4G Wireless Evolution - 4G Wireless Archives

Should Vodafone Let Go of Verizon Wireless?

2013-05-03T16:21:43Z

Let's get serious about where we are today. The Fed has made cheap money available everywhere and its going to lead to more Mergers and Acquisitions.

From Verizon's perspective there is never a better time to engage Vodafone in talks about buying back their interest.

However, in Vodafone's case there are few investments as beneficial as Verizon Wireless. In fact, it would hard to imagine that the deal code be sweet enough to not overcome the concern of not having a US partner.

As we look at Softbank's efforts to finalize their buy into Sprint, and DT trying to leverage MetroPCS to fortify T-Mobile, it becomes hard to figure out where alliances will take companies.

Softbank has long been a partner to Verizon Wireless and if Vodafone is to go its separate ways as well, it indicates a very US centric view for VZW.

So at the end of the day, Verizon should be careful what it wishes for, it could be that they are going to regret buying it back as much as they regretted selling it.

Catching the Corner of My Eye!

2010-11-01T14:37:26Z

- We as an Industry are consolidating Profitablly.

Sparked by the ViVo acquistion efforts in Brazil the Headlines today are from the WSJ about Telefonica and their expansion. We are friendly with many of their company employees from O2 in Europe and Movistar in Latin America. The article's quote César Alierta, CEO of Telefonica is very true to our experience of key personnel in these companies representing the management of capital and brand.

"The key factor for Telefónica to do anything is: first, human resources. Second, money," he explains. "We don't have the middle management able to run operations in sub-Saharan Africa. We can´t send engineers or marketing people who don't understand the local mentality, and when you don't know the local mentality, you have a big problem."

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304155604575581952382163906.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews#ixzz142LUXDFY

- While the are all running Toward China and India They Can Diversify.

China has no problems with sending engineering talent to Africa and other undeveloped companies. The result is that China may very well export there standards as a result.

Meanwhile in India the SENSEX had a banner day with one of the winners being Bharti Airtel as a result of their acquistion in the Seychelles.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Sensex-closes-315-points-higher/articleshow/6852735.cms

Sprint Executives Resign From Clearwire Board Due to Anti-Trust Laws

2010-10-05T22:37:15Z

The three Sprint (S) executives that were residing on the Clearwire(CLWR) board have resigned, leading many to question the stability of the company. Sprint, owning 54%, is the majority shareholder of Clearwire. With three empty seats on the board and Sprint CEO Dan Hesse available to perhaps sit on another board, have more investment options been opened for both Sprint and Clearwire?

At face value, the reasoning for Sprint's resignation from the board is sound.

Clearwire was informed by Sprint that the decisions to resign were made out of an abundance of caution to address questions raised by Clearwire regarding new developments in anti-trust law.

This was the statement released from Clearwire regarding the decision. Judging from the points of "analysis" that many articles are focusing on, there seems to be a misunderstanding on the definition and application of anti-trust laws.

Anti-trust laws are created to prevent monopolies. The United States doesn't regard monopolies as illegal; the act of limiting competition is illegal. A brief reminder: United States vs. Microsoft (MSFT). That case was regarding the bundling of Internet Explorer with Microsoft Windows and marked a precedent of increased government regulation over futuretechnological process. But how is this relevant to Sprint and Clearwire?

It's a known fact that the two companies share towers, and most likely, deployment strategies. But that has no relevance to any anti-trust issues. The problem would be in bundling the two and therefore limiting the competition through a joint venture. As of yet, there have been no actions from either company suggesting such an event. Until Sprint starts selling packages with Clearwire home service or vice versa, nothing illegal is going on. They utilize the same WiMAX network, not anything past that.

These "new developments in anti-trust laws" are either legitimate new developments or a ruse. Maybe the CEO of one company should heed warning and distance himself from big investments that may create a monopoly of a sort of his niche in telecommunications. Or, as everyone else seems to be convinced, there is now room for other companies to create innovative marketing strategies. Even if another company were to associate itself with Clearwire, at this point it would just be a redistribution of money because Clearwire has already been deployed in over 50 markets. Another telecom company can't even attach itself to Clearwire's 4G WiMAX network because it is already in use with Sprint. In order for a merge to work it would have to be with Sprint too, in order to have access to both towers and spectrum. But, if anything, that would be creating the biggest monopoly in the U.S. telecom arena. So, what is Hesse playing at by resigning? His intentions may not be known until the next quarterly earnings report. Hopefully they will shed some light on this conundrum.

