- Why Google wanted to lose wireless spectrum auction
- AT&T's so-called open network principles
- AT&T dressing up EDGE network for iPhone?
- Laptop lockdown from afar
- CA drives home hands-free cell law
- Skype on Palm OS, finally
- Sitting in support limbo
- Yahoo rings up VoIP purchase
- Nokia reaching out and touching Apple, other partners
- Microsoft dials up VoIP partners
April 04, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Why Google wanted to lose wireless spectrum auction
The U.S. FCC's auction of wireless spectrum was not without its share of controversy.
Leading up to and throughout the process Google's bid garnered the most attention. What would the search-engine-turned-online-advertising-giant want with a wireless band, anyway?
A story by New York Times reporter Miguel Helft contends that, in actuality, Google did not want to own any of the nation's airwaves.
"Google's main goal was not to win, but to make sure the reserve price was met so that the openness conditions would become effective, ensuring that its search, e-mail, maps and other services would be easily available on phones operating on those frequencies. And while the company had willingly taken the risk that it could end up winning, it was not without trepidation," Helft reports in An auction that Google was content to lose.
A bold move, indeed.
Even now that it's been officially closed and Verizon was the winner of a large chunk of 700MHz spectrum, controversy surrounds the unsold block intended for public safety use. Specifically, the company advising a public safety group on the matter is accused of setting bidding requirements that may have caused at least one potential bidder to drop out of the auction.
But not Google.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on April 4, 2008 08:32 AM
April 03, 2008 | Comments: (0)
AT&T's so-called open network principles
Most folks -- even tech CEOs -- don't carry around four handhelds, but Ralph de la Vega, the chief executive of AT&T Mobility does.
According to this Washington Post article, in fact, de la Vega cites those devices to make the case that "AT&T's wireless business is practicing open network principles."
Taking those so-called open principles another step, de la Vega, speaking during a press lunch at the CTIA wireless conference in Las Vegas, said that the Google’s Android platform is attractive to AT&T.
Explaining why AT&T was not on board from the beginning, he said, "We were concerned that maybe the focus was just on Google apps.
"If it's good for customers we'll offer it like any other OS," he said in AT&T jumps aboard Android. "It is something we'd want in our portfolio."
iPhone users that want the devices to work with carriers other than AT&T, on the other hand, might not agree that AT&T's practices are really open. Nor do they all find Apple's SDK for the device to be completely open.
"It's very unlikely that anyone from my company or me, in particular, will [participate in the] iPhone SDK business until they open it up some more," said Jeffrey McManus, CEO of consulting firm Platform Associates. Exec touts developing iPhone apps without the SDK. McManus recommends technologies including Microsoft's ASP.Net, C#, and ASP.Net AJAX as well as WebKit extensions to build applications.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on April 3, 2008 08:17 AM
June 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
AT&T dressing up EDGE network for iPhone?
There are rumors floating around the Internet that AT&T is in a mad dash to pump up its EDGE mobile broadband network in advance of the release of Apple's iPhone on June 29. According to the ever-popular gadget blog Gizmodo, citing sources at AT&T, says that the company is in the midst of a nation-wide upgrade called "Fine EDGE" that will boost data throughput to try to increase the baseline performance of its whole networks to around 80Kbps before the hoards of e-mailing, Web browsing iPhone fans swamp its network.
AT&T spokesman John Kampfe declined to specifically respond to questions about whether the "Fine EDGE" upgrade was linked to the upcoming release of iPhone.
"We continue to enhance the capacity and coverage of our EDGE network to ensure that our customers have the best experience," Kampfe said.
He declined to comment on the rumors about the iPhone/Fine EDGE link. "THe blogs may have what they have," he said, but noted that AT&T's EDGE network sports speeds of between 75Kbps and 135Kbps, countering a claim by Gizmodo that the upgrade would enhance EDGE performance from 40Kbps to 80Kbps.
