Wireless Federation

Verizon Wireless sues premium SMS fraudsters (USA)

On 03.14.11, In Mobile, By Editor

USA based Verizon Wireless has stated that it has filed a lawsuit outlining an ongoing scheme that used Premium SMS campaigns to defraud Verizon Wireless and its customers, and asked the Court for an injunction to put an immediate stop to the activities.

The suit names Jason Hope and Wayne P. DeStefano and companies they own, including Cylon, Jawa and EyeLevel Holdings among others. The Texas Attorney General also filed a similar suit against the same defendants. Verizon Wireless states that it assisted and supported the Texas prosecutors in their investigation.

Verizon Wireless recently became aware of the possible fraud and launched an investigation. Among the things the company discovered and that are explained in detail in the lawsuit include the fact that the defendants defrauded Verizon Wireless by misappropriating approved short codes for unapproved “shadow” campaigns that did not comply with Verizon Wireless’ consumer protection and disclosure policies.

The lawsuit further shows that the defendants were blocking certain IP addresses from accessing the websites associated with these shadow campaigns or were re-directing visitors to shell websites, preventing Verizon Wireless and its auditors from finding the shadow campaign websites in the normal course of monitoring Premium SMS campaigns for compliance.

For their part, the defendants company, Jawa put out a statement claiming that neither Verizon Wireless nor the State Attorney contacted it before the lawsuit was filed and that the company strongly denies the allegations.

Best Buy, Amazon.com seek to reach shoppers through phones

On 12.02.10, In Mobile, By Editor

Best Buy Co., the world’s largest consumer-electronics retailer, doesn’t want you to just buy mobile phones this holiday season but it wants you to use the devices to shop for the rest of your gifts.

Best Buy, Home Depot Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are among the retailers ramping up efforts to let shoppers scan bar codes, get discounts and find product information on their phones.

The plan is to increase sales by making it easier for consumers to compare prices, read product reviews and make impulse purchases wherever they are — even in a rival’s store. According to market research firm Aite Group LLC in Boston, buying through mobile phones is set to triple to $3 billion in the U.S. this year and reach $6 billion next year.

Dave Sikora, chief executive officer at Digby, a Texas-based company that helps retailers with their mobile strategies, an Austin, mobile represents an enormous opportunity for retailers. In 2008 and 2009, mobile started out as a science project. It’s accelerated so fast that it’s becoming more mission-critical for retailers to deliver a mobile experience in a professional way.

According to IDC Retail Insights, shoppers using smartphones will account for at least $127 billion, 28%, of the $447 billion the National Retail Federation predicts consumers will spend this holiday season.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Aite Group LLC • Amazon.com • Austin • Best Buy • Boston • Chief Executive Officer • consumer-electronics retailer • Dave Sikora • Digby • get discounts • Home Depot Inc. • Mobile • scan bar codes • Texas

AT&T unveils 4G Plans

On 10.22.10, In Mobile, By Editor

AT&T was recently discussing over its plans to spend US$700 million in installation of its 4G network in 2011, anticipating coverage of 75 million customers by the end of next year.

So far, the Dallas, Texas-based telecom has offered few details of its planned 4G rollout, but the Dallas, Texas-based telecom confirmed plans to use LTE network. It also expects to introduce Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE), technology by 2013 — a faster version of VoIP.

AT&T’s initial LTE phones ,set to roll out in the second half of next year — will initially offer voice calling via the carrier’s existing 3G network, but data will be routed over 4G. LTE supports speeds of over 100- and 50-megabit per second downstream and upstreams, respectively.

According to Kris Rinne, AT&T’s senior vice president of architecture and planning, in the meantime, the company has set its sights on upgrading its 3G network to HSPA-plus, which will provide our customers that fastest overall experience across the data networks. It is slated to launch LTE for the second half of next year.

Verizon, AT&T competitor , meanwhile, is already to roll out coverage to 110 million people by the end of 2010. It will also support VoLTE technology in the future, but voice calls will initially run through its existing CDMA network. Sprint, the only carrier currently with 4G service, has been aggressively expanding its network using a rival technology called WiMax.

While AT&T has a slower start, it expects to eclipse Verizon’s rollout, expanding 4G coverage to even broader segments of smartphone users by the end of 2011.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: VoIP • 4G • AT&T • CDMA • Dallas • LTE • Mobile • Sprint • Texas • Verizon • VoLTE • WiMAX

New Devices to stir the Next Wave of Growth for Chipset Manufacturers

On 09.01.10, In Mobile, By Editor

There was a time when PC’s were a premium device accessible only to the upper segment of SEC. But talking about today it is more of a necessity then luxury, a very less number of people in this world are still thinking of buying one. And for these thinkers Smartphones are coming up with a taste of processing power from the most personal of computers. At the same time mobile phone are catching up with a new road into other consumer devices, like providing e-books and map updates on the go.

Intel, this week grabbed the wireless chip business of Germany’s Infineon. Up for captures is a US$30billion annual semiconductor market. While by the end of this year mobile phone unit sales is predicted to go around a tenth higher on last year, the smartphone portion which contains more valuable silicon is expanding at three times that rate. As smartphone units replace other traditional phones, average selling prices for chipmakers would stay reasonably stable, even as smartphone prices themselves will continue to fall.

Production is still relatively isolated. Qualcomm is the largest manufacturer, supplying processors to 80% of Smartphones using Android, the best ever growing mobile operating system. But Qualcomm only takes 30% of wireless chip market revenues overall, calculates consultancy iSuppli. While the rivalry has contracted over the last five years, the market is still open to unsettling innovation.