The Opportunity Gap: New Spectrum Same Problem

2010-06-28T16:08:31Z

The Wireless world is expanding in traffic and spectrum now that President Obama is looking to open up spectrum.

Regardless of what the policy is from the White House the need for data services on mobile solutions is expanding and the need to support these solutions is requiring the carriers to become more efficient.

The use of multicore systems is part of the mainstay of development by the silicon companies that are at the heart of the 4G evolution. These systems can impact the can increase the ability to deliver new services which can be used to increase the average revenue per unit.

If you are specifying the future here is where you should start.

What Attendees will learn:
Join Wind River for an informative session on the role network acceleration solutions play in increasing the overall intelligence in the network. In this web seminar we'll discuss the advancements in embedded software for multi-core technologies and how it is enabling network elements to make intelligent packet processing decisions related to traffic management, security, and content handling.

Who should attend:
  • Network equipment providers
  • Telecom equipment manufacturers
  • Service providers
  • Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) board vendors

Speakers:

Mark Guinther
Product Line Manager Wind River

Mark Guinther is a Product Line Manager for Networking Technologies at Wind River. He has over twenty years of experience in the data/ voice/wireless networking industry including management positions at Alcatel and FORE Systems. He has a background in a broad range of technologies including IP routing, xDSL, network security, ATM, IPv6, VoIP, wireless, and next generation networks. Mark has a bachelor's degree in computer science from UC Berkeley and an MBA. Mark can be reached at mark.guinther@windriver.com

Jessica Schieve
Director, Networking Solutions Marketing Wind River

Jessica Schieve is the Director of Networking Solutions Marketing at Wind River. She has over 15 years of embedded software and technologies marketing for a broad range vertical markets including: Telcom and Networking, Digital Consumer, and Automotive. Her primary responsibility is to strategically align Wind River's product portfolio and ecosystem into solutions for next generation networking. Before joining Wind River in 2003, she held senior product management and marketing positions at Scientific-Atlanta, where she successfully launched the company's set-top box platform software and interactive TV applications product lines.

Carl Ford
Community Developer 4GWE Crossfire Media

Carl Ford is Co-Founder of Crossfire Media focused on the impact of communication technology on consumers and industry. Carl has been highlighting the key initiatives around the advances of the Commercial Internet since the beginning. From developing Product and service strategies to moderating meetings at ETSI, Carl's 20+ years have always focused on the impact that service cost, regulatory and marketing issues have in rolling out new services. As a community developer for Pulvermedia, Carl developed all of the VON Conference content. As an integral part of the IP Communications community, Carl has been instrumental in helping develop various trade organizations and has advised many companies on both strategic and technical issues to satisfy the needs of these company's customers.

http://bit.ly/d7S5cq

Not the Usual Suspects: The Road Block Ahead Audiocast

2010-05-10T12:49:24Z

Audiocast: Come join the Conference Call

The Roadblock Ahead: FCC vs. Comcast What's Next.
   May 25, 2010 From 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT

powered by

Abstract: As the US looks to redefine its National Broadband Policy the FCC finds itself be questioned about its authority. Access and Over the Top services are both desired in the future
markets, but the role of the FCC is now in question.
   - Does the FCC have jurisdiction to manage the interaction between access and applications?
   - How much of the old rules can be applied when the model is no longer based on carrier interaction but theinternetworking that goes beyond the distance the of a single provider?
   - What concerns do applications and services like peer to Peer have about the control by access providers?
   - Should the rules be the same regardless of wireline and wireless?

