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Qualcomm-Flarion deal may rock wireless world
Merged company could compete with emerging WiMax efforts
By Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service
August 11, 2005
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/08/11/HNqualcommrock_1.html?source=rss&url=http://www.infowo....
Qualcomm (Profile, Products, Articles) Inc.'s planned acquisition of mobile broadband vendor Flarion Techologies Inc. sets up a powerful competitor to the emerging mobile WiMax technology and its deep-pocketed proponents, such as Intel (Profile, Products, Articles) Corp.
Alternatives to mobile WiMax have appeared to face futures as niche technologies even though mobile WiMax itself isn't expected to hit the market until at least 2007. Industry analysts and others have seen the pending standard for mobile WiMax as the basis of multivendor competition that will cut prices and drive broad adoption. Now Flarion, vendor of a WiMax rival technology that is already shipping, will have the muscle of the developer of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and key 3G (third-generation) mobile technologies.
Qualcomm on Thursday agreed to buy Flarion for about US$600 million, plus an extra $205 million or so if certain goals are met over the next few years. Flarion, in Bedminster, New Jersey, sells equipment based on a version of OFDM, a system also used in WiMax and some other technologies. Flarion's version, called FLASH (fast low-latency access with seamless hand-off) OFDM, makes more efficient use of radio spectrum than WiMax and other systems, according to Ronny Haraldsvik, vice president of global communications and marketing at Flarion.
Just as Qualcomm's CDMA has fought against GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) for years, gaining footholds mostly in North and South America and Asia, Flarion was facing a standards juggernaut armed with superior technology, according to Tad Neeley, a principal at Los Angeles-based equity investment company Gemini Partners Inc. Now a line has been drawn between standards-based, Intel-backed WiMax and Qualcomm-backed FLASH-OFDM, he said.
"There are benefits to scale, so Intel (may) rule the roost, but Qualcomm has been a wildly successful company," Neeley said.
In addition to its existing relationships with service providers, Qualcomm can provide the resources for marketing and ongoing service and support of FLASH-OFDM worldwide, said IDC analyst Shiv Bakhshi. Qualcomm will continue to support Flarion's existing deployments and trials, the company said.
FLASH-OFDM won't replace the CDMA-based technologies at the core of Qualcomm's business, according to Jeff Belk, senior vice president of marketing at the San Diego-based company
Qualcomm bought Flarion to better equip itself to supply a variety of wireless technologies, Belk said. The company will forge ahead with the evolution of its 3G technologies, CDMA2000 and WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), with greater capacities and features in technologies such as HSDPA (High-Speed Download Packet Access), Belk said. But as operators acquire spectrum in different bands and try to deploy distinctive services, they may also turn to FLASH-OFDM. For example, a carrier may offer CDMA2000 in cities today and later add the Flarion system for wide-area data services in rural areas, he said. Qualcomm wants to support all three tracks, Belk said.
Qualcomm is no stranger to OFDM. Both its Platinum Multicast and FLO (Forward Link Only) content multicasting technologies use OFDM, Belk said. FLO will continue on its current track for the foreseeable future, but the company will examine whether elements of FLASH-OFDM might add something to FLO, company spokesman Jeremy James said.
Following direction from the top -- Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm's recently installed chief executive officer -- Qualcomm will use internal competition to advance all its technologies, Belk said.
"There's no better way to motivate engineers than having them compete for who can generate the best technology," Belk said.
Integrating the technology into existing networks could be relatively easy. For two and a half years, Flarion has been working on FLASH-OFDM line cards for CDMA and WCDMA cellular base stations, according to Flarion's Haraldsvik said.
Haraldsvik hopes the acquisition will help to seal a deal for FLASH-OFDM at Sprint (Profile, Products, Articles) Nextel, the powerhouse U.S. mobile operator that is expected to debut tomorrow with the closure of the merger deal between Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. Nextel ran extensive trials of Flarion's equipment in North Carolina that ended earlier this year, whereas Sprint has been working with Intel on WiMax. The merged carrier will control most of the U.S. licenses for a radio band around 2.5GHz, which it will use for wireless broadband.
"Sprint Nextel was always concerned there wouldn't be a big enough ecosystem around Flarion. That concern has been removed," Haraldsvik said. "We can expect Sprint Nextel to now have a serious option in the Qualcomm-Flarion combination."
Sprint being a major CDMA operator, Haraldsvik's hope may be well-founded, according to Gemini Group's Neeley.
The deal also may have been a defensive move by Qualcomm, according to Bob Egan, a director at The TowerGroup Inc., a research and consulting company in Needham, Massachusetts. Flarion was beginning to make inroads against CDMA and WCDMA in certain situations in Europe and Asia, he said.
Qualcomm, which now collects licensing revenue on both CDMA2000 and WCDMA, might even gain some leverage over mobile WiMax. Flarion holds patents on technology for cell handoffs in an OFDM network, IDC's Bakhshi said.
"It will be very interesting to see what happens when WiMax does mobility using OFDM," Bakhshi said.
Qualcomm actively prepares the future by buying Flarion
Julien Grivolas
http://www.ovum.com/news/euronews.asp?id=3030
Qualcomm will pay approximately US$600 million in Qualcomm stock and cash to acquire Flarion Technologies, plus an additional $205 million conditional on certain performance milestones being met over the coming years. Expected to close before the end of this year, the deal's completion depends on regulatory approval.
Comment: Privately-held Flarion is the owner of a wireless broadband technology based on OFDM called Flash-OFDM, and was trying to sell network infrastructure and chipsets based on the technology. The company won its first commercial customer with Digita in Finland in the 450MHz band (EuroView Daily Bulletin, 23rd June 2005), against competition from the CDMA450 EV-DO technology pushed by Qualcomm.
Flarion's technology has also been on trial with Nextel in the US, Vodafone KK in Japan, and T-Mobile in the Netherlands. However, the facts that it is a proprietary technology pushed by a small company was a brake for its adoption amongst the big operators, even when they found the technology very interesting and efficient. The acquisition by Qualcomm, one of the strongest suppliers and lobbyists in the mobile industry, could change the game.
For instance, after Nextel merged with Sprint, the new Sprint-Nextel chose CDMA EV-DO over Flash-OFDM. Might Qualcomm's commitment to OFDM prompt Sprint-Nextel to consider a combined CDMA/OFDM strategy in the future, we wonder?
Qualcomm is positioning itself for the future by acquiring Flarion for its OFDM intellectual property. OFDM will be an important component of next-generation radio technologies, and the value of the deal, up to $800 million for a company with virtually no sales, is a proof of Qualcomm's confidence in OFDM. Though Qualcomm is not a fan of WiMAX, another hot technology powered by OFDM, it has been investigating the OFDM field for a while. For instance, Qualcomm launched two enhancements to its CDMA solutions, namely CDMA2000 1XEV-DO Platinum Multicast and FLO technology, which both incorporate OFDM.
Flarion often said that it had no intention of becoming another Qualcomm. It certainly seems to have achieved this goal, though not in the way we expected.
MEX: 4th generation future
http://www.pmn.co.uk/20050812flarion.shtml
12 August 2005 -- PMN -- With 3G only just starting to tip the balance of mass adoption in developed markets, talk of the next generation of mobile networks - inevitably referred to as 4G - may seem a little premature. However, major adoption cycles like the introduction of a new network technology have traditionally required several years of R&D, followed by an often slow and painful period for commercialisation. The industry has been toying with the concept of 4G for some years now without much sign of progress, but Qualcomm today took a major step towards declaring its intentions with a USD 600m acquisition of Flarion.
The deal gives Qualcomm access to Flarion's Flash-Orthagonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (Flash-OFDM) technology, an IP-based air interface which delivers wireless LAN-style data performance in a cellular environment. Crucially, Flarion's technology has much lower latency rates than 3G, making it ideal for multimedia delivery and services such as video calling, where even a few milliseconds of delay can have a considerable impact on the user experience.
Flarion is not the only company developing next generation network technology based on OFDM principles. Many mainstream '4G' options rely on OFDM in one form or another. However, Flarion has taken considerable strides towards commercialisation, including real customer trials with Nextel subscribers in the US, T-Mobile in Europe, SK Telecom in South Korea and Vodafone in Japan.
Most of these trials have been conducted using laptop computers with PC card modems, but Flarion has also been working extensively with chipset providers to optimise its technology for inclusion in mobile handsets. Impact on battery life, the size and cost of chips are all major challenges which Qualcomm will no doubt help Flarion to overcome.
In its commercial trial with Nextel, Flarion's network technology provides data transfer rates of up to 3 Mbs, with a typical downlink of 1.5 Mbs and uplink rated at 375 Kbs. Nextel charges from USD 35 to USD 80 for unlimited access to the service. The modem equipment costs about USD 100.
These data transfer rates may not seem materially different from those offered by CDMA2000 EV-DO or HSDPA, but there are some key differences which impact the user experience with Flarion's system. Firstly, the low latency times (around 30 milliseconds compared to 300 milliseconds with W-CDMA) deliver greater immediacy. Also, the system can support a larger number of users per cell without a significant degredation in performance.
Most importantly, however, Flarion claims deployment of its technology can be made at one tenth the cost of a comparable W-CDMA network. This means operators can rollout nationwide coverage more quickly and offer genuinely unlimited, 'broadband-style' data tariffs to mobile consumers without the typical, restrictive per megabyte pricing.
There may have been several factors which prompted Qualcomm's purchase of Flarion. South Korean operators have been exploring the technology in a range of trials, demonstrating a clear interest in Flash-OFDM in one of Qualcomm's key markets. Nextel, the only US operator to take Flarion to a full commercial trial, has recently merged with Sprint - a key Qualcomm customer - and both operators are commited to a CDMA2000 evolution upgrade path. Flash-OFDM could be a logical next generation choice for the combined Sprint/Nextel.
It also provides Qualcomm with an extensive OFDM IP portfolio. Qualcomm has built its business on the strength of its CDMA patents, generating most of its revenue from royalties. Flarion gives Qualcomm a similar position in OFDM and buys a powerful bargaining seat in any debate over future 4G standardisation.
PMN has previously published a wide range of analysis articles on Flarion and its competitors as part of the premium Mobile Industry Intelligence subscription service. You can subscribe to access these archives at http://www.pmn.co.uk/membership.shtml.
Qualcomm deal threatens WiMax & 4G
Acquires 300 patents with Flarion
By Tony Dennis: Friday 12 August 2005, 11:08
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25364
QUALCOMM, which successfully commercialised CDMA, looks set to perform the same trick with OFDM. All thanks to its recent acquisition of Flarion for $600 million.
The huge benefit for Qualcomm is that while Flash Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology was invented in Lucent's Bell Labs, Flarion now holds around 300 patents covering OFDM.
The catch is that network operators such as Japan's NTT DoCoMo (which took an early lead in 3G), have been looking to OFDM to provide the technology for 4G. Plus other 4G style technologies, including WiMax, also incorporate aspects of OFDM.
Qualcomm's new president , Steve Altman has been quoted as saying, "We are willing to license these patents on fair and reasonable terms." Those making WiMax hardware are obviously the firms Qualcomm now has in its sights.
Flarion was left vulnerable to such an approach from Qualcomm after its biggest potential customer for OFDM - Nextel - was acquired by Sprint. µ
Flarion Buy Solidifies Qualcomm's Wireless Broadband Position Aug. 11, 2005
By acquiring Flarion Technologies, Qualcomm will instantly strengthen its position in the booming wireless broadband market as well improve its international offerings and position itself for the coming battle for dominance in mobile digital broadcast markets.
By W. David Gardner
TechWeb.com
http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=168600899
By acquiring Flarion Technologies, Qualcomm will instantly strengthen its position in the booming wireless broadband market as well improve its international offerings and position itself for the coming battle for dominance in mobile digital broadcast markets.
Announced Thursday, Qualcomm said it will pay about $600 million for Flarion, which has been privately held but financed by a blue-chip lineup of investors including Cisco Systems and Deutsche Telekom's U.S. unit, T-Mobile.
The acquisition also brings Dr. Andrew Viterbi, a Flarion director, back into the Qualcomm fold. Viterbi was a co-founder of Qualcomm in 1985.
The acquisition merges advanced wireless technologies--Qualcomm's increasingly dominant Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) standard with Flarion's Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex Access (OFDMA) and its FLASH-OFDM.
Flarion had suffered a blow earlier in the year when Nextel Communications, which had been trialing its FLASH-OFDM in North Carolina, merged with Sprint, which had already committed to roll out Qualcomm's high-speed EV-DO service.
"When SprintPCS and Nextel chose their target architecture based on CDMA2000 EV-DO, it clearly put Flarion's future in question," said Joe Nordgaard, managing director of telephony consultancy Spectral Advantage.
Flarion responded by moving aggressively in international markets and scored some successes, most notably in Finland, traditionally a wireless bellweather. Earlier this summer, the government of Finland awarded an operating license to Flarion for its FLASH-OFDM technology.
Flarion has staked out a position in the 450MHz spectrum band, and while its strength there is an asset, it raises the question of what its position will be vis--vis Qualcomm's CDMA.
"The dilemma is how Qualcomm will proceed in pursuing the 450 spectrum since CDMA450 and Flarion (OFDM) now are competing for the same spectrum," said Nordgaard. "CDMA450 has a commanding lead at this point (internationally) with 25 operators and over 900 networks up and running by year end."
The 450MHz spectrum is not used for advanced mobile communications in the U.S.
Nordgaard noted that Flarion's technology lends itself to the coming roll out of wireless digital broadcasting, adding that much of the acquisition can probably be traced to "pre-positioning auctioning of TV spectrum that will be available in the next few years."
Qualcomm's CEO, Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, hailed the acquisition, but made clear that its CDMA technology will dominate the firm going forward. In a statement, he said: "We believe CDMA will provide the most advanced spectrally efficient wide-area wireless networks for the foreseeable future, but with Flarion we can now more effectively support operators who prefer an OFDMA or hybrid OFDM/CDMA track for differentiating their services."
Rajib Laroia, the founder and CTO of Flarion, also noted that CDMA wireless is the basis of major international standards.
