AT&T is suing Verizon Wireless over Verizon's "There's a Map for That" commercials, saying that the ads are misleading and deceptive.
AT&T filed the suit in Georgia and is asking for a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction to stop the ads. AT&T said it has "suffered and continues to suffer irreparable harm" from the commercials.
Verizon's ads show maps of the United States with areas highlighted to depict where high speed "3G" network coverage is available. The maps use red for Verizon and blue for AT&T to show where each company offers 3G coverage. There are blank spaces where no 3G is available.
In one ad, the narrator says, "If you want to know why your 3G coverage works so well on Verizon Wireless, there's a map for that," and a map of the country nearly covered with red dots is shown. The narrator later says "If you want to know why some people have spotty G3 coverage, there's a map for that, too" and a map of the country with some blue areas and a lot of blank space is shown to ostensibly show AT&T's 3G coverage.
AT&T says those maps are misleading because there is still regular coverage in areas where "3G" service is not offered.
Verizon modified the ads after AT&T complained about them saying its customers were "out of touch" where 3G coverage was unavailable. Those words were taken out and Verizon included a tag line saying "Voice & data services available outside 3G coverage areas" at the end of the ads.
Verizon spokeswoman Nancy Stark said the changes are sufficient, and "As to the merits of the suit, there aren't any. The ads are clearly labeled 3G coverage and they also clearly state that voice and data service is available outside the 3G coverage area." (info from The Associated Press)
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Avaya idiots paid a man for five years -- but he never worked there
Anthony Armatys of Palatine, Ill. pleaded guilty Monday in New Jersey Superior Court to one count of theft. He admitted keeping more than $470,000 in paychecks from telecommunications company Avaya, where he never worked.
Armatys accepted a job with Avaya in September 2002, and changed his mind about working there. The Avaya payroll computer kept him on the list, and kept sending money to be deposited into his bank account until February 2007, when Avaya auditors finally noticed the mistake.
Prosecutors recommended a six-year prison term and restitution. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8.
There is no word on how many other phantoms have been paid -- or are still being paid -- by Avaya. (info from The Associated Press)
Armatys accepted a job with Avaya in September 2002, and changed his mind about working there. The Avaya payroll computer kept him on the list, and kept sending money to be deposited into his bank account until February 2007, when Avaya auditors finally noticed the mistake.
Prosecutors recommended a six-year prison term and restitution. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8.
There is no word on how many other phantoms have been paid -- or are still being paid -- by Avaya. (info from The Associated Press)
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Have you been cheating the IRS when you use your company cellphone?
Under a 1989 law, workers who use company-provided mobile phones for personal calls are supposed to count the value of those calls as income and pay federal income taxes accordingly.
But businesses and workers have long ignored the requirement, prompting IRS to ask Congress to repeal the law.
Wireless trade association CTIA supports legislation to do away with a 20-year-old law. While waiting for Congress to act, CTIA said the IRS should "consider suspending all audit activity on the taxation of the personal use of employer-provided cellphones."
"The alternatives [to legislation] proposed by the IRS are either incomplete or inadequate solutions that would continue to subject employees and employers to onerous call log requirements," CTIA President Steve Largent said. CTIA members include the country's largest wireless companies -- Verizon, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile.
The IRS is collecting comments on the cellphone-tax law. In June, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman asked Congress to repeal it, calling it "obsolete." Shulman's statement signaled a quick turnabout for the IRS, which had earlier proposed that employers assign 25% of an employee's annual phone expenses as a taxable benefit. Under that scenario, a worker in the 28% tax bracket, whose wireless device costs the company $1,500 a year, could see $105 in additional federal income tax.
Without congressional action, the IRS had hoped to clarify the rule so it would be easier for businesses and workers to comply.
Sens. John Kerry and John Ensign and Reps. Sam Johnson and Earl Pomeroy have sponsored a bill with broad bipartisan support that would remove cellphones from the IRS's list of taxable properties provided to workers by their employers.
Most businesses and tax executives prefer a repeal.
U.S. colleges and universities, nonprofits and other employers are also calling for legislation to remove employer-provided cellphones from the list of taxable fringe benefits. Short of legislation repealing the cellphone requirements, the National Association of College and University Business Officers said it favors assigning a maximum number of minutes per month allowable for personal use, that wouldn't be counted for tax purposes.
The Tax Executives Institute, a trade group for company tax directors, asked IRS to suspend enforcement of its cellphone rules until Congress acts.
A California court said it loses about 45 employee hours each month -- from 160 employees that are provided cellphones by the court -- in an effort to track personal calls to comply with IRS requirements. That effort generally results in employees reimbursing the court for a total of about 125 minutes a month for personal cellphone use, wrote David H. Yamasaki, chief executive officer of the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Of course, employees have been making personal calls with landline phones owned by their employers for scores of years without paying taxes on the value of the calls.
And they don't pay taxes on the value of personal use of business computers.
