Study: Mobile consumers demand camera features

Digital camera functionality, Bluetooth connectivity and music/radio playback top the consumer checklist of essential mobile features according to a new survey conducted by market analysis firm ABI Research. The survey–spanning 1,402 wireless subscribers in seven countries–reports that 42 percent of consumers consider 2+ megapixel cameras a “must-have” mobile device feature, followed by Bluetooth at 34 percent and music/FM radio at 32 percent. Nevertheless, ABI says consumers across all mature markets still select their mobile operator based on basic selling points like price and network coverage, not multimedia bells and whistles.

Other points of interest from the study: Games (64 percent), web access (61 percent) and cameras (58 percent) are the three most common features found on subscribers’ mobile phones. Games and web access are also high on the list of features that subscribers never use. WiFi, mobile TV and games are the handset features least likely to be regarded as “essential.” Also, camera phones are more than twice as important for consumers in Taiwan versus those in the U.S., while Bluetooth is considered essential by mobile subscribers in Western Europe and Taiwan, but penetration remains minimal in Japan and South Korea.

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Jackson Hole, Wy. gets first certified mobile WiMAX network

Jackson Hole, Wy., is the first city in the U.S. to get a certified mobile WiMAX 2.5 GHz network. DigitalBridge Communications (DBC) officially launched service today in the popular resort area using Alvarion’s equipment.

DBC’s goal is to bring WiMAX to underserved rural communities. It has fixed broadband wireless up and running in a number of markets in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, and will work to upgrade those markets to standardized mobile WiMAX in the 2.5 GHz band within the next year.

Greg Daily, president of Alvarion’s North American business, said DBC and other operators looking to target rural markets will benefit from the economies of scale of Sprint, which has ushered in the mobile WiMAX device ecosystem, and the new Clearwire, which is folding in Sprint later this year. “Think about the ecosystem launching and upwards of almost 100 devices that will come out at the end of the year. We’re starting to see customers in small in places like Montana and anywhere else in the world being able to access to architecture like this,” Daily told FierceBroadbandWireless.

DBC’s primary business model will be selling subscriptions to businesses and consumers in the Jackson Hole area. It will also look to institute a visitor-based model whereby visitors to the tourist area can buy a daily or weekly subscription.

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Seidenberg wants all of Verizon Wireless

Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg wants out of the company’s Verizon Wireless joint venture with Vodafone, telling the Financial Times that since Verizon is “doing 100 percent of the work,” he wants 100 percent of the earnings.

Vodafone and Verizon’s relationship has been a tense one at best since the two joined their U.S. wireless assets eight years ago, with Vodafone keeping a 45 percent stake. Verizon last tried to buy out Vodafone in 2006.

While Seidenberg said he doesn’t expect a sale to happen overnight, he in putting more pressure on Vodafone to sell, especially with Vittorio Colao stepping in as new Vodafone CEO in July.

Analysts say Vodafone’s ownership stake now is worth about $60 billion, up $10 billion since 2006.

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WiMAX Forum announces long-awaited Wave 2 certification

It’s the moment the WiMAX industry has been waiting for. The WiMAX Forum today announced certification for Wave 2 products using MIMO in the 2.5 GHz band. The announcement includes four base stations and six mobile-station terminals operating in the 2.5 GHz band–the spectrum the new Clearwire will be launching nationwide 2.5 GHz mobile station modules passed the mandatory MIMO testing protocols.

The eight companies not surprisingly include Intel, Motorola, Samsung, Beceem, Sequans, Alvarion, Airspan, and Zyxel. Alvarion, Motorola, Samsung and Sequans each received the WiMAX Forum Certified Seal of Approval for a 2.5 GHz base station. Airspan, Beceem, Intel, Samsung, Sequans and Zyxel each received the WiMAX Forum Certified Seal of Approval for a 2.5 GHz mobile station module.

Ed Iges, co-chair of the WiMAX Forum’s certification working group, told FierceWireless that certification for MIMO for 2.5 GHz products sets the stage for the quick implementation of future profiles. As such, the forum announced that it will begin to accept certification applications for 3.5 GHz equipment during the third quarter, with testing to begin in the fourth quarter and certification completed for those products before the end of the year.

The WiMAX Forum estimates that more than 100 Mobile WiMAX products will be certified by the end of 2008, and by 2011 more than 1,000 products will undergo Mobile WiMAX certification. The WiMAX Forum said it plans to stay ahead of the demand for certification with a robust global lab infrastructure, including six WiMAX Forum partner labs that are now open and ready to accept products for certification testing in China, Korea, Spain, and the U.S., along with two labs in Taiwan, ADT and TTC/CS. The WiMAX Forum plans to open two more certification labs by the end of 2008 in India and Japan and an additional lab in Brazil in 2009 in order to support the anticipated growing demands in those regions.

Wave 2 certification has taken some time to achieve because of the complexities associated with MIMO technology. “The challenge has been getting MIMO on the uplink,” noted Iges. “It’s not easy to certify having multiple scenarios. What happens on MIMO is that we are adding more stress to the base station.”