The acquisition is also expected to shore up Qualcomm for the coming collision with WiMAX, the wide-area broadband technology slated for widespread adoption next year.
Qualcomm said another $205 million could be added to the $600 million purchase price if certain milestones are reached. The deal is subject to regulatory approval, but Nordgaard said he believed the acquisition would be given the green light because there is significant competition in the markets Qualcomm will address.
Around Asia's markets: 3G outlays put phone firms back on track
- Young-Sam Cho and Aiko Wakao Bloomberg News
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2005
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/11/bloomberg/sxasia.php
Shares of Asian mobile phone operators like NTT DoCoMo and SK Telecom, the worst-performing industry last year, may extend a rebound in the past month as investments in high-speed networks begin paying off.
Profit in the latest quarter at DoCoMo and SK Telecom, the biggest wireless operators in Japan and South Korea respectively, rose more than analysts had predicted as costs to promote so-called third-generation services fell and the companies signed up more users.
DoCoMo and SK Telecom, which started the world's first 3G services, are among 158 operators globally that have spent an estimated $14 billion since 2002 on networks enabling users to download music, video conference and browse the Web.
The number of high-speed mobile phone users will increase 39 percent to 406 million next year, according to the researcher Strategy Analytics.
"People will start doing things on their mobile phones, such as music downloads and restaurant reservations, that they used to do on their PCs," said Naoki Fujiwara, a fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management in Tokyo. "When people become more aware of what high-speed access can allow, data traffic will rise, contributing to revenue."
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific Telecommunications Services index is the second-best performer after energy among 10 industry groups in the regional benchmark in the past month. SK Telecom and DoCoMo are among the top five contributors to the telecom index's gain in the period.
As of June, the world's 3G service operators had signed up 187 million customers worldwide, according to 3GToday.com, a Web site operated by Qualcomm.
In October 2000, SK Telecom became the first company to launch 3G mobile phone services. A year later, DoCoMo became the first operator to launch 3G services based on a technology known as wideband code division multiple access, the most common standard for 3G.
SK Telecom and DoCoMo plan to offer the world's fastest mobile networks when they introduce so-called high-speed downlink packet access services next year.
Vodafone Group, the world's largest mobile phone operator, began its 3G services in Europe last year. Singapore Telecommunications started in its home market this year.
Shares of DoCoMo have risen 5.2 percent since it reported July 29 that fiscal first-quarter profit rose 22 percent, helped by rising sales from 3G subscribers. The Nikkei 225 stock average has gained 0.2 percent in that period.
KDDI, which has more 3G users than DoCoMo, on July 25 reported its third consecutive gain in quarterly profit after adding more high-speed subscribers. The Japanese company's shares have gained 11 percent since its results.
In South Korea, SK Telecom's stock has climbed 2.7 percent since July 25, when it reported the first profit increase in five quarters. The Kospi has gained 1.4 percent in that period.
KT Freetel and LG Telecom also had results that topped estimates, helped by rising wireless Internet revenue as more people used phones to download pictures and songs.
The latest quarter "with its suggestions of a bottom in earnings, will likely mark a turning point in the sector share-price performance," Hitoshi Hayakawa, a Tokyo-based analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston, wrote in an Aug. 3 report.
Investment in 3G networks worldwide will be $15 billion this year, more than the total spent in the past three years, according to the researcher iSuppli. Spending will climb 59 percent to $24 billion next year, it said.
Shares of Asian mobile phone operators like NTT DoCoMo and SK Telecom, the worst-performing industry last year, may extend a rebound in the past month as investments in high-speed networks begin paying off.
Profit in the latest quarter at DoCoMo and SK Telecom, the biggest wireless operators in Japan and South Korea respectively, rose more than analysts had predicted as costs to promote so-called third-generation services fell and the companies signed up more users.
DoCoMo and SK Telecom, which started the world's first 3G services, are among 158 operators globally that have spent an estimated $14 billion since 2002 on networks enabling users to download music, video conference and browse the Web.
The number of high-speed mobile phone users will increase 39 percent to 406 million next year, according to the researcher Strategy Analytics.
"People will start doing things on their mobile phones, such as music downloads and restaurant reservations, that they used to do on their PCs," said Naoki Fujiwara, a fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management in Tokyo. "When people become more aware of what high-speed access can allow, data traffic will rise, contributing to revenue."
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific Telecommunications Services index is the second-best performer after energy among 10 industry groups in the regional benchmark in the past month. SK Telecom and DoCoMo are among the top five contributors to the telecom index's gain in the period.
As of June, the world's 3G service operators had signed up 187 million customers worldwide, according to 3GToday.com, a Web site operated by Qualcomm.
In October 2000, SK Telecom became the first company to launch 3G mobile phone services. A year later, DoCoMo became the first operator to launch 3G services based on a technology known as wideband code division multiple access, the most common standard for 3G.
SK Telecom and DoCoMo plan to offer the world's fastest mobile networks when they introduce so-called high-speed downlink packet access services next year.
Vodafone Group, the world's largest mobile phone operator, began its 3G services in Europe last year. Singapore Telecommunications started in its home market this year.
Shares of DoCoMo have risen 5.2 percent since it reported July 29 that fiscal first-quarter profit rose 22 percent, helped by rising sales from 3G subscribers. The Nikkei 225 stock average has gained 0.2 percent in that period.
KDDI, which has more 3G users than DoCoMo, on July 25 reported its third consecutive gain in quarterly profit after adding more high-speed subscribers. The Japanese company's shares have gained 11 percent since its results.
In South Korea, SK Telecom's stock has climbed 2.7 percent since July 25, when it reported the first profit increase in five quarters. The Kospi has gained 1.4 percent in that period.
KT Freetel and LG Telecom also had results that topped estimates, helped by rising wireless Internet revenue as more people used phones to download pictures and songs.
The latest quarter "with its suggestions of a bottom in earnings, will likely mark a turning point in the sector share-price performance," Hitoshi Hayakawa, a Tokyo-based analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston, wrote in an Aug. 3 report.
Investment in 3G networks worldwide will be $15 billion this year, more than the total spent in the past three years, according to the researcher iSuppli. Spending will climb 59 percent to $24 billion next year, it said.
New wireless tech heralds the age of 'Internet Everywhere'
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2005-08-04-kantor-wireless_x.htm
As our newsroom upgrades its computers this year, we're replacing the old PowerBooks that some reporters use with nice Windows laptops. Included in that upgrade are Wi-Fi network cards.
The idea, of course, is that a reporter out on assignment could get to a Wi-Fi hotspot — a hotel or Starbucks, for instance — and file the story from there over the Net.
This replaces the current method, in which you hook ye olde PowerBook to a cell phone and dial up a modem in the newsroom.
What's funny is that, as clunky as the old system was, it let you file from any spot that had cell phone service. Sure, the connection was slow and the procedure awkward, but it worked. The new Windows/Wi-Fi system is a lot slicker and faster, but because Wi-Fi only has a range of about 300 feet, you need to find a hotspot to file.
What we really need is broadband wireless everywhere, not just in hotspots. Kind of the way cell service is. Sure, there are dead zones with cell service, but by and large, if you use a major provider you can make a call from most of the country.
Luckily, there's plenty being done to help realize the dream of ubiquitous mobile wireless broadband — a few megabits per second from any street or building. It would provide the widespread connection we expect for our cell phones, but with high-speed Internet access.
Wireless broadband at that speed would enable some very cool things:
• At 3 Mbps you can get DVD-quality video streamed to the back of the minivan, so your kids could watch TV while you drove in peace.
• Emergency services would be able to transmit all sorts of information, including patient status while en route to a hospital, maps for fire and rescue units, as well as real-time images and video to police.
And that's just imagining how we would adopt current ideas. New ones would pop up. The idea of virtual graffiti intrigues me. You stand in front of a store with your broadband-connected PDA. Maybe someone who stood in the same spot has posted a digital note linked to your latitude and longitude: "Cute salesgirl here, but better prices at Sandra's Cellar around the corner."
More creative people than I could probably come up with some neat ideas for people with pocket computers that are connected to the Net and have GPS devices. Geocaching, which only requires a plain old GPS receiver, is already entertaining those with an appetite for adventure.
Add some gadgets and you could play city-wide games with equally equipped adventurers. Real-time, video-enabled hide-and-seek, anyone?
All this is coming in the next few years as various technologies are released, mature, and drop in price. But first we need that broadband connection.
Cells and more
The cell phone companies are starting down that road with technologies such as Verizon's 1xRTT (80-150 Kbps) or Cingular's EDGE service (up to 135 Kbps). Both are available in most of the country.
Next are faster connections from those folks, such as EVDO from Verizon and HSDPA from Cingular. Today they do about 400-700 Kbps and are available in some major markets (Verizon's EVDO is in about 45 cities). Tomorrow they promise 1.5 to 3.0 Mbps.
But cell companies are hamstrung by thinking of things in terms of airtime, whereas the rest of the world thinks of connections as too cheap to meter. You don't pay per hour for TV, and there are few Internet plans that aren't flat-rate.
Not so for cell plans, even data ones.
And while there's a standard for Wi-Fi, cell carriers' stuff is proprietary. You're a Cingular customer, period. No Cingular coverage, no luck. With Wi-Fi, though, if there's no Starbucks, maybe there's a hotel. Or a campus. Or something else.
There are long-range successors to Wi-Fi in the works — technologies that will give us a wireless metropolitan-area network, or WMAN.
The name tossed around a lot is WiMax, otherwise known by the memorable moniker "802.16." In fact, there are a few variations: 802.16, 802.16a, and (coming soon) 802.16e.
The first two versions are enough to get WiMax on the map. They specify a point-to-point wireless network with broadband speeds, and get everyone excited about the idea of long-range mobile wireless broadband.
The key phrase, though, is "point to point." WiMax isn't mobile. It's a way of connecting a high-speed network over a long distance, as long as both ends of the connection are stationary.
Not that this is anything to sneeze at. Control of the "last mile" has been a technological and legal issue for phone and cable companies. WiMax neatly steps over it.
But today's WiMax, implemented by companies such as TowerStream, isn't mobile. And it's going to take a while before it could be.
"It will be years before WiMax is certified by operators' engineering teams and deemed feasible for mobile services," Ed Knapp told me. "It takes at least 2-3 years to take a specification to a field-deployable network service. This means that the earliest we would encounter mobile WiMax is late 2008 or 2009, even if the standard is ratified by early 2006."
Knapp may or may not be accurate. Predicting technology is sometimes like predicting the weather — try to go too far into the future and you might as well read tea leaves.
Knapp also has a horse in this race. He's senior vice president for market development for Flarion.
Beyond Wi-Fi
Flarion is already deploying mobile broadband in a few cities using a technology it developed that's based on a protocol called 802.20. It doesn't have a fancy name like "WiMax" — Flarion calls it "Flash-OFDM" — but it's real and it's working.
Later this year, you'll be able to sign up for the service with a local phone company near the campus of Virginia Tech. For $40 a month you can roam the streets and buildings in the area with a broadband connection to your laptop. The whole university town of Blacksburg, Va., will be a hotspot.
The system has been tested in a few other places, including Raleigh, N.C., and Amarillo, Tex.
OFDM has some advantages over WiMax. It takes fewer antennas to cover the same area, and it is less subject to interference. But mobile WiMax has the cool name and industry support, even if it won't even start to deploy till 2007.
Competition like this is a good thing, as is having a variety of technologies for mobile broadband overlapping. And "overlapping" is the word. All these systems will be able to work with one another and Wi-Fi hotspots.
That means that your computer will be sniffing the air constantly, looking for the best available connection to the Net. In a Starbucks? It will have you on Wi-Fi. Driving through downtown? It will pick up the municipal OFDM or WiMax signal. Leave the city? It will find the fastest cell connection.
That's the future we're heading for: A high-speed connection to the Net just about everywhere, in the air itself. Seamless and transparent. Data always at our fingertips, whether we're getting it or sharing it.
The implications are staggering, and unknowable. Commerce, entertainment, privacy, news — all of it will change. And the cool thing is, it's just around the corner.
Andrew Kantor is a technology writer, pundit, and know-it-all who covers technology for the Roanoke Times. He's also a former editor for PC Magazine and Internet World. Read more of his work at kantor.com. His column appears Fridays on USATODAY.com.
More on Qualcomm/Flarion
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,16235373%5E15350%5E%5Enbv%5E15306-15320,00.html
Qualcomm snaps up Flarion
Sinead Carew
AUGUST 12, 2005
QUALCOMM is set to buy wireless broadband technology firm Flarion Technologies to expand its own wireless technology portfolio in a cash and stock deal worth about $US600 million ($776 million).
It could pay another $US205 million if the companies reach certain milestones within eight years of the deal closing.
Shares of Qualcomm, a supplier of wireless chips and technology licenses, rose more than 3 per cent with one analyst saying its purchase of the high-profile private firm could help Qualcomm dominate future high-speed wireless technologies.
"Both companies are doing well on this deal," Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff said. "Flarion investors are getting a good exit strategy and Qualcomm is continuing to have a strong patent portfolio."
The combination could be bad news for developers of future versions of WiMax, an emerging high-speed wireless technology which includes chip giant Intel among its most prominent backers, Mr Modoff said.
Developers of mobile versions of WiMax - expected to be based on OFDM technology - could have a "difficult time designing their systems for mobility without infringing Qualcomm patents" as a result of the deal, he said.
The combined company has more than 300 OFDM patents, according to a Qualcomm executive who said vendors developing WiMax would need to buy licences for some of its patents.
"We are willing to license these patents on fair and reasonable terms," Qualcomm's President Steve Altman said in an interview.
Qualcomm already dominates the market for CDMA. It also sells licenses and chips for W-CDMA, a high-speed wireless standard that is emerging in Europe and other parts of the world.
Flarion was spun out of the development arm of Lucent Technologies, which no longer has an ownership stake.
Many operators around the world have tested Flarion's gear in their search for high-speed wireless technology but it has had little commercial success so far, as most operators are currently building networks based on Qualcomm technology.