(info from The Wall Street Journal)
But businesses and workers have long ignored the requirement, prompting IRS to ask Congress to repeal the law.
Wireless trade association CTIA supports legislation to do away with a 20-year-old law. While waiting for Congress to act, CTIA said the IRS should "consider suspending all audit activity on the taxation of the personal use of employer-provided cellphones."
"The alternatives [to legislation] proposed by the IRS are either incomplete or inadequate solutions that would continue to subject employees and employers to onerous call log requirements," CTIA President Steve Largent said. CTIA members include the country's largest wireless companies -- Verizon, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile.
The IRS is collecting comments on the cellphone-tax law. In June, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman asked Congress to repeal it, calling it "obsolete." Shulman's statement signaled a quick turnabout for the IRS, which had earlier proposed that employers assign 25% of an employee's annual phone expenses as a taxable benefit. Under that scenario, a worker in the 28% tax bracket, whose wireless device costs the company $1,500 a year, could see $105 in additional federal income tax.
Without congressional action, the IRS had hoped to clarify the rule so it would be easier for businesses and workers to comply.
Sens. John Kerry and John Ensign and Reps. Sam Johnson and Earl Pomeroy have sponsored a bill with broad bipartisan support that would remove cellphones from the IRS's list of taxable properties provided to workers by their employers.
Most businesses and tax executives prefer a repeal.
U.S. colleges and universities, nonprofits and other employers are also calling for legislation to remove employer-provided cellphones from the list of taxable fringe benefits. Short of legislation repealing the cellphone requirements, the National Association of College and University Business Officers said it favors assigning a maximum number of minutes per month allowable for personal use, that wouldn't be counted for tax purposes.
The Tax Executives Institute, a trade group for company tax directors, asked IRS to suspend enforcement of its cellphone rules until Congress acts.
A California court said it loses about 45 employee hours each month -- from 160 employees that are provided cellphones by the court -- in an effort to track personal calls to comply with IRS requirements. That effort generally results in employees reimbursing the court for a total of about 125 minutes a month for personal cellphone use, wrote David H. Yamasaki, chief executive officer of the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Of course, employees have been making personal calls with landline phones owned by their employers for scores of years without paying taxes on the value of the calls.
And they don't pay taxes on the value of personal use of business computers.
(info from The Wall Street Journal)
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Amazon starts to bail out of Skype
EBay is selling a majority interest of the Internet telecom service Skype for about $2 billion, reversing a 2005 acquisition that many considered a bad deal at its inception.
EBay is selling a 65 percent stake in Skype to a group of private investment funds for $1.9 billion in cash and a $125 million note, while retaining a 35 percent stake. EBay said the deal values the company at $2.75 billion.
EBay said earlier this year that it would spin off Skype, which lets people make free or inexpensive voice and video calls with computers and cellphones, after struggling to justify its 2005 acquisition of the company for $2.6 billion.
EBay hoped the service would catch on with users of its auction site, but it never became a popular way for buyers and sellers to connect. The company took a $900 million write-down on Skype in 2007, tacitly acknowledging it had overvalued the business.
Still, Skype itself remains popular, particularly among people who regularly make international calls. According to the research group TeleGeography, Skype accounted for 8 percent of international calling traffic last year. The service can typically offer cheaper rates than regular phones by sending voice as data over the Internet just like e-mail and Web pages, reducing the need to tie up dedicated phone lines.
It is also starting to look like a more profitable business, with revenue up 25 percent to $170 million in the most recent quarter.
Skype was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, creators of the music downloading service Kazaa, which had upset the recording industry.
EBay announced in April that it would spin off Skype through an initial public offering next year, though the company said it was open to alternative bids that offered attractive valuation. In a statement Tuesday, eBay CEO John Donahoe said the deal with the investor group achieves that...Skype, as a standalone company, would have the focus needed to compete and "accelerate its growth momentum"
The group of investors buying the stake includes Andreessen Horowitz, the new $300 million fund set up by Web browser pioneer Marc Andreessen. Led by the private equity firm Silver Lake, the group also includes Index Ventures and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. (info from The Associated Press)
EBay is selling a 65 percent stake in Skype to a group of private investment funds for $1.9 billion in cash and a $125 million note, while retaining a 35 percent stake. EBay said the deal values the company at $2.75 billion.
EBay said earlier this year that it would spin off Skype, which lets people make free or inexpensive voice and video calls with computers and cellphones, after struggling to justify its 2005 acquisition of the company for $2.6 billion.
EBay hoped the service would catch on with users of its auction site, but it never became a popular way for buyers and sellers to connect. The company took a $900 million write-down on Skype in 2007, tacitly acknowledging it had overvalued the business.
Still, Skype itself remains popular, particularly among people who regularly make international calls. According to the research group TeleGeography, Skype accounted for 8 percent of international calling traffic last year. The service can typically offer cheaper rates than regular phones by sending voice as data over the Internet just like e-mail and Web pages, reducing the need to tie up dedicated phone lines.
