For Faster Summer ‘Surfing,’ Verizon Offers New Customers in California Hot Broadband at a Cool New Price
Sending vacation photos over a dial-up Internet connection can seem to take longer than the vacation itself. Verizon is making it easier for families in California to
advance from slow dial-up services to a speedy Verizon broadband connection
before summer vacations get started.
”Nearly 30 million digital cameras were sold in the U.S. last year, and
summer is the season for family photo-taking,” said Dustin Kroeger,
director of consumer marketing for Verizon’s West Coast region. “We’re
making it easier for families to quickly share digital photos and stay more
connected by offering Verizon High Speed Internet service at a special
introductory price. Now families can stop struggling with slow dial-up
service by getting Verizon broadband with connection speeds up to 20 to 50
times faster for a price that’s comparable to, or less than, what they
already pay.”
Qualified Verizon phone customers who sign up for Verizon High Speed
Internet service (based on DSL technology) before June 30 can get a
12-month price of just $14.99 a month for connection speeds up to 768 Kbps
(kilobits per second), whether they subscribe online, call a Verizon
service representative or purchase through one of Verizon’s retail
partners. Or, they can choose a higher-speed service of up to 3 Mbps
(megabits per second) for an introductory price of $19.99 a month for the
first six months when ordered online with an annual service plan.
Verizon High Speed Internet Gives Families More
In addition to faster photo sharing, Verizon High Speed Internet offers
families many advantages over dial-up services, including the ability to be
online and use their phone at the same time, so they no longer miss
important calls while enjoying the Internet. Unlike some Internet services
that are delivered over a network that’s shared by everyone in the
neighborhood, Verizon High Speed Internet comes directly into a customer’s
home on a dedicated line. The service includes an extensive collection of
features and services, all enabled by Verizon’s network that 100 million
people rely on every day. These features include:
* Better online protection with Verizon Internet Security Suite: In one
download, this comprehensive online protection suite provides anti-
spyware, anti-virus, firewall, parental control, pop-up blocker and
privacy manager protection that run continuously behind the scene, as
long as the computer is on. The suite automatically updates every three
hours, for continuous protection against the latest online threats. The
cost is just $4.99 a month for use on up to three household computers.
* Better online gaming from Verizon. Play hundreds of the most popular PC
games for free with Verizon Arcade, or choose from a variety of Verizon
Games on Demand packages, including Family Place, a package that
features more than 400 family-friendly casual games for just $7.99 a
month.
* Better entertainment for kids of all ages with Disney Connection, a
safe, ad-free environment that offers a selection of Disney games,
activities and video, such as full-length episodes of TV shows from
Disney Channel, Toon Disney and Playhouse Disney. Verizon broadband
customers also now benefit from full access to Playhouse Disney
Preschool Time Online and Disney Game Kingdom Online at no additional
charge (a $99 retail value).
* Better news from ABC News Now, an innovative 24/7 news and information
network delivering live video news streams, plus original lifestyle,
news and entertainment programs packaged in insightful, 15-minute shows
for “news snacking.”
* Better sports from ESPN360, the high-speed Internet video service that
gives subscribers exclusive and live sporting events including
basketball, football, wrestling and hockey; behind-the-scenes footage
and interviews; premieres of ESPN Original Entertainment programs; video
games and extended highlights; and unique coverage of big events like
U.S. Open Golf, figure skating, soccer and the XGames.
Verizon Seeks to Hire Bilingual Customer Contact Representatives
Verizon is seeking to hire bilingual consumer sales consultants and language-assistant customer representatives to better serve customers who prefer to speak Mandarin.
Successful applicants will help residential and business customers set
up new service, change their service, and recommend services and products
that meet the customers’ specific needs.
Positions are available for four fluent Mandarin speakers. The jobs,
which also require fluent English, are all based in Santa Monica.
Candidates must be available to work flexible hours between 5 a.m. and
6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Wages range from $16.54 to $25.20 per hour,
depending on an applicant’s experience and education. The positions offer
an excellent benefits package including paid training; company-paid
medical, dental and life insurance; retirement package; tuition
reimbursement; and a generous incentives program.
New Zealand Telecom In $300 Million Network Switch
Rumors are abound in New Zealand that Telecom New Zealand is about to announce a deal with Alcatel-Lucent to build a GSM network costing NZ$300-400 million (US$221-294 million) according to industry rag Communications Day. A spokesperson from TNZ wouldn’t go as far as denying the rumor, saying only that no announcement had been made and he wouldn’t add to speculation, reports the New Zealand Herald. The company is the second largest mobile operator in New Zealand with a 49 percent market share (Vodafone is slightly ahead) and operates a CDMA EV-DO network, according to Wikipedia. It’s expected TNZ will keep the CDMA network for high-speed data and voice as it moves customers to the new network. The move is no surprise to analysts in New Zealand, although the Herald also reported that: Mark Ratcliffe, Telecom’s chief operating officer for technology and enterprises, said the company would continue to invest in CDMA with an increasing likelihood it would go to UMTS some time in the future.â€
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Mobile Handset Shipments To Grow 16 Percent In 2007: Gartner
Gartner has released some figures on mobile handset shipments, predicting that global handset sales for 2007 will grow to 1.15 billion on the back of strong demand in Asia and Africa. That would represent a 16 percent year-on-year rise, which Engineering News notes is higher than the average of less than 10 percent growth predicted by analysts polled by Reuters last month. Gartner said 257.4 million phones were sold in January-March, up 14 percent year-on-year, boosted by 40 percent growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Western Europe and North America saw only 4 percent and 2 percent annual growth, respectively.†Nokia claimed a 35.7 percent marketshare, followed by Motorola on 18.5 percent, Samsung had 12.5 percent, Sony Ericsson had 8.4 percent and LG had 6.2 percent. These figures were revealed in general in the earnings reports of the companies—Nokia and Sony Ericsson showed growth, Motorola showed a big drop.
