wireless

Want to get married in Vegas? There’s an app for that, says NSN

We’re hearing a lot these days about how carriers are seeing their average revenue per user (ARPU) go down with the advent of unlimited voice and data plans, so they will have to make their money partnering with developers of smartphone applications or themselves offer integrated services.

At SuperCOMM 09, I heard from Michael Mullineaux, marketing manager at Nokia Siemens Networks, who demonstrated an application that would combine location with e-commerce and book an evening in Las Vegas from a mobile device.

Apple’s record-setting quarter and what it means for telecom

Telecom is a hard-knock life sometimes, like this week when Apple announced its most profitable quarter EVER. No small part of that smashing success is the 7.4 million iPhones sold in the quarter. Of course, in the U.S., AT&T benefits from those new iPhone users since they use AT&T’s 3G wireless network.

And then there’s Google. Last week the Android-backing company also crowed about increasing its net profit for the third quarter, declaring the recession almost over.

Meanwhile back at the network, while things are looking up, those in traditional telecom circles are talking about how to stem plummeting cost per bit and wondering if they can make a buck deploying 4G LTE networks.

So what does all of this iPhone success mean for wireless operators? For starters, Verizon hasn’t negotiated to also sell the iPhone, apparently, because its new ads are promoting the “Droid,” an Android 2.0 phone that may be supplied by Motorola (one of the Android mobile operating system’s original backers). And so we may be in for a new season of handset wars, which can be dangerous business, according to our telecom guru Tom Nolle. The weakness with the iPhone is the stress it’s putting on AT&T’s 3G network, Nolle reminded us. When Verizon moves to 4G LTE and introduces the Droid, both Apple and AT&T could face more heat.

Cisco to compete for 3G and 4G mobile multimedia delivery with Starent acquisition

Wall Street and the analyst community think Cisco’s acquisition of Starent Networks will be $2.9 billion well spent in order to seriously vie for 3G and 4G mobile gateway business from service providers delivering more and more multimedia traffic that needs to move from wireless networks to IP networks via someone’s packet gateway.

The packet gateway is Starent’s niche, and soon will be Cisco’s. Among the many takeaways from this announcement, other telecom equipment vendors must take serious note of Cisco’s focus on mobile. And in case there’s any confusion, that means Juniper, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Huawei, to name a few.

If all goes well, Starent will become Cisco’s official Mobile Internet Technology Group when the acquisition is completed in the first half of 2010. “Cisco is all about IP, but Cisco doesn’t have that kind of heritage on the mobility side. So this acquisition has a big upside,” said IDC Wireless and Mobile Infrastructure Research Manager Godfrey Chua. “This is the segment in the mobile infrastructure market that is growing faster than the others.”

A niche player but a survivor (through the dot-com and the telecom crashes from early in the decade), Starent already has marquis clients – including Verizon Wireless and Sprint, to name two big ones, and one assumes Cisco will inherit Starent’s client list.

Starent Networks enables wireless operators to deliver multimedia (data, video, wireless TV, games, etc.) on wireless devices. Starent’s technology is positioned to help operators deliver that content over 2.5, 3G and 4G networks. Starent’s role will be to play on Cisco’s video and IP strengths in mobile infrastructure solutions that will extend quality multimedia experiences to mobile subscribers on 3G and 4G networks.

“Starent already has a good client base in terms of service providers, so it gets Cisco into the mobility discussion more and paves the way for more discussions as more carriers look at LTE,” Chua said. “Now it will be natural to include Cisco at the table.”

When Verizon’s copper and wireless collide

I hate to break out the old saw about the unstoppable force versus the immovable object, but it just seems too appropriate here. Verizon’s (landline) unions are pitching a fit at Verizon Wireless’ latest campaign in Massachusetts, which is urging customers to “cut the cord” by switching to an all-wireless plan, as the Boston Herald reports:

“The whole trend (for Verizon) is to dump anything to do with plain old phones,” said Paul Bouchard, a district representative for the Communications Workers of America.

Don Trementozzi, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1400, disputed Verizon Wireless’ assertion that intended to target only non-Verizon customers.

“Even I got one of the fliers at home,” said Trementozzi, whose union represents about 1,000 Massachusetts Verizon workers. “The ad campaign is real crazy. It’s a big mistake.”

Verizon Wireless, which is 50% owned by Verizon with the other half being owned by Vodaphone, said mailers sent to cross-over customers (who have both Verizon Wireless and Verizon landline services) were accidental and limited, but the unions see something a bit more sinister: They note that Verizon is selling off their landline business in well over a dozen states, and that Verizon Wireless has many fewer unionized employees.

Don’t expect this battle to go away anytime soon, particularly as other players like Comcast and Time Warner get into the wireless game through Clearwire.

DOJ aims at AT&T, Verizon but is much at stake?

For telecoms, the jury is out on Obama, but the judge might soon stroll in for them: The Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun an investigation into whether service providers are abusing market power, as part of a strong anti-trust stance the administration has been generally taking.