It is also starting to look like a more profitable business, with revenue up 25 percent to $170 million in the most recent quarter.
Skype was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, creators of the music downloading service Kazaa, which had upset the recording industry.
EBay announced in April that it would spin off Skype through an initial public offering next year, though the company said it was open to alternative bids that offered attractive valuation. In a statement Tuesday, eBay CEO John Donahoe said the deal with the investor group achieves that...Skype, as a standalone company, would have the focus needed to compete and "accelerate its growth momentum"
The group of investors buying the stake includes Andreessen Horowitz, the new $300 million fund set up by Web browser pioneer Marc Andreessen. Led by the private equity firm Silver Lake, the group also includes Index Ventures and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. (info from The Associated Press)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
I need a break.
I began blogging on 5/7/06. I started writing one blog, and gradually built up to five blogs a day. I got out of bed at 3:30AM to start my daily writing.I did it for fun, but lately it has seemed too much like work. I'm not sure that I am officially "burned-out," but I have definitely lost enthusiasm for the daily grind of blogging.
Since the blog obligation was only to myself, and I have no contract, it's an obligation I am free to suspend, cancel or modify at will. No one has a paid-up subscription for words they won't receive.
Therefore, after 2,715 posts, I have decided to take some time off. I need to finish writing a few books, and some essays, and maybe I'll even try poetry and songwriting. My to-do list includes many unread books and un-watched DVDs. I want to spend more time swimming, and walk my dog more often.
The break will last at least a few weeks, but might even be several months. J. D. Salinger has not published an original work since 1965, but I won't be away that long. Even if I don't come back full-time until the Fall, I might pop back in occasionally if I think there's something worth saying.
I am continuing to write BookMakingBlog, my blog about writing, editing and publishing.
CUL/mnm
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Man jailed for calling 911 about lost keys
A man in Tampa, Florida called 911 eight times in one hour because he lost his keys. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Debbie Carter says George Alvarez became upset with deputies because they could not help him find the keys.Deputies arrested Alvarez just early Monday morning. He was booked into jail on charges of making a false 911 call and released from jail after posting $500 bail. (info from WFTS)
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Your feet can call your phone
ESoles, which makes custom insoles for athletic shoes, has created prototype insoles with pressure sensors that relay information wirelessly to a nearby cellphone. Then an application on the phone can tell the wearer how much pressure he or she is applying in 11 different zones of each sole.
The system has been used to analyze the technique of the US Olympic BMX team, helping them figure out how to apply maximum power to the bicycle pedals out of the gate, said Glen Hinshaw, founder of eSoles and a former professional cyclist. The system can also analyze a golf swing or skiing posture, he said.
Sports aren't the only application. The insoles can work in games. ESoles is trying a jump rope game, in which the phone screen shows a swinging rope, and users have to time their jumps to it. "If you leave one leg on the ground and you're only lifting the other foot, the jump rope stops, because it's not clearing your foot," Hinshaw said.
Nintendo makes a balance board accessory for its Wii game console that senses the force from the user's feet. ESoles' sensing insoles would essentially do the same thing, but without tying the user to an immobile board.
Hinshaw also envisions medical uses, perhaps for warning diabetes patients who have lost feeling in their feet that they risk injury from too much pressure.
Hinshaw said the company plans to make the insoles available in a limited trial version in July, then put them on the market late this year. The initial price for the sensors would be about $300, but he hopes to bring the price under $50. (info from The Associated Press)
The system has been used to analyze the technique of the US Olympic BMX team, helping them figure out how to apply maximum power to the bicycle pedals out of the gate, said Glen Hinshaw, founder of eSoles and a former professional cyclist. The system can also analyze a golf swing or skiing posture, he said.
Sports aren't the only application. The insoles can work in games. ESoles is trying a jump rope game, in which the phone screen shows a swinging rope, and users have to time their jumps to it. "If you leave one leg on the ground and you're only lifting the other foot, the jump rope stops, because it's not clearing your foot," Hinshaw said.
Nintendo makes a balance board accessory for its Wii game console that senses the force from the user's feet. ESoles' sensing insoles would essentially do the same thing, but without tying the user to an immobile board.
Hinshaw also envisions medical uses, perhaps for warning diabetes patients who have lost feeling in their feet that they risk injury from too much pressure.
Hinshaw said the company plans to make the insoles available in a limited trial version in July, then put them on the market late this year. The initial price for the sensors would be about $300, but he hopes to bring the price under $50. (info from The Associated Press)
Friday, May 15, 2009
Sprint & Verizon will sell itty-bitty Wi-Fi router
Sprint will join Verizon Wireless in marketing Novatel’s pocket-size battery-powered Wi-Fi router with embedded cellular data modem.
Verizon announced earlier this week that it would be first to market on May 17. Thursday, Sprint announced availability during the first week of June. Both carriers are pricing the Novatel-made MiFi 2200 at $99 after $50 mail-in rebate with two-year wireless-data service contract.
