Wireless

In the battle between LTE and WiMax for wireless broadband, LTE may have just gotten another boost.

A group of leading telecom service and equipment providers, including AT&T, Verizon, Nokia, and Samsung, announced a new standard Thursday for delivering compatible voice and messaging services using Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks.

The standard, dubbed the One Voice initiative, offers a set of technical functionalities that telecommunication companies can use in their LTE services and products to provide both voice and Short Message Services (SMS).

The group of companies setting up One Voice (which also includes LTE proponents Orange, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, Vodafone, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, and Sony Ericsson), see the standard as a way to provide interoperability for broadband voice and SMS services. The goal is to give telecom providers and manufacturers a convenient technical profile for working with each other and save customers from wrestling with different and conflicting LTE technologies.

LTE has been fine at supporting data, which uses IP-based packet switching. But it's faced challenges trying to incorporate traditional circuit-based switching voice and SMS services onto IP-based networks. One Voice is the group's attempt to resolve that issue.

The new specification will use existing functionality known as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), which already defines how to provide data, voice, and other content over an IP-based network. IMS was established by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a group comprised of telecom industry associations trying to set standards for 3G mobile networks.

"Open collaborative discussions have concluded that the IP Multimedia Subsystem-based solution as defined by 3GPP, is the most applicable approach to meeting the consumers' expectations," said One Group in a statement.

In recent years, LTE has been duking it out with WiMax to be crowned the upcoming broadband wireless standard. In one corner has been telecom giants like AT&T and Verizon, both of which have announced plans to deploy 4G wireless networks using LTE.

In the other corner has been Sprint, which is eyeing a rollout of its own 4G network using WiMax. Sprint owns a majority stake in WiMax provider Clearwire, a wholesale distributor of 4G services. Clearwire recently unveiled a huge WiMax testing sandbox in Silicon Valley where developers could play with the technology.

However, Clearwire has been waffling on the choice between LTE and WiMax. In a recent interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow said he would be willing to switch to LTE if helped the company.

The Samsung Jack.

(Credit: Samsung)

Fans of the Samsung Jack, I have some good news for you.

Samsung announced Wednesday that its Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade is now available for the smartphone. The upgrade includes Windows Phone 6.5 Standard Edition and a handful of software enhancements. Major improvements include:

• Windows Marketplace for Mobile: Provides access to secure shopping. You can download the application instantly to the phone.
• Internet Explorer Mobile 6: It delivers the same Web-browsing capability as Internet Explorer for a desktop computer, including support for multimedia-rich content like Flash animation, YouTube, and social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.
• AT&T Wi-Fi integration: Samsung Jack users can now easily access more than 20,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots in the U.S.
• Vlingo for Windows Phone: This voice-command feature lets you send text or e-mail messages, call friends, search the Web, open native applications, etc., just by speaking into the phone.

The upgrade requires a 32-bit Windows computer running either Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 (for Windows Vista, 7) or ActiveSync 4.5 (for Windows XP). According to Samsung, the upgrade process takes between 5 and 10 minutes. Make sure you back up your phone data and sync your contacts with your computer before upgrading. The new firmware is available for free and can be downloaded from Samsung's Web site.

T-Mobile said on Wednesday that a software glitch was to blame for a massive outage on Tuesday that left many customers unable to send or receive calls or text messages.

"After investigating the cause, we have determined that a back-end system software error had generated abnormal congestion on the network," T-Mobile said in a statement. "T-Mobile has since implemented additional measures to help prevent this from happening in the future."

The wireless service provider did not say which software caused the issue.

"We again apologize to those customers who were affected and may have been inconvenienced," T-Mobile said. I've also asked the carrier what, if any, compensation it plans to give those who were without service.

The service disruption began on Tuesday afternoon and lasted, for some, until late into the evening Pacific Time.

T-Mobile has stated that the outage affected about 5 percent of its users.

Cisco Systems reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that beat expectations with good sequential growth, giving hope that the ailing economy is on the upswing.

The network equipment maker on Wednesday reported that fiscal first-quarter profits and revenue that were down from the same quarter a year ago but up from the previous quarter.

Cisco reported a quarterly profit of $1.8 billion, or 36 cents a share, compared with a profit of $2.2 billion, or 42 cents a share, for the same quarter a year ago. Revenue for the first fiscal quarter in 2009 was $9 billion, down from $10.3 billion during the same quarter a year prior.

Analysts had expected Cisco to report earnings of 31 cents a share on revenue of $8.75 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Even though revenue and earnings were lower than a year ago, Cisco grew revenue and earnings, compared to the previous quarter. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Cisco reported profits of $1.1 billion, or 19 cents a share. And it reported revenue of $8.5 billion.

