This Week's Stories
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For the Week Ending October 29, 2010 This Week’s Stories______ the 1700/2100/700 MHz bands, and goes for $49.99 with a two-year contract, data plan and mail-in rebate. Qualcomm in Talks to Exit India However, AT&T spokeswoman Jenny Bridges confirmed Broadband - Report the gadget will not work over the 700 MHz LTE network October 26, 2010 Verizon plans to launch later this year. Verizon has said it expects to cover 38 cities and 110 million POPs this year with LTE, while AT&T has said it will launch LTE in the U.S.-based mobile chip supplier Qualcomm is looking to 700 MHz and AWS bands (1700/2100 MHz) next year, sell its wireless broadband business in India for a covering 70-75 million POPs by the end of 2011. minimum of 50 billion rupees ($1.1 billion), the Economic Times reported on Wednesday. Though the nation's two largest carriers are using the same band--700 MHz--for LTE, the two are using different The company has approached leading Indian mobile flavors of 700 MHz for their LTE network deployments. phone operators and made presentations to them, offering Verizon acquired most of the FCC's 700 MHz C Block stake in the four circles where it holds airwaves and spectrum (which lies in band class 13) in 2008, while permits, the newspaper said citing sources with direct many of AT&T's 700 MHz licenses sit in the lower A and B knowledge of the matter. Blocks (which lie in band class 17). Thus, to reliably roam from AT&T's LTE network to Verizon's, device makers will Qualcomm had spent about $1 billion to buy wireless first have to build LTE gadgets that support band classes airwaves in Mumbai, New Delhi, Haryana and Kerala 13 and 17. AT&T and Verizon also would have to ink an circles in an auction earlier this year. LTE roaming agreement. In July, it agreed to sell 26 percent stake in its India While notable, the fact that AT&T's first LTE-capable broadband venture to Indian firms Global Holdings and device can't be used on Verizon's LTE network isn't Tulip Telecom for about $58 million. exactly a surprise. Roaming considerations often take a backseat in wireless carriers' network deployments. And Qualcomm has told the potential buyers they would have despite the fact that LTE will form the basis for much of to give an undertaking to use the airwaves only to offer the world's move to 4G network technology, the services in its upcoming Long Term Evolution (LTE) hodgepodge of spectrum allocated to LTE likely will technology, the paper said. prevent ubiquitous roaming for some time. Indeed, MetroPCS' Samsung Craft--the nation's first LTE phone-- does not support 700 MHz connections and therefore It quoted a Qualcomm official as saying the company won't work on Verizon's forthcoming network either. would work with operators to develop and commercially deploy the technology before exiting the India venture. ($1=44.4 rupees). http://www.fiercewireless.com http://www.reuters.com Apple Joins Top Five Handset Makers Worldwide as Nokia Slips AT&T's First LTE-Capable Device Won't October 29, 2010 Roam onto Verizon's LTE Network Apple Inc. became one of the world’s top five mobile- October 26, 2010 phone vendors in the third quarter while market leader Nokia Oyj’s share fell, two industry research groups said. AT&T Mobility's recently announced LTE-capable USB stick will not work on the LTE network Verizon Wireless is scheduled to launch later this year, Apple vaulted past Research In Motion Ltd. and Sony according to an AT&T spokeswoman. The Ericsson to fourth place, helped by the introduction of the news underscores the business and iPhone in new markets, International Data Corp. and technical challenges that remain in the Strategy Analytics said today in reports. If Apple produces market's push for LTE network an iPhone for Verizon Communications Inc.’s CDMA technology. network, that could boost it further, Strategy Analytics wrote. AT&T earlier this month unveiled the USBConnect Adrenaline from LG as its “The entrance of Apple to the top five underscores the first LTE-upgradeable device. Customers increased importance of smartphones to the overall will be able to use the gadget on AT&T's forthcoming LTE market,” Kevin Restivo, an IDC analyst, said in the report. via a software upgrade. The Adrenaline supports LTE in “Vendors that aren’t developing a strong portfolio of KS&R Inc. 1 For the Week Ending October 29, 2010 smartphones will be challenged to grow and retain market The investigation found that approximately 15 million "pay- share in the future.” as-you-go" customers were or may have been overcharged for data usage over the course of three Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile-phone maker since years, from November 2007 to the present. 