To Participate email me. Carl Ford cford@4gwe.com or sign up here

Glenn S. Richards Partner Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Glenn is a partner in Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman's communications group. He represents VoIP providers, wireline and wireless communications carriers, satellite companies, equipment manufacturers and large users of telecommunications services in transactional and litigation matters, and in regulatory matters before the FCC, state public utility commissions and international regulatory agencies.
Glenn has been active with the Voice on the Net Coalition since its inception, serving as primary outside counsel from 1997-2006 and Executive Director since September 2009.
He has also served as a member of US delegations for International Telecommunication Union radio conferences, including the 1995 and 1997 World Radiocommunication Conferences, and CITEL conferences in 1992 and 1995. He has also served on the North American Numbering Council.

Hank Hultquist - Vice President, Federal Regulatory, AT&T
Hank joined AT&T (then SBC) in 2004. He represents AT&T at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on a number of issues including broadband and Internet policy, video and media policy, intercarrier compensation, and universal service. He is a member of the Board of Directors and of the Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI) and serves on the North American Numbering Council (NANC). Prior to joining AT&T, he was with MCI for eight years. Hank is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Law and the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

Bram Cohen , Chief Scientist and Co-founder. BitTorrrent
Bram Cohen is the Chief Scientist and co-founder of BitTorrent, Inc. and the creator of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) file distribution protocol. Bram is also the co-founder of CodeCon and the co-author of Codeville. Prior to the creation of BitTorrent, Bram worked at MojoNation. MojoNation allowed people to break up confidential files into encrypted chunks and distribute those pieces to other computers running MojoNations software. This concept served as the inspiration for Bram's development of BitTorrent. Before MojoNation, Bram was a quintessential dot-commer, working for several Internet companies through the mid-to-late 90s. Bram grew up in New York City, graduated from Stuyvesant High School and attended the University of Buffalo.

David, Farber, Former CTO of the FCC.
Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University holding secondary appointments in the Heinz College and the Engineering Public Policy Group.

In January 17, 2000, he was appointed to be Chief Technologist at the US Federal Communications Commission while on leave from UPenn for one year ending in early June 2001. While at UPenn, he co-directed The Penn Initiative on Markets, Technology and Policy. He was also Director of the Distributed Systems Laboratory - DSL where he managed leading edge research in Ultra High Speed Networking. Research papers of the DSL are available in its electronic library.

His early academic research work was focused at creating the worlds first operational Distributed Computer System -- DCS while at the ICS Department at the University of California at Irvine. After that, while with the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Delaware, he helped conceive and organize CSNet, NSFNet and the NREN.

Carl Ford, Co Founder Crossfire Media.
Carl Ford has been exploring internetworking issues his entire career. From the development of custom networks from SONET Rings and fiber optics to special AIN features, Carl's 20+ years have always focused on satisfying customers needs. This focus has given him a unique grasp on the impact that cost, regulatory and marketing issues have in rolling out new services.
While working on Verizon's Internet strategy, Carl focused on the internetworking side of the business service for and billing technologies. Carl utilized this experience when he joined Telcordia to manage billing solutions for the first Class 5 Softswitch.

As an integral part of the IP Communications community, Carl has been instrumental in helping develop various trade organizations and has advised many companies on both strategic and technical issues to satisfy the needs of these company's customers.

Is Skype Mobile the Exception or the Rule?

2010-03-10T21:23:13Z

Verizon Wireless and Skype provided a model for the VoIP provider to meet the wireless operator, but the model is probably not how must carriers will meet.

Next week we are running a webinar about Voice over LTE [VoLTE] which is an interoperabilty standard that the carriers are looking to deploy complying with the 3GPP architecture.

While other proposals have been out there, the VoLTE group represents the scale and overall perspective of the GSMA carrier membership.

It's a SIP based solution using the IMS standard, so in the end it may be that only the larger operators are going to interconnect. However it may be that because of this common platform new services will be available to third parties.

These are the questions that I am looking to get answers to when I attend the webinar March 18th and 11 EDT.

To join us sign up here.

Web envy Google vs. Vodafone

2010-02-17T12:24:54Z

At Mobile World Congress Vittiorio Colao the CEO of Vodafone made mention of the fact that regardless of what smart phone your were using over 80% of the time was using Google.

