Late last month, the FCC launched a probe into the current state of the wireless industry. What does this mean for the industry and more important (to me and my Lightyear Team) is what will it mean for Lightyear Wireless?
This will probably good for Lightyear Wireless because the FCC is really looking out for leveling the field here. One of the main things that is driving this inquiry is handset exclusivity agreements. The biggest handset exclusivity agreement of course is the AT&T / Iphone agreement that creates an unfair advantage for AT&T over smaller carriers and even over their peers due to the extreme popularity of the device.
This inquiry will take months and the recommendation or ruling from it might take even longer. But hopefully this will open up the market a bit more so that handset availability will be more open. Lightyear Wireless has a nice selection of handsets but we could always use more. The more options for the customer there are, the better the business will be. For now, Lightyear doesn’t sell the iPhone but sells much more useful phones than the iPhone.
FCC Votes for Wireless Probe
As someone who has a wireless home business, naturally I have been watching the Buzzirk Mobile / GlobalVerge fiasco since about early June. In case you haven’t heard about it, it was a company that was supposed to deliver some new tethering technology that would allow you to use your cell phone as an internet appliance along with your computer. It would have been like a combined cell phone and netbook service all in one. At least that was my understanding.
What happened? It failed to even get off the ground after thousands had signed on. That’s the short story. If you want the blow by blow, check out the Len Clements Podcast page; particularly the podcast dated 8/11/09 which has most of the post mortem information.
This is a perfect example of a network marketing company that created a lot of brief success through buzz. Unfortunately the buzz was not backed up by any actual product; in fact there was ‘buzz’ early on that there were problems with delivering the product and in the end; that turned out to be the case. And the whole thing faded away to gray. This left a lot of burned distributors who were going on nothing but trust.
Folks, if you are going to join a network marketing business, make sure you do your due diligence. If you are unclear on how to select a good network marketing opportunity, check out my free eBook here. I’m not saying some trust isn’t involved, but don’t jump into something based entirely on trust. Otherwise, it may end up being fiction like Buzzirk Mobile.
It’s the attack of the NetBooks! Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of commercials on TV by both AT&T and Verizon for their netbook products. This is an interesting development because it merges the concept of cellular phone plans with a computer and internet access. In Verizon’s case, it uses their own proprietary Mobile Broadband for internet access with a two year plan.
The two year plans are priced by megabytes per month. There are two price levels. 250 Meg for $40 per month and 5 Gigs for $60 per month. It is calculated by combining both upload and download volumes according to the agent I spoke with. That would make the 250 meg per month rather skimpy especially if you are downloading any large files, like photos and videos. Still this is very interesting since it uses a plan with a computer. The concept of Netbooks has been around for a few years now, but now these two companies have put it to use.
Can it replace someone’s internet access completely? Not sure but if you want to see how much you download each month, check your “Temporary Internet Files” in Windows. You might be surprised how much you download without knowing it. Every time you open a previously unvisited web site, it will cache some files. So I can see that 250 meg plan not being good for anyone except a light internet user.
For now, my Lightyear Wireless phone provides my “pocket internet access and I’ll stick with that.
Have you ever had the exasperating experience of not being able to find your charger and then having to order a new one? Or going to nearest Verizon store to find the right one for your phone? Or not being able to lend your friend your charger when she needs to charge her phone? Those days should be coming to an end soon.
Earlier this year, a group of wireless phone manufacturers have agreed to use the same charging port on all their models by 2012. The companies who agreed to this are Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. I don’t know if Apple has agreed to this which might be a strike against the IPhone in an open market. The idea here is that manufacturers can ultimately safe money by shipping mobile phones without a power charger. Since power chargers will be standard, they’ll be a commodity item which you’ll probably be able to get at the corner 7-11. No more worrying about losing your charger!
Prepaid plans were once the ‘dirty distant cousin’ of wireless plans. However, this sector of the wireless industry has taken its rightful place with regular wireless. And it’s gaining ground on the regular wireless. According to this source, prepaid carriers added 2.625 million subscribers in the first quarter making it the surprise banner story of the 1st quarter.
This is cementing my theory that it’s not just people with poor credit who are going after pre-paid wireless plans. People with perfectly normal credit are going after these plans too because everyone is doing what they have to in order to minimize risk. A two year wireless plan for someone who isn’t certain about their ability to pay for the next two years is a risk factor.
Also consider how long two years is in an industry like wireless. So much changes in two years that people don’t want to get ’stuck with something’ for two years. I don’t know if this surge to pre paid wireless will continue, but it’s good to know that Lightyear Wireless is right on top of it. There is a reason they offered this service: people are demanding it.