Behind the speculation about AT&T's network upgrade is some real anxiety that the iPhone, when its released, will be a Maserati stuck on the traffic jammed highway that is the U.S. mobile broadband market, where 2G networks like EDGE are the norm and faster 3G (third generation) networks have just a toehold. That reality, and the daunting power consumption necessary for 3G browsing were enough to prompt Apple to leave 3G out of its first version of the iPhone. However, the company has promised 3G versions of the phone, possibly as soon as the first quarter, 2008, according to published reports.
3G support will be a must if Apple wants to break into the mobile market in the EU and Asia, where broadband-quality speeds to mobile devices are the norm.
High speed data access is particularly important for large-screened devices like the iPhone, which live or die based on their multimedia feature, and that have to pull down much more data to fill their screens than typical mobile phones.
For U.S. consumers, true 3G quality data services will come via AT&T's HSDPA (High Speed Packet Download Access) network. Phones that support that technology have long been available in the U.S. but haven't taken hold as they have in other countries. In fact, research firm Ovum estimates that it could be three years before high speed connections account for even a third of AT&T's subscribers, so "Fine EDGE" and download speeds in the hundreds of kilobits per second may be the best anyone can hope for in the near term.
Still, with all the hype around iPhone and hoardes of iPhone "fanboys" ready to scoop up V1 of the sexy new gadget, you can't blame AT&T for slapping lipstick on the pig that is EDGE and making due.
Posted by Paul Roberts on June 5, 2007 11:00 AM
February 01, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Here's a clear-cut winner from the Demo 07 show: the Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Endpoint Management System (a more memorable name is coming, I'm told, when the product actually gets released). The telecom multinational with the ITT and Bell Labs pedigree may have solved one of the enterprise's most intractable problems: how to safely manage and secure laptops when they're not in the office. Any number of recent embarrassing incidents involving lost laptops can attest to the severity of the situation.
The system is a 3G-based PC card that IT managers can access 24/7 -- even when the laptop is turned off. The card itself, which is always on, has a 3G modem, its own processor, a Linux OS, and battery. Remove it, and the laptop shuts off instantly, and can't be restarted until the card is reinserted. As you'd expect, it does hardware encryption of the hard drive (the encryption key is on-card). Alcatel-Lucent also threw in GPS, a SIMM card slot, and a Micro SD slot for expandable memory.
IT managers will be able to do reliable remote patch management, deactivate the laptop if it's lost or stolen, backup the hard drive to the card, even remotely delete the encryption key, rendering the PC unusable if it goes missing. For another layer of security, a VPN agent on the card ensures all data is tunneled through the VPN. I'll be interested in seeing how reliably this works, since VPN management can be tricky, especially for mobile users who may be connecting to the Net using every possible connection and configuration option.
Company representatives say this product will be available in 2007, for a price to be determined. At this point, they are not sure how they will bring it to market. Many network managers who struggle with keeping tabs on their mobile workforce will be rooting it happens soon.
Posted by Steve Fox on February 1, 2007 09:00 AM
September 15, 2006 | Comments: (0)
CA drives home hands-free cell law
Take note California SUV-drivers with cell phone-clad cheeks: Hands-free kits as mandatory for all but commercial drivers may soon become law, with a bill expected to be signed by the Governator on Friday.
Never mind that the fine, $20, is a the cost of driving a few extra miles in a Hummer or Escalade -- it's the law starting in 2008.
Imagine it: city pedestrians crossing safely and suburban drivers dreaming of a day when a wave-in for lane change beats the old speed-up. But the editors of the San Francisco Chronicle, known for their wisdom, say it is a highlight of the legal hooey coming out of Sacramento -- no research to support it, they say.
Really? Tell that to someone who has not been cut-off on the road or nearly run over as a pedestrian by the cell phone-driver set, or to those who have talked back to us on The Ten Commandments of cell phone etiquette.