The 2200 incorporates CDMA 1x EV-DO Rev. A cellular-data modem and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, enabling up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices to access the Internet from places where fixed hot spots or Wi-Fi networks are unavailable. The MiFi’s rechargeable battery provides up to four hours of active use and 40 hours of standby time on a single charge. It measures 3.5 inches by 2.3 inches by 0.4 inches and weighs 2.05 ounces.
The device is the first of its kind to operate on batteries, enabling consumers to take it easily from car to car. Recently, Autonet launched a transportable in-vehicle cellular hot spot, which consumers can move from car to car, but the device must be docked with an installed mounting kit. Kyocera continues to offer a KR2 Wi-Fi router that operates off AC, comes with car cigarette-lighter adapter, and accepts a cellular EV-DO data card to connect to up to 20 Wi-Fi-equipped laptops to the Internet.
The Novatel device will be available through all Verizon Wireless channels. Sprint will offer it online, in its stores and through select other retailers. Soon after, it will offer a version to wireless wholesalers.
Eligible Verizon price plans include $39.99 monthly access for 250MB monthly allowance and 10 cents per megabyte overage. A $59.99 monthly plan comes with 5GB monthly allowance and 5 cents per megabyte overage. Consumers can pay a higher price if they don’t commit to a monthly plan. In that case, the user must get a $15 Mobile Broadband DayPass to access the service for a single 24-hour period.
Sprint’s eligible plans are the $59.99/month broadband-only plan and the $149/month Simply Everything Plan + Mobile Broadband plan, which covers a phone plus the device. Both plans include up to 5GB of data per month, plus 5 cents for every MB more. (info from TWICE)
Verizon announced earlier this week that it would be first to market on May 17. Thursday, Sprint announced availability during the first week of June. Both carriers are pricing the Novatel-made MiFi 2200 at $99 after $50 mail-in rebate with two-year wireless-data service contract.
The 2200 incorporates CDMA 1x EV-DO Rev. A cellular-data modem and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, enabling up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices to access the Internet from places where fixed hot spots or Wi-Fi networks are unavailable. The MiFi’s rechargeable battery provides up to four hours of active use and 40 hours of standby time on a single charge. It measures 3.5 inches by 2.3 inches by 0.4 inches and weighs 2.05 ounces.
The device is the first of its kind to operate on batteries, enabling consumers to take it easily from car to car. Recently, Autonet launched a transportable in-vehicle cellular hot spot, which consumers can move from car to car, but the device must be docked with an installed mounting kit. Kyocera continues to offer a KR2 Wi-Fi router that operates off AC, comes with car cigarette-lighter adapter, and accepts a cellular EV-DO data card to connect to up to 20 Wi-Fi-equipped laptops to the Internet.
The Novatel device will be available through all Verizon Wireless channels. Sprint will offer it online, in its stores and through select other retailers. Soon after, it will offer a version to wireless wholesalers.
Eligible Verizon price plans include $39.99 monthly access for 250MB monthly allowance and 10 cents per megabyte overage. A $59.99 monthly plan comes with 5GB monthly allowance and 5 cents per megabyte overage. Consumers can pay a higher price if they don’t commit to a monthly plan. In that case, the user must get a $15 Mobile Broadband DayPass to access the service for a single 24-hour period.
Sprint’s eligible plans are the $59.99/month broadband-only plan and the $149/month Simply Everything Plan + Mobile Broadband plan, which covers a phone plus the device. Both plans include up to 5GB of data per month, plus 5 cents for every MB more. (info from TWICE)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
As usual, biz is bad for Nortel
Nortel Networks, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, lost more than half a billion dollars and saw sales plummet 37% in the first quarter, but Chief Executive Mike Zafirovski said the company's cash balance gives it time to hold out for the best sale prices for its assets.
Nortel, which originally said it hoped to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings smaller and more focused, has been in discussions to sell its largest divisions, but the bids have been too low.
For example, Nortel declined an unsolicited, $850 million offer from Nokia Siemens Networks for large parts of its carrier-networks group. Nokia Siemens Networks is a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens that is seeking to court US carriers.
Last week Nortel was preparing to announce that it had found a buyer for its enterprise unit, which makes systems to route voice and data traffic within companies. The bidder, Avaya, is backed by the private-equity firms TPG Capital and Silver Lake. Advisers were working through the weekend of May 2-3 to complete the deal, but couldn't. Talks are continuing.
Nortel's first-quarter net loss came to $507 million, or $1.02 a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $138 million, or 28 cents a share. Revenue fell to $1.73 billion. Nortel had $2.48 billion in cash at the end of March, up slightly from $2.4 billion at the end of 2008.
Zafirovski said that Nortel hadn't lost "a single customer" since its bankruptcy filing but acknowledged that customers had stopped buying new technologies when it entered the process. He said orders increased in February and March, signaling that the business had stabilized. (info from The Wall Street Journal)
Nortel, which originally said it hoped to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings smaller and more focused, has been in discussions to sell its largest divisions, but the bids have been too low.