Qualcomm said it plans to continue developing Flarion's FLASH-OFDM products and could integrate them with its own technology if there is demand.
"It would take some time and would depend on carrier interest," Mr Altman said.
Reuters
QUALCOMM and Connexion by Boeing Testing In-Flight Mobile Phone Communications
Monday August 8, 7:30 am ET
- Connexion One Aircraft Configured With a Multi-Technology Cabin Communications System to Enable Internet-Connected Data Applications in Flight -
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050808/lam041.html?.v=18
SEATTLE and SAN DIEGO, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM - News), pioneer and innovator of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and other advanced wireless technologies, and Connexion by Boeing, a business unit of The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA - News), announced today that they are working together to test and demonstrate in-flight wireless communications aboard Connexion One, a specially equipped Boeing 737-400 aircraft.
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The companies have performed a series of test flights that successfully demonstrated the simultaneous use of CDMA and GSM mobile phone technology over an on-board network with infrastructure and integration support from UTStarcom, Inc. (Nasdaq: UTSI - News). Using standard cellular communications, a small in-cabin CDMA2000 and GSM "picocell," or small cellular base station, is connected to the worldwide terrestrial network by an air-to-ground satellite link provided by the Connexion by Boeing high-speed airborne network.
Passengers on the test flight were able to use BREW®-based data applications via QUALCOMM's BREW solution. The BREW solution enables users to download business applications, 3D games, information and communication applications such as email and instant messenger wirelessly, over the air. Passengers also downloaded and watched video clips and made phone calls on a variety of mobile devices including 3G mobile phones. The data tests were conducted over CDMA2000 1X and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO and voice calls were made over CDMA2000 and GSM.
"According to an October 2004 report, CSP Associates estimates the penetration rate of mobile phones for passengers in the United States is approximately 70 percent and expected to rise to 90 percent in the next three years," said Paul Guckian, senior director of technology for QUALCOMM. "The cellphone is quickly becoming the most personal information and entertainment device today, and passengers want to make the best use of travel time by accessing business and entertainment applications while in-flight. QUALCOMM and Connexion by Boeing are cooperating to make this capability a reality."
"Connexion by Boeing is committed to providing evolutionary new wireless services that provide passengers with additional choices for how to communicate while airborne, while also providing air carriers with a competitive edge within in the industry," said David Friedman, vice president of marketing and direct sales for Connexion by Boeing. "What makes the Connexion system so unique is its capability to provide high-speed connectivity and entertainment services with a bandwidth that can support simultaneous data activity to a large number of passengers who board commercial aircrafts every day carrying mobile phones."
QUALCOMM and Connexion by Boeing will continue to perform research and development supporting the feasibility of in-flight mobile telephony and evaluate the potential for interference from multi-technology picocell networks and mobile phones to other aircraft systems and terrestrial networks.
Safety is a top priority and it is with this in mind that QUALCOMM and Connexion by Boeing have committed to research and testing to ensure there is no potential for interference with both aircraft systems and terrestrial networks. Working in close collaboration with Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the testing, which began in May 2005, will continue through September 2005.
QUALCOMM is well positioned to continue to lead the research and development of an in-cabin wireless system that does not compromise the safety of the aircraft or the reliability of terrestrial wireless networks. QUALCOMM has worked closely with a number of aviation industry forums, such as the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics and World Airline Entertainment Association, and government agencies including the FCC and FAA. As a part of QUALCOMM's commitment to research on this subject, the Company provided testimony in mid-July for a Congressional hearing on cellphone use on aircraft, providing technical and research expertise highlighting the many capabilities of the mobile phone today beyond voice and the potential for both business and entertainment that mobile phone connectivity could bring to the flying public.
About Connexion by Boeing
Connexion by Boeing is, for the second year running, the recipient of the World Travel Award for World's Leading High-Speed In-flight Internet Services Provider and was recently named one of the wireless companies to watch in 2005 by IDC wireless services analysts. Through a broadband connection to an equipped aircraft, high-speed Internet, data and entertainment connectivity is delivered directly to travelers in flight. The Connexion by Boeing service is available today on flights offered by Lufthansa, SAS, Japan Airlines, ANA, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines and China Airlines. In addition, Asiana, Etihad, Austrian Airlines and El Al Israeli Airlines have announced their intent to begin offering the high-speed service in the near future. Connexion by Boeing also offers a high-speed connectivity solution for the business aviation and maritime markets. For more information, please visit www.connexionbyboeing.com.
About QUALCOMM
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2005 FORTUNE 500® company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market® under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the Company's ability to successfully design and have manufactured significant quantities of CDMA components on a timely and profitable basis, the extent and speed to which CDMA is deployed, change in economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 2004, and most recent Form 10-Q.
QUALCOMM and BREW are registered trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Connexion by Boeing Contact:
Marc Birtel
Phone: 1-206-655-1572
Email: marc.r.birtel@boeing.com
or
QUALCOMM Contacts:
Jeremy James, Corporate Communications
Phone: 1-858-845-7333
Email: corpcomm@qualcomm.com
or
Bill Davidson, Investor Relations
Phone: 1-858-658-4813
Email: ir@qualcomm.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated
The Most Fascinating Company in America
The Qualcomm Equation provides a detailed history of one of the true successes in American technology.
By Bill Mann (TMF Otter)
August 5, 2005
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2005/commentary05080503.htm?logvisit=y&source=estmarhln00199....
There are a number of companies that ignite strong passions in people: certainly Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), with its borg-like attempts to co-opt every last bit of the computer experience, along with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), its nemeses.
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) makes a strong case, from its Buffett-like owners' manual to its "don't be evil" credo. Speaking of Buffett, there is, of course, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B), which the Oracle of Omaha has transformed from a dying New England textile company into a multinational, multidiscipline powerhouse.
But my vote for most interesting company, hands down, is San Diego-based mobile telecommunications powerhouse Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM). It's interesting because of the origins of its technology, with Hedy Lamarr, a World War II era doyenne. It's interesting because of the monomaniacal decades-long crusade by CEO Irwin Jacobs. Its interesting because, after an 1800% gain in the first 11 months of 1999, an obscure and soon-to-be reobscured Paine Webber analyst named Walter Piecyk said that the stock should be worth $1,000 per share. Qualcomm matters because it is a combination of the best of technological research and development, the most passionate of proselytizers, and the most dogged of defenders of what it considers its birthright.
Qualcomm has faded from the forefront of investor consciousness: No longer does CNBC play a booming "QUALCOMM" sound effect every time the company's name is mentioned. It's simply been too long since that magical 1999, or the sickening drop of 2000: The short-term attention-span investor class has a shiny new pet. But though Qualcomm's shares have yet to come close to those heights of early 2000, there were a few lessons that came from that time that persist. First of all, Qualcomm's bull case was so attractive because investors fully believe, as does management, that the company's technology is going to take over the world.
As Dave Mock lavishly details in his new book The Qualcomm Equation, the company's desire to become a hegemony has earned it quite a few enemies. Qualcomm's CDMA technology is widely considered the most efficient, effective protocol for high-speed wireless communications. But because this standard is proprietary to Qualcomm, the company continues to go through a knock-down, drag-out fight on several fronts. First, as Mock describes, Qualcomm's decades-long crusade to have CDMA adopted continues. The company has achieved great success in the U.S., which has allowed all of the different standards to duke it out. Not so in Europe, where a standard-setting agency essentially locked out all other protocols besides GSM.
Dave Mock is an occasional contributor, covering telecommunications and wireless companies here at The Motley Fool, so here's what I expected to find in this book, and did: a painstakingly rendered history of how Qualcomm was founded, how it depended upon government business in early days, and a highly readable explanation of the alphabet soup of high-technology standards. If you're a layman who has wondered just what the heck is the difference between TDMA, CDMA, WiMAX, IS-95, and so on, this is your book. Understanding that I may have just lost almost all of you "Hey, I just want my cell phone to work" folks, let me try this again: If you can imagine a political struggle, a religious war, and a story of redemption -- with Davids, Goliaths, and even an Ellsworth M. Toohey or two -- all rolled into the rubric of a tale of a corporation trying to pick its way through a minefield that never seems to have an endpoint, you'll find Qualcomm's story fascinating. Nevermind the acronyms.
Something for almost everyone
But if it were left right there, The Qualcomm Equation would be of interest mainly to telecom folks and Qualcomm shareholders. Ah, but there's a reason Dave Mock writes for The Motley Fool: He is a technologist, as well as a crack business analyst. In our internal parlance, we call companies like Qualcomm "home runs," companies that made the transition from small-cap wannabes to monster winners, creating billions in wealth for shareholders along the way. Mock spills a substantial amount of ink focusing on the aspects of Qualcomm, be they management excellence, timing, doggedness, technological superiority, or even luck. For example, one marketing strategy Irwin Jacobs used was to sell the product as being a better solution not only for the end customer, but also for competitors.
The one thing I'd have loved to see more of in this book is the morality play issue. Mock doesn't delve into the rights or wrongs, doesn't really say what he thinks of Qualcomm's strategies, its dogged defense of patents near and far, or how the company has changed in its transformation from being the hunter to the hunted. But the detail in which Mock describes Qualcomm's rise -- and the lessons that this success should teach other entrepreneurs, as well as investors -- makes this book one that is not to be missed.
The Fool's Bill Mann owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway. The Fool has a strict disclosure policy. Bill is usually found these days on the Hidden Gems newsletter. A free trial is yours for the asking!
Qualcomm places bets on mobile TV
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20050805-9999-1b5mediaflo.html
Telecom firm gambles $800 million on cell-phone viewers
By Kathryn Balint
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 5, 2005
SANDY HUFFAKER
Qualcomm engineer Deviprasad Konea prepared to test TV signals on a makeshift cell phone set up inside a company van.
You'd never know it wasn't cable TV. Cable News Network airs without so much as a glitch on a tiny cell-phone screen perched inside a van driving around Sorrento Valley.
Call it TV on the go.
It's what Qualcomm sees as the next frontier for cell phones. The San Diego wireless technology giant is betting $800 million that people will want to watch television on their cell-phone screens.
"We believe the market is big enough for this," said Rob Chandhok, vice president of engineering and market development for Qualcomm. "We believe the demand will be quite high. We're talking about doing it at a quality that is so good that people who say, 'I'd never watch TV on my phone,' say 'I'd watch this.' "
Qualcomm envisions sports fans tuning in to get the latest scores, children being entertained during car trips, commuters on public transportation and people standing in line killing time. The company said news programs would be especially helpful during catastrophes.
Still, some analysts covering the wireless industry question whether there's much of a market for television on cell phones.
"Will people want to do it, and, even more importantly, how much will they be willing to pay?" asked Jane Zweig, chief executive of the Shosteck Group, a research firm focusing on the wireless industry.
Of course, video is already available on cell phones in the United States. The major U.S. wireless companies offer video from TV channels such as CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, Fox Sports and ESPN that can be downloaded onto cell phones.
But Qualcomm's new venture, called MediaFLO, would work more like traditional broadcast television. The FLO in MediaFLO stands for "forward link only," meaning that the signal transmits only one way.
The system would send up to 15 live TV channels from a few large central towers in each city to multiple cell phones. As many as 85 more recorded channels, including audio, could be transmitted as well.
SANDY HUFFAKER
Rob Chandhok showed how Qualcomm tests its technology for broadcasting TV over cell phones in a van traveling around Sorrento Valley the other day.
It would bypass existing cellular networks.
One benefit, according to Qualcomm: MediaFLO could potentially save wireless companies – and, ultimately, consumers – money on video services for cell phones.
That's because the system would broadcast TV programs to tens of thousands of cell phones at once instead of sending them individually to each subscriber, as cell-phone video is sent now.
And by using a separate system to deliver TV to cell phones, that would free up the cellular network for more voice calls.
Qualcomm started thinking about the concept three years ago.
One of its main goals was to reduce the expense of transmitting video to cell phones. Qualcomm's executives are well aware that there's a limit to what people will pay for television on cell phones.
Throughout the industry, there have been efforts to tweak existing digital video standards to deliver TV on cell phones. Qualcomm shunned those ideas and instead set out to develop an entirely new standard.
While Qualcomm is perhaps best known for its wireless technology known as code-division multiple access, used on cellular networks worldwide, it turned to another technology for delivering television to cell phones. That technology, called orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, was deemed by Qualcomm engineers to be more suitable for the task.
One way Qualcomm's technology saves money is in the number of transmitters it requires. Instead of the hundreds of transmitters needed in each city for a cellular network, MediaFLO can work on just two or three.
The transmitters send a 50,000-watt signal, the equivalent of a small TV station and thousands of times more powerful than a cellular transmitter. Qualcomm plans to install the transmitters on existing towers nationwide.
Qualcomm took a gamble even before it had all of the details of its system worked out. It paid $38 million for airwaves auctioned by the federal government in 2003, obtaining Channel 55 in the 700-megahertz band throughout 80 percent of the country. The auction was part of the Federal Communication Commission's move to sell off UHF frequencies in anticipation of television broadcasters moving to digital TV.
The company acquired rights to the band in the rest of the country in a private transaction. Qualcomm declined to disclose the details of that transaction.
These days, Qualcomm is busy honing MediaFLO in anticipation of a rollout next year.
In almost a daily routine, technicians and engineers, including Neal Hicks and Deviprasad Konea, ride around San Diego in van emblazoned with the "FLOMobile" on its side.
Inside, a contraption – made of a tiny screen, circuit boards and wires – simulates cell-phone technology. CNN, ESPN or a number of other TV networks that have allowed Qualcomm to use their programming for testing purposes play on the two-inch screen. The signal is transmitted from antennas atop Black Mountain, San Miguel Mountain and one of Qualcomm's buildings.
The shows, as well as the van's location, are recorded. Back at Qualcomm, the recordings are fed into a computer that analyzes them for the signal strength and other things.
"What we're doing is seeing whether what we predicted would happen is what actually happens in the field," said Chandhok, as he rode in the van on one of the short testing trips.