But do carriers, wireless and landline alike, really have much to worry about? The initial media flurry makes it sound like Attorney General Eric Holder just wants his (and everyone else’s) iPhone on Verizon or any other network of their choice, and if that’s the goal, the end result will likely be negligible. Carriers like Verizon have promised open networks already. Are they dragging their feet? Absolutely, but if there’s anything to make telecoms look nimble, it’s the pace of federal bureaucracy. This is, after all, the same government that just found time to confirm the new FCC head Julius Genachowski a little over a week ago, despite sterling credentials and little pushback.

By the time device/network independence is mandated, and the government figures out exactly how bad it will muck it up, service providers will be on LTE and WiMax, both of which have promised the exact same model of device independence. In the meantime, as BusinessWeek’s Stephen Wildstrom reports, U.S. technical standards and implementations make it almost impossible for users to switch their phones across networks willy-nilly anyways, and if they do, they are likely to be rewarded with greatly reduced performance.

So what is it that Holder, and Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), want from telecoms? The Wall Street Journal’s article is maddeningly scarce on details, but we’ll take a close look at the major players involved over the next few days as we try to parse exactly what the battle brewing between AT&T, Verizon, and the DOJ could look like.

Wireless wizard: AT&T partners in search of valid revenue stream

AT&T has taken on a partner in Sunnyvale-based Jasper Wireless, a company that will provide the technical infrastructure so AT&T can support a new generation of wireless devices like navigation systems, e-readers, mobile Internet devices, netbooks, healthcare and tracking systems, to name a few. The target markets? Consumer and business.

In the old days, AT&T probably would have developed the inner-workings itself. But this partnership is about speed to market, and Jasper Wireless’s whole reason for existence is to “provide the platform, applications and design services needed to profitably connect and manage devices worldwide.”

By using the billing capabilities in Jasper’s software and AT&T’s wireless network, AT&T hopes to create a billing “relationship” with customers more quickly. In this multi-year agreement, Jasper brings its service platform to the table with the applications that help customers build, deploy and manage connected devices. AT&T is Jasper’s exclusive U.S. carrier for its wireless platform.

In a recent New York Times interview, Glenn Lurie, president, Emerging Devices and Resale, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, acknowledged that while there’s a flurry of market activity around wireless access for gadgets, the market is in its infancy. I was relieved that Lurie sounded very clear that no one is clear what the business model looks like yet. Specifically he said: “You’re going to see a lot of people throw a lot of things out there and see what sticks.”

Maybe it will be a little bit like Apple’s iPhone apps. It seems every time I turn on the TV, I’m told that no matter what I might need, Apple’s iPhone has an app for that. Maybe wireless operators will want me to have all sorts of convenient wireless services.

Think Amazon Kindle. The AT&T partnership was announced the day after Amazon said it would release yet another Kindle in June. The Kindle DX is a large-screen (9.7 inch) version optimized for newspapers and magazines for $498. Now I am a recent Kindle 2 owner, and every time I download a book to my device in a matter of seconds, I think about the Amazon model of offering customers “free” wireless access. Since the Kindle’s launch in 2007, Amazon’s whisper-quiet partner has been Sprint, which runs the Whispernet (EVDO) network. Wispernet delivers e-books to me quickly and quietly. Someone pays for it of course, but for once, it’s not me.

The Amazon Kindle/Sprint Whispernet deal no doubt gets other operators’ attention. Sprint may provide the access, and other operators may want to go farther and get a more direct cut of the content. AT&T’s Lurie believes Jasper Wireless can help AT&T get into the wireless device market faster.

According to AT&T:

For some AT&T powered devices, Jasper Wireless’s applications will provide automated operational management capabilities, including custom device provisioning, instant activation, real-time diagnostic tools and detailed billing and usage reports – managed through a Jasper Wireless core software-as-a-service platform designed exclusively for M2M and consumer electronics communications.

By all means, companies should experiment, and wireless operators need to find a comfortable revenue stream, maybe even one that doesn’t make them mere transport providers. Lurie says AT&T wants to experiment with different models that could include charging customers for short-term or prepaid wireless access – both of which sound interesting.

Being a service-provider supporter, somewhere in all of the experimentation, I hope something lucrative sticks.

With Alltel acquisition closing, Verizon just days from wireless top spot

As DSL Reports notes, Verizon will close the Alltel acquisition on January 9th, creating the United States’ largest wireless carrier with a combined 83 million customers, 13 million of which come from Alltel.

It’s a big day for Verizon, which will be finally surpassing AT&T but also taking on $22.2 billion in Alltel’s debt as well as selling off assets in 22 states, per deals with the Justice Department and FCC.

“The Department said that the transaction as originally proposed would have substantially lessened competition to the detriment of consumers of mobile wireless telecommunications services in those areas,” the Justice Department stated in release last year, “and likely would result in higher prices, lower quality and reduced network investments.”

Verizon managed to work out a deal that satisfied both bodies, however, and was upbeat about the partnership’s prospects. Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless president and chief executive officer, released a statement:

“This move will create an enhanced platform of network coverage, spectrum and customer care to better serve the growing needs of both Alltel and Verizon Wireless customers for reliable basic and advanced broadband wireless services.”