For example, Nortel declined an unsolicited, $850 million offer from Nokia Siemens Networks for large parts of its carrier-networks group. Nokia Siemens Networks is a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens that is seeking to court US carriers.
Last week Nortel was preparing to announce that it had found a buyer for its enterprise unit, which makes systems to route voice and data traffic within companies. The bidder, Avaya, is backed by the private-equity firms TPG Capital and Silver Lake. Advisers were working through the weekend of May 2-3 to complete the deal, but couldn't. Talks are continuing.
Nortel's first-quarter net loss came to $507 million, or $1.02 a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $138 million, or 28 cents a share. Revenue fell to $1.73 billion. Nortel had $2.48 billion in cash at the end of March, up slightly from $2.4 billion at the end of 2008.
Zafirovski said that Nortel hadn't lost "a single customer" since its bankruptcy filing but acknowledged that customers had stopped buying new technologies when it entered the process. He said orders increased in February and March, signaling that the business had stabilized. (info from The Wall Street Journal)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Feds are fighting car warranty spam calls
Federal regulators have been investigating and are close to filing lawsuits against companies believed to be behind a national wave of spam "robocalls" that warn people that their auto warranties are about to expire and they need to sign up for new service plans.
The Federal Trade Commission has inquiries underway into several companies involved in the deceptive calls, and "law enforcement action in this area can be expected imminently," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said Monday in a letter to Sen. Charles Schumer. The FTC also is providing an electronic link on its homepage for consumers to file complaints.
Schumer, who spoke Monday with Leibowitz, had asked for an investigation by the agency into what he calls a scam of "robo-dialer harassment." The computerized calls can eat up a consumer's cellphone minutes, possibly jacking up phone charges, he says.
The message "Your Car Warranty Has Expired" already has brought some 300,000 complaints nationwide, according to Schumer. The calls come even if the consumer has signed up for the national Do Not Call registry, which is operated by the FTC.
"Americans deserve to know the government is on their side, and that this harassment won't be overlooked or ignored," Schumer said. "This prompt, aggressive action should provide some relief to those besieged by these fraudulent calls."
Schumer and Sen. Mark Warner -- who have received the calls themselves -- are expected to announce the FTC's actions at a news conference today.
Liebowitz noted in his letter that such "robocall" or "voiceblasting" phone campaigns may violate a number of telemarketing sales and other FTC rules. The calls target people regardless of whether they have warranties or even own cars and have become such a nuisance that officials in 40 states are investigating the companies behind them.
The lucrative industry is based largely in the St. Louis, Mo. area, according to the Better Business Bureau in that city. A group of companies in Missouri in the mid-1990s began offering extended repair warranties to people whose manufacturer-issued warranties were about to expire.
About three dozen companies offer contracts similar to insurance policies, pledging to pay for car repairs in exchange for fees paid up front. They call numbers randomly and leave messages telling people that their auto warranties are about to expire. Some companies also send out cards that mislead recipients into thinking that their vehicles have been subject to safety recalls.
If people call back and agree to buy policies, the Better Business Bureau says, the companies often don't let them see the contracts until they agree to pay. And some people apparently don't learn until it's too late and they've spent thousands of dollars that the deals don't cover many types of repairs. (info from The Associated Press)
The Federal Trade Commission has inquiries underway into several companies involved in the deceptive calls, and "law enforcement action in this area can be expected imminently," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said Monday in a letter to Sen. Charles Schumer. The FTC also is providing an electronic link on its homepage for consumers to file complaints.
Schumer, who spoke Monday with Leibowitz, had asked for an investigation by the agency into what he calls a scam of "robo-dialer harassment." The computerized calls can eat up a consumer's cellphone minutes, possibly jacking up phone charges, he says.
The message "Your Car Warranty Has Expired" already has brought some 300,000 complaints nationwide, according to Schumer. The calls come even if the consumer has signed up for the national Do Not Call registry, which is operated by the FTC.
"Americans deserve to know the government is on their side, and that this harassment won't be overlooked or ignored," Schumer said. "This prompt, aggressive action should provide some relief to those besieged by these fraudulent calls."
Schumer and Sen. Mark Warner -- who have received the calls themselves -- are expected to announce the FTC's actions at a news conference today.
Liebowitz noted in his letter that such "robocall" or "voiceblasting" phone campaigns may violate a number of telemarketing sales and other FTC rules. The calls target people regardless of whether they have warranties or even own cars and have become such a nuisance that officials in 40 states are investigating the companies behind them.
The lucrative industry is based largely in the St. Louis, Mo. area, according to the Better Business Bureau in that city. A group of companies in Missouri in the mid-1990s began offering extended repair warranties to people whose manufacturer-issued warranties were about to expire.
About three dozen companies offer contracts similar to insurance policies, pledging to pay for car repairs in exchange for fees paid up front. They call numbers randomly and leave messages telling people that their auto warranties are about to expire. Some companies also send out cards that mislead recipients into thinking that their vehicles have been subject to safety recalls.