On the PDA side shipments of handheld computers running Windows Mobile soared 64 percent in the first quarter, propelling worldwide shipments overall to 5.1 million units, a 39.7 percent increase over the same period a year ago,†reports TelecomAsia of Gartner figures. Windows Mobile Licensees accounted for more than 60 percent of total shipments, nearly 3.2 million PDAs in the quarter. RIM was the next highest with 18.1 percent of the PDA OS market, with other companies such as Palm focusing on the much larger smartphone market, where Microsoft has falteredâ€.
China Delays 3G Licenses Until After Olympics
In a fairly embarrassing turn of affairs China has said it will delay issuing 3G licenses until after the countries telcos finish restructuring—and until after the Olympics. The restructuring will involve China Mobile developing services for the home-grown TD-S platform, China Telecom will buy China Unicom CDMA network in order to offer CDMA2000 services while China Netcom will merge with China Unicom to co-develop WCDMA servicesâ€, reports Forbes. The upshot is that the only 3G technology available during the Olympics will be TD-S, which is undergoing a trial†in eight cities. Someone of a suspicious mind might think that this is the Chinese government’s way of giving its homegrown standard a boost without annoying large trading partners by mandating a particular standard. Telegeography has noted that China Mobile will invest around RMB 4 billion (US$519 million) on 2 million TD-S handsets in October.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
155.6 Million Global Mobile TV Users By 2012: Report
Datamonitor has predicted that the number of people viewing mobile TV globally will hit 155.6 million by the end of 2012, up from 4.4 million today. Mobile TV’s global subscriber base will swell to 65.6 million in 2010 and then more than double to 155.6 million by the end of 2012, a year-on-year growth rate of 66.2 per centâ€, writes Silicon.com. That’s some pretty significant growth, and analyst Chris Khouri is quoted as saying that the European mobile TV landscape is set for strong growth†between 2009 and 2012 owing to the analogue to digital switch-over freeing up spectrum. Datamonitor thinks Europe will have 42.7 million mobile TV viewers by 2012 (effectively doubling the market every year), Asia Pacific will have 76.3 million subscribers while North America will have 35.6 million subscribers. It seems this is a best-case scenario based on the telcos giving the service a strong marketing push. Datamonitor predicts that users in Western Europe and North America will pay between $8-12 a month for the service.
In 2006 the mobile TV market was worth about $1.3 billion and half of that came from the 25-34 year old age group. However, Datamonitor found a significant number of occasional consumers of mobile content – such as music and video clips – exist…If these sporadic users can be encouraged to put their hands in their pockets regularly, said the analyst, then the potential is for mobile content revenues to increase by 150 per cent over a three-month period.â€
BroadcastBuyer notes that a lot of the growth will come at the end of the period: This subscriber base will grow to 65.6 million in 2010 and more than double to an estimated 155.6 million by 2012â€. Datamonitor also expects a transition to an advertising-based revenue model once there are sufficient users.
Verizon Wireless Offers Free Downloads Of New Prince Song
Prince is letting Verizon Wireless subscribers download his new single, Guitar, for free. The mobile carrier hopes the Prince tie-in will bring added attention to its VCast Song ID feature. The Verizon service lets users’ music-enabled phones capture information about a song that’s playing over-the-air, then buy either the Ringtone, Ringback tone or full-track song. To get the Prince single, which is part of promotion for his forthcoming album Planet Earth, Verizon subscribers are directed to Verizon Wireless’.
Wikipedia May Go Wireless, Mulls Over Free Mobile Search & Access
The Wikipedia the encyclopaedia by the people and for the people may soon be accessible by people on the move. The Wikimedia Foundation has announced a preliminary agreement with mobile search services provider AskMeNow. The first step will involve natural language desktop search, allowing users to submit queries by PC. Pending the completion of a successful desktop Beta, AskMeNow and the Wikimedia Foundation will also launch a free Mobile Wikipedia service allowing users to search using their mobile phones.
T-Mobile UK Lines Up Content For Mobile TV Service
T-Mobile UK has signed its first partners for its mobile TV service. Channel 4, ITN, MTV, Eurosport, Nickelodeon are among the first partners on the service, reports NMA, with BBC and Sky also reportedly in talks to add their content to the service. The service will go live†with subscriptions on July 1st, until that date T-Mobile is charging customers one pound per day (US$2). A 24 hour Big Brother channel is helping to launch the service along with additional services from Paramount and Pocket Comedy.â€
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
