WHILE THE CARRIER'S COMPETITORS WORRY over a potentially greatly expanded customer base and network footprint, Verizon Wireless' handset suppliers likely are cheering news that the carrier plans to acquire Alltel Communications L.L.C."The strongest (handset) players at Verizon Wireless areprobably the winners" in the merger,...
There likely won’t be any 3G service at this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing, but the host country is finally making progress on a years-long plan to issue licenses that will enable carriers to begin deploying third-generation networks, the government said...
The following list details this week's infrastructure awards for the cellular, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available.Cellular--Ireland: Ericsson said it won a contract with Meteor Mobile...
TD-SCDMA WORKS. That's the view of one analyst who participated in trials in Baoding, China, as long ago as December 2006.A very modest supply of subsidized handsets and data cards by domestic and foreign vendors should hit the market this summer for early adopters,...
As Motorola Inc.'s growth sharply contracted between 2006 and 2007, four Chinese handset vendors were among the fastest growing in the business, although at markedly lower volumes.The finding is one of many disparate conclusions drawn in a new study from Forward Concepts that examined...
The once-monolithic handset market is becoming a lot more interesting.As growth slows in developed markets, players with strong presence in emerging markets may see more dependable gains. But macro-economic uncertainty has analysts and handset vendors forecasting anywhere from 4% to 10% overall growth for...
LAS VEGAS-Brightpoint announced several distribution and logistics agreements last week at CTIA 2008.The company announced a distribution agreement with Cellatel L.L.C. that covers handset distribution through its North America and Latin America subsidiaries. Brightpoint Latin America will provide distribution services for Cellatel's Alcatel-branded handset...
The notion that an ambitious Chinese handset vendor will make a bid for Motorola Inc. has received some press in the United States, perhaps aided by a touch of nationalistic horror.The Chinese government and Chinese banks already finance a big chunk of the American...
Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. announced it will provide handsets to MetroPCS Communications Inc., making it the second Chinese handset vendor this month to do so.Huawei's M318 handset, a clamshell model, is the first in what is expected to be an array of its devices...
ZTE USA, the American face of the Chinese handset and network vendor, will begin supplying co-branded CDMA handsets to MetroPCS Communications Corp., which offers service to 3.7 million subscribers in major metro areas. The deal is ZTE's second to provide devices to an American...
Separate mobile Linux efforts have been cited by competitors as likely to lead to fragmentation.That's an ongoing debate, to be sure. But one Linux camp and an analyst said last week that "fragmentation" definitely means fragmenting the pool of application developers available to any...
Sprint Nextel Corp. remains committed to its WiMAX plans and continues to move forward with its soft launch of services in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. ,later this year, according to Sprint Nextel Xohm public-relations spokesman John Polivka."We don't expect any impact to the...
TERMINATING A LETTER OF INTENT-as Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. did Nov. 9-doesn't lend itself to gauging possible impacts to Sprint Nextel's ambitious, multibillion-dollar WiMAX plans. Assessing impacts to suppliers is even more perilous, according to analysts.Sprint Nextel appeared to send mixed signals...
You've undoubtedly noticed, with pleasure, that the telescoping, whip antenna of yore has long ago disappeared inside the increasingly sleek device you slip into your pocket. Technology is supposed to be invisible. Out-of-sight, out-of-mind is fine for the consumer, blissfully unaware of the complexity...
Another week, another Chinese controversy in official Washington.Congressional furor seemingly had begun to subside over imports of pet food, toys, toothpaste and seafood-all subjects of safety concerns-when 3Com Corp. announced it will be swallowed up by Bain Capital Partners L.L.C. in a $2.2 billion...
If you're wondering what shape WiMAX-enabled devices will take, you can hop a plane to South Korea and see Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s two models in action on SK Telecom's WiBro network. Samsung's M8100 is the world's first WiMAX-equipped PDA-style smartphone, a slider model...
The following list details this week's infrastructure awards for the cellular, Wi-Fi and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available.Cellular--Indonesia: Telkom Indonesia has chosen ZTE Corp. to expand the...
Network operators increasingly will partner with small handset vendors to offer low-margin, ultra-low-cost handsets, particularly in emerging markets where new subscriber growth remains strong, according to ABI Research. Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. currently dominate the sub-$50 handset space, in part due to their...
The ZTE D90 handset-a "multimedia powerhouse" in the vendor's words-will be available from Canadian carrier Telus Mobility, priced at $218 without a contract and $76 with a three-year contract. The D90, a flip phone, supports the carrier's CDMA2000 1x EV-DO network speeds, sports a...
Network operators will earn more than $10 billion this year from selling self-branded handsets made by ODMs, according to ABI Research. That's a nearly 25% jump from the prior year. Within four years, that segment could grow to about 10% of the total handset...
ORLANDO, Fla.-Sprint Nextel Corp. shook up its mobile music service to be more competitive, and announced an expansion of its joint venture with its cable partners.The music offering includes the new Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. SPH-m620 phone, dubbed Upstage, that offers a slim form...
ORLANDO, Fla.-The competitive cauldron that is the domestic Chinese handset market has produced a few winners. And that has fueled a desire among those winners to enter the U.S. market.The prize? Prestige, profits and brand-building that could serve long-term, global growth, according to analysts.At...
IF NOKIA CORP. HAS TO REFRESH its efforts in the United States to solidify carrier relationships, as it said last week, two Chinese handset vendors entering the market may similarly have to gird for the long haul-though ambition is a good place to start.The...