1998, slipped to 32.4 percent of the market from 36.5 percent a year earlier as Chinese brands challenged the In an official statement, Verizon Wireless pointed to the Finnish company in emerging markets, according to IDC complexity of its internal business processes, saying the figures. Samsung Electronics Co., the second-largest, charges were the result of "inadvertent billing mistakes." rose to 21 percent while the other big Korean handset vendor, LG Electronics, slipped more than two percentage "We accept responsibility for those errors, and apologize points to 8.3 percent, IDC said. to our customers who received accidental data charges on their bills," the statement read. Sony Ericsson fell off the top-five list for the first time since IDC began tracking the numbers in 2004. According to the settlement, the erroneous mystery fees from Verizon Wireless were caused by: unauthorized data Component Shortages transfers initiated automatically by applications built into certain phones; accessing certain web links that were Global shipments rose 14.6 million to 340.5 million units designated as free-of-charge (e.g., the Verizon Wireless according to Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC. Mobile Web homepage); unsuccessful attempts to access Strategy Analytics pegged them lower, at 327 million units, data when there was insufficient network coverage to noting that the rate of growth slowed from the first half as complete the requested data transfer; and unwanted data component shortages trimmed sales. transfers initiated by third parties and affecting customers who had content filters installed on their phones. “Touchscreens, application processors and cameras are among the components experiencing volatile supply,” Neil Verizon acknowledged that the "single largest problem, Mawston of Strategy Analytics wrote in his report. involving the vast majority of credits, was caused by a very small data "acknowledgment" session sent by software pre-loaded on certain phones," asserting that the problem “Many component manufacturers reduced production affected only some of the customers who did not have output during the recession of 2009 and they are data plans, and who were not otherwise intentionally using struggling, or even unwilling, to restore the capacity in the the data features on their devices. upturn of 2010.” Verizon Wireless has agreed to cease charging customers The analysts’ totals and market share figures differed the incorrect fees. In addition, the company has agreed to because IDC counted a larger number of handsets for the take affirmative steps to prevent future unauthorized data “other” category, which included new vendors in Asia. charges. http://www.bloomberg.com The company will immediately begin repayment of the 15 million customers. Customers who have been identified by FCC, Verizon Reach Consent on Mystery Verizon Wireless as being potentially being overcharged for data usage will receive refunds or credits on their Fees October or November bills. October 29,2010 The Bureau also tasked Verizon with ensuring that The FCC's Enforcement Bureau reached consent with customers are treated fairly in the future. Verizon Wireless to return $52.8 million to customers who fell victim to "mystery fees," which the company charged its customers over the last several years. Additionally, the Verizon Wireless has agreed to offer data blocks on Bureau ordered Verizon Wireless to pay $25 million to the request, plain-language explanations of "pay as you go" U.S. treasury. data charges and data plans, and post an online video tutorial to help consumers understand their bills. The Enforcement Bureau began investigating Verizon Wireless in January 2010 after a large number of Verizon was also ordered to create a Data Charge Task complaints and press reports about unexplained data Force, staffed by specially trained customer service charges surfaced. The investigation focused on "pay-as- experts who will monitor and resolve data charge you-go" data fees, charges of $1.99 per megabyte that complaints and other data charge-related issues going apply to Verizon Wireless customers who do not subscribe forward. The Task Force will issue regular reports to the to a data package or plan. FCC so the agency can ensure compliance. KS&R Inc. 2 For the Week Ending October 29, 2010 The Bureau noted that Verizon's repayment obligations merchants trialing the Mobile Express Checkout beta have are not capped at the estimated $52.8 million in refunds reported double-digit sales growth on their mobile identified by the company. Customers who do not receive storefronts. a refund but believe they had unauthorized data charges have a right to appeal, receive a good-faith review, and http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com reach resolution within 30 days. Verizon Wireless is required to disclose any unresolved complaints to the FCC. Verizon Introduces Tiered 3G Data Plans October 29, 2010 "There is nothing more satisfying to the public spirit than to right a wrong or rectify an injustice," said Michele Ellison, Verizon Wireless quietly launched tiered mobile data plans Chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, in a statement.