This pointed to the latest love hate the carriers have with Google, but they have a history of not liking any of the computing partners. Apple got to watch the wholesale app announcement with about half of the 24 carriers being their partners pledging to work with LG, Samsung and Sony to build an app market.

Likewise Microsoft has a long history of trying to bring smarts at a time when the network had little capacity for computing.

However, in these times when wireless broadband is an imperative to the carriers the strategies of come one come all, have proven less than successful.

Its clear that mobile markets are going be more like computing the in years past and the company's success will be based on finding ways to partner without losing brand to the consumer, or without using the brand in the application (as in M2M).

One thing that has not risen to the surface in MWC this week is e-readers. The group is strangely silent, either because they are retooling after the iPad or because the deals are not that valuable to the carriers.

Whatever the reason, the computing devices are coming more and more often and it will take more than an app store to catch the consumer's attention.

LG Breaks the Categories, but not the model

2010-01-11T16:14:57Z

"It's not a Femtocell!"

Chris Zeigler at engadget took this picture and as asked what is this thing?

If you live alone and you don't have to keep the family entertained. Why have the Internet Access at the house and not with you. That seems to be the reasoning behind the this terminal adapter. That connects your LTE phone to the house and gives you connectivity.

Given the fact that 60% of CES, was trying to move video from the Internet to the media server in the house, this would probably require some network smarts.

In my humble opinion this places LG's LTE closer to the dual mode camp, but since they have femtocell strategies, it maybe this was an internal product that had to be different the LG / Nortel Femtocell.

Can we call it MonoMode?

Its a MSlate vs iTablet

2010-01-11T16:05:31Z

Microsoft made a lot of statements, but when it came to the term tablet, the lexicon changed. They want to call it a Slate.

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Google vs. Apple

2010-01-05T19:58:13Z

Google and Apple are vying for your attention today.

If you are a carrier, your bed fellows are not staying the night! Google with the Nexus One announcement that is all about the Android operating system and not a carrier. And strangely enough the Apple iTablet maybe the same thing. The rumors on the iTablet seem to indicate it may be devoid of 3G / 4G wireless interfaces and only support WiFi. While that will be a major plus for ATT who has already worked with Apple on the dual mode functionality of the iPhone, I should point out that Verizon has been the better company at supporting the use of USB 'sticks' (dongels?). It will be interesting to see if a bundle comes from either of the two carriers with the iTablet.

The Taffy Pull of Nortel: Ciena & Ericsson

2009-11-25T11:51:58Z

If the sum of the parts is never greater than the whole, the dividing of Nortel into various sections has interesting implications.

First of all, Ericsson is on a hot streak right now. It's announcements with ATT , T-Mobile and Verizon. Its outsourced services with Sprint, has made Ericsson the leader in the market. And its reflected in the fact that it now has an extra 5000 employees in the US.

Most importantly, It bought a cash cow for a mere $70M as the battle for 4G and LTE heats up they will be in their customers hearts already with the GSM support.

So its a pretty strong move.

On the other side, Huawei continues to capture the cable operators hearts and it will be interesting to see where the operators link between their IMS plans and the existing structure.

However, if integration services are the story for the future, then an opportunity probably exists for other companies to build that kind of a service.

One place where Integration will be tricky at best is Ciena. Nortel had a long history of walking to the beat of its own drummer on interoffice facilities, as the migration to ethernet continued it had a legacy mindset that carried over and doe not match well to Ciena.

So the question of how the nearly $ 800 M acquistion of the Nortel Ethernet assets get managed will be interesting to see. My own expectation is this may be a bitter pill to swallow and Nokia Siemens maybe grateful they did not win the bid.

Clearwire Goes Live with WiMAX in Dallas, Chicago, Charlotte

2009-11-06T02:34:01Z

The long wait for WiMAX in the Windy City as well as the DFW Metroplex is over -- as we expected, Clearwire is now selling services in both cities, keeping with the company's strategy of "soft launching" markets online before staging an "official" market opening with all the attendant hoopla.

Since it's Nov. 1, time for a new map -- and the one on the Clear.com website now shows Chicago "in the green" of Clearwire services, while adding Dallas/Fort Worth to the list of cities with service in Texas.