So far, so good. MediaFLO is capable of transmitting TV shows with four times the resolution of typical video on cell phones in the United States, Qualcomm said.
"I think that from a technology perspective, this stuff is very well thought out," said Michael King of San Diego, a principal analyst with Gartner Inc., a market research firm.
If all works as planned, Qualcomm's MediaFLO division will build a nationwide network, obtain the rights to the TV programming and sell the service to U.S. wireless providers.
The wireless companies, in turn, would charge subscribers for the service. Qualcomm is thinking the companies might charge $15 to $20 a month, but emphasizes that the price would be up to the individual provider.
Qualcomm says it eventually plans to spin off its MediaFLO division.
But, like the company's other endeavors, such as selling carriers on its CDMA technology, putting TV on cell phones poses challenges.
For starters, even though the company successfully bid to use Channel 55 nationwide, that was contingent on TV stations that still use those airwaves moving to digital transmission.
While Channel 55 is free for Qualcomm to use in most of the country, TV stations are still using it in 18 cities, according to FCC documents.
Qualcomm hopes to speed up the conversion to digital in those cities so it can use the channel sooner rather than later.
WACX-TV in Orlando, Fla., and KWDK-TV in Tacoma, Wash., have agreed to switch to digital in confidential deals with Qualcomm.
And, Qualcomm said, WLNY-TV in Riverhead, N.Y., may be next. It has told the FCC it intends to move to digital earlier than required by the government.
Another challenge for Qualcomm is power consumption.
"If you watch TV for an hour and have to go home to charge your phone before making a call, it makes no sense," Qualcomm's Chandhok said.
He said the company has succeeded in making its video system "very power efficient."
Another hurdle will be persuading wireless carriers to choose MediaFLO over several competing technologies.
One of those technologies, digital video broadcast-handheld (DVB-H), is backed by longtime Qualcomm rival Nokia. Vodafone Group and mm02 are testing the technology in Europe. Cellular tower operator Crown Castle is testing DVB-H in the United States.
"There's going to be competition to MediaFLO, and that's one of the big risks," said Albert Lin, an analyst with American Technology Research. "The U.S. risks once again getting into another big technology battle. DVB-H is almost certainly going to be one of the standards fighting MediaFLO."
Another challenge for Qualcomm is persuading TV networks to allow their programming to be used. Qualcomm is looking at offering short snippets rather than half-hour or hour shows.
"I think they're hoping they don't have to do anything really, that a Disney will look at it and say, 'This is a good conduit,' " Lin said. "I think they're really hoping that they won't have to go out and buy content."
Perhaps the biggest hurdle will be getting people to pay to watch TV on their cell phones. In addition to paying a subscription fee, cell-phone users would have to upgrade to phones with faster processors, more memory, better screens and a special chip made by Qualcomm so the phone can receive the MediaFLO signal.
"I'm not 100 percent convinced that people are going to consume mass quantities of (television) content on their cell phones," said King, the Gartner analyst. "I'm somewhat optimistic that people will consume small amounts of content."
But Qualcomm's Chandhok pointed to the thriving market for video games on cell phones and said he thinks the market for TV on cell phones is even bigger.
"If you think about it, what's the population of users that watch TV?" he said. "Imagine how many more people would be interested in TV-like entertainment on their devices."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kathryn Balint: (619) 293-2848; kathryn.balint@uniontrib.com
Qualcomm A 'Core Tech Holding'
07.21.05, 9:00 AM ET
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/07/21/qualcomm-wireless-earnings-0721markets02.html?partner=yahoo....
Banc of America Securities maintained a "buy" rating and $40 price target on Qualcomm (nasdaq: QCOM - news - people ) after the company posted strong fiscal third-quarter earnings.
"We are encouraged by the strong performance in a challenging industry backdrop. June quarter results were only slightly better than expected, but guidance was positive, allaying our fears that there may be a reduction coming."
Qualcomm's strong third quarter was "primarily from a higher March handset units with a higher-than-expected average selling prices (ASPs) because of strength in Japan, slightly lower-than-anticipated operating expenses and a lower-than-expected share count."
The research firm stressed that average selling prices are the story for the company. "ASPs were 8% higher than our expectations at $231, and offset slightly lower units. We expect ASPs to remain resilient over the next few years as 3G ramps up."
"We see Qualcomm as a core technology holding since there is a clear secular driver that will lead to accelerating earnings-per-share growth. We look for more rapid 3G adoption to drive EPS and the stock higher," said the research outfit.
Elsewhere in its coverage of wireless equipment, Banc of America's top picks are Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ) and Cisco Systems (nasdaq: CSCO - news - people ), both rated at "buy" with price targets of $23 and $24, respectively. Its least favorites are Lucent Technologies (nyse: LU - news - people ) and Ciena (nasdaq: CIEN - news - people ), both rated at "neutral" with price targets of $3 and $2.50, respectively.
India over China in Mobiles
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=12824&hed=India+over+China+in+Mobiles+
India will overtake China in mobile phone sales by 2009, predicts a new Gartner report.
July 20, 2005
India will overtake China in the volume of annual sales of mobile phones by 2009, according to a report released Wednesday by the technology research firm Gartner.
In the report, Gartner significantly increased its cell phone sales forecast for 2005, predicting that global mobile phone sales will reach 779 million units in 2005, a 16 percent increase over 2004.
Based on current growth rates, Gartner is now predicting that the milestone of 1 billion mobile phones sold per year will be reached by 2009.
Gartner also predicts that 100 million 3G (third generation) phones will be sold in 2006, and more than 200 million smartphones in 2008.
Mobile phone sales continue to grow across the world, but in mature markets such as North America and Europe, most of the sales come from replacement phones. In emerging markets such as India, however, new customers are still signing up for their first phones.
‘The price of the silicon will come down.’
-Carolina Milanesi,
Gartner
Asia/Pacific Growth
One in every four mobile phones sold this year will come from the Asia/Pacific region. By 2009, this rate will increase to one in three. Gartner predicts that China and India alone will account for almost 200 million phone sales in 2007. In 2009, however, India will surpass China to reach 139 million units.
“It’s not that one is doing better than another,” explained Carolina Milanesi, principal analyst with Gartner. “The market is at a different stage.”
She noted that while China is still a growing market, the Indian market has been targeted both by operators and phone manufacturers as one of the key markets for the sub-$40 phone and there is a great deal of growth coming from that initiative.
In the United States, in contrast, Gartner predicts that the average wholesale price of a mobile phone will decline from $174 in 2004 to $161 in 2009.
“The Chinese market is very complex,” said Ms. Milanesi. “In general, the trend you see is a great diversity in the markets in terms of what types of phones are sold. The distribution channel is very complex as well. There are different tiers of distribution, and people lose track in the countryside.”
She predicts that the Chinese mobile market will continue to grow, but the growth won’t be as dramatic as in past years.
3G Development
Meantime, 3G mobile phone technology is taking off, with more high-speed wireless networks being deployed around the world. The price of the chips is also coming down to the point where phone manufacturers are able to produce cell phones that include 3G chipsets and sell them in areas where 3G networks have not even been built yet.
“You will see sales in countries in Africa and Eastern Europe where there is no 3G network, but the phones will be appealing to users on a 2.5G network,” said Ms. Milanesi. “The price of the silicon will come down and WCDMA [wideband code division multiple access] and Edge will be in a lot of phones.”
As long as the older type of GSM (global system for mobile communications) network is in place, phones with 2.5G and 3G technology can still function on the older networks.
“If you compare the sales of WCDMA phones to the subscriber rate, it’s not one to one,” said Ms. Milanesi. “You wind up with many more WCDMA phones that are not sold to subscribers.”
UTStarcom to Provide 250,000 CDMA Handsets to China Unicom
User Rating: / 0
http://www.telecomskorea.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2320&Itemid=46
Wednesday, 20 July 2005
UTStarcom, a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and services, announced Wednesday that the company has signed a contract to deliver an initial shipment of 250,000 units of its C1160 CDMA1x handset to China Unicom.
The new contract is part of a larger frame agreement to supply handsets to China Unicom, the second largest CDMA operator in the world with more than 30 million subscribers overall.
Designed and manufactured by UTStarcom, the C1160 is an affordable 800MHz CDMA1x handset with an elegant, clam-shell design and a 1.3" DSTN LCD screen. Features include 12-note polyphonic ring tones, SMS predictive text capability and removable user identity module (R-UIM), which is designed to enable users to transition phone directories and other personal data when upgrading handsets without the need for additional programming. UTStarcom's C1160 handset has a long battery life with a three-hour talk time and more than 100 hours of standby time.
"This announcement represents the first contract in what we believe will be an on-going relationship to develop CDMA handsets for China Unicom, the second largest CDMA operator in the world," said Hong Lu, chief executive officer at UTStarcom. "UTStarcom has committed significant resources to the development of our own internally designed and manufactured handsets with extensive R&D operations in both China and Korea. Earlier this year, we introduced our first internally-designed and -manufactured CDMA handsets, the CDM-7000 series developed for the North American market. The C1160 model is the next in a line of cost-effective, high-quality handsets that UTStarcom plans to introduce for carriers in markets around the world."
Released by UTStarcom
Handset sales will reach one billion in 2009 – Gartner
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single5119
20.07.2005 - In 2009 annual mobile handset sales will reach one billion, new research from Gartner suggests.
Gartner market data shows that worldwide mobile handset sales have been rising rapidly in recent years. In 1997, 107.8 million units were sold. By 2003, this number had reached 520 million. Sales will reach 779 million units in 2005, a 16pc increase on 2004.
In 2009, sales will exceed the one-billion mark. During that year, if Gartner’s projections are correct, one person in every 6.5 people on the planet will either purchase a phone for the first time or update their existing model.
“The world's appetite for mobile phones has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations,” said Ben Wood, research vice-president for mobile terminals at Gartner. “Mobile phones could go on to be the most common consumer electronics devices on the planet.”
“The sales volume cannot be attributed to one region in particular. It’s a truly global phenomenon,” said Carolina Milanesi, principal analyst at Gartner for mobile terminals. “In mature markets such as Europe and North America, subscribers are still buying replacement phones. In emerging markets such as Brazil and India new customers are signing up for mobile services at an even faster rate.”
The Asian-Pacific region accounts for most sales: one in every four mobile phones sold this year. In 2009 this will increase to one in three. Ann Liang, Gartner’s principal analyst for mobile terminals in the region, said: “China and India alone will account for nearly 200 million units in 2007, with the Indian market surpassing China in 2009 to reach 139 million units.”
North Americans are still buying the latest models, but the bigger story is in Latin America. Hugues De La Vergne, Gartner's principal analyst for mobile terminals in the Americas, said: “Sales nearly doubled in 2004 within Latin America and they will reach 100 million phones a year by 2009. Brazil is the powerhouse of the region, accounting for more than a third of sales this year.”
The research also predicts that more than 100 million 3G phones will be sold in 2006 and that more than 200 million smart phones - the fastest-growing category of device – will be sold in 2008.
"Smart phone sales broke all records in the first quarter of 2005 and we expect them to double year on year to 2006,” said Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner.
Despite spectacular growth on all fronts, there are some challenges ahead for the industry. Wood cautioned that while sales numbers were impressive, the big brands would have to deliver value as well as volume. “We expect the average wholesale price of a mobile phone will decline from US$174 in 2004 to US$161 in 2009. At the same time, phones will keep getting more complex and become ever-more packed with features. Only the sharpest players will survive.”
By Brian Skelly
Alcatel and Novatel Wireless partner to accelerate HSDPA service launch
Source : La Société
Actualité du 20/07/05 à 13:27
http://www.edubourse.com/finance/actualites.php?idActus=22607
Paris and San Diego, July 20, 2005 - Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) and Novatel Wireless, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVTL), today announced that both companies have completed thorough interoperability tests between Alcatel Evolium™ radio access infrastructure and the Novatel Wireless' Merlin U740™ Wireless PC Card Modem in order to enable mobile operators worldwide to undertake live HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) field introductions.
These introductions will leverage the HSDPA interoperability tests already carried out by Alcatel and QUALCOMM, between Alcatel's Evolium™ radio access infrastructure and QUALCOMM's Mobile Station Modem™ (MSM™) MSM6275™ chipset. Furthermore, this chipset was integrated by Novatel Wireless to expand its portfolio of multi-standard Merlin™ Wireless PC Card Modems to HSDPA.
An example of this powerful association is both companies' support of tele.ring's HSDPA field introduction, which will be taking place in Austria during the second half of 2005.
"Our association with Novatel Wireless will enable Alcatel to provide 3G operators with a fully-interoperable, end-to-end HSDPA solution allowing them to offer, primarily to their corporate subscribers, new PC-based data-intensive services," said Marc Rouanne, chief operating officer of Alcatel's mobile communications activities. "The flexibility of Alcatel's HSDPA solution, implying a software-only upgrade, will help us accelerate the availability of HSDPA for 3G subscribers worldwide."
"Novatel Wireless has always been at the forefront of the best Wireless WAN broadband technology and access solutions for the mobile industry," said Peter Leparulo, chief executive officer of Novatel Wireless. "We are proud to have been selected by tele.ring for their HSDPA introduction, and are confident that our agreement with Alcatel will benefit both companies' HSDPA business opportunities worldwide."
"tele.ring is relying on Alcatel and on Novatel Wireless for the success of our HSDPA introduction in Austria," declared Elmar Grasser, chief technology officer of tele.ring.
Based on Alcatel's Evolium™ end-to-end multi-standard solution, the deployment of Alcatel's HSDPA solution will require a simple software-only upgrade, as all Alcatel's Node Bs already used by 3G/UMTS operators' networks worldwide are fully HSDPA-ready.
About HSDPA
The HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) standard marks a similar leap forward for WCDMA and UMTS as EDGE does for GSM in terms of data transmission speed and capacity, essential for 3G evolution. Current field-proven 3G downlink speeds of about 384 kbps (up to 2 Mbps possible according to standards) will be boosted to 14Mbps (maximum value according to standards) with the first-generation HSDPA systems, enabling operators to support a considerably larger number of high data-rate users on a single radio carrier and ensure data-hungry subscribers get the best experience with innovative and existing multimedia services.