If people call back and agree to buy policies, the Better Business Bureau says, the companies often don't let them see the contracts until they agree to pay. And some people apparently don't learn until it's too late and they've spent thousands of dollars that the deals don't cover many types of repairs. (info from The Associated Press)
Monday, May 11, 2009
iPhone use causes stress on AT&T network
The iPhone has brought AT&T lots of new customers, eager to play with their cool new toys. Unfortunately for AT&T, the iPhone is expensive for the company, and not just because of the heavy subsidies on the initial purchase price.
Users of iPhone download games, video and other Web data at two to four times the rate of other smartphone users. Yet AT&T charges iPhone subscribers the same fee $30 per month for data that it levies for other smartphones. And aside from restricting certain activities, like file sharing, AT&T doesn't limit how much data can be downloaded.
Web applications popular with iPhone customers are bandwidth hogs. A recent analysis of North American wireless network use during the midday hour on one day found Web browsing was consuming 32% of data-related airtime but 69% of bandwidth, while email used 30% of data airtime but only 4% of bandwidth. Email taxes network resources but in a different way.
As the proportion of customers with iPhones grows -- 5.9 million 3G iPhones were activated in the last three quarters, 7.5% of AT&T's total subscribers -- the resulting growth in downloading and Web browsing will strain AT&T's network. AT&T will need to add cell towers and spend more on the lines that connect the towers to the rest of the network.
The iPhone is the leading edge of a challenge for the wireless industry. Until now, carriers have boosted revenues by taking on new customers -- even when average revenues per user haven't grown much.
The falling cost of voice minutes and additions of lower-end customer has offset growth of text messaging and other data services. Voice and texting use little bandwidth and are lucrative.
Now, new customers are harder to come by. The question is whether new data revenues the industry is banking on -- from Web-browsing and entertainment services -- will be as profitable, at least as measured by return on invested capital. That looks doubtful. To ensure networks have the capacity to offer these services, particularly bandwidth-heavy offerings like video streaming, carriers will have to make heavy capital investment. Both AT&T and Verizon are building the next-generation 4G network, each spending more than $9 billion last year on new wireless spectrum, as well as $6 billion annually on overall capacity.
The new networks are likely to be more efficient at delivering data applications.
In the short term, carriers should abandon unlimited data pricing plans. Both AT&T and Verizon already charge extra for heavy users with wirelessly connected laptops. They will have to contemplate similar strategies for smartphone users.
Setting the right price won't be easy. With competition, the temptation to discount will be hard to avoid. And there's no guarantee that customers will pay as much for entertainment as for voice-calling and email. Whatever they do, the carriers may be caught between a rock and a hard place. (info from The Wall Street Journal)
Users of iPhone download games, video and other Web data at two to four times the rate of other smartphone users. Yet AT&T charges iPhone subscribers the same fee $30 per month for data that it levies for other smartphones. And aside from restricting certain activities, like file sharing, AT&T doesn't limit how much data can be downloaded.
Web applications popular with iPhone customers are bandwidth hogs. A recent analysis of North American wireless network use during the midday hour on one day found Web browsing was consuming 32% of data-related airtime but 69% of bandwidth, while email used 30% of data airtime but only 4% of bandwidth. Email taxes network resources but in a different way.
As the proportion of customers with iPhones grows -- 5.9 million 3G iPhones were activated in the last three quarters, 7.5% of AT&T's total subscribers -- the resulting growth in downloading and Web browsing will strain AT&T's network. AT&T will need to add cell towers and spend more on the lines that connect the towers to the rest of the network.
The iPhone is the leading edge of a challenge for the wireless industry. Until now, carriers have boosted revenues by taking on new customers -- even when average revenues per user haven't grown much.
The falling cost of voice minutes and additions of lower-end customer has offset growth of text messaging and other data services. Voice and texting use little bandwidth and are lucrative.
Now, new customers are harder to come by. The question is whether new data revenues the industry is banking on -- from Web-browsing and entertainment services -- will be as profitable, at least as measured by return on invested capital. That looks doubtful. To ensure networks have the capacity to offer these services, particularly bandwidth-heavy offerings like video streaming, carriers will have to make heavy capital investment. Both AT&T and Verizon are building the next-generation 4G network, each spending more than $9 billion last year on new wireless spectrum, as well as $6 billion annually on overall capacity.
The new networks are likely to be more efficient at delivering data applications.
In the short term, carriers should abandon unlimited data pricing plans. Both AT&T and Verizon already charge extra for heavy users with wirelessly connected laptops. They will have to contemplate similar strategies for smartphone users.
Setting the right price won't be easy. With competition, the temptation to discount will be hard to avoid. And there's no guarantee that customers will pay as much for entertainment as for voice-calling and email. Whatever they do, the carriers may be caught between a rock and a hard place. (info from The Wall Street Journal)
Monday, May 04, 2009
TIME OUT
I'm taking a few days off to finish writing a book and start a new one. I should be back during the week of 5/11.