In North Carolina, the cities of Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro are also now listed as "live," so it looks like Clearwire should be able to make good on its promise to step up subscriber numbers in Q4, simply by having lots more markets selling services.

The big ones, however, are Chicago and Dallas -- two huge metro areas where Clearwire will see how it fares against existing service providers. In Chicago, Clearwire also has its first true "commuter" city, since thousands there ride the rails every day, to and from work, play, school and in just general getting-aroundness.

Will WiMAX's ability to connect while mobile make a big impression? We are only now just going to find out. We'll have some more thinking on Clearwire market launches later this week. And yes, the launches mean that Sprint's 4G services are available there too. Meanwhile, more detail from the Chicago maps below.

China and the iPhone

2009-10-26T15:04:28Z

It may be that ATT is good as it gets with the iPhone.

I have already commented on the fact that Telefonica is not having the same dramatic impact with the iPhone as ATT (Verizon [ NYSE: VZ] announced a 30% drop in earnings and slower growth than ATT ).

In China the Nokia E71 has a good following (I am still an N95 fan) and the cost of the iPhone is equivalent to a $1,000 US dollars over there. The discussion of Nokia's efforts to protect patents Apple may have violated seems late, but I suspect it will work itself out like many of these do before the court has to make a decision. IMHO, It probably has more value in the EU to show market / thought leadership than financial value.

More importantly as China continues to manage the operations of their end users the ability to use WiFi has been disabled. Like the issues of Skype via TOM in China, a closed iPhone with only the carriers network is not as interesting as an IPhone with WiFi. However, it allows the state to know what it wants to know.

Of course in China if you capture less than .001 of the market you are still busy, so the iPhone success is pretty much a guarantee.

Report Excerpt: Market Launches Keep Clearwire on Target

2009-10-20T23:25:13Z

Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from our latest quarterly report on all things Clearwire, the CLEARWIRE NTK OCTOBER 2009 (need to know) report, available now for the low low price of $4.95. In this excerpt we talk about how Clearwire's on-time, on-target market launches in Atlanta and Las Vegas, as well as a host of smaller cities, have kept the company on target with its ambitious 2009 rollout plans. For the full report, order online here. Report excerpt follows:

Vegas, Atlanta and Silicon Valley - but where is Chicago?

Easily the most positive sign for Clearwire during the hot months was its on-schedule rollout of services in Atlanta and Las Vegas, the two bigger markets Clearwire had said it would launch during the summer -- and did. Perhaps catching many WiMAX watchers by surprise was Clearwire's August/September launch of an additional 10 markets for its new, mobile WiMAX services -- a list that included several small Texas towns like Lubbock and Abilene, as well as Boise, Idaho, and Bellingham, Wash.

The quick addition of the smaller markets was a pretty easy strategy to figure out if (like us) you had studied Clearwire closely. Since Clearwire has said many times that the hardest and longest task of launching any new market is getting its towers sited, approved and constructed, it stands to reason that any market where the company already had a tower position could be converted to the newer mobile WiMAX service pretty simply, with maybe an antenna change and some new networking gear on the back end.

At the end of September 2009 there were already reports surfacing about Clearwire quickly upgrading pre-WiMAX customers in some of its remaining 40 old-school markets, and on Oct. 1 the company "lit" two smaller markets (Milledgeville, Ga., and Salem, Ore.), while also making services available in Philadelphia.

Not as meaningful from a subscriber number but worth its weight in market influence was Clearwire's quick launch of its planned "testbed" network for developers in Silicon Valley, with separate clouds covering the campuses of Google, Cisco and Stanford University. Though some saw the testbed launch (which was announced back in May) as a public-relations stunt, from a business standpoint it seems to make perfect sense to put the service in front of folks who make up what is still arguably the world's foremost center of technological innovation and investment.

According to Clearwire, it will offer select subscriptions in Silicon Valley for free, while allowing any other developers in the area to sign up by joining the company's developer program, and then purchasing approved client gear for $50.