Cisco CEO John Chambers commented on the company's strong sequential growth, saying the gains are a good indication that economy is in recovery.

"Building off what we saw as a clear tipping point in (the fourth quarter), our (first-quarter) results continued to reflect strong sequential growth trends that meet or exceed expectations during normal economic times," he said in a statement. "We view the improving economic outlook, combined with solid execution on our growth strategy, as creating unparalleled opportunity to drive more value into the core of the network."

As Apple and Research In Motion have won a greater share in the Wi-Fi handset market over the past year, Nokia has lost share.

Though Nokia is still the leading vendor for dual-mode smartphones (Wi-Fi and cellular), its market share dropped to 35 percent in the second quarter, compared with 50 percent in the same period a year ago, according to a report released Monday from In-Stat.

The report "Wi-Fi in Mobile Phones: Dual Mode Becomes the In Thing" tracked the major Wi-Fi phone vendors, including Nokia, Apple, Research In Motion, HTC, and Samsung. Among those, Apple has enjoyed the greatest growth in market share, from 3 percent in the second quarter of 2008 to 20 percent in this year's second quarter.

Market share for both RIM and Samsung has also weakened the past few quarters, though less so than Nokia's. RIM's 15.7 percent chunk of the market for the second quarter of the year was down from its first-quarter high of 17.6 percent. Samsung's share has been relatively flat but usually dips a bit from the first to the second quarter, notes In-Stat.

In sheer unit volume, Nokia has done well the past few quarters, with 9.3 million Wi-Fi handsets shipped in the second quarter of the year compared with Apple's 5.2 million shipments. However, Nokia's shipments have dropped since the first quarter of 2008 when it saw 12 million units fly out the door. Over the same period, Apple, RIM, and HTC have seen their shipments grow.

As the No. 2 Wi-Fi handset vendor, Apple has also outsold third-place RIM in dual-mode phone shipments, says In-Stat. Though RIM still has a larger market presence, not all of its Blackberry devices include Wi-Fi. HTC and Samsung rounded out In-Stat's list as the fourth and fifth top Wi-Fi handset vendors, respectively.

(Credit: In-Stat)

The report also detailed the growth of the Wi-Fi smartphone market overall. The industry shipped 37 million handsets in 2007, and 103 million units in 2008. That rise is because of several factors, notes In-Stat, including greater functionality, lower prices, and carrier promotions. Initially targeted to the business market, smartphones are also now an entrenched hit with consumers, which In-Stat attributes to the success of the iPhone.

Wi-Fi handset shipments are expected to rise just 25 percent to 128.4 million units for 2009. That compares with a nearly 180 percent jump in 2008.

But In-Stat sees gains ahead. By 2010, the growth rate is likely to climb to 43 percent. Though that rate may not be sustainable, it should remain strong in the coming years. Wi-Fi will also become more prevalent in mobile phones. This year, 11.5 percent of handsets include Wi-Fi; by 2012, that figure will grow to 25 percent, predicts In-Stat.

To compile the report, In-Stat relied on its own data as well as interviews with Wi-Fi equipment vendors.

Helped by cost cuts and by growth in Internet and phone subscribers, Comcast on Wednesday reported a 22 percent jump in earnings for its third quarter.

The cable provider saw net income of $944 million, or 33 cents per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $771 million (26 cents per share) in the year-ago quarter. Sales also rose, hitting $8.8 billion, up from $8.5 billion in 2008's third quarter, though revenue was slightly below analysts' estimates.

Comcast's third-quarter sales

(Credit: Comcast)

For the quarter, the number of TV subscribers dropped 2.7 percent to 23.7 million from 24.4 million a year ago. But the loss was more than offset by gains in Internet and voice, two services that Comcast has marketed heavily, especially as part of its Triple-Play service.

The number of Internet subscribers rose 6.4 percent to 15.6 million, while Comcast phone customers jumped 20 percent to 7.3 million. Overall, the company saw a quarterly increase in customers of 3.4 percent to 46.8 million. Subscriber growth helped boost third-quarter sales for the cable segment by 2.8 percent to $8.4 billion.

Comcast Internet and voice customers grow.

(Credit: Comcast)

With a focus on trimming costs, capital expenses declined 6.1 percent to $1.2 billion, due in large part to lower spending at the company's cable divison.

