Fone Smart!

In an April 8, 2010 press release from Apple, the company stated that the new OS 4 for the iPhone will include an updated Software Development Kit (SDK) and many new features; such as 3rd party multitasking aps, better mail and a unified inbox with faster inbox switching, ehnanced Enterprise support, iBooks, and more.

AT&T will be launching a new ad campaign that focuses on image, “accentuating the positive,” rather than merely their products and services (see NYT’s article).  Perhaps the company has decided to go this path after announcing that it will now allow unlimited streaming of Netflix on its iPad ap over their spectacularly awesome 3G network. 

Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg is not sold on the idea of merging Verizon with Vodafone, though he would like to “resolve the joint venture structure.” (see Dow Jones article)  Dismissing speculation about a merger, Mr. Seidenberg has not ruled out the possibility, stating that things could change.  It is widely believed that he would like to buy out Vodafone’s share of Verizon Wireless, and he has also expressed interest in bringing the iPhone to Verizon once AT&T’s exclusive contract with Apple ends.

Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN) has gotten approval from the Justice Department to purchase some former Alltel assets fromVerizon Wireless, a deal signed in June of 2009 for $200 million.  These former Alltel assets cover 800,000 subscribers in Illinois, Georgia, the Carolinas, Ohio and Idaho.

Palm Pre-Plus Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless recently dropped the price of the Palm Pre to $49.99 with a two year contract.  If you are in the market for a webOS device, now would be a good time to get the Palm Pre.

What will become of Verizon Wireless?  Verizon (majority owner) and Vodafone are continuing talks about the company’s future; with various options being looked at: combining the two phone companies, having one carrier sell its stake in Verizon Wireless to the other, or paying a dividend to investors. (See Bloomberg article)  The most likely scenario is Verizon & Vodafone merging.

Jose Guzman, project coordinator of the New Millenium Research Council has declared that the “The era of cell phone penny pinching is officially here.  Thanks to the recession, the U.S. cell phone marketplace continues to undergo fundamental changes that will just get bigger as the economic downturn deepens.   What is different from a year ago is the explosion in new ‘all-you-can-eat’ and unlimited prepaid deals as low as $30 and $45 that will remain attractive to consumers long after the current recession is over.”  In fact, 4Q09 marked the first time that pre-paid subscribers outnumbered those with contracts; new pre-paid subscribers account for 65% of the 4.2million cellular customers in the market…a growth of 17% from 46.2m to 54.4m in 4Q09. (Read Millenium Report)

Telecom giants, Verizon & AT&T in particular, need to wake up and realize that customers have grown tired of overpaying for service, being stuck in contracts just to get a discounted phone (often times, of which, you are required to get a data package for a high end device), and having to jump through hoops to get a customer service rep who wants to help, let alone knows what he/she is doing, when help is needed.  In today’s economy, paying over $60 for unlimited talk & text on a single line is outrageous when you can get a better deal and sometimes better service, going prepaid.

AT&T has announced that it will now extend its 24mbps/3mbps U-verse High Speed Internet Max Turbo service to all 120 of its markets.

HTC Droid Eris

Kyocera will be releasing their first Android (Zio M6000) in 2Q2010, while Motorola will be releasing its first push to talk Android (i1 for IDEN networks).  Speaking of Android phones, I am baffled by the seeming lack of press about the HTC Droid Eris (Verizon Wireless).  It is an awesome phone in its own right.

On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, Criket announced that it would begin offering the nation’s first $30 unlimited nationwide talk and text plan (see CNN Money article).   Unfortunately, I do not know much about Criket, but I do like MetroPCS (which has a $40 unlimited plan), which has a pretty good coverage area and reception in my opinion.  My only complaint with MetroPCS has been my Kyocera Neon phone, the battery life leaves a lot to be desired.  Hopefully soon Verizon and AT&T will follow the lead of Sprint, MetroPCS and Criket and offer a realistic unlimited talk, text and web plan.

 To help faciliate its purchase of purchase of Verizon assets, Frontier has decided to sell its junk bonds (see Bloomberg article). 

Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg saw his salary decrease in 2009: down to $17.5 mil from $20.3 mil.

Sprint has announced that it will be releasing an iPhone-esque Evo 4G phone made by HTC (see Yahoo! Finance article).

G'z One Brigade

Verizon Wireless recently released the Casio G’zOne Brigade, a tough phone that meets military specifications to survive electrical shock, water, dust, etc., that features a QWERTY keyboard, Push to Talk technology, a 3.2 megapixel camera w/ flash, and HTML browser and more.  For more information and specifications on the new Gz’One Brigade, click here.

 Xobni is offering Blackberry users a new app that creates a smarter address book.  “The app creates profiles for every person you’ve ever communicated with and ranks them in order of relevance rather than alphabetically. Contacts you’ve most recently communicated with–or most frequently communicate with–will be listed at the top for quick access.

The app also aggregates all of your contacts’ social network accounts, like Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, and lists them under one profile. The user interface is similar to the contact syncing applications we’ve seen on Palm’s webOS or some of the user interfaces for Android, like MotoBlur. You can access your contacts via the app or in the compose window of the BlackBerry Email application.” Credit: PC World 

 An administrative law judge in Illinois, Lisa M. Tapia, ruled on March 10, 2010 that Frontier’s acquisition of Verizon’s properties in the state would “diminish frontier’s ability to provide adequate, reliable, efficient, safe and least-cost public utility service.”  The Illinois Commerce Commission is expected to decide whether to amend or adopt Tapia’s assessment in April. 

The battle between AT&T and CWA District 6 is heating up. In response to AT&T-Southwest’s “Last, Best and Final Offer,” the union, in a press release dated May 13, 2009, called the overall package “inadequate.”  In an article dated May 19, 2009, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that AT&T had spent from $523,000 to $623,000 from October 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009 as it tried to woo the Tennessee General Assembly in its push to deregulate basic telephone service.  Fans of the i-Phone rejoice! Apple announced on Monday (June 8, 2009) that the price of the 8gig i-Phone has been slashed by $100 to $99, and that the new i-Phone, the 3G S, will cost $199 (for 16gigs) or $299 (for 32gigs). The 3G S will go on sale on June 19, but Apple faces stiff competition from Research in Motion (RIM) and the new Palm Pre, which became available last Saturday and is selling for $200.

In other AT&T company news, on May 27, 2009, at the All Things Digital conference, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson announced that the company will begin selling the Palm Pre once the exclusivity agreement with Sprint ends.

CNet News reported on June 8, 2009 that Sprint broke sales records with its release of the Palm Pre.

On May 22, 2009, T-Mobile finally went 3G. What does this mean for customers, sales and customer service people? By using 3G capable devices (such as the G1, Behold, etc.) there will be faster browsing and download responses with boosted speeds ranging from from 200-300 kbps (kilobits per second)The speed of the 3G network will depend on multiple factors, including network changes, traffic volume, service outages, technical limitations, signal strength, your equipment, terrain, structures, weather, and the overall performance of the Internet. 3G is not currently available in all areas. If 3G is unavailable in your service area, you will experience EDGE performance/speeds.

In other T-Mobile news, the HTC Magic smartphone will not be called G2 (due to possible copyright by Gatorade), rather, it will be called myTouch 3G. The upgrade of the G1 will come in three colors, one of which will be merlot; and T-Mobile expects the phone to be available by August 5, 2009.

It was announced on May 28, 2009 that Verizon Wireless will introduce the LG Env3, LG Env Touch and the LG Glance.  From the Verizon Wireless corporate site:

 Fone Smart!’s publishing date will be moved to Thursday’s starting with edition #6, to be published next week, June 18, 2009.

In a May 15, 2009 press release, AT&T has stated that “twice as many smartphone users have chosen AT&T over any other US carrier,” in and in another release, the company has stated that it plans on launching an advertising campaign that highlights its smartphone leadership.  The company also announced that its Blackberry Curve 8900 will be available on May 22, 2009 for $200 after a $100 mail in rebate with a new 2yr agreement.