About Alcatel
Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks; applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 12.3 billion and 56,000 employees in 2004, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries.
About Novatel Wireless
Novatel Wireless, Inc. is a leading provider of wireless broadband access solutions. Novatel Wireless' Merlin(TM) PC Cards, Expedite(TM) Embedded Modems, Freedom Box(TM) Ruggedized Modems, MobiLink(TM) Communications Software Suite, Ovation(TM) 3G Multimedia Application Consoles and Conversa(TM) Software Suite enable high-speed wireless access to personal, corporate and public information. The company delivers innovative 3G solutions to operators, distributors and vertical markets worldwide. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Novatel Wireless is listed on NASDAQ: NVTL. For more information on Novatel Wireless visit www.novatelwireless.com. (nvtlg)
Contact press@alcatel.com
Source : La Société
<<< Actualité précédente
Five Picks In Networking And Mobile Devices
07.19.05, 10:21 AM ET
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/07/19/cisco-qualcomm-networking-0719markets05.html?partner=yahoot....
SG Cowen highlighted five companies in the networking and mobile-devices arena in its quarterly preview.
"Enterprise benefits from seasonal rebound, while handset market, especially at the low-end, remains stronger-than-expected. Relatively speaking, we view wireless momentum as boosting wireless stock to a greater degree than enterprise going into the third quarter."
The research firm's favorites are Cisco Systems (nasdaq: CSCO - news - people ), Qualcomm (nasdaq: QCOM - news - people ), Brightpoint (nasdaq: CELL - news - people ), Redback Networks (nasdaq: RBAK - news - people ) and 3Com (nasdaq: COMS - news - people ).
"Based on channel checks and our recent U.S. Wireless Retailer survey, we believe the second quarter should be above the consensus 5% to 6% quarter-over-quarter growth, driven by 2G/2.5G GSM strength." The research firm believes new handset launches will continue into the third quarter. "However, continued industry pressure on handset margins as evidenced by third-quarter results recently posted by LG, Samsung and SonyEricsson continues to mute handset enthusiasm long-term."
On the Enterprise side, SG Cowen sees the second quarter in line, recovering from a setback in March. "Although normal seasonality is likely to keep guidance conservative...we have heard that the September quarter is starting out stronger than June."
Texas Instruments "reduce"
Tuesday, July 19, 2005 6:08:41 AM ET
Jyske Bank
NEW YORK, July 19 (newratings.com) - Analysts at Jyske Bank maintain their "reduce" rating on Texas Instruments (TXN.NYS).
In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention that the company is likely to post its Q2 results in-line with expectations, with 12% y/y EPS growth. Texas Instruments’ performance during the quarter is expected to have been boosted by the robust demand for chips, especially chips for mobile telephones, Jyske Bank adds. The analysts believe that the current expectations for Texas Instruments' 3G telephony segment are too optimistic.
http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_924215.html
Qualcomm Introduces MSM7500 Convergence Platform Chipset
http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/dailynewsdetail/001767
July 19, 2005 -- Qualcomm Inc of the US has announced the sampling of the dual-CPU MSM7500 Convergence Platform single-chip solution, enabling the first generation of converged devices which combine consumer electronics with the power of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A networks.
Qualcomm's MSM7500 chipset will transform the wireless device into the personal multimedia experience, enabling devices from PDAs and smart phones to wireless computers, to portable video players, music centers, gaming consoles, etc. With the processing capacity to match the high data-speed capabilities of Rev A networks, the MSM7500 chipset creates new markets for the popular consumer devices, e.g., an 8-Mpixel digital camera, camcorder-like video recorder, and VGA resolution gaming.
The MSM7500 chipset has a design with a dual-CPU architecture that integrates an ARM11 applications processor and an ARM9 modem processor. The MSM7500 chipset will deliver high-end multimedia with the integrated Launchpad suite and BREW support. It supports high-resolution VGA displays and TV-out to turn wireless handsets into personal media players, leveraging the viewing experience of television monitors; and it provides a gaming experience with an embedded ATI 3D graphics engine.
The MSM7500 chipset supports the company's Launchpad suite of multimedia, connectivity, position location, user interface and removable storage functionality, and the company's BREW solution, which enables the download and monetization of advanced applications and content.
(NE Asia Online)
TechMeister Mailbag: Tech Still Leads
By Richard Suttmeier
RealMoney.com Contributor
7/18/2005 3:35 PM EDT
Click here for more stories by Richard Suttmeier
Editor's Note: Richard Suttmeier is a columnist for TheStreet.com whose Tech Trading Diary appears every Tuesday on TheStreet.com. He is also the author of TheStreet.com Technology Report newsletter.
-------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt from above :
<<I, too, believe in tech sectors, and that they will eventually lead this sluggish market. Productivity should be the name of the end-game, right? Now about our local big wireless giant: Qualcomm (QCOM:Nasdaq - commentary - research). I have been an owner of this stock for about eight years now. I still own 10,000 shares and have only sold about 2,000 shares along the way! I think they are still a strong future play since they own almost all CDMA patents, have about 8 billion in cash and no long-term debt.
What do you think? Is this a solid long-term hold and should we be buying more at these prices (about $35.00 today). Thanks. -- Dave From Beautiful San Diego
Suttmeier: QCOM is 13.4% undervalued, making its fair value $40.55. A close this week above its five-week MMA at $35.04 shifts the weekly chart profile to neutral from negative, increasing the odds of a return to fair value.>>
http://www.thestreet.com/_tscrss/comment/richardsuttmeier/10232966.html
QUALCOMM Ahead of Earnings
John Stewart (jstewart@sir-inc.com) 7/18/2005 1:01 PM ET
http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/observations.aspx?ID=13650&c=obsfeed
Earnings season is now getting into full swing, and some of the heavy hitters are set to report this week. The communication equipment-maker QUALCOMM (QCOM: sentiment, chart, options) will announce its third-quarter fiscal 2005 earnings on Wednesday after the closing bell.
Wall Street expects QCOM to earn 25 cents per share, but investors might not be happy with that figure. The "whisper number" (courtesy of earningswhisper.com) of 26 cents per share for QCOM earnings shows investors are more optimistic than the average Wall Street analyst. Although the shares have been struggling for several months, expectations appear to be rather high. Optimistic sentiment has been built into the stock, which is a potential danger if the earnings turn out to be a disappointment.
A look at the performance of QCOM shares over the past several months illustrates a downward trend for the stock.
Options players on QCOM are currently showing a very high level of optimism. Call options outstanding on the stock in the nearest three expiration months outnumber put options by a ratio of nearly two-to-one. The Schaeffer put/call open interest ratio for the security is 0.52, lower than 99 percent of readings taken over the past year. Such a high level of optimism can raise the expectations bar ahead of something like an earnings report. The chart below shows how options players have steadily increased their call positions relative to put positions over the past year.
Short interest and analyst ratings are also showing that optimism toward QCOM is rather high. Short interest on QUALCOMM is down three percent over the past month, and the current short-interest ratio is less than two days to cover. A low level of short interest also weakens the stock's ability to benefit from short-covering rallies in which investors who are short the shares must buy them back in order to limit their losses. Wall Street analysts, while by no means over-the-top, are still quite optimistic toward this stock. Ratings on the shares include 16 "buys," 11 "holds," and one "sell." This should make the probability of analyst downgrades much more likely than upgrades.
QCOM's weak price performance amid a high level of optimism earns it a relatively low Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard rating of 3.0 out of a possible 10.0, confirming that the path of least resistance currently looks to be to the downside.
A strong earnings report could help the shares of QCOM over the short-term, but it looks as if the stock may struggle into the foreseeable future. Over-optimism and slowing growth rates should continue to put a damper on the security's performance.
John Stewart (jstewart@sir-inc.com)
Sprint, Verizon, To Become EA Dealers
David Utter / Staff Writer / 2005-07-18
http://www.webpronews.com/news/ebusinessnews/wpn-45-20050718SprintVerizonToBecomeEADealers.html
The wireless service providers will compete with Jamdat and sell games from Electronic Arts to their users.
It looks like the EA and Qualcomm partnership has begun to take off. The two announced a deal in June at Qualcomm's annual BREW conference. Qualcomm would provide developer kits for small screen games, and EA would deliver the content.
Now, Sprint and Verizon have announced they will begin to sell EA games for handsets this year. Verizon and its partner, global mobile giant Vodafone, plan to offer EA's signature Madden NFL 06 through the Verizon Wireless high-speed VCast service.
Meanwhile, Sprint will feature British Open winner Tiger Woods' EA title, PGA Tour 06. Mr. Woods finished ahead of Colin Montgomery in earning his 10th Major title.
With the Qualcomm deal, EA had announced it would bring 15 to 20 titles to the small screen. Those titles could deliver around $25 million USD in revenue, according to Reuters.
DoCoMo: Growth Stock or Utility?
2005-07-17
International Herald Tribune
http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.asp?section=ybbf&story_id=76045397&ID=blackenterpri....
Atsuo Takahashi, a telecommunications analyst, recently purchased a cellphone from NTT DoCoMo. He likes the Motorola-made handset that lets users browse the Internet on its wide screen.
Because the new phone, the M1000, can reach the Internet like a PC does, it comes without one popular feature that has been ubiquitous on DoCoMo's phones: i-mode, a highly profitable Internet service repackaged for mobile phones that costs its 44 million subscribers 300, or $2.65, each a month. Subscriber growth is slowing in Japan, putting a cap on expansion. And as the government moves to award mobile licenses to two eager entrants, opening the door to new competition, analysts like Takahashi, who follows DoCoMo for Mizuho Securities, fear that the giant that once seemed to control the future of the mobile world in Japan could be losing its dominance.
"DoCoMo has lost a measure of control over its own destiny," said Kirk Boodry, a telecommunications analyst with Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in Tokyo.
Led by DoCoMo, the largest Japanese mobile carrier, with a total of more than 50 million subscribers and close to 55 percent of the country's mobile phone market, the entire Japanese wireless industry is undergoing a radical transformation.
When new operators join the market, Takahashi said, Internet service providers could work with them to offer mobile Internet and a PC-based service as a single package, "and users will have one mail address for mobile and PC." Besides, new rivals can offer cheaper phone and data services and erode the margins of existing players, analysts said. And that, along with slowing subscriber growth, has crushed DoCoMo's share price.
Like the shares of many other technology companies in the world, DoCoMo shares rose sharply during the technology bubble in 1999- 2000. Unlike its peers, whose shares dropped precipitously amid the collapse of the technology bubble, DoCoMo's shares went through a long and steep decline over the past five years, leaving them still down more than 80 percent.
Now, opinion is divided between those who say the share price has fallen enough to become attractive and those who say it has not. At the height of its growth in early 2000, DoCoMo was the most valuable Japanese company, with a market capitalization of 43 trillion. Its subscriber base was growing by leaps and bounds, and its revenue was rising sharply, and with the spread of the i-mode service, which was gathering tens of millions of users, DoCoMo seemed to rule supreme.
But the collapse of the technology bubble in 2000 was followed by a dramatic slowdown in the net increase of subscriber numbers. Then came a decline in average revenue per user, a closely watched gauge of performance for mobile carriers, and then a fall in revenue and profit. In DoCoMo's 2004 fiscal year, revenue fell 4 percent to 4.8 trillion, while operating profit fell 29 percent to 784 billion. The shares have drifted even further down recently, as the company faced the prospect that Softbank and E-Access, an ADSL operator, will win the newly allotted mobile licenses from the government and may enter the mobile market as early as 2006. The government is also introducing a number portability system, likely to be put in place next year, allowing subscribers to switch carriers without changing their phone numbers, which may heat up competition even more. DoCoMo shares now trade at around 13.8 times forward earnings, according to estimates by Merrill Lynch, and around two times its net asset value. They offer a dividend yield of 2.34 percent, much higher than the Tokyo Stock Exchange average of 1.2 percent.
But even at that valuation, Boodry of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said, DoCoMo shares probably have not fallen enough. He has a "sell" recommendation with a target price of 150,000 on the stock. DoCoMo shares closed at 171,000 on Friday. Takahashi of Mizuho Securities said the market was skeptical of DoCoMo's ability to deliver growth, as its mainline voice and data services have reached a plateau or are in decline. "While revenues shrink, their costs are rising," he said, citing capital investment for third- generation, or 3G, networks and handset subsidies given to retail stores. "At a time when they are trying to increase sales of pricey 3G terminals, cutting down on subsidies is difficult," he said. But despite the grim scenarios, some investors are quietly buying DoCoMo shares, driven by a new perspective on the company.
One such investor is Masayuki Kubota, a senior fund manager at Daiwa SB Investments in Tokyo. He said that DoCoMo should not be seen as a growth company or a technology play but as a company that earns steady cash and pays it out to investors, like an electric power company slow or even no growth, but offering a solid floor because of the yield.
Kubota and other yield investors argue that the similarities with utilities are clear: Both phone carriers and utilities own and operate huge equipment, earn steady cash flow and have a measure of protection from casual competition. "When it comes to financial strengths, DoCoMo is far superior to power companies," Kubota said.
While DoCoMo piles up hundreds of billions of yen each year in profit and builds up its equity base it now has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1 to 2 Japanese electric power companies are highly leveraged. Tokyo Electric Power, Japan's largest electric power supplier, has a debt-equity ratio of 4 to 1 and a dividend yield of 2.26 percent.
DoCoMo has been spending 800 billion to 1 trillion annually on equipment, Kubota said. "Reducing that capital spending alone results in a tremendous excess of cash each year," he said. And that comes on top of the hundreds of billions in profit that DoCoMo earns annually, he added.