Friday, May 01, 2009
TXT MSG delays hurt Sprint's bargain Boost service
A new $50 unlimited-calling plan sold under the Boost brand has been a badly needed success story for Sprint Nextel, luring hundreds of thousands of new customers. But dealers and customers report widespread problems with texting on the Boost network. Messages are frequently delayed by hours, in many cases reaching their recipients early in the morning.
"There's a huge deficiency in the text messaging and multimedia messaging," said John Kim, an independent dealer who has a Boost Mobile store in the Dallas area. He warns new customers about the problems, and tests the system by sending himself text messages. "I got five text messages at 4 o'clock in the morning that I sent myself nine hours before," he said.
He's been signing up 10 to 12 new customers a day on the plan, three or four times the number that came in before the Boost Unlimited plan was introduced in January. But a lot of them come back, "very irritated" about the text messaging problems. "This trend of a lot of people signing up to Boost is going to disappear really quickly if they don't resolve the texting issue," Kim said.
The new Boost Mobile plan uses Sprint's Nextel network, which uses a different underlying technology than the main Sprint network. Nextel users have complained of occasionally delayed text messaging for years, but the network's main selling point has been the walkie-talkie-like "push to talk" capability, used by work crews and emergency responders. Now the new Boost plan has opened the network to a new category of customers, for whom text messaging is more important.
John Votava, a spokesman for Boost, said the texting problems are due to the influx of new customers, and denied that there are long-standing problems with the Nextel network. "The popularity of Boost Mobile caught us off guard. It overwhelmed our system," he said. The company has been working "day and night" to fix the problems, and aims to have the system "much improved" by next week, Votava said.
Analysts expect Sprint to report Monday that Boost attracted somewhere around half a million subscribers in the first quarter, which would be a rare piece of good news for the company. The additions from Boost are not expected to outnumber defections from Sprint as a whole, however.
The Boost plan was partly a response to the network expansions of MetroPCS Communications and Leap Wireless. They have long offered unlimited calling for about $50 per month in limited areas, but in recent months they've moved into big cities in the Northeast, greatly increasing their possible customers. Virgin Mobile later responded with its own $50 unlimited prepaid plan, and T-Mobile USA started offering long-term customers a similar plan to keep them.
Despite the texting problems, it seems most Boost subscribers aren't giving up.
Bryan Scheiber Michigan., signed up for Boost Unlimited in February, and has been mostly happy with it. The call quality is better than on his previous carrier, AT&T, he said. He's woken up to find four text messages that were sent to him the previous day, but he's not a big texter. "For the price," he said, "you can't complain." (info from The Associated Press)
"There's a huge deficiency in the text messaging and multimedia messaging," said John Kim, an independent dealer who has a Boost Mobile store in the Dallas area. He warns new customers about the problems, and tests the system by sending himself text messages. "I got five text messages at 4 o'clock in the morning that I sent myself nine hours before," he said.
He's been signing up 10 to 12 new customers a day on the plan, three or four times the number that came in before the Boost Unlimited plan was introduced in January. But a lot of them come back, "very irritated" about the text messaging problems. "This trend of a lot of people signing up to Boost is going to disappear really quickly if they don't resolve the texting issue," Kim said.
The new Boost Mobile plan uses Sprint's Nextel network, which uses a different underlying technology than the main Sprint network. Nextel users have complained of occasionally delayed text messaging for years, but the network's main selling point has been the walkie-talkie-like "push to talk" capability, used by work crews and emergency responders. Now the new Boost plan has opened the network to a new category of customers, for whom text messaging is more important.
John Votava, a spokesman for Boost, said the texting problems are due to the influx of new customers, and denied that there are long-standing problems with the Nextel network. "The popularity of Boost Mobile caught us off guard. It overwhelmed our system," he said. The company has been working "day and night" to fix the problems, and aims to have the system "much improved" by next week, Votava said.
Analysts expect Sprint to report Monday that Boost attracted somewhere around half a million subscribers in the first quarter, which would be a rare piece of good news for the company. The additions from Boost are not expected to outnumber defections from Sprint as a whole, however.
The Boost plan was partly a response to the network expansions of MetroPCS Communications and Leap Wireless. They have long offered unlimited calling for about $50 per month in limited areas, but in recent months they've moved into big cities in the Northeast, greatly increasing their possible customers. Virgin Mobile later responded with its own $50 unlimited prepaid plan, and T-Mobile USA started offering long-term customers a similar plan to keep them.
Despite the texting problems, it seems most Boost subscribers aren't giving up.
Bryan Scheiber Michigan., signed up for Boost Unlimited in February, and has been mostly happy with it. The call quality is better than on his previous carrier, AT&T, he said. He's woken up to find four text messages that were sent to him the previous day, but he's not a big texter. "For the price," he said, "you can't complain." (info from The Associated Press)
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Verizon may get an iPhone, or an iPhone competitor
Some publications have suggested that Verizon is talking to Apple about making a version of the iPhone to run on Verizon's existing CDMA network. USA Today reported this in a story earlier this week, and the New York Times echoed it, even as it noted why this idea makes no sense. CDMA is essentially a US technology used by Verizon and Sprint. The rest of the world operates on a standard called GSM. That’s partly why Apple chose to work with AT&T (a GSM provider) in the first place.