Blackberry Curve 8900

Sprint will be offering the Palm Pre nationwide on June 6, 2009, and according to the company’s May 19, 2009 press release, the Palm Pre’s new webOS platform “introduces Palm Synergy™, a key feature that brings together your personal and professional calendar, contacts and e-mail into one centralized view, making transitions between work and personal life smooth and easy to manage.

With Palm Synergy, users get: Linked contacts – With Synergy, you have a single view that links your contacts from a variety of sources, so accessing them is easier than ever. For example, if you have the same contact listed in your Outlook(3), Google and Facebook accounts, Synergy recognizes that they’re the same person and links the information, presenting it to you as one listing. Layered calendars – Your calendars can be seen on their own or layered together in a single view, combining work, family, friends, sports teams, or other interests. You can toggle to look at one calendar at a time, or see them all at a glance. Combined messaging – Synergy lets you see all your conversations with the same person in a chat-style view, even if it started in IM and you want to reply with text messaging. You can also see who’s active in a buddy list right from contacts or e-mail, and start a new conversation with just one touch. Palm webOS lets you keep multiple activities open and move easily between them like flipping through a deck of cards. You can move back and forth between text messaging and e-mail, or search the web while you listen to music. You can rearrange items simply by dragging them, and when you are done with something, just throw it away by flicking it off the top of the screen.”

On May 13, 2009, T-Mobile agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit over early termination fees in regards to Civil Action No. 08-04149 (JLL) (ES) in the United States District Court of New Jersey in the case of Milliron v. T-Mobile USA, Inc.  The company will pay $11.5 million into a settlement fund for class members.  In other T-Mobile news, the company issued a statement on May 18, 2009 stating that it was still working on finalizing the Android 1.5. which will delay the OTA update for G1 users by one week.

Now for some good T-Mobile news.  The company announced a new program to help customers save money on their bills called Mobile Makeover, in which customers can visit a T-Mobile retail store or the company’s site for a link to Billshrink.com, a utility that estimates if and where customers can save the most money with what carrier and with what plan.

There will be no May 27, 2009 edition of Fone Smart!.  The next edition will be published on June 10, 2009.

Carrier News 

The company announced on May 8, 2009 that it has included an additional option for its GoPhone customers, an unlimited national calling plan with no roaming or long distance charges for $3 a day.  The company has also reached agreement with Verizon to purchase a number of former Alltel assets for $2.35 billion.  AT&T will acquire Verizon’s licenses, network assets as well as 1.5 million subscribers in Alabama, Arizona, California, and a number of other states. 

The Android 1.5 update for the G1 will be available next week.  

In some heartbreaking news, Verizon has decided to sell its LAN business in Illinois, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and California to Stamford, Conn., based Frontier Communications Corp. 

This means that the Verizon Plus! store in Bloomington, IL., where some of close friends still work, could very well be facing the proverbial ax, which is a shame.  I wish them the very best in this time of uncertainty for them.  Never have I worked with a more talented and professional group and customers will be at a loss.

Verizon CEO/Chairman Ivan Seidenberg stated that “this transaction is part of our multi-year effort to transform our growth profile and asset base to focus on wireless, broadband, and global IP…Frontier knows how to run wireline communications services well and has a top-notch management team to take these properties to the next level.”

While the writing has been on the wall for a long time, as far back as when I became a sales person with the company in May of 2007, it is heartbreaking and even maddening that Verizon axed the grunts while upper management and company officers were left untouched.  That being said, the LAN business is not very profitable anymore, especially with fiber optic coming increasingly in demand. It is sad to know that people in Terre Haute (IN), Richmond (IN) and Marion (OH) lost their jobs in this move, and that the Bloomington (IL) Verizon Plus! store may be on the shopping block sooner than later; as I got to know and had the privilege to work with some very good people during my time with Verizon Plus!. Of course, the Union will come to their aid if that should come to pass…right? (Crickets chirp in the distance) Seeing Verizon’s many battles with the Union in recent years, could that be one of the reasons for the shedding of its LAN business?