In commercial markets, Sidecut Reports was fortunate enough to be on hand, in person, for the "official" launch of services July 21 in Las Vegas, where we learned the following lessons: 1) Clearwire is going to be intensely local with its promotions going forward, which means that national roaming is not going to be a big selling point; 2) The company seems to be putting value ahead of mobility, which we think is a smart move since without a smartphone device,WiMAX isn't as sexy as, say, an iPhone 3GS or a Palm Pre; and 3) the company is going to enlist as many resellers as possible, from the very big (like Comcast and Sprint) to the very small (single-owner shops and mall kiosks) to help get the word out.

To get a feel for how this will roll out, consider the Clearwire sales footprint in the greater Las Vegas metro area: According to Clearwire, it only plans to operate five "branded" outlets in Vegas, including two storefront operations and three mall-based kiosks. The balance of the company's contracts will be sold by a list of 80-plus authorized resellers, including sales locations inside six Vegas-area Best Buy stores, 24 Radio Shack locations, and the rest independent resellers. The key for Clearwire is that all contracts will be with the parent company, and not resellers -- so no matter who signs a customer up, Clearwire will own the billing relationship.

For all the Clearwire knowledge you NEED TO KNOW for the latest quarter, order our CLEARWIRE NTK OCTOBER 2009 report today for just $4.95 -- that's right, less than five bucks for a lengthy take on Clearwire market launches, device plans, business news and more.

Report Excerpt: Why Dearth of Devices Hurts Clearwire

2009-10-14T00:11:10Z

Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from our latest quarterly report on all things Clearwire, the CLEARWIRE NTK OCTOBER 2009 (need to know) report, available now for the low low price of $4.95.

In this excerpt we talk about why we think the lack of interesting WiMAX end-user devices (or the overpriced ones that did launch) have kept users from flocking to Clearwire's 4G wireless broadband offering. For the full report, order online here. Report excerpt follows:

Prices and Devices: Waiting for a reason 'Why' to try WiMAX
Without a doubt, the coolest thing about WiMAX is its ability to provide a true broadband connection with cellular mobility. One of Clearwire's biggest problems, however, is a lack of a compelling reason to take advantage of that mobile connection -- and the dearth of devices that would allow you to even try.

The growing popularity and use of smartphones points to another WiMAX weakness -- the lack of truly portable devices that can take advantage of the technology's superior connectivity. As Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow showed during his 4G World keynote speech in September, in a side-by-side download speed comparison WiMAX leaves 3G in the dust.

But even the (videotaped) demo itself showed a bit of the WiMAX underwear peeking out: To make the tricky demo -- it was a side-by-side screenshot of two iPhones in a car driving down the road -- all the "regular" iPhone had to do was connect via the 3G cellular network; the WiMAX powered iPhone had to connect via Wi-Fi to a Clear Spot router in the car, which was connected to the WiMAX network via a plug-in USB dongle.

So: The WiMAX iPhone was faster, yes, but its kit was also more expensive and in need of a stylish European man-bag to tote all the extra gear around. Though hybrid WiMAX smartphones do reportedly exist -- HTC claims to be selling one for the Yota WiMAX network in Russia -- Clearwire's customer base so far doesn't seem to be big enough to convince device makers that producing such a beast is worth it.

The one vendor that did launch a cool handheld WiMAX device -- Samsung's Mondi, unveiled at the Vegas Clearwire launch -- turned out an overly expensive, somewhat confusing form-factor machine that wasn't big enough to do "real" laptop work. It also doesn't contain an alternate cellular link to make voice calls an easy proposition.

To top it off, Samsung and Clearwire couldn't even get their pricing message straight -- in Las Vegas, a Samsung PR representative told us that the device would sell at $450 unlocked, or $350 with a two-year Clearwire contract. But a few weeks later when Clearwire started offering the Mondi, the subsidy discount was nowhere in sight -- the device would be $450 to all users, contract or no contract. Meanwhile, the iPhone 3GS sells for $199 with a two-year contract. Any questions?

For all the Clearwire knowledge you NEED TO KNOW for the latest quarter, order our CLEARWIRE NTK OCTOBER 2009 report today for just $4.95 -- that's right, less than five bucks for a lengthy take on Clearwire market launches, device plans, business news and more.