The source of that disruption remains to be seen. Texas Instruments is meandering behind its baseband business in wireless to concentrate on processors, while Intel is heading in the opposite direction Infineon’s engineers are expert in cramming several functions onto one chip. It is not hard to understand the appeal.

New devices such as e-readers and media tablets are still in the tens of millions range, but such growth is incremental and technologically straightforward to address. Gartner forecasts revenue growth for the mobile application processor market of 22% annually from 2009 to 2014.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Germany • Intel • Luxury • Mobile • PC • Qualcomm • SEC • smartphone • Texas

Leap engages in job cuts and closes stores (USA)

On 03.10.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 180 jobs have been cut and 27 company stores nationwide have been shuttered by Leap Wireless which has described its restructuring as its changing priorities for the year. 90 of the jobs cut were field positions while 90 were corporate positions.

After the move, the number of employees in the company is 4200 and the number of company-owned stores is 42. The review of the stores was taken up by the company in February and the decision to close the stores was taken in early March. The closing is described as a part of normal repositioning that goes on in any retail business.

Recently, a joint venture has been announced by the company with regional, flat-rate wireless provider Pocket Communications to boost Leap’s position in south Texas, where Pocket has a significant presence.

Major Banks have been hired and special committee of its board has been formed to consider various strategic options, including selling the company or merging with another carrier. During its fourth-quarter earnings announcement, the plan of the company to launch a BlackBerry device from Research In Motion as well as a smartphone running Google’s Android platform was also disclosed.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Android • Blackberry • Google • Jobs Cut • Joint Venture • Launch • Leap Wireless • North America • Pocket Communications • Research in Motion • Texas • USA

Leap Wireless & Pocket Communications start joint venture (USA)

On 02.25.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Deal for a joint venture has been signed between Leap Wireless International Inc. and a Texas-based month-to-month mobile service provider, Pocket Communications Inc.

Under the deal, Leap will own 76% of the joint venture, which includes wireless spectrum and operating assets, while Pocket controls the rest besides buying some of Pocket’s assets for $38 million in cash.

Leap has expressed its wish to hold the controlling stake in the joint venture with an aim to strengthen its position in the South Texas area. The deal signifies an increased willingness for deals among low-end players that provide wireless service without a contract.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Joint Venture • Leap Wireless • Leap Wireless International • North America • Pocket Communications • spectrum • Texas • USA

Patent dispute settled between Motorola & VTech

On 01.19.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Patent lawsuit filed against the electronics companies VTech Communications Inc. and VTech Telecommunications Ltd by Motorola Inc will be settled by the latter. However, the terms of the settlement and the licensing agreement that resulted from it is yet not disclosed.

The lawsuit filed in Texas involved six patents that Motorola had asserted against VTech. According to Kirk Dailey, Motorola’s vice president of intellectual property, the company is pleased to have reached an amicable resolution with VTech.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Motorola • Patent • Texas • VTech

SK Telecom Cuts 3G Mobile Deal With China

On 08.15.06, In Mobile, By Editor

SK Telecom, South Korea’s primary wireless operator, has teamed up with the Chinese government to jointly develop third-generation (3G) mobile technologies for the world’s most populous country. The Seoul-based carrier yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with China to cooperate in time division-synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA).

TD-SCDMA refers to China’s homegrown platform for 3G wireless telephony services, which the country looks to nurture as its major future mobile standard.

SK Telecom chief executive Kim Shin-bae said that the partnership amply demonstrates the company’s know-how and expertise in the telecom services.

“SK Telecom is the first foreign telecom service provider to establish a cooperative relationship with China on TD-SCDMA technologies. This signifies the full recognition of our technological prowess,” Kim said in a statement.

Under the hook-up, SK Telecom plans to deploy a TD-SCDMA experimental station in Pundang, south of Seoul, next year to carry out tests on the mobility-specific techniques.

Plus, the operator will establish a TD-SCDMA service center in China to pursue joint research in 3G multimedia services, value-added devices and platforms.

SK Telecom seeks to continue its business alliance with China, the country with the world’s biggest mobile customer base amounting to 380 million, in many fields other than TD-SCDMA.

“We have agreed on building a cooperative model with China for the telecom industry, for not only TD-SCDMA technologies but also beyond 3G standards,” SK Telecom spokesman Do Hoon said.

TD-SCDMAChina’s Datang Mobilecom has spearheaded the development of TD-SCDMA alongside such global powerhouses as Siemens and Samsung Electronics.

TD-SCDMA is one of three technologies that acquired recognition by the International Telecommunications Union as the next-generation mobile telecom standard.

The other two are CDMA2000, which SK Telecom commercially launched here in late 2000 for the first time in history, and wideband-CDMA.

TD-SCDMA allows communication of numerous subscribers by dividing a spectrum into time slots unlike other platforms, which use separate spectrums for wireless transmission and reception.

China has decided to select a TD-SCDMA technology-based 3G service provider before the 2008 Beijing Olympics and international behemoths are vying to join the project.

Up until now, Korean companies like Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics mostly attempted to advance into the handset business of TD-SCDMA.

Samsung, the world’s third-largest cell phone maker, set up a joint venture for TD-SCDMA chipset development together with Datang Mobilecom and Philips.

LG Electronics, the No. 4 player, also established a venture start-up for chipsets, called Commit, alongside Datang and Texas Instruments.

Recently, TD-SCDMA handsets manufactured by Samsung and LG have passed tests ordered by the Chinese government.

Source- http://times.hankooki.com

Technorati : 3G, China, Mobile, SK Telecom
Ice Rocket : 3G, China, Mobile, SK Telecom

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: 3G wireless • CDMA Chipset • China • Datang • Datang Mobile • Olympics • Philips • TD-SCDMA Handset • TD-SCDMA handsets • Texas • Texas Instruments