Carl Ford : 4G: For Generations to Come
Carl Ford

October 2010

You are browsing the archive for October 2010.

You Can Never have Enough Friends

October 31, 2010

@Apple, @Google and @Microsoft. People often give me more credit than I deserve. I am a well connected person, but I am ecclectic in my friendships and tastes. Often there is an expectation that I know “EVERYONE”. I don’t and some that I do know don’t necessarily want me to chase them around [...]

Nice Astricon Event

October 29, 2010

With a lot of Humility and some general fun, I want to compliment TMC and Digium on Astricon. The event was very nicely attended and represented a growing trend in their market. The overall trend I saw was the number of distributors that were in the booths. They represented a rich eco system of products available [...]

Sprint Displays Some Benevolent Behavior

October 18, 2010


A big player in both the cell carrier and wireless broadband arenas, Sprint has been doing assorted charity work in some of the more vital U.S. markets. In the past week alone, two press releases have been issued regarding Sprint's philanthropy. If analyzed acutely, there may be some clues in the patterns of Sprint's contributions to local charities.


In the last couple of days Sprint has made charitable donations in Atlanta and Chicago, to help remedy the technological deficiencies specific to each community.



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

October 5, 2010

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.

LA the Other California

October 3, 2010

We have arrived in LA and the difference between movies and computers is an interesting one.  Content may be king in LA but apps are the story after Mobilize.

It's fitting that we are producing our version of the blend with 4G Wireless Evolution Television.  We are following our friend Bob Bowman's, CEO of MLB.com, advice and charging for it because we have real costs. 

You pay $1.00 for iTunes, so why not $20.00 for 20 hours of hearing the artists that make the technology that delivers the iTunes.

Here in LA Mobile Video is about entertainment, in Northern California the Mobilze story was the over the top folks.  During App Time we have Ramu Sunkara founder of QiK speaking with friends who do telecollaboration.

While segmenting the market always makes sense, the consumer has a problem understanding why broadcast quality can be delivered for free on the Internet, and Telecollaboration costs so much.

Another dimension comes from the posting on social networks of people's personal video and likes from various (sometimes pirated) places.

In the end it may be that these markets have to find some blending.  A video water cooler that allows point to point and commentary, entertainment and conversation. 

I am looking forward to experimenting, learning and generally entertained by the conversations we are having while we are here.  I expect I am

Tags: 4GWE, AppTime, Bob Bowman, Gigaom, iTunes, MLB, Mobile Video, Mobilize, QiK, Ramu Sunkara, Telecollaboration

















Streaming (& Archiving) 4GWE.

October 2, 2010

The last three years have been pretty amazing.  Thanks to Apple's iPhone we finally got to see what its like to have "full" access to the Internet.  The iPhone shifted everyone's strategies, and where LTE looked like it would be slow to develop we now have initial implementations in scattered areas around the world.

However, this is no longer about the transport; it's about the application demand.  Having verified the insatiable appetite the carriers are now racing to find ways to expand the coverage and recover the cost.

The question is can Wireless have parity with the customer's Internet experience at home and at work. 

While many will tell you that the Web is dead, the reality is the Internet evolves.  From a research project, to a modem extended email system, to the web , to music, to movies and now to mobile.