"The strength and resilience of our businesses combined with our continued emphasis on expenses and prudent capital management helped us achieve healthy operating and financial results in the third quarter," Brian Roberts, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Comcast revealed no new details over its intent to acquire a leading stake in GE-owned NBC Universal. Early last month, reports surfaced that the company wanted to buy a 51 percent chunk of NBCU, with GE owning the rest, to create a new joint venture. If it goes through, the deal could transform Comcast into a major media powerhouse, with control of NBC as well as variety of TV networks and cable stations.

A massive outage left many T-Mobile USA customers across the country unable to make calls or get data on their cellular phones on Tuesday.

In a statement, T-Mobile said it is working to get its service back up and running.

"T-Mobile customers may be experiencing service disruptions impacting voice and data," the company said in a statement. "Our rapid response teams have been mobilized to restore service as quickly as possible. We will provide updates as more information is available."

The move comes as the carrier is still working to restore data to T-Mobile Sidekick users, many of whom have been without some or all of their information for an entire month.

In a statement on Friday, T-Mobile said many of its Sidekick customers have been able to restore at least their contacts, although it acknowledged not everyone got their address books back.

"There was a very small group of customers for whom we were unable to recover any contacts," the carrier said. It is still working to bring back other data, including calendars, to-do lists, notes, pictures and other data. "We will share more details around this restoration process very soon," it said.

Microsoft, whose Danger service powers the Sidekick, initially thought all data might be lost, but later said it expected to be able to restore most, if not all user data.

Update 5:04 p.m. PT: In a slightly updated statement, T-Mobile said "Some T-Mobile customers may be experiencing intermittent service disruptions impacting voice and some data services."

Reports from users seem to vary. In San Francisco, I was unable to make or receive calls or get e-mail. Meanwhile, a few users in Boston and Washington, D.C. told me that their T-Mobile phones appeared to be working.

If other people want to drop me a note of where they are and what's working or not, I'll get a better sense of things.

5:20 p.m. PT: T-Mobile subscribers in eastern Tennessee, Honolulu, Long Island, N.Y. all e-mailed me to say they, too, were experiencing outages.

Gretchen Wuersching, an accountant who lives in Mount Vernon, N.Y. and works in Manhattan said she has been without service in New York City and Westchester County. Wuersching said she first noticed her service out in Manhattan and was still out in both Westchester County and later when she drove to the Bronx.

Meanwhile, a T-Mobile subscriber in Orange County, Calif. said service was intermittent, while another customer in Denver said her BlackBerry could make calls and handle e-mail, as could friends on T-Mobile's network there, but that text messages were not working.

Several people in the Salt Lake City area said they were having problems, while another in Utah said that calls and text messages were not working, but that Web and e-mail access was continuing.

All in all, it sounds like a very mixed bag for T-Mobile subscribers. Thanks to everyone who wrote in and I'll let you know when I hear more from T-Mobile.

Update 6:24 p.m. PT: T-Mobile issued an updated statement saying it now believes only 5 percent of customers are experiencing outages.

"We're making good progress restoring voice and messaging service to affected customers," a T-mobile representative said. "At this time, approximately 5 percent of T-Mobile customers are experiencing service disruptions. Issues began at approximately 5:30 p.m. Eastern time. Our rapid response team is working continuously to fully resolve this disruption. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused our customers."

The e-mails are literally flooding into my in-box from around the country and far more people are telling me they are experiencing outages of one variety or another than say they have full service. But perhaps that's the nature of who e-mails.

Among the dozens of e-mails of problems I have gotten was this message from Karen Jacobson, an analyst and programmer in North Carolina. "My daughter called me from Chicago to say that her text messaging doesn't work and asked me to call T-Mobile," Jacobson said. "I called them and was told that the network was busy. I then tried texting ... and was unable to text from down here. My friend Crystal called from Florida, on her landline, to tell me that her T-Mobile has not been able to make or accept phone calls for at least an hour (and now her boyfriend is angry cause he thinks she ignored him!)."

For my part, I have data access on my Blackberry Curve, but no ability to make calls. E-mail service, which was out for a time, seems to be back.

Update 10:50 p.m. PT: T-Mobile issued an updated statement saying it has restored voice and text/picture messaging services to customers who experienced outages and apologizing for the inconvenience.

Damaged by lower sales, huge operating losses, and a falling market share, Nokia Siemens Networks is pinning its hopes on a major reorganization.

The network equipment maker, jointly owned by Nokia and Siemens, announced Tuesday that it will lay off 5,700 employees and cut its five business units to three as part of a plan to slash expenses by 500 million euros ($740 million) by the end of 2011.

The layoffs will represent around 7 percent to 9 percent of the company's 64,000 global employees and is likely to be felt across all countries in which Nokia Siemens has a presence. The company did not state which jobs would be affected but did say that any disruption to sales positions that deal directly with customers should be limited.