DoCoMo has said that once its 3G capital investment is completed in a few years, its current level of capital spending, about 800 billion annually, will start to decline. Besides, the threat of new competition may be overblown, some analysts say. Yasumasa Goda, an analyst with Merrill Lynch in Tokyo, said it would be difficult for any carrier to operate on revenue below 6,000 per user because the need to spend on things like equipment, advertising and personnel expenses makes a cheap phone service a difficult proposition. Vodafone KK earns 6,000 per user a month, according to Goda's estimate, and is struggling to survive, while DoCoMo and KDDI register 7,000 per user. The revenue threshold is critical, given that existing carriers spend 1,500 to 2,000 per user to market and to subsidize handsets.
Naoki Fujiwara, chief fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management in Tokyo, also questions the viability of carriers with cheaper services. "Even Vodafone KK is having a hard time in the market," he said. "I don't believe you can compete with DoCoMo and KDDI based on cheap services."
Fujiwara, who runs a Japanese equity fund that focuses on dividend yields, said he recognized that most telecommunications analysts in Japan were negative on DoCoMo shares, which he said boded well for value investors. "Share prices are developed based on that negativity," he said, adding that this negative perception has peaked. "It will probably not fall further from the current level."
The sagging DoCoMo shares have prompted the company's management to come up with a series of investor-friendly moves recently.
Once a low-yielding share, DoCoMo raised its dividend from 1,500 a share in its 2003 fiscal year to 2,000 a share in 2004 and it announced in June that the payout would be doubled this year. DoCoMo has also returned some of its accumulating cash pile to investors in the form of stock buybacks. In 2003, it repurchased 395 billion worth of shares, and in 2004, the company bought back 425 billion. This year, DoCoMo said it would buy back as much as 500 billion of stock. DoCoMo has been planting the seeds of growth, incorporating features like chips that turn handsets into electronic wallets. The Felica chip, as it is called, is embedded in more than three million 3G handsets. DoCoMo has also sunk nearly 100 billion into buying a 34 percent stake in a credit card company, Sumitomo Mitsui Card, with plans to incorporate credit card functions into these phones.
RF Micro Devices upgraded to "overweight"
http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_918799.html
Thursday, July 14, 2005 11:01:13 AM ET
Pac. Growth Equities
NEW YORK, July 14 (newratings.com) - Analysts at Pacific Growth Equities upgrade RF Micro Devices (RFMD.NAS) from "equal weight" to "overweight," while raising their estimates for the company.
In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention that the company has raised its revenue guidance for the June quarter from the mid-$150 million range to $159.3 million. The upside has been driven by the higher-than-expected orders for its POLARIS TOTAL RADIO transceiver chipsets, power amplifiers and Bluetooth products, the analysts say. Pacific Growth Equities expects RF Micro Devices' growth in 2005 to be boosted by the company's transition to WCDMA and EDGE handsets. The EPS estimate for FY06 has been raised from $0.08 to $0.09.
SK Telecom marks out new territory
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2005/07/18/200507180011.asp
Armed with new strategies and technologies, SK Telecom Co., Korea's largest-mobile phone carrier, is rapidly expanding in related markets.
In efforts to help bolster the local information-technology sector and generate new revenue, the company, which boasts a more than 50 percent market share in Korea, has been eagerly rolling out new products.
Korea is one the world's fastest-growing markets for wireless devices, but lately, the government has been growing increasingly concerned about the saturating market.
Although Asia's third-largest economy remains a robust player in the global information-technology sector, exports of IT-related goods have recently been slowing down after peaking to a record-high $74.3 billion last year.
Now, backed by strong support from local IT companies, the government hopes to nurture eight new growth engines.
SK Telecom is engaged in a host of new services. including the portable Internet, mobile television, home networking, vehicle-based information systems, radio-frequency identification technology, W-CDMA mobile telephony, digital television broadcasting and voice-over Internet protocol services.
The government, led by the Ministry of Information and Communication said it will encourage private investment in these areas by funding research and offering business incentives.
We strongly believe that by launching services in the new growth areas, we can help both the industry and our own company in an environment where more competitors are eyeing a rapidly diminishing pie, said Ko Chang-kook, a senior manager of SK Telecom.
User-friendly services
All of SK Telecom's wireless services are user-friendly and aimed to make life more easy for consumers, but out of the bunch, mobile television, home networking, vehicle-based information systems, portable Internet and W-CDMA mobile telephony are probably the most practical and effective.
And the beauty of these services is that they are interacting and mutually benefit each other, says Baek Chang-don, manager of SK Telecom.
In the mobile television business, also known as digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), SK Telecom dominates the industry via TU Media Corp., Korea's lone satellite-based mobile television broadcaster.
The telecom company holds a 30 percent share in TU Media that went commercial in May this year.
Through TU Media, customers can watch television and listen to music via their cell phones while traveling in cars or on commuter trains.
After several months of trial operations, TU Media went commercial by launching seven video and 20 audio channels featuring programs from leading cable television stations such as news network YTN, sports channel MBC-ESPN and music channel m-Net.
Backed by SK Telecom's strong consumer base and wide expertise, TU Media plans to eventually expand its network to 14 video channels and 24 radio channels, while releasing a separate channel next year for data services, which could be used to provide updated information on weather, traffic and stock exchanges among others.
The company recently struck a deal with EBS to offer educations programs and is in discussions with the country's other three land-based television broadcasters - KBS, MBC and SBS.
Noting the strong start, industry watchers forecast a bright outlook for TU Media and satellite DMB. Studies show that out of 700 Internet users, 62 percent responded that they would watch satellite DMB, mostly because of the seamless data transmission and a wide variety of channels.
The Korean Society for Journalism and Communication Studies estimates the satellite DMB will generate around $7.8 billion in industrial production by 2012.
Earlier, skeptics had predicted failure for satellite mobile television would be unsuccessful due to competition from similar services provided by terrestrial broadcasters that is free of charge.
But terrestrial DMB has actually been slower to take off due to clashing interests between the land-based broadcasters.
To strengthen its foothold in the market, SK Telecom plans to release exclusive mobile handsets for accessing DMB and keep fees at a reasonably low rate.
Along with giving access to television outside the home, SK Telecom is giving customers the keys to run their households using their mobile phone.
Applying the term ubiquitous to the home, SK Telecom's home network service provides security programs for protecting homes, a control pad for facilities such as lights, gas, computers and more. Video-on-demand and other forms of entertainment also are offered.
Currently, the services are being tested in 600 households in the country's major cities.
SK Telecom plans to commercialize the services before the year is out.
For motorists, the wireless operator offers its NATE Drive system, a vehicle-based information system that was born two years ago.
By providing a detailed guide to specific locations, shortcuts to destinations and other on-the-road data to navigate through the busiest streets, NATE Drive boasts a subscription volume of 260,000 nationwide as of December last year.
The number was a surprise for industry watchers who were largely skeptical about the service. In Japan, only about 20,000 are subscribed to such services.
NATE Drive also cuts costs for spend-thrift divers as it provides all services through a mobile phone and a simple supporting device.
By providing custom-made services for each province, SK Telecom plans to widen its NATE Drive consumer base to 500,000 this year.
To avoid incurring fresh costs, the wireless operator will use existing equipment and infrastructure for new services, a strategy that will slash investment costs by about 774.1 billion won.
In the field of portable Internet, dubbed by Korean officials as WiBro for wireless broadband, SK Telecom SK Telecom is confident of providing top-quality service with its wide customer base and cutting-edge cell phones.
WiBro is a homegrown portable Internet technology designed to provide wider coverage than wireless LAN services and faster connection that third-generation mobile-phone services.
Next year, SK Telecom, along with KT Corp., the country's privatized telecom company, is planning to commercialize WiBro services.
The main idea of WiBro is to provide access to the Internet for users on the move. The services also include music, instant messaging, games, video-on-demand and more. SK Telecom stressed that it will establish a strong security system to prevent any misuse of information that users release while using WiBro.
In addition, SK Telecom hopes to expand its network for WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) to cover 23 cities this year, including the major areas of Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon and Gwangju. It has earmarked investment of up to $584 million this year.
WCDMA is one of the most widely-used third-generation mobile telephony standards used in the world today.
The company targets 200,000 WCDMA customers this year, which is expected to grow to 1 million by 2007.
Fun and entertainment
One of the new services that SK Telecom recently launched is 1mm. The service caters to the whim of consumers by allowing them to carry out conversations with imaginary characters embedded in their cell phones.
Customers can also play games, send instant messages to friends, search for information on the weather, fashion, television programs and more.
The best feature of 1mm is that it can pick out the information that the user wants and also interact.
At the moment, only two types of mobile handsets have access to the service, but manufacturers are expected to roll out about 14 types of handsets this year.
Accessing the lucrative on-line music market, SK Telecom launched a ubiquitous music service MelOn in November this year that provides songs to customers at any given time, via a wide range of multi-media channels.
Above all, MelOn is most noted as being the first attempt by a wireless operator to put a price tag on MP3 files. The move had a huge impact on changing the landscape for the market since in the past, consumers usually downloaded files illegally.
Industry watchers say the pie has now become bigger thanks to the rapidly growing number of paid services.
This year, SK Telecom plans to build up its database to top-notch and upgrade its exclusive music players.
Games are another dimension that mobile carriers have been expanding in. SK Telecom believes its brand name has the advantage of attracting users over shorter periods of time. The company topped the game charts as about 90,000 users downloaded its GXG game.
(jemmie@heraldm.com)
2005.07.18
Nortel named supplier of Vietnam mobile network
Last Updated: Sunday, July 17, 2005 10:30:21 Vietnam (GMT+07)
http://thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2&newsid=7921
Nortel, one of the largest telecoms equipment makers in North America, has recently been selected to deliver advanced broadband mobile services for a new and sophisticated third-generation mobile network in Vietnam.
The Canadian telecoms giant will be the infrastructure supplier for what is expected to be the first nationwide wireless broadband mobile network in Vietnam, company sources said.
The network will be developed by Hong Kong telecoms firm Hutchison Whampoa and local partner Hanoi Telecoms Corporation under a business cooperation contract reached last year.
It will apply Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology that gives mobile users access to high-speed 3G data networks like simultaneous voice and data services as well as streaming media.
“We are pleased with awarding the network contract to Nortel," said Dennis Lui, Hutchison CEO.
"With Nortel's advanced telecoms technology, combined with our marketing and operational expertise, we will be well-positioned to establish a leading operation in a telecoms market that has huge growth potential," he said.
"We chose Nortel for this solution because of its proven track record in deploying wireless broadband networks across the globe," said Dr. Pham Ngoc Lang, chairman of the Hanoi Telecom board of management.
"We are confident that its experience will help us fast-track communication infrastructure development in Vietnam."
Nortel has designed, installed and launched more than 300 wireless networks in more than 70 countries. Nortel was the first supplier with wireless networks operating in all advanced radio technologies and is the only end-to-end provider of all next generation wireless solutions.
Source: Nortel – Compiled by Hieu Trung
Going Wireless Without Having to Buy a Latte
New EV-DO technology offers high-speed access through a cellphone network. It's spotty but service is expanding.
July 17, 2005 latimes.com
David Colker:
Technopolis
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-technopolis17jul17,1,3713.column?coll=la-utilities-technolog....
To get a high-speed, wireless Internet connection out in the field, you generally have to head for one of the coffee shops, bookstores or hotel lobbies offering Wi-Fi. Or you can sneak around with a Wi-Fi sniffer, hoping to find a private wireless connection you can hop onto for a bit — but, of course, I've never done anything like that.
Now there is an alternative to running or sneaking around. EV-DO is an emerging technology that uses a cellphone network to make wireless broadband connections from most populated areas in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties.
ADVERTISEMENT
EV-DO — which stands for Evolution Data Optimized or Evolution Data Only, depending on the source — is one of the long-awaited, so-called 3G technologies that can carry data via a cellular network at high speeds. It was designed for use by wireless companies, such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint Corp., that use the CDMA-type cell network technology.
At its best, EV-DO allows you to get online, at broadband speeds, from a park, library or mall. Or even a train.
The Pacific Surfliner left Union Station in downtown Los Angeles right on time on a recent Saturday afternoon, heading north to Santa Barbara and beyond. My plan was to test EV-DO service — currently offered locally only by Verizon Wireless — from my business-class seat, which had an electrical outlet to power a laptop.
With an EV-DO card — which sports a mini-antenna to access the service — in the PC card slot of the laptop, I was able to access the Internet right away at speeds of about 750 kilobytes per second. That's on a par with a good if not spectacular DSL or cable modem connection.
It was certainly good enough for most Internet functions. By the time I got to Glendale I had checked e-mail, read an online article about a digital camera and bought a song (call me sentimental, but Luther Vandross had just died so I got "Dance with My Father") from iTunes.
The connection speed ranged from 600 kbps to 1,000 kbps, as measured on CNET Networks Inc.'s online Broadband Meter, as we continued through the San Fernando Valley.
But there were dropouts. Near the stop at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, EV-DO quit a couple of times (much like cellphone voice service hits dead zones) and Verizon's far slower national broadband service automatically took over, at speeds of around 150 kbps or less. That's good enough for text e-mail and some other low-speed tasks, but when I was downloading a file or waiting for a graphic-rich Web page to pop up, I generally had to restart the process after EV-DO speed was restored.
A bother, but not bad considering I had wireless Internet access without feeling guilty that I didn't buy a cup of overpriced coffee.
Just north of Chatsworth, in the Santa Susana Mountains on the way to Simi Valley, EV-DO met its match. It made it through the first of two tunnels in this hilly area, but then came up against a bit of railroad history: Tunnel 26, as it was known when it was dug in the 1890s to provide a link for coastal railroad service into Southern California. The wireless data services shut down partway into the 1 1/3 -mile long tunnel and couldn't be used until the train was back in the open. It was a bit like "quiet time" in a submarine.
Around Oxnard, I hit a trip-high rate of 1,350 kbps. At the time, I was chatting via AOL Instant Messenger with a woodworker who designs and builds custom furniture on Vancouver Island. As we IM'd, I also checked out pictures of his furniture on the Web, bought a book for a friend's birthday and answered e-mail. All while listening to Otto's Baroque Musick, an online radio station based in Hong Kong.