What’s more, Verizon will begin upgrading next year from CDMA to a fourth-generation network using a different technology called LTE. It would be odd, at best, for Apple to invest in a CDMA phone that has limited distribution now and will work on a network that is being phased out in the next 12 to 18 months. In a recent earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook noted that CDMA has a limited lifespan, and Verizon Chairman Ivan Seidenberg told The Wall Street Journal that he didn’t think Apple ever intended to make a CDMA phone.
Apple, as it negotiates with AT&T on an extension of the carrier’s iPhone exclusive, may be looking for some leverage by making a Verizon CDMA phone seem plausible.
There have also been reports that Apple and Verizon would be likely collaborators on a fourth-generation iPhone, made to work on the carrier’s LTE network, which will come online next year. This is pretty straightforward. When Apple creates a 4G/LTE phone, it will want the broadest global reach possible for it, and Verizon will be the largest LTE operator in the US.
The question is timing: Verizon only expects to reach 25 to 30 markets next year, so many analysts believe this 4G iPhone looks more likely for 2011 — which, coincidentally, is how long AT&T would have the current iPhone if it is able to extend its exclusive deal with Apple.
Verizon’s more intriguing discussions may not be about the iPhone, per se, but other devices in Apple’s pipeline, such as a multimedia device larger than the iPod touch. BusinessWeek first reported on this aspect of the discussions. People familiar with the discussions say it is in the early stages — and this, too, could be part of an Apple effort to wring concessions from AT&T in its renewed agreement on the iPhone. But one could imagine Verizon being especially excited about getting a new hit Apple device to itself.
Verizon doesn’t want the risk of attaching its fate to any single device, however iconic. That is one reason it has been building a deep partnership with Microsoft. The Wall Street Journal reported that Verizon has been working for several months on Pink, a Microsoft project to launch a touch-screen multimedia cellphone on Verizon early next year.
It would combine music and video functionality — which Microsoft has from its Zune player — along with other software that would form a new platform that extends Windows Mobile. The inclusion of the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Microsoft’s new app store, is also likely.
This project is drawing on the new hardware and software expertise Microsoft has from acquiring Danger, which created the T-Mobile Sidekick. All of this might be too little too late with Apple having staked out such a lead with the iPhone, but it’s an ambitious new project. (info From The Wall Street Journal)
What’s more, Verizon will begin upgrading next year from CDMA to a fourth-generation network using a different technology called LTE. It would be odd, at best, for Apple to invest in a CDMA phone that has limited distribution now and will work on a network that is being phased out in the next 12 to 18 months. In a recent earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook noted that CDMA has a limited lifespan, and Verizon Chairman Ivan Seidenberg told The Wall Street Journal that he didn’t think Apple ever intended to make a CDMA phone.
Apple, as it negotiates with AT&T on an extension of the carrier’s iPhone exclusive, may be looking for some leverage by making a Verizon CDMA phone seem plausible.
There have also been reports that Apple and Verizon would be likely collaborators on a fourth-generation iPhone, made to work on the carrier’s LTE network, which will come online next year. This is pretty straightforward. When Apple creates a 4G/LTE phone, it will want the broadest global reach possible for it, and Verizon will be the largest LTE operator in the US.
The question is timing: Verizon only expects to reach 25 to 30 markets next year, so many analysts believe this 4G iPhone looks more likely for 2011 — which, coincidentally, is how long AT&T would have the current iPhone if it is able to extend its exclusive deal with Apple.
Verizon’s more intriguing discussions may not be about the iPhone, per se, but other devices in Apple’s pipeline, such as a multimedia device larger than the iPod touch. BusinessWeek first reported on this aspect of the discussions. People familiar with the discussions say it is in the early stages — and this, too, could be part of an Apple effort to wring concessions from AT&T in its renewed agreement on the iPhone. But one could imagine Verizon being especially excited about getting a new hit Apple device to itself.
Verizon doesn’t want the risk of attaching its fate to any single device, however iconic. That is one reason it has been building a deep partnership with Microsoft. The Wall Street Journal reported that Verizon has been working for several months on Pink, a Microsoft project to launch a touch-screen multimedia cellphone on Verizon early next year.
It would combine music and video functionality — which Microsoft has from its Zune player — along with other software that would form a new platform that extends Windows Mobile. The inclusion of the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Microsoft’s new app store, is also likely.
This project is drawing on the new hardware and software expertise Microsoft has from acquiring Danger, which created the T-Mobile Sidekick. All of this might be too little too late with Apple having staked out such a lead with the iPhone, but it’s an ambitious new project. (info From The Wall Street Journal)
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