professionals. Nokia Mobile Phones said the 9000 tops the new “smartphone” product category. Most smartphones, or superphones, in the market today feature voice, paging and short message services and operate on cellular and personal communications services frequencies. The 9000 runs on Geoworks’ GEOS 3.0 operating system and uses microprocessor technology and flash memory from Intel Corp., which allows for a high level of integration and power efficiency, said Intel. The 9000 won’t reach the United States until more digital networks are up. Nokia plans to launch 9000 in 89 countries this summer, including New Zealand, Australia and parts of Europe and the Far East, which are equipped with Global System for Mobile communications networks. First to market in broadband PCS, American Personal Communications, branded as Sprint Spectrum, offers all-in-one PCS handsets that provide its Washington, D.C./Baltimore customers alphanumeric paging and fax capabilities as well as voice, said spokeswoman Anne Schelle. Sprint Spectrum distributes smartphones from Nokia, Ericsson Inc. and Motorola Inc. The GSM digital phones start at around $100 retail, added Schelle. … Read more
The writing on the wall for analog cellular
NEW YORK-In the short run in the U.S. analog cellular phone equipment market, Nokia Corp. and, to a lesser extent, L.M. Ericsson, have gained ground on industry giant Motorola Inc. But the bigger question over the longer run is how meaningful this market share snapshot is as an indicator, given the rapidly changing dynamics of this sector, industry analysts said. This is the picture today. Motorola, which controlled more than 60 percent of the handset market when cellular telephony got its start in this country a decade or so ago, has been gradually losing some market share in recent years. Whereas Motorola controlled half of the market two or three years ago, its share now is estimated at about 40 percent to 45 percent. Nokia, which made a major marketing push in the United States in the past year, has doubled its market penetration to roughly 20 percent-despite recently publicized difficulties it has experienced due to rapid growth. It has done so not solely at the expense of Motorola, but also at the expense of the smaller Japanese players, like Fujitsu Network Transmission Systems, according to Mark Cabi and Nikos Theodosopolous, telecommunications equipment analysts for Salomon Brothers Inc. and UBS Securities, respectively. Ericsson, which offers high-end analog handsets, “is not a big but a growing presence, with about 5 to 10 percent of the U.S. market,” Theodosopolous said. Its primary strength is in the more complex digital technology. “People keep seeing Motorola’s share going down, but the sheer volume has increased over time, and they certainly are shipping more phones than ever,” said Tom Ross, a cellular industry analyst for Economic And Management Consultants International Inc., Washington, D.C. The problem, however, is that at least until personal communications services start in a year or two, the United States likely will be a stagnant or declining market, said Ian Gillott, manager of wireless communications research for IDC/Link, Austin, Texas. Even if PCS takes off here, the real growth opportunities for equipment manufacturers are abroad, in locales where wireline infrastructure is poor or non-existent: in European countries like Hungary, Italy and Spain; in Latin America and the Asia Pacific nations. Because analog technology is entrenched here, and is useful for cellular roaming, it isn’t likely to disappear, at least for 10 to 15 years, Gillot said. But with the top 10 cellular carriers dominating 95 percent of the market, and all moving into PCS, dual-mode cellular phones are the obvious next generation. A single-mode analog handset, regardless of advanced features, will soon go the way of the eight-track audio tape, he said. … Read more
Nokia’s first US PCS network win
WESTLAKE, Texas-Nokia Telecommunications Inc. announced it has been selected as the sole supplier for the initial buildout of American Portable Telecom Inc.’s personal communications services network. The $200 million contract calls for Nokia to supply Global System for Mobile communications equipment, base stations and engineering services, Nokia said. The contract is Nokia’s first in the United States that calls for a complete PCS system and long-term engineering support, the company said. Nokia also is supplying $50 million in GSM equipment to Western Wireless Corp. for its PCS network and signed a supply agreement with GO Communications Inc. in June to supply $200 million in base station systems. GO is bidding in the current C-block auction and expects to deploy the base stations beginning in the fourth quarter. … Read more
Wireline vs. wireless
NEW YORK-Wireless links may play a crucial role for long-distance, regional Bell operating companies and cable TV firms seeking competitive advantage in the newly deregulated landscape. Deregulation is occurring in an environment of technological convergence of voice, data and video communications, said speakers at “The Impact of Cybercommunications on Telecommunications” conference. The meeting was held March 8 at Columbia University’s Institute for Tele-Information. With Internet services viewed as a vital growth area of communications in the next decade, long-distance companies, RBOCs and cable companies need to form strategic alliances with each other to tap the expanding market sector. At the same time, telephone companies already have invested heavily in wireline infrastructure-investments on which they may not ever get a fair rate of return, said Michael Einhorn, an economist for the U.S. Department of Justice. Some of that wireline infrastructure already is obsolete for meeting the new demands for speed, clarity and volume that will be required. Furthermore, cable TV companies have deployed technology most suited in the near term to meet the demands of the next generation of communications. However, their transmission systems, as now configured, are not compatible with those of telephone companies, said David J. Waks, a founder of Prodigy Services Co. and now president of System Dynamics Inc., Morris Plains, N.J. Waks said he is a member of the Cross-Industry Working Team, which “is trying to solve the problem of how systems talk to each other.” Enter wireless as a comparatively cost-effective solution to systems compatibility. … Read more
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