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Study secretly monitored cell phone users

A research study conducted by Northeastern University secretly tracked the locations of 100,000 people outside the U.S. through their cell phone usage. Researchers used cell phone towers to track users’ locations when they made calls or sent and received text messages. In another set of records, researchers used cell phones with tracking devices in them and got records for their locations every two hours over a week’s time.

The FCC says that this type of non-consensual tracking is illegal in the U.S. The study co-author Albert-Lazlo Barabasi said that researchers didn’t know what phone numbers were involved and randomly chose the 100.000 people to provide an extra layer of anonymity to the study.

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Verizon’s Alltel acquisition: What are the ramifications?

Now that analysts and industry pundits have had 24 hours to rehash yesterday’s announcement about Verizon’s $28.1 billion acquisition of Alltel, there is lots of debate about how this deal will impact the industry and Alltel customers. Here’s a roundup of the latest:

Alltel subscribers: Alltel customers are worried about Verizon’s commitment to rural coverage and whether the deal will lead to reduced competition in rural markets. They are also concerned about the possible demise of the firm’s popular MyCircle’s rate plan that lets them have unlimited calling to 5, 10 or 20 numbers for a monthly fee. Alltel CEO Scott Ford says that there will be not rate plan changes right away.

What does this mean for other operators? Most of the speculation surrounds Sprint, which now moves to a more distant third place behind Verizon and AT&T. Some believe Verizon’s acquisition of Alltel increases the chance that Sprint will be acquired by Deutsche Telekom. Technology Business Research believes the acquisition of Alltel will place new burdens on AT&T and cause it to search for possible acquisition targets. That may be tough since prospects are limited.  Possible acquisition targets would include U.S. Cellular, Centennial, and unlimited local service providers Leap Wireless and MetroPCS.

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Cricket comes to St. Louis

Starting tomorrow, Leap Wireless will begin offering Cricket unlimited wireless service in St. Louis. The coverage area extends from Warrenton, Mo., to Keyesport, Ill., and includes 2.4 million new covered POPs bringing Cricket’s national covered POPs to about 6.7 million.

The carrier will launch in St. Louis with nine retail stores and more than 80 authorized dealers. Plans will range in cost from $30 per month to $60 per month.

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T-Mobile sues Starbucks over free WiFi

T-Mobile USA isn’t a fan of the new free WiFi promotion from AT&T and Starbucks. The carrier, which has offered paid WiFi access to Starbucks customers for the past seven years, filed a lawsuit against Starbucks accusing it of breach of contract because it’s allowing AT&T to provide customers with free WiFi access in its cafes. The AT&T promotion provides two hours of free WiFi to Starbucks customers who purchase a Starbucks Reward Card with a minimum of $5 credit on it. Customers must use their Starbucks Card at least once a month.

Starbucks announced in February it was ending its exclusive relationship with T-Mobile in favor of a new deal with AT&T and the transition is under way. In the complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court, T-Mobile says the coffee maker secretly devised the promotion with AT&T to provide free WiFi in its stores even though T-Mobile still has the right to exclusively sell and promote its WiFi service in Starbucks until the transition to AT&T is complete. Currently only two Starbucks stores have made the transition, the lawsuit says.

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Sprint adds 4 new PTT phones

Sprint Nextel will launch four new Direct Connect phones in about 47 markets on June 15. The phones will be powered by Qualcomm’s QChat next-generation push-to-talk technology that uses Sprint’s EV-DO Rev. A network. The phones offer new features such as Call Alerts (a repeating alert that lets users notify another user that they are trying to reach them) and Group Connect, which lets customers quickly connect to up to 20 other Direct Connect users at once.

The new Direct Connect phones include the LX400 by LG, the Sanyo Pro-200 and Pro-700 and the Samsung Z400, which is the first Direct Connect phone offered by the handset maker. The phones range in price from $50 (with a two-year agreement and a $50 rebate) to $80 (with a two-year agreement and a $50 rebate). 

The new Direct Connect handsets are critical to Sprint, which has been losing iDEN customers in droves. The firm hopes that the new QChat technology and handsets will prevent more customers from leaving the carrier.

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Verizon to FCC: nationwide ETF policy is best

At today’s FCC hearing, Verizon Wireless testified that the wireless industry would be better off if the FCC devised a nationwide policy on early termination fees instead of allowing states to inconsistently regulate the fees. “Faced with the prospect of multiple state policies on this issue, Verizon believes that appropriate federal action to establish a national policy is preferable,” said Tom Tauke, Verizon executive vice president of public affairs.

Not surprisingly, Verizon suggested the FCC adopt ETF guidelines similar to what the operator has already adopted. For example, carriers should offer opt-out or trial periods for new contracts; provide pro-rated ETFs; and offer no ETFs for contract renewals unless the consumer gets a new device as part of the deal.

Early termination fees are a hot topic at the FCC because they were among the five most common complaints by cell phone users, who filed more than 20,000 service-related complaints with the FCC in 2007. Carriers have pushed the FCC to rule that cancellation fees are part of the rates carriers charge their customers, as opposed to a fee. That type of definition would preempt lawsuits that are occurring in state courts.

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