Oh, and the authors of this study: Cell Phone-Induced Failures of Visual Attention During Simulated Driving (a PDF file).
Reports say Sprint-Nextel was the only carrier to not support the bill. Hello? Hands-free market anyone? PalmOne PR wrote InfoWorld today to say how enthusiastic the company was of the bill:
California's largest producer of cell phones, Palm is the first and only cell-phone manufacturer to publicly support the bill. The company believes that SB-1613 responsibly addresses evidence that handheld cell-phone use increases the risk of accidents. Palm also believes that while this bill is not the first in the United States, its passage in California could be instrumental in leading other states to follow suit and improve driving safety."With the technology available today, there is no reason for a driver to be holding a cell phone while behind the wheel," said Mary Doyle, senior vice president and general counsel at Palm. "Headset technology, both wired and wireless, is readily available, and call quality using a hands-free headset is generally excellent. With our Treo smartphones, Palm gives drivers numerous options for helping keep their eyes on the road and two hands on the wheel, focusing first and foremost on driving."
Posted by Mike Barton on September 15, 2006 10:58 AM
April 13, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Palm Infocenter reports that EQO Communications has introduced EQO Mobile for Skype.
With the release Treo owners and other Palm users can finally join the Skype revolution like users of Windows Mobile.
The report says you need a Skype account, a Palm OS device with internet connectivity, and a Windows XP/2000 machine with broadband connection. EQO says the Treo 650, 600 and 700w are supported.
Posted by Mike Barton on April 13, 2006 05:27 PM
March 17, 2006 | Comments: (0)
The latest to land in my in-box from the McKinsey Quarterly team, "Using IT to boost call-center performance" (registration required), suggests new interactive voice response and voice recognition systems can be a boon for call centres.
Let's hope so. IBM was touting voice-in, text-back information services in 1999. They were to revolutionize information available on smaller devices.
Back to the future in 2006: I'm still left shouting to the new AT&T for small inquiries, unable to have my question understood by IVR. "No, I want to see why my DSL line is not working," I've been heard barking by my small kids as they wonder who I am talking to.
With companies such a Citibank advertising being able to talk to a customer service rep by dialing zero, it's obvious the whole IVR thing and phone maze is getting pretty out of hand. And any benefit to business and home suctomers are not any better - wait times don't seem any shorter.
So, I was happy to find a link in the same McKinsey report arguing: "Telecommunications companies won't be able to afford their expensive call centers much longer, given their shrinking margins. Fortunately, they can cut their customer service bills in half by following the lead of airlines and retailers that have successfully moved many of their transactions to the Web."
At this stage, I'll take the Web any day. But some Web sites, for telecom companies at least, leave people in limbo, unable to get it all done with one method. The dreaded phone call always seems to slip in to the mix. So why not just call from the get-go, one wonders.
Is new IVR and speech recognition technology coming to the rescue of customers seeking support, or is it just aimed at lowering costs?
Perhaps such divergent research reports in the same package have something to do with this incomplete deployment?
Let me know your thoughts on this pressing matter.
Posted by Mike Barton on March 17, 2006 05:06 PM
June 15, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Yahoo has acquired DialPad Communications, a six-year-old startup whose software sets up calls over the Internet for a fraction of the price of regular telephone service.
No financial terms of the deal were announced.
Yahoo said it will use DialPad to expand its product offerings in the fast-growing area of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
DialPad has 40 employees and competes with several other startups that route calls from computers into the phone system. According to the company website, the company has been offering calling plans for about two years and has more than 14 million users.
The acquisition is not Yahoo's only VoIP announcement this year. Last month, Yahoo introduced a test version of its instant messaging software with an Internet telephony component that allowed users to make free computer-to-computer calls.
Activity in the VoIP space has been moving quickly lately. This week MCI rolled-out its MCI Advantage service in Europe. MCI Advantage is a portfolio of IP-based services designed for companies converging their voice and data networks.
