Wireless resellers are a hardy breed. Their success or failure teeters on the shoulders of carriers that tightly control the supply of the product they need to survive. Whether warranted or not, carriers harbor fears that resellers will steal customers and sap resources, and...
MONTREAL-The transmission was delayed 20 minutes because the test PC had crashed. And the picture quality, to put it kindly, was choppy. Nevertheless, in February, Rogers AT&T Wireless and Ericsson Canada made the first wireless phone call in North America to be carried over...
CANNES, France and HANNOVER, Germany-Visitors at the ever-expanding GSM World Congress, held in February in Cannes, France, could have mistaken the huge exhibition as focusing exclusively on Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). For the second year running, it appeared almost every exhibitor had a WAP...
WASHINGTON-With predictions that data-particularly e-commerce-will shape the industry's future, the big question is which enterprise network will handle the most wireless traffic in the New Millennium.Will it be a network based on Internet Protocol or on voice-friendly circuit-switched network technology? Or something else?The answer,...
There is a chink in Nokia Mobile Phones' armor, and it is the vendor's market share in the cdmaOne handset business.While Nokia sells the most popular handsets in the world, holding more than 30 percent of the total business, its share in the cdmaOne...
Brazil's spectrum choice in auctioning new personal communications services licenses could be an important decision for the GSM community as it struggles to gain inroads into Latin America.The Brazilian telecom regulatory authority, Anatel, plans to auction new PCS licenses as early as this year,...
TORONTO-Industry Canada conducted its first spectrum sale in November, raising CAN$172.5 million (US$116.7 million) in online bidding for licenses in the 24 GHz and 38 GHz bands.In the process, which began in October and followed 118 rounds of bidding, Industry Canada sold six large...
The Canadian wireless market has seen a run-up in stock prices this year as tremendous growth and recent consolidation activity have driven increased interest in the sector."1998 was not a bad year, but it was a little wishy-washy," said George Karidis, director of research...
NEW YORK-The astounding success of NTT DoCoMo's mobile Internet access service is a resounding note of affirmation to proponents of wireless Web services, said Crispin K. Vicars at the Yankee Group's conference Nov. 8.By the end of September, DoCoMo's wireless Internet service had 1.7...
Some confusion exists in the wireless industry over whether mobile-phone-component shortages are affecting the handset supply in the United States.Major handset suppliers say they aren't struggling with component shortages, but one major carrier said its lower subscriber additions in the third quarter were caused...
There was a time, not so long ago, when reasonably priced voice service with decent coverage delighted most wireless subscribers. But subscribers soon were demanding the same features-like voice mail, caller ID and three-way calling-offered on wireline phones.These features, previously known as enhanced services,...
NEW YORK-"We've done the really easy stuff, and now the fun begins," Ivan Seidenberg, chairman and chief executive officer of Bell Atlantic Corp., said in a keynote address Oct. 7 at Fall Internet World '99.The Internet has evolved rapidly from its genesis as a...
While carriers publicly push ahead with their third-generation technology migration plans, behind the scenes, some may be evaluating technology conversions that could be more cost effective in the long run.Sources close to AT&T Corp. say the nationwide telecommunications carrier is technically studying Code Division...
The worldwide wireless industry is expected to pass a significant milestone sometime during 2000.With total mobile subscribers at the end of last year of about 315 million and a growth rate of nearly 8 percent this year, mobile subscribers are expected to surpass the...
U.S. TDMA operators must make some critical decisions about competing in the wireless data market during the next year as they witness their CDMA counterparts begin to launch circuit-switched data services on a large scale.TDMA operators-which in the late 1980s banked on Cellular Digital...
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse has consistently indicated one key to growing wireless market share is targeting the youth market. The carrier is hoping its new nationwide prepaid offering becomes a low-end version of its popular Digital One Rate plan...
U.S. TDMA operators must make some critical decisions about competing in the wireless data market during the next year as they witness their CDMA counterparts begin to launch circuit-switched data services in large scale.Time Division Multiple Access operators-which in the late 1980s banked on...
TORONTO-Canada has vast acreage and is sparsely populated in many areas, yet it has the most affordable wireless rates in the world, according to new research.A recent study by the Yankee Group, a Boston-based technology research firm, concluded that Canada, when measured against 27...
Wireless industry members agree smart phones will become a critical differentiating factor for handset vendors and mobile-phone operators within the next two years, but the proliferation of these devices remains relatively unknown.For handset providers, smart phones represent an opportunity to extend their products, boost...
Nissan Motor Co. said last week it will sell its stakes in nine Japanese cellular operators, a move that is sure to pave the way for consolidation in a wireless industry crowded with eight operating groups, say analysts.Choosing to focus on its ailing automotive...
The worldwide wireless industry is expected to pass a significant milestone sometime during 2000.With total mobile subscribers at the end of last year of about 315 million and a growth rate of nearly 8 percent this year, mobile subscribers are expected to surpass the...
Two Code Division Multiple Access carriers launched limited data services last week that involve linking wireless phones to laptop computers via a cable, allowing the phones to act both as a voice device and wireless data modem.Such a solution has been available from Global...
The wireless handset market has proven that a strong brand name doesn't guarantee success.
Sony Electronics Inc. announced last week it is pulling out of the North American handset business and terminating 200 jobs in San Diego. The well-known consumer electronics giant is one of...
Restructuring has proven to be a difficult task for Swedish vendor L.M. Ericsson, whose board of directors last week unanimously opted to unseat President and CEO Sven-Christer Nilsson.
Alarmed Nilsson wasn't working fast enough to improve Ericsson's profitability, the board appointed Chairman Lars Ramqvist to...