The three new revamped business units are expected to launch on January 1 and will include Business Solutions, Network Systems, and Global Services.

"As our customers make purchasing decisions, they want a partner who engages in issues well beyond a traditional discussion of technology," said Rajeev Suri, chief executive officer of Nokia Siemens Networks, in a statement. "Business models, innovation, growth and transformation are now very much front and center when it comes to the selection of a technology partner - and our planned new structure will position us well in this changing market."

The company said it's also looking at potential new acquisitions and partnerships that could enhance its product line or expand its customer base. In June, Nokia Siemens bought Nortel's wireless technology for $650 million.

"We recognize that we are operating in a market where customer needs are evolving fast," said Mika Vehvilainen, chief operating officer of Nokia Siemens Networks, in a statement. "We see acquisitions and expanded partnering as important tools to help meet these needs in the fastest, most efficient way possible."

Formed in early 2007, Nokia Siemens has seemed cursed from the start. Its launch was initially delayed a few months due to a bribery scandal involving several former Siemens executives.

The new company had hardly gotten off the ground when it announced it wouldn't meet financial expectations. And it's struggled since then, hurt by the economic downturn and increasing competition.

Third-quarter sales fell 21 percent to 2.8 billion euros, while its operating loss widened to 1.1 billion euros. Parent Nokia was recently forced to spend 908 million euros to write down the value of the deteriorating business.

The cell phone sales slump may soon be over.

The global cell phone industry captured mild gains in the third quarter, with total shipments reaching 287.1 million units, according to a report released Friday from IDC. That number marked a 6 percent decline from the same quarter in 2008 but a 5.6 percent jump over 2009's second quarter.

With the third-quarter figures, the mobile phone business is likely showing the first signs of a rebound since the recession, according to IDC's "Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker." During the third quarter, the industry pushed older devices at lower prices, leading to greater demand and higher volume, said IDC.

Another report released Friday, this one conducted by Strategy Analytics, offered similar findings and forecasts for the cell phone trade. The report, called "Q3 2009 Global Handset Market Share Update," pegged cell phone shipments for the third quarter at 291 million, slightly higher than IDC's number.

Since the rate of decline was slower than in the previous quarter, Strategy Analytics expects the industry to see positive growth in the fourth quarter as the recession winds down.

"We forecast 300 million handsets to be shipped worldwide in Q4 2009, growing 3 percent from 294 million units in Q4 2008," said Strategy Analytics Director Neil Mawston in a statement. "We believe this will be the first time the industry has returned to positive growth since Q3 2008, signaling an end to the handset recession after four quarters of decline. Consumers and handset vendors are gradually regaining a little confidence."

(Credit: Strategy Analytics)

In North America, the U.S. enjoyed solid results in the third quarter, with smartphones and prepaid handsets driving growth. But the Canadian market showed a downturn for the third straight quarter due to a weak economy and sluggish demand for traditional mobile phones.

Latin America's third-quarter recovery was also less than stellar, hit by weak consumer demand and a decrease in cell phone subsidies. The industry suffered in Asia/Pacific as well, with China, India, and Indonesia seeing slight declines, though demand for smartphones remained strong.

The brightest spot was in Western Europe, where third-quarter sales of traditional mobile phones and smartphones grew over both the second quarter and the third quarter of 2008.

"Although some regions are still reeling from problems associated with the economic crisis, the third quarter served to cleanse the channel while providing the signs of stability necessary for additional improvement in the fourth quarter," says Will Stofega, research manager of IDC's mobile devices team, in a statement.

IDC also reported on the quarterly activity of key mobile phone makers.

Nokia continued to struggle, hit by a 20 percent decline in sales for the third quarter. As part of one strategy to stem the tide, the company kept busy with several acquisitions, including Dopplr, Cellity, and part of Plum Ventures, a developer of social networks.

Samsung fared considerably better. The company hit a new quarterly record by shipping more than 60 million cell phones in the third quarter, thanks to demand for both touch-screen and QWERTY messaging devices. During the quarter, Samsung grabbed a 21 percent share of the market, said Strategy Analytics.

LG Electronics also hit a new mark, shipping 30 million units for the quarter. But a paucity of smartphones and prepaid handsets kept the company from benefiting from those segments.

Though Motorola slipped in its ranking among cell phone makers, the company trimmed its operating losses through a restructuring program. Shifting its focus away from traditional cell phones to smartphones, Motorola has high hopes for its new Droid phone, due to hit Verizon stores next week.

Strategy Analytics also tracked Apple's stellar third quarter, reporting a solid 7.4 million iPhones sold worldwide and a record 2.5 percent market share.