It was wireless heaven, on the move, but it was not to last. When I hit the Carpinteria area, EV-DO died. The service has not yet made it to Santa Barbara County.
EV-DO first became available in 2003 in San Diego and Washington, but has been slow to roll out across the country because it requires an equipment change in each cell tower of the area to be covered. Verizon, which now has EV-DO service in 42 cities, has said it will be available to half the country's population by the end of the year.
The cost to consumers for the service is $80 a month, with a one-year commitment, plus a one-time charge of about $150 for a PC card. (A rebate program currently reduces the cost of the card to about $50).
The cards are being marketed for Windows-equipped laptops only, but the enterprising folks at the EVDOinfo forum have come up with a free, downloadable installer that will allow some cards to work in Apple PowerBooks. Installation is tricky — see http://www.evdoinfo.com for details.
Among the main cards available are the Kyocera KPC650 and the Novotel Wireless V620. In tests, they got comparable speeds both in The Times office and out in the field.
Sprint launched its EV-DO service just this month, beginning with airports, and said it would be available in 60 metropolitan areas by early next year.
Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile Inc. have their own 3G technology: UMTS. It won't be available in Los Angeles until at least next year. In the meantime Cingular offers its EDGE service for data, but it's not as fast.
To sum up, broadband wireless at high speeds via cell service is spotty so far and relatively expensive. But it works, and it's spreading.How long before there's nowhere to run from wireless?
Sony Ericsson Gains Momentum in the Second Quarter
Sony Ericsson (Nachrichten) (NYSE:SNE):
15.07.2005 15:38
http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2005-07/artikel-5079750.asp
-- Highlights:
-- The company gained momentum and market share
-- The global market grew faster than expected
-- Products announced in Q1 began to ship and were well received
The consolidated financial summary for Sony (Nachrichten) Ericsson Mobile Communications AB (Sony Ericsson) for the second quarter ended June 30, 2005 is as follows:
Q2 2004 Q1 2005 Q2 2005
Numbers of units shipped (million) 10.4 9.4 11.8
Sales (EURO m.) 1504 1289 1614
Income before taxes (EURO m.) 113 70 87
Net income (EURO m.) 89 32 75
Units shipped in the quarter reached 11.8 million, a 14% increase compared to the same period last year and a 26% increase sequentially. Sales for the quarter were Euro 1,614 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 7%. Income before taxes was Euro 87 million and net income was Euro 75 million, which represents a year-on-year decrease of Euro 26 million and Euro 14 million respectively, reflecting continued investment in R&D.
Sony Ericsson gained momentum and market share during the quarter as new products started shipping. The higher unit shipments reflected the broadening of the product portfolio to appeal to a wider range of price segments in the market. Average Selling Price (ASP) remained stable in line with expectation. The global handset market grew faster than expected during the quarter, primarily because of increased demand in the lower price segments in both mature and emerging markets. Sony Ericsson has upgraded its global market outlook for 2005 to over 720 million units.
"Sony Ericsson is pleased to report a solid second quarter which saw the company gaining momentum as new products began to ship, and the increased investment in product portfolio expansion over the past year started to bear fruit. New phones announced in Q1, such as the 2 megapixel, auto-focus K750 camera phone, the K600 mid-tier UMTS 3G phone, and the K300, an affordable camera phone, were well received by consumers and started to make a good contribution during the quarter. We are also excited to be the first to bring a complete music proposition to market with the new Walkman(R) phone, that will start shipping shortly," said Miles Flint, President of Sony Ericsson.
During the second quarter, Sony Ericsson announced a number of new phones including its second Walkman phone (W600), a mid-tier stylish compact clam-shell (Z520) and an affordably priced stick phone aimed at Asia and Eastern Europe (J210). In Japan, the W31S, a CDMA 1X EV-DO music phone for KDDI, started shipping and has been selling very well.
Walkman(R) is the registered trademark of the Sony Corporation
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications serves the global communications market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories, PC-cards and M2M solutions. Established as a joint venture by Ericsson and Sony in 2001, with headquarters in London, the company employs approximately 5,000 people worldwide, including R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China and America. For more information, please visit www.SonyEricsson.com
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We have identified certain important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements. For a detailed description of risk factors see Sony's and Ericsson's filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly each company's latest published Annual Report on Form 20-F.
What's Next? Mindset Change
It's time to get away from the traditional idea of "either/or" – as in 3G or WiMAX – and evolve to a mindset that involves the bundling of wide area, metro area and local area networks. That will give users the most optimal network experience.
By Mark Lowenstein
July 15, 2005
Wireless Week
http://www.wirelessweek.com/article/CA626283.html
The roadmap for wireless networks over the next two to three years is quite clear. By mid-2007, we should have three widely available 3G networks in the United States (Cingular Wireless, Verizon Wireless and Sprint-Nextel). T-Mobile USA, the wildcard among the national operators, either will have been consolidated into the Big Three or acquired by another entity intent on deploying some next-generation network – either along the 3GPP path or some WAN-WLAN combo. CDMA 1X EV-DO or UMTS (HSDPA) is what enterprise decision makers will have available to them over the WAN for the foreseeable future.
But what's next? As we look toward to the latter part of this decade, the discussion becomes a little more interesting. There will always be a thirst for more throughput over wireless networks. Just as the spread of residential broadband is a catalyst for Wi-Fi and 3G cellular, evolving fixed line networks – very-high-data-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL), fiber to the home and so on – will drive demand for higher speeds while tetherless.
While discussion will intensify around 4G, wireless networks for the next decade will require some out-of-the-box thinking. First, the discussion will focus as much on economics as technology. One of the reasons WiMAX has so many proponents is its potential to make substantial improvements at a fraction of the cost of deploying traditional cellular-based systems. The decision for an operator to deploy a high-speed wireless network in certain "zones" of demand, such as a campus or a city, is very different than that required for today's multibillion-dollar 3G networks.
IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) and software-defined radio (SDR) also are important components of this outside-the-box thinking. IMS has the potential to collapse the distinction between wired and wireless networks because they both – at least theoretically – will be speaking the same language. Applications will become easier and cheaper to develop and deploy and will run across multiple networks on multimode devices. Now, we just have to think about applications.
SDR is something we have been talking about for more than 10 years, and significant progress is being made. A Boston-based company called Vanu is testing SDR with a wireless operator in west Texas. The vision here is that a single radio could talk across multiple air interfaces and multiple frequencies. Again, the appeal here is as much about economics as technology. Mesh and peer-to-peer networking will be part of the mix, too, as the "bring your own broadband" concept has an ad-hoc element to it.
The near certainty here is there will be an array of new technologies and approaches in the mix, some of which we haven't even heard of yet. At the same time, scarcity – of spectrum and capacity – will continue to factor into wireless network economics. We have to evolve from today's "either/or" mindset (such as 3G or WiMAX). Successful operators will offer and bundle the three principle flavors of wireless networks: WAN, MAN and LAN. They will deliver the most optimal network experience to a user at a given time, from the standpoint of both context (location, degree of mobility and application) and their own cost. For example, one of the compelling reasons for wireless carriers to offer dual-mode services is that 802.11 may cost them less in some cases than having to provide adequate in-building 3G coverage. Second, carriers should offer the user multiple choices for network connectivity at a given time, at different prices, thereby placing greater power in the hands of the user. For example, a user might pay a premium price for a connection in order to download a movie onto his or her laptop, but might not require that high level of throughput on an ongoing basis.
In short, the framework of the wireless future will represent both an evolution of mindset as much as technology. The objective is to optimize how users move through the multiple "islands" of mobile broadband in a given day, in a way that makes the most economic sense for the operator.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author Information
Lowenstein is managing director of Mobile Ecosystem. He can be reached at mlowenstein@m-ecosystem.com, www.m-ecosystem.com.
More cell phones sent to Europe
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200507/13/200507132229473439900090609061.html
July 14, 2005 ? The Korea International Trade Association said yesterday that Korean mobile phone exports to Europe have exceeded exports to the United States for the first time.
From January through May of this year, exports to Europe totaled $3.3 billion, a 60 percent increase from the same period last year.
But Korean cell phone exports to the United States in the first five months of this year declined 20 percent to $2.5 billion.
The trade association said sales of Korean mobile phones in the European market have gone up since telecommunications companies in Europe started servicing the third-generation wideband code division multiple access, also known as WCDMA, late last year.
The association said Korean mobile phones are ahead of their global competitors in WCDMA technology, which allows the users to see their callers through a phone's screen.
Additionally, Korean mobile phone manufacturers have been offering premium mobile phones that have multimedia functions, like high-quality cameras and MP3 players.
Mobile phone exports to the United States fell as orders from major mobile communication companies there have dropped off, the Korean trade association said.
The largest code division multiple access (CDMA) service provider in the United States, Sprint, has reduced its orders of Korean mobile phones recently as it awaits regulatory approval for a merger with Nextel, a cell phone manufacturer, in September.
by Lee Hee-sung, Yoon Chang-hee <ojlee82@joongang.co.kr>
Huawei Joins Russian CDMA-450 Association
http://www.russianewswire.com/releases_headlines_details.php?id=799
MOSCOW (RNWire) – Huawei Technologies, China's largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, has become an associated member of the Russian CDMA-450 Association, an organization uniting domestic operators employing the IMT-MC-450 standard. According to the Association’s Charter, members include equipment suppliers, content and service providers and other market players. Huawei Technologies is the first equipment producer and solutions provider to join the Association.
Source: Russia Newswire
SK Telecom, KTF to launch commercial wireless network
12/07/2005 by Parthajit
http://www.digitalmediaasia.com/default.asp?ArticleID=9051
South Korea's two mobile phone operators have said that they will cooperate with the government to launch commercial operations of an ultra-fast wireless network next March, the Ministry of Information and Communication said.
Qualcomm Inc., the U.S. wireless chipmaker, is expected to supply chips for the network, called High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), for South Korean handset manufacturers in November for the commercial launch.
The commercial launch of the HSDPA network is aimed at boosting demand for a third-generation (3G) mobile phone network, the ministry said.
The HSDPA system, known as a 3.5-generation mobile technology, can eportedly transmit data at a maximum speed of 14 megabits per second, allowing customers to watch live TV streaming and other mobile broadband services via their handsets.
SK Telecom ordered the HSDPA equipment contracts worth 550 bn won ($526 m) in the first half of this year from domestic and foreign companies, including Samsung Electronics.
KTF also plans to spend 250 bn won to build the HSDPA network during the second half of this year, The ministry noted
VIVO Strengthens its Leadership in Brazil With Launch of 1xEV-DO
Distribution Source : PrimeZone Media
Date : Thursday, July 14, 2005
http://press.arrivenet.com/bus/article.php/668495.html
COSTA MESA, Calif., July 14, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) today congratulated VIVO on the launch of a new service, "VIVO PLAY 3G," using CDMA2000(r) 1xEV-DO. With 1xEV-DO, the operator is able to offer broadband Internet access at speeds of up to 2.4 Mbps, and to introduce advanced multimedia wireless services to its customers. VIVO joins 22 operators worldwide who have launched 1xEV-DO services and are leading the wireless industry in the evolution to next-generation voice and data services. There are more than 14 million 1xEV-DO subscribers worldwide.
"CDMA2000 1xEV-DO is the most advanced wireless technology commercially deployed today, offering operators a significant competitive advantage with regards to data services and network efficiencies," said Perry LaForge, executive director, CDG. "This launch puts VIVO at the same level, in terms of technology and services, as CDMA2000 operators in Japan and Korea. The CDG applauds VIVO's leadership in bringing cutting-edge technologies and services to the Brazilian market."
With more than 28 million subscribers, VIVO is the largest wireless carrier in Brazil, and in the Southern Hemisphere. The operator was the first to deploy 3G services in Latin America when it launched CDMA2000 1X in December 2001, and it established itself as the leader in service and product innovation. VIVO launched CDMA2000 1xEV-DO services in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba last year for broadband Internet access. With VIVO PLAY 3G, the operator is introducing new services to the Brazilian market that include the fastest download and streaming of videos, music and images including films, TV and 3D games. These services will be expanded to other cities in the coming months.
About CDMA in Latin America and Caribbean
Nearly one in four subscribers in Latin America and the Caribbean uses CDMA technologies and more than 20% of them access 3G technologies. Latin America remains the fastest-growing region for CDMA. In 1Q 2005, the CDMA base grew by 8 percent (38 percent compared to 1Q 2004) to reach 45.7 million users. There are 38 commercial CDMA2000 networks and 7 more in deployment in 18 countries throughout the region.
About CDG
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA technologies. The more than 100 member companies of the CDG include many of the world's largest wireless carriers and equipment manufacturers. The primary activities of the CDG include development of CDMA features and services, public relations, education and seminars, regulatory affairs and international support. Currently, there are more than 500 individuals working within various CDG subcommittees on CDMA-related matters. For more information about the CDG, contact the CDG News Bureau at +1-714-540-1030, ext. 17, or vchristopherson@bockpr.com, or visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
-- cdmaOne is a trademark of the CDG
-- CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications
Industry Association (TIA-USA)
CONTACT: CDG News Bureau
Valerie Christopherson
(714) 540-1030, ext. 17
vchristopherson@bockpr.com
Verizon Wireless and LG Mobile Phones Take Mobile Technology to New Heights With The Launch of the VX8100
Thursday July 14, 9:30 am ET
High-Speed Video Clip Downloads, Bluetooth Wireless Technology and Stereo Sound Ensure Verizon Wireless Customers Stay Entertained and In-Touch
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050714/nyth102.html?.v=17
SAN DIEGO and BEDMINSTER, N.J., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless service provider, and LG Electronics MobileComm (LG Mobile Phones) announced the July 15 availability of the LG VX8100 phone, the latest handset designed by LG Mobile Phones to take full advantage of Verizon Wireless' high-speed EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) network. Available exclusively to Verizon Wireless customers, the VX8100 is optimized for V CAST, the nation's first and only wireless broadband multimedia service for consumers that allows them to view high-quality video clips from major news, sports and entertainment outlets, play 3D games and download rich multimedia content -- all with their wireless phones.
