Pioneering McCaw at epicenter of cell deals
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The announced union of Sprint and Nextel Communications yesterday marked the second mega-deal in the wireless industry this year - and the second involving a life change for a Craig McCaw-built venture.
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Two groundbreaking alliances took shape in the mobile communications industry Tuesday as the largest players continued to vie for customers in the growing market for high-end phones.
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The iPhone won't be just for customers living in the big cities. On the day it is introducing the hugely hyped cell phone, AT&T Inc. announced it will acquire wireless provider Dobson Communications Corp. for US$2.8 billion in cash.
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The wireless-infrastructure leader is connected to a profitable future.
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NEW YORK -- A top networking gear producer plans to offer a speedy new cellular technology that's an alternative to DSL and cable Internet access with the added advantage of being available on the road.
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(InfoWorld) - A perfect storm is brewing in wireless communications, which may soon boom like the PC business did in the 1990s as the Web took off, a Qualcomm executive said Wednesday. Ubiquitous high-speed wireless data, mobile applications, and browsing ability will soon drive demand for 1GHz processors in handheld devices, said Sanjay Jha, executive vice president and group president of CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) technologies at Qualcomm, in San Diego. Speaking at Bank of America's annual investment conference in San Francisco, he compared today's wireless industry to the PC business when 64Kbps modems and the Netscape browser appeared in the mid-1990s. Those, too, helped drive demand for chips with 1GHz speeds and above, he said. Within a few years, wireless broadband of 300KbpsÂ to 600Kbps will be widely available and people on the go will demand more processing power in devices to take advantage of new services, he said. To fill this need, device makers will have to fill in the comparatively empty market space between notebook PCs on the high end and cell phones on the low end, Jha said. Particularly in less developed countries, notebooks won't work as the next step up from phones for mobile data, he said. Growing demand for processing power on mobile devices plays into Qualcomm's business plans. The pioneer of CDMA has aggressiveÂ plans for new siliconÂ to be introduced over the rest of this year and 2007. Manufacturers are already working with one Qualcomm chip set, the MSM (Mobile Station Modem) 7200, that has almost 1GHz of speed: The chipset includes both an ARM 11 chip of 400MHz to 500MHz and an ARM 9 running at about 250MHz, Jha said. That chipset will support HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access), a next-generation version of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) with a higher upstream speed, and will be able to handle VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) calls, he said. WiMax will help to change the game on mobile wireless as Intel integrates it into chip sets for notebook PCs, Jha said, though he downplayed the rival wide-area wireless technology. WiMax could become a good technology but needs work, Jha said, particularly in its support for voice and real-time applications. Flash-OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing), a rival to WiMax, has advantages because it was developed within a single company instead of by a committee, Jha said.Â Qualcomm acquiredÂ that company, Flarion Technologies, last year. In an interview following his presentation, Jha said Qualcomm is already talking with Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN), a group of mobile operators that last week demanded better licensing terms for network technology. Qualcomm has come under fire for its royalty practices. Jha said his company already meets the industry standard for fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing terms but NGMN wants something beyond that.
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Mexico's wireless giant offers value and growth.
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Venture launched by Craig McCaw would deploy WiMax network to deliver Internet services starting in 2006.
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On the day Craig McCaw&#39;s old company, AT&amp;T Wireless, came one step closer to being absorbed by Cingular Wireless, the cellphone pioneer announced that his latest venture, Clearwire, has formed a high-profile partnership with Intel.
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Â·  Dozens camp out to be first in line for iPhoneÂ·  Stakes could not be higher for computer giant
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3G femtocells, which promise to deliver indoor coverage and cheap service for 3G networks, are a step closer, thanks to a base station built using chips designed for mass-market handsets.
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Just when you thought it was safe to go and shop for a wireless phone plan, the competitive landscape has once again shifted. This comes as no surprise as cutthroat industries with numerous players are bound to undergo consolidation.
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Appleâs latest wireless access point and router is its first to use a technology that approaches wired-network speeds.
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The three companies are investing billions of dollars to develop and prepare for mass production of Cell, a multicore semiconductor composed of several processors that work together to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
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There's more to gain than lose from the upcoming iPhone.
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You buy a cell phone, load any software you want on it, then choose your carrier. This vision of expanded consumer choices in the wireless world might be a little closer today than it has ever been, especially with reports that the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is circulating an &quot;open platform&quot; proposal for the upcoming auction of the 700-MHz band.
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(InfoWorld) - Underdog mobile operator Sprint Nextel quietly rolled out an emerging technology on Monday to give customers a strong cellular signal and flat-rate calling at home. In parts of Denver and Indianapolis, Sprint started selling aÂ femtocell, a small cellular base station that provides service specifically to a customer's home. The Sprint Airave, made by Samsung Electronics, costs $49.99 and is designed for people to install in their own homes by plugging it into a broadband Internet connection. Then they can pay a flat monthly rate -- $15 for an individual and $30 for a family -- for unlimited local and nationwide long-distance calls while at home. The Airave works with any Sprint handset, and when the subscriber leaves home, a call will automatically shift over to the outside cellular network. Femtocells are designed to solve the problem of weak cellular signals in homes, which is common in the U.S. They are an alternative to Wi-Fi phones, which are available only in a limited selection, though they work with wireless LAN gear that's already widely used in homes. Sprint is at least the first major U.S. carrier to offer femtocells, which are expected to enter the market in high volume in 2009. The carrier plans to start selling the Airave all across Denver and Indianapolis, as well as in Nashville, Tennessee, by year's end. It will be offered nationwide in 2008, Sprint said in a press release. The move is the latest use of new technology by Sprint, a smaller rival to Verizon Wireless and AT&T's wireless division, in a bid to compete. The Overland Park, Kansas, carrier is also set toÂ roll out WiMax wireless broadbandÂ on a limited basis later this year and to cities across the country next year. Femtocells take their name from "femto," which denotes a small order of size in physics. The idea has been around a long time but until recently was held up by size and cost concerns. Now several carriers in various countries are considering deploying them, according to vendors and analysts. While helping subscribers get good service, the devices save carriers from deploying more expensive base stations on towers just to keep up with the growing number of people trying to use 3G (third-generation) mobile data services. One question yet to be answered about femtocells is whether they will interfere with the existing outdoor cellular network. That can only be answered through real-world deployments, analysts say. Sprint's offer comes sooner and at a lower price than many observers expected. The price is especially notable because Sprint isn't forcing buyers into long-term contracts. Sprint must be subsidizing the cost, said In-Stat analyst Allen Nogee. "I guarantee it costs more than $50," Nogee said. However, the carrier will make back some of its cost through the special flat service charge, he said, because it wouldn't be making any money off the calls anyway -- many calls at home are made during nights and weekends when they are free, he added. Maybe most importantly, the Airave could help Sprint cultivate loyal customers and get consumers to give up their landlines -- along with their relationships with Verizon and AT&T, he said. Â