As VoIP grows in popularity, so too is concern that tying telephony services in with IT networks can cause additional security problems. Last week, SurfControl, an Internet security provider, issued a warning to enterprise IT departments to establish policies regarding the use of free and paid-for desktop VoIP services.
Posted by Bob Francis on June 15, 2005 09:00 AM
June 13, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Nokia reaching out and touching Apple, other partners
Nokia reached out and touched several partners this week to offer some additional options to its enterprise telephony customers.
With Apple, Nokia is collaborating on developing a mobile browser using similar components to Apple's Safari browser.
Nokia is also teaming up with Cisco, OnRelay, IBM and others on a strategy to offer a suite of advanced enterprise voice mobility options, such as intelligent and VoIP connectivity between mobile devices and company IP PBXs
Avaya and Nokia also announced they are moving to the next phase of their strategic collaboration to develop products to address the emerging market for enterprise Fixed to Mobile Convergence (FMC) voice solutions based on open industry standards.
Speaking at the annual Nokia Connection media event in Helsinki, Jaakko Olkkonen, Nokia's general manager for Enterprise Voice Solutions, described the strategy as a "fundamentally new way to marry the best of fixed and mobile telephony to provide cost savings and productivity to businesses and employees, new business opportunities for service providers, and simplicity and freedom for people in or out of the office."
Posted by Bob Francis on June 13, 2005 01:19 PM
June 06, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft dials up VoIP partners
Microsoft today made a big move into the voice over internet protocol (VoIP) market by announcing strategic alliances with AT&T, Amdocs and Sylantro.
Microsoft made the announcement today at SuperComm, a telecom trade show in Chicago.
Microsoft's goal is to provide VoIP providers with tools and services to deliver new integrated products to the industry, according to Michael O'Hara, general manager for the service provider business at Microsoft. "We're focusing on collaborating with service providers to build software-powered service networks. We believe that by focusing on collaboration with service providers we can build software-powered service networks that will create new applications," he said.
Microsoft's primary offering in this space will be its Connected Services Framework, an integrated software product designed for building and managing complex services using a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and Web service interfaces. Connected Services Framework will allow telecommunications operators to aggregate, provision and manage converged communications services for their subscribers, regardless of network or device, according to O'Hara.
Read the rest of the story here.
Posted by Bob Francis on June 6, 2005 09:38 AM
May 06, 2005 | Comments: (0)
What with the Interop show this week, it should come as no surprise that VOIP would grab some headlines, but the Internet telephony technology really has been front and center for most of the spring.
At Interop, Cisco, Juniper and Meru touted WLAN technologies, including VOIP wares.
Macromedia injected Breeze 5 with VOIP support.
On the consumer front, The New York Times takes a look at how VOIP is weaving its way into the home. AOL said it would launch a VOIP service in the very near future.
Throughout March and April, VOIP garnered a lot of attention as well.
On the last day of March, Telstra brought forth an enterprise VOIP service to U.S. businesses.
VOIP drew considerable interest at CeBit in Hanover, Germany.
Also, Level 3 withdrew a petition to the FCC that called for reducing access charges paid to telecommunications carriers when calls originated over VOIP but ended on the traditional telephone network.
And the VOIP Security Alliance listed the creation of a taxonomy to classify threats and outline requirements as its first set of priorities. Back in February, a handful of companies including Avaya, 3Com, Alcatel, Qualys, Verizon, Nortel, VeriSign, formed the VOIP Security Alliance to spur adoption and make public information about security issues concerning VOIP.
The EU in February created what it calls a level playing field for VOIP.
There are, of course, still kinks to be worked out, security to be tightened, and telephone infrastructure questions to be answered, but the vendors are trudging ahead with products and services and VOIP is showing up in more and more places, while industry organizations and government bodies heat up their irons to smooth out the wrinkles.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on May 6, 2005 08:01 AM
April 25, 2005 | Comments: (0)
Qwest announces quarterly profit as it awaits Verizon move on MCI
Qwest, in the midst of an acquisition fight with Verizon Communications for MCI, said it expects to see a profit for the first quarter 2005 as a result of a gain of approximately $250 million on the sale of its wireless assets to Verizon Wireless.
