IP: Wireless Week in Review

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
>
> The Wireless Week in Review
>
> Top news for the week of October 15-19, 2001.
>
> 1. TOPPING THE NEWS THIS WEEK
>
> --The clock continues to tick regarding a deal between the FCC, NextWave 
> and those that bought NextWave's licenses last January. The bankrupt 
> C-blocker was hoping for final paperwork by today, so it can make the 
> presentation at its next bankruptcy-court appearance Monday. The groups 
> have been talking all week as to how to get the Bush administration to vet 
> allowing NextWave to clear $5B and the U.S. Treasury to get $11B. The 
> Office of Management and Budget doesn't like a clause giving Verizon 
> Wireless clearance to pay its $8B in fees in two installments; it wants 
> its money sooner rather than later, just in case new legal hassles crop up.
>
> The commission also is getting an earful about money from Sen. Fritz 
> Hollings (D-S.C.), who doesn't have VoiceStream and Deutsche Telekom to 
> kick around anymore. Hollings is hot about the FCC's plan to allow 
> broadcasters to broker lucrative relocation deals with wireless carriers 
> prior to the auction of 700 MHz spectrum, which includes channels 60-69, 
> next June. TV-station owners like Paxson Communications could reap 
> millions, nay billions, from such early-vacating deals, and Hollings wrote 
> to FCC Chairman Michael Powell that "under no circumstances should the FCC 
> turn this authority over to others. Simply put, spectrum is a public 
> resource that is to be used according to the laws prescribed by Congress 
> and not based on the dictates of industry."
>
> Carriers and their advocates aren't taking this lying down, either, 
> especially in light of the cash they are paying out to NextWave. "Even 
> after the auction, the broadcasters will have to be paid extortion money 
> to move," says CTIA's Tom Wheeler. "It's a sad state of affairs when 
> broadcasters have to be bought off what they promised to give back and 
> Congress has directed to a higher public safety use." Paxson 
> Communications Chairman Bud Paxson, however, says, "We think the FCC made 
> the right move."
>
> --Blame the manufacturers for the fact the October 1 E911 Phase II 
> deadline was missed by most U.S. carriers, says Wireless Telecom Bureau 
> Chief Tom Sugrue, who voiced this opinion to a Senate telecom 
> subcommittee. Senators grudgingly bought this story along with the waivers 
> recently granted by the FCC regarding Phase II rollouts, but they won't 
> wait much longer for results. Motorola, one of three manufacturers asked 
> to testify, declined the invitation along with Lucent and Nortel, but it 
> did say its handsets capable of pinpointing a caller's position won't be 
> available until 3Q02, and its E911 Phase II-compliant network switches 
> won't be available until 2Q02, if even then.
>
> --In this week's "Crank Calling" section, one in 10 U.K. wireless 
> subscribers are using a second, secret handset to conduct illicit affairs 
> and under-the-table business deals. They cover up their actions by having 
> bills sent to another address or by using prepaid accounts. On a more 
> metaphysical level, wireless phones apparently are ghostbusters in their 
> own right. The Society for Psychical Research in the U.K. says ghost 
> sightings in country have dropped to zero since wireless phones first were 
> introduced in country 15 years ago. This could, however, play havoc with 
> the tourist industry, which looks forward to running into ghosts in 
> Britain's stately homes and castles.
>
> 2. CELLULAR/PCS
>
> --Two members of the a House telecom subcommittee want the FCC to give 
> spectrum caps the final boot, saying wireless carriers are far ahead of 
> the power curve when it comes to competition and many need additional 
> spectrum in their respective markets to upgrade older systems and to 
> provide next-gen services. The commission has been looking at such a move 
> for nearly a year, and rumor has it a sunset could be announced by year's end.
>
> In related news, new Cyberspace Security Adviser Richard Clarke wants 
> emergency workers to have priority when it comes to wireless 
> communications in such situations as disaster recovery efforts. This, 
> again, has been a FCC initiative, but carriers have balked at the idea for 
> more than a year, saying emergency calls from wireless subs could be 
> blocked if capacity is taken away. The Administration is having none of 
> this, however, saying it wants some answers within 60 days.
>
> --Cingular and VoiceStream agreed to play nicely together in the same 
> sandbox in New York City, and in California and Nevada. The two will share 
> networks in these areas, although they will maintain all their own 
> business operations. Cingular probably will be the first to take advantage 
> of the deal; VoiceStream must tweak sales, distribution and customer 
> support systems in the two western states before it can cut over service.
>
> --NEC has surpassed Panasonic-parent Matsushita when it comes to handset 
> supplies during the first half of the year. The two own 66% of the 
> Japanese handset market, and much of the product is purchased by NTT DoCoMo.
>
> --Sonera is getting ready to offer WLAN services now that a successful 
> test of a Nokia GSM infrastructure has been completed. The SIM card is 
> installed on a WLAN card, making it easy for the subscriber to roam on any 
> GSM network, provided carriers have signed a WLAN roaming agreement.
>
> --Is it a surprise to anyone that China officially will become the largest 
> mobile-phone market next year? The country currently is just 40 million 
> short of catching up with the United States, but the sign-up rates coupled 
> with no signup fees, cheap mobile data and a lack of wireline availability 
> will push the final numbers, says the Wireless World Forum.
>
> --Bye, bye Singapore CDMA. The national network built out just three years 
> ago by MobileOne is gone, making way for a new infrastructure aimed at 
> providing 3G. M1's GSM network continues to serve customers, including 
> those transitioned from the CDMA system. Three licensees will begin 
> offering 3G by the end of 2004.
>
> --One consortium - the combined Batata-BPL - accounts for a quarter of all 
> subscribers in India, serving more than a million customers. Its closest 
> rival, Hutchison Telecom, lags by 160,000, and Bharti is short some 
> 220,000. Batata-BPL also is getting ready to serve major market Delhi, 
> which will give it more than 760,000 additional users.
>
> 3. SATELLITE
>
> --Comsat is set to become a cellular competitor, now that it has the FCC's 
> permission to use Inmarsat capacity to offer voice and data services in 
> the States. Small aviation companies are expected to be the first targets, 
> because many already own Inmarsat terminals and they want faster data.
>
> --More than 100 ships will be equipped with Globalstar fixed-wireless gear 
> via a new contract between the financially strapped U.S. MSS carrier and 
> the Italian Navy.
>
> 4. WLL
>
> --Carriers are picking up on the fact they can make money by installing 
> infrastructure in office buildings, a market segment InfoTech says is 
> growing by 20% a year. Calling real estate "the last frontier," such 
> players as AT&T Wireless, Verizon, Nextel and Cingular are making new hay 
> from existing public venues.
>
> --Bankrupt Winstar wants to collect back cash from Sayers Group, which it 
> says breached an asset-purchase agreement worth $719,000. A suit is in the 
> works.
>
> --WLL is the next new thing for China, with Taiwan's Senao International 
> working with China Telecom to develop appropriate products for 
> installation in three mainland markets during 1Q02.
>
> 5. TELEMATICS
>
> --Infiniti North America will offer Cellport's hands-free communications 
> system in its Infiniti Q45 cars next March, saying the product works with 
> the already-installed Visteon Voice Activation System.
>
> --American Airlines' operations at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport is 
> trialing a cargo-handling asset management system from WhereNet that will 
> give it instant information as to the whereabouts of some 1,800 tugs, 
> freight carts and dollies. A wireless tag installed on each unit transmits 
> its location, which shows up on a PC-based digitized map. If the airline 
> likes the system, it will cost between $100,000 and $1M to purchase.


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