Packing a variety of advanced features into its sleek and stylish clamshell case, the VX8100 represents the ultimate combination of utility and entertainment. In addition to its high-speed data capabilities, the VX8100 boasts advanced Bluetooth® wireless technology for certain profiles, enabling users to connect wirelessly to a variety of Bluetooth-enabled devices including headsets and many new vehicles. Additionally, the VX8100 is among the first wireless phones available in the United States to offer the flexibility and convenience of removable MiniSD memory, allowing Verizon Wireless customers to view user generated digital pictures and video clips on their wireless phones. The VX8100's dual external stereo speakers ensure that audio is crisp and vibrant, and the handset's 1.3 mega-pixel digital camcorder enables users to capture all of life's special moments in vibrant detail.
"Without question, the VX8100 represents the absolute pinnacle of today's mobile technology innovation," said Mr. Juno Cho, president, LG Electronics MobileComm. "In concert with the advanced features packed into the VX8100, Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network and its outstanding V CAST service give mobile phone users access to a whole new world of rich multimedia content, right at their fingertips. More and more, mobile phones are evolving into portable media hubs, providing users with access to information, entertainment and communication; the VX8100 represents a huge step forward in that evolution."
In addition to the capabilities of the VX8100 to access to Verizon Wireless' EV-DO wireless broadband network and V CAST multimedia service, the phone boasts a mega-pixel digital camera and all the must-have wireless phone features that users have come to expect from LG, including speaker phone, a 500 contact phone book that stores up to five phone numbers and two e-mail addresses per contact, 72-chord polyphonic sound, personal organizer and more. Designed in a sleek silver and blue clamshell, the VX8100 has the accelerated style to match its advanced capabilities.
The VX8100's long list of multimedia capabilities also include Video Messaging, allowing Verizon Wireless customers to take up to 15 seconds of video with the integrated 1.3 mega-pixel camera and send their clips to other Verizon Wireless video-capable phones or to an e-mail address. Other mobile media features include Mobile Web 2.0(SM) capability, mobile Instant Messaging (IM), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS).
Additional features of the Verizon Wireless LG VX8100 include:
- 1.9 GHz CDMA PCS, 800 MHz CDMA (Digital Dual-Band)
- EV-DO High-Speed Data Connectivity and V CAST Service +
- Memory: 64MB Flash/32MB SRAM
- Dimensions: 3.58" (H) x 1.92" (W) x 1.03" (D)
- Weight: 4.16 oz.
- Internal 262K Color TFT Display (176 x 220 Pixels, 11 Lines)
- External 65K Color TFT Display (128 x 128 Pixels, 7 Lines)
- Standard Battery 1,000 mAh Li-Ion
- Usage Time Up to 3.7 Hours** - Standby Time Up to 6.8 Days**
- MiniSD External Memory Port to Store Pictures, Videos (MiniSD card
sold separately)
- Bluetooth Capable (v1.1)
- Dual Speakers for Stereo Sound and Full-Duplex Speakerphone
- Mobile Web 2.0 - customizable, enhanced online access +
- Get It Now® Enabled - download games, ring tones, wallpapers and
more +
- Video Messaging - send and receive 15-second videos+
- 1.3 Mega-pixel CMOS Camera with Flash with up to 8x Digital Zoom*
- Save up to 100 15-Second Video Clips (15 Frames/Second)
- Video Format: 3g2 (Viewable with Apple® QuickTime® 6.5),
Resolution: 176 x 144 Pixels
- Save up to 100 Photos (4MB)*
- Video/Camera Self-Portrait Capability with Flip Closed
- Camera Resolutions: 1280 x 960, 640 x 480, 320 x 240, 176 x 144,
160 x 120 Pixels
- Self Timer: 3, 5 or 10 second
- Brightness, White Balance, Shutter Sound, Color Effects Adjustments and
Night Mode
- Speaker-Independent Voice Recognition
- Voice Commands (Call Someone, Digit Dial, Voicemail, Missed Calls,
Messages, Time & Date)
- Voice Memo Recorder (1 Minute Each; Up to 200 Memos Total)
- 15 Unique Default Ring tones or Download More +
- Multimedia (Video/Graphical) Ring tone Support
- External USB Capable
- English and Spanish Language Support
- Customizable Wallpaper, Banner, Backlight, Display Themes and Fonts
- 5-Way Navigation Key/Blue Backlit Keypad
- Calendar with Scheduler, Alarm Clock, Notepad, World Clock, Calculator,
Ez Tip Calc
- Speed Dialing (99 Entries)
- TTY/TDD Support
The LG VX 8100 will be available for $149.99 after $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year customer agreement at more than 1,900 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores nationwide, Circuit City stores or on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com.
For more information about Verizon Wireless' products and services, visit www.verizonwireless.com. For more information about LG Mobile Phones, visit www.lgusa.com.
* Depends on image resolution.
** Certain features may use more power and cause actual standby and usage
time to vary.
+ Verizon Wireless service required. V CAST service is not available in
all areas.
Product features subject to change. Features based on carrier program
availability.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 45.5 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ - News) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD - News News). Find more information on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
About LG Electronics, Inc.
LG Electronics, Inc. (Korea Stock Exchange: 06657.KS) is a global force in electronics, information and communications products with 2004 annual sales of US $38 billion (consolidated). With more than 66,000 employees working in 76 subsidiaries in 39 countries around the world, LG Electronics is comprised of four main business companies including Mobile Communications, Digital Appliance, Digital Display, Digital Media.
LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company is the world's leading manufacturer of WCDMA (UMTS), CDMA and GSM handsets, and the fastest growing manufacturer of mobile phones worldwide. The company provides a total range of wired and wireless solutions, and is rapidly establishing a global presence as it cultivates international market share in 3G handsets. For more information please visit http://www.lgusa.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Verizon Wireless
Chunghwa Telecom to launch 3G services this month
Daniel Shen, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 14 July 2005]
http://www.digitimes.com/telecom/a20050712A6029.html
Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) announced it will kick off operations of its 3G mobile communication services on July 26. To promote the service, the company plans to offer 3G fee rates comparable with 2G and 2.5G rates, as well as offering discounted phones priced from NT$1 to NT$7,990 (US$250) for its first two 3G handset models, the Sony Ericsson K600I and Motorola V975.
CHT will unveil eight additional 3G handset models, including one made by BenQ, on July 26 and the company aims to have 100,000 3G subscribers by the end of this year. CHT plans to expand its 3G infrastructure from about 2,000 base stations currently to 3,000 units to accommodate two million subscribers by April 2006.
Taiwan market: Far EasTone kicks off 3G operation
Yinxuan Wang, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 14 July 2005]
http://www.digitimes.com/telecom/a20050714A6024.html
Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) on July 13 began operating its 3G mobile communication services, the second company among Taiwan’s five 3G licensees to do so.
FET is providing number portability (NP) to its 2G subscribers, enabling them to use 3G services with their 2G numbers. FET is initially offering four 3G handset models: NEC N600i, Nokia 6680, Sony Ericsson Z800i and LG Electronics U8180. The company aims to reach 50,000 3G subscribers by the end of this year.
Vodafone Germany's 3G customer base tops 500,000
AFX UK Focus) 2005-07-14 10:47 GMT:
For detail see:
http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=5352333&subject=companies&action=artic....
TXN:Committee Sees Chip Industry Entering New Era
Texas Instruments Executive Presents ITRS Roadmap Update: Committee Sees Chip Industry Entering New Era
Thursday July 14, 7:00 am ET
SEMICON West Keynote Speech Outlines Long-Term Challenges and Opportunities for Semiconductor Industry
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050714/dath003.html?.v=18
SAN JOSE, Calif., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- In a keynote speech today at SEMICON West, Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN - News; TI) executive and SIA representative to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) Roadmap Committee, Dr. Bob Doering, will discuss critical issues facing the industry and provide a long range outlook on semiconductor technology development. Ongoing discussions across ITRS working groups, including feedback from its public conference yesterday, shaped the speech that will emphasize the growing CMOS scaling challenges and updated ITRS targets.
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"The 2005 ITRS roadmap proposal is significantly more aggressive than previous versions on several key scaling parameters," Doering said. "However, the ITRS is also entering a new era as the industry begins to address the theoretical limits of CMOS scaling. The 2005 ITRS highlights the challenges along the 15-year outlook and starts to examine what might come next."
Doering serves, along with Dr. Paolo Gargini of Intel, as one of the two U.S. representatives to the ITRS International Roadmap Committee, and is a Senior Fellow and silicon technology development strategy manager at TI.
On behalf of the ITRS, Doering will overview how and when key roadmap parameters are targeted to evolve as the industry works to overcome the identified barriers. While, over roughly the last 10 years, the pace of feature scaling has been accelerated, the 2005 ITRS proposes a transition period between now and 2010, after which essentially all critical dimensions return to the historical average rate of .7X scaling every three years.
"The primary objective of the ITRS roadmap is to identify the key technology challenges out to a 15-year horizon and place them in the spotlight for industry consideration," emphasized Doering. "Our hope is that the focused attention will influence greater collaboration and new research initiatives to apply resources that ultimately deliver innovative, cost- effective solutions."
Demonstrating the open philosophy that the ITRS adopted when it was created 14 years ago, Doering will call upon SEMICON West attendees to share opinions on how to further enhance the value of future editions of the roadmap. For example, should the ITRS be guided by specific economic models and cost-benefit analyses for addressing the rising challenges of CMOS scaling and beyond? Other areas for discussion include the balance of inputs to the roadmap, its scope, and optimizing the level of detail. The dialogue on such topics will continue in a panel discussion following Doering's keynote address.
For 14 years, the ITRS has helped influence industry decisions about the technologies required to stay on the Moore's Law curve. The ITRS is sponsored by the European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA); the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA); the Korean Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA); the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA); and Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA). International SEMATECH is responsible for global coordination for ITRS activities.
Doering's keynote speech is open to all SEMICON West attendees. It is planned for 9:00 am PDT today, followed by a panel presentation of additional industry experts.
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company's businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at: http://www.ti.com
Trademarks
All trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Texas Instruments Incorporated
O2 confirms Qualcomm tie up, but it's not BREW per se
Tony Cripps
http://www.ovum.com/news/euronews.asp?id=2872
O2 UK has confirmed recent stories that it is working with Qualcomm for mobile data service infrastructure components. However, the deal does not involve the BREW Distribution System, but rather Qualcomm's uiOne handset user interface customisation software, which it plans to use on its own-branded handsets. Comment: This lays to rest stories that O2 was planning to deploy the "BREW platform", which we would have taken to mean the full BREW infrastructure and handset platform. O2 says this is not the case and would anyway have conflicted with its plans to launch i-Mode services later this year.
But O2's admission is no less interesting for that. For one thing, from Qualcomm's point of view, this is a bona fide deal with a significant European mobile operator. It is not simply an extension of an existing relationship that Qualcomm inherited when it purchased uiOne's original creators, Trigenix, last year.
That has to be seen as a success for Qualcomm, which has been trying to gain a foothold in Europe, where mobile operators are traditionally none too keen on its proprietary take on mobile technology.
European operators that are not already committed to a combined mobile data service infrastructure and business model - such as i-Mode - could yet opt for something nearer to the full BREW experience. Qualcomm's recently announced tie up with mobile content management and delivery server vendor Elata certainly gives BREW a less proprietary feel than it is usually credited with.
Another interesting aspect of its deal with Qualcomm, according to O2, is that it will not affect the operator's existing relationship with uiOne's chief rival, SurfKitchen. SurfKitchen will continue to work on customised user interfaces for some of O2's smart phones, while Qualcomm's software is intended to find its way into future models in O2 UK's X-range phones.
These are OEM'd from manufacturers in South East Asia to O2's specifications, and are therefore prime candidates for inclusion of the uiOne technology at source. Whether O2 continues with these two parallel relationships in future is anyone's guess. Adopting two very similar technologies seems like overkill to us, and we doubt that both will continue indefinitely.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About:
This article is an extract taken from Ovum's EuroView Daily Comment service. Providing our expert's views and opinion of the important news and events in European IT & Telecoms, this daily email bulletin is a component of Ovum's EuroView advisory service.If you would like to find out more about EuroView please contact euroviewfeedback@ovum.com
Three Wireless Picks To Gain On Continued Strength
07.13.05, 12:45 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/07/13/motorola-brightpoint-qualcomm-0713markets10.html?partner=ya...
Looking at second-quarter performance in the wireless sector, S.G. Cowen
conducted a survey of over 250 U.S. wireless retailers. "Our survey confirms our positive view on continued strength in overall handset demand with inventory back at normal levels. We interpret the survey results as positive for Brightpoint (nasdaq: CELL - news - people ), Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) and Qualcomm (nasdaq: QCOM - news - people ), all of which benefit from continued strength in the U.S. market and share shifts in their favor." The research firm noted that total activations for the second-quarter climbed 2.8%, a solid recovery from a seasonally weak first quarter. "Overall handset growth, increased outsourced logistics business, and a favorable inventory situation should all benefit Brightpoint." S.G. Cowen said that survey results indicated that Motorola phones were top sellers 41% of the time, the highest level in the past two years, explaining, "We believe that some of the gain is likely due to the improvements Motorola made to its product line-up at the end of 2004, adding several new clamshell camera phones and rolling out its four-letter platform with the introduction of the V3 RAZR at Cingular. The company also remains the only supplier to Nextel, a positive for Motorola given Nextel's continued growth and share gains." The survey also cited that Motorola gained share at Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ - news - people ) during the quarter. "While we believe that share gains will drive outperformance for Motorola over the next one to two quarters, we continue to look for increased competition in the second half." For Qualcomm, S.G. Cowen sees continued subscriber growth for U.S CDMA operators and Nokia's (nyse: NOK - news - people ) continued CDMA share loss as a positive. The survey indicated that activations as Sprint (nyse: FON - news - people ) and Verizon increased in the second quarter. "We continue to recommend purchase of Qualcomm for upside to 2006 consensus estimates, which we believe will be driven by a material inflection point in the WCDMA market."