It’s an easy choice when looking at Cell phone and Notebook computers. One fits in your pocket, the other does not (and ends up getting left at home much of the time). Assuming your cell phone has a data plan, you can get access to the web on your phone. But unless you use one of the smart-phones like the Blackberry World or the LG Rumor, web surfing is difficult at best. Without the full QWERTY keyboards these smart phones provide, texting and typing in URLs or search terms will be cumbersome - very cumbersome!
That’s where netbooks are supposed to come in. They’re supposed to be ultra small computers designed for maximum portability and wireless access and not designed for desktop type applications. In theory, they’re a cross between the highest end smart phone and a notebook computer. However, even the current generation of so called netbooks (aslo called mini notebooks) are still too big to fit in the pocket - even a large pocket. See the Dell Inspiron Mini’s for example.
Still too big to carry with you everywhere! Netbooks offer interesting possilibilies but they will need to get smaller before they can take over that ‘gray area’ between smart phones and full computers.
In the first quarter of 2009, RIM (the makers of the Blackberry) continued to dominate the smart phone market. This is in sprite of Apple’s iPhone. A lot of people just assume that the iPhone is the dominant smart phone, but once again we see that people buy far more Blackberrys than they do iPhone. This is particularly apparent when you consider that the Blackberry World was in 3rd place (behind the iPhone in 2nd and the Curve at the top of the heap).
Now granted, one contributing reason is Apple’s exclusivity issue. So typically Apple, they only sell the iPhone through one carrier: AT&T. That is the same strategy that lost them market share in the personal computer market so many years ago. A share that Apple is desperately trying to recover.
Perhaps this will make Apple reconsider their strategy for this market and realize that it would be best if they allowed other carriers sell the iPhone. Then it truly might dominate the Blackberry. Until then, the Blackberry is still King of the Mountain. Sorry Apple.
BlackBerry outsold iPhone in Q1
Every time I look at the Lightyear Wireless selection of phones, I see ones that I don’t remember seeing before. They just keep adding wireless devices to their product offerings. One of the recent additions is the Motorola Rokr ZM6. Motorola loves to take the vowels out of their name (as in Razr) and use that as a brand. The Rokr as the name implies, is a Rocker.
It has the usual phone features, but the Rokr is built specifically to also act as a music player. You can pay MP3 files (among other file types) with its built in Microsoft Windows Media Player. You might wonder how good a phone can play music, but I heard one of these the other day and was amazed at the quality of sound coming from it. It has a 512 Meg MicroSD card and I believe it has expansion capacity up to 2 gigs. Wow. Well when it’s time for my next phone my biggest problem will be all the choices.
Lightyear Phone Selection
There are rumors floating around that Apple is trying to defend its multi-touch technology as strict proprietary technology. And that they will defend ‘legally’ against anyone who tries to copy the iPhone multi-touch. Multi-touch refers to the ability of a device to recognize a variety of screen contacts (such as gestures and use of multiple fingers). And there are juicy rumors that Apple strong-armed Google into leaving out true multi-touch features on their HTC G1 Android phone. Google complying of course to keep the relationship in tact.
Things might not be so rosy for Palm with its new Pre phone - a phone with full multi-touch technology. It may not be so easy for Apple to defend multi-touch technology as its own since the technology itself dates back to 1982 at the University of Toronto. It may have too many gray areas and may not be defendable as intellectual property. It will be interesting to see if Apple can control this market or will free enterprise once again guide the wireless industry to newer heights?
Source: Information Week
You hear a lot of talk about 3G and now 4G in wireless news stories and among WiFi people. What is that? Well the ‘G’ just refers to ‘generation’. So 4G is the 4th generation of mobile technology. Unlike 3G (the 3rd generation), there is not yet a formal standard for 4G. So as result, some companies are using the term ‘4G’ in their marketing to refer to self-serving definitions. In general, 4G refers to a mobile technology that will more seamlessly handle higher bandwidth usage like streaming video while also providing a more reliable and robust voice service.
One thing about the 4G standard is certain. Mobile providers will have to upgrade their infrastructure before it can officially begin rolling out. Verizon who is the backbone provider for Lightyear Wireless, will be leading the pack as usual. Verizon has announced plans to begin testing their 4G network service this year (dubbed LTE for Long Term Evolution). Then they plan to launch it live in 25 to 30 U.S. markets in 2010. So we can expect even better handsets to come out of this and provide us dazzling and amazing wireless services in the not too distant future!
Verizon expects 4G launch next year
September 25, 2009 7:56 pm | 
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