Industry News

The research firm Strategy Analytics has named the top 7 US wireless carriers by subscriber base in the 1st quarter of 2009. They are (source: Strategy Analytics):

1. Verizon Wireless (1.3 million net adds, 1.5% monthly churn)
2. AT&T (1.2 million net adds, 1.6% monthly churn)
3. Sprint-Nextel (-261,000 net adds, 2.7% monthly churn)
4. T-Mobile (415,000 net adds, 3.1% monthly churn)
5. US Cellular (47,000 net adds, 1.9% monthly churn)
6. Metro PCS (684,000 net adds, 5.0% monthly churn)
7. Leap Wireless (493,000 net adds, 3.3% monthly churn)

Some pretty nice feedback from former customers, former co-workers/managers as well as other people who emailed me their thoughts, criticisms and suggestions.  I am taking the gems contained in the feedback into consideration and plan on making this site better as time passes.  I do not plan on allowing comments to be left on posts, pages, etc., as I do not have the time nor the desire to play babysitter, but I do welcome feedback.

Carrier News

The company will be releasing the Blackberry Curve 8900.  Some of the specs/goodies on this smartphone are: voice guided GPS, Wi-Fi support, a 3.2 megapixel camera, Blackberry Push Technology Email & Mobile E-mail, a web browser, 2.0 Bluetooth technology, intermal memory of 256 MB, a QWERTY keyboard and more.

The company has also introduced a new iPhone app that allows users to pay their bills, view usage, browse and change plan features, etc.; users can also manage other lines on their family share plans as well.

According to a Wall Street Journal Report on May 1, 2009, Verizon Communications Inc., may soon be offering free Wi-Fi access at hotspots to their home broadband customers. Like AT&T, Verizon may offer this service for free to their subscribers, but only time will tell.

 Business seems to be slowing down for US Cellular as its growth in the 1st Quarter was 47,000 subscribers; however, its 1Q earnings were $84.6 million, up from $70.6 million from 1Q ‘08.

Industry News

What are the top five wireless brands?  According to the annual BrandZ Top 100 List put out by the research firm Millard Brown, they are as follows:

1. Google with a brand value of $100 million
2. Microsoft with a brand value of $million
3. Nokia with a brand value of $35.1 million
4. Blackberry with a brand value of $27.8 million
5. AT&T with a brand value of $20.05 million

In a May 4, 2009 Press Release, RIM (Research in Motion) has anonounced that its Blackberry Enterprise Server has become the first mobile platform to achieve Common Criteria EAL4+ Certification. In related news, the Blackberry Curve was the best selling smartphone in the 1st Quarter of 2009, due in large part to Verizon’s aggressive “buy one get one free” promotion.

Welcome to the first edition of Fone Smart!, a telecommunications e-Zine produced and published by Bleidd Publishing.  Currently, plans are to have new weekly editions featuring news and information pertaining to the telecommunications industry in general, and the wireless/cellular side in particular, published every Wednesday after this inaugural edition. 

Fone Smart! will cover the four major US cellular providers: AT&T, Sprint-Nextel, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless.  This is not intended as a slight to any other carrier, it is merely a personal and professional decision to cover these five.

Carrier News

Apple’s iPhone, accounting for 66.1% of all mobile web traffic in a study released by NetApplications, has also powered the company to the #1 position in smartphone customer satisfaction, according to JD Power & Associates.

When I was worked at the Verizon Plus! store in Bloomington, IL., I often thought of Sprint as the Ottoman Empire of the telecommunications industry.  Though once a power house, like the Ottoman Empire, the company is the “sick man of telecommunications” just as the latter was the “sick man of Europe” in the lead up to World War I.  Starting with the merger between Sprint & Nextel, to the company’s decision to drop 10,000 customers because they contacted customer service too much, the company is still facing woes as its affiliate, iPCS, has won another victory in its lawsuit claiming that Sprint’s partnership with WiMax violates agreements the company has with affiliates, such as iPCS.  An Illinois judge has permitted the lawsuit to move forward.

Industry News

President Obama has nominated South Carolina Public Service Commission member Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat to be a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)