Qwest received a boost in its ongoing tug-of-war with Verizon for ownership of MCI Saturday when MCI's board concluded a revised offer from Qwest is superior to a deal from Verizon that it had earlier accepted, IDG News Service said.
The offer is worth $30 per MCI share and consists of $16 in cash and $14 in Qwest stock, which is substantially more than the deal accepted from Verizon in late March. That is worth $23.50 per share and consists of $8.75 in cash and $14.75 of Verizon stock for each MCI share.
Although MCI's board has decided that the $30-per-share Qwest offer is superior, it hasn't yet changed its recommendation to shareholders to accept the Verizon deal. Under the terms of merger previously agreed, Verizon has until Friday to submit a revised offer or let its current offer stand. MCI's board then has until May 3 to change or keep its current recommendation. A termination of the deal with Verizon would come with a $240 million penalty to MCI, according to Verizon.
Qwest has submitted counter-offers that have been turned-down by MCI but the competition did result in Verizon hiking its offer to about $7.6 billion. The Qwest offer made on Friday was worth $9.9 billion.
Qwest said in a statement that it was "gratified" with the decision of MCI's board.
Verizon said it believes its deal represents the best short and long term deal for MCI shareholders and that it will "consider all of our options and determine how best to serve Verizon shareholders."
Qwest said it will report its quarterly financial results, May 3. The company said it expects to report that it continued to hold revenues flat for the fourth consecutive quarter and to report revenue before cost of sales and SG&A in excess of consensus expectations and in the range of $970 to $990 million.
"We are pleased with our performance in the quarter and look forward to dis-cussing it in more detail next week," said Richard C. Notebaert, Qwest chairman and CEO. "Our continuing disciplined cost reduction and facilities optimization efforts are paying off and benefiting profitability, as planned. This progress is enabling Qwest to continue investment in our growth products and other strategies to improve our competitive position, financial flexibility and future growth."
Posted by Jack McCarthy on April 25, 2005 04:30 PM
February 15, 2005 | Comments: (0)
SBC-AT&T, Verizon-MCI mergers could result in end to price wars
The two recent telecom mergers could leave enterprise customers at a disadvantage when it comes to the price they pay for services, but there could also be opportunities for customers who can act quickly.
With yesterday's announcement that Verizon intends to acquire MCI for $6.7 billion, and that coming on the heels of SBC plunking down $16 billion to swallow AT&T, it appears the era of pricing wars may be drawing to a close, The New York Times reported this morning.
The mergers are still contingent upon FCC approval, of course, but presuming both mergers go through and the number of telecom providers decreases accordingly, corporate customers will no longer have the advantage of being able to shop around among multiple services providers competing for their business.
The mergers could, however, create some pricing advantages in the short-term, as Grant Gross of the IDG News Service pointed out yesterday in his article Verizon-MCI deal: New era of telecom giants. Gross included in his story some advice from Pete Wilson, executive vice president of Telwares Communications, a firm that advises enterprises on telecom contracts. Wilson pointed out that "businesses with telecom contracts expiring in the next year may have a window of opportunity to negotiate low rates before the SBC and Verizon deals win government approval."
Pricing is not the only change business customers should expect, as Gross reported: The two recent mergers point to a future where giant telecom carriers offer a wide range of services to a wide range of customers -- from phone, television and Internet service for individual customers to huge long-distance and data networks deployed at the world's largest enterprise businesses.
In other words, the menu that telecom providers put on the table will expand, but the prices next to each item likely will as well.
N.B. We have ongoing coverage of the telecom mergers in an online Special Report Telecom merger mania.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 15, 2005 08:41 AM
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