Telecom Ramblings: Verizon Pairs Up With Redbox for OTT Video

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:05:23 +0000

Verizon (NYSE:VZ, news, filings) is planning to go over the top in a big way with a direct challenge to both Netflix and Amazon. They announced today a partnership with Coinstar’s Redbox aimed at bringing streaming video to consumers. And not just in their own territory but nationwide, which means they’ll be doing it over … [visit site to read more]

Fierce Wireless: Mobile tech plays key role in Super Bowl ads

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:39:34 +0000

Football was the main attraction during yesterday's Super Bowl XLVI, but the commercials in between the plays also captured many viewers' attention. The mobile industry was front-and-center during many of those commercials as it attempted to get some Super Bowl attention with a range of mobile-focused ads and technologies. It's no real surprise that advertisers are keen to tap into users' mobile interests; nearly 40 percent of respondents used mobile devices in response to TV ads during the game, according to mobile ad network provider InMobi, and 45 percent estimated that they would spend 30 minutes or more on their mobile devices during the game.

Click here to watch the Best Buy ad and other mobile-focused Super Bowl ads.

Fierce Wireless: Portable gaming: Is mobile the future?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:22:25 +0000

The gaming industry has gone through a rapid transformation in the past three years. With the smartphone penetration rate climbing, users are increasingly turning to mobile apps to get their gaming fix instead of portable gaming titles for the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP. The Nintendo and Sony franchises are clearly popular in their own right, but their overall market share in the portable gaming market is shrinking. Both companies design consoles as well as games, and have thus far avoided moving into the mobile space. Will Nintendo and Sony be able to ignore the mobile market forever? Should they even worry? Special feature

Fierce Wireless: Report: Cox to slash 100 jobs when it shutters wireless service in March

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:17:18 +0000

Cox Communications will cut more than 100 jobs when it finally closes down its wireless business next month, according to a report in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The report, which cited an unnamed source, said that engineers, product development managers and infrastructure designers will be affected by the job cuts. Cox said Kelly Williams, who has headed the company's wireless unit since Stephen Bye left to become CTO of Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) in 2011, will remain with Cox's product strategy business.

Cox spokesman Todd Smith declined to comment on the specific number of job cuts, but did confirm that some are coming. "As previously announced, our wireless strategy has changed and we must adjust our workforce to align with our new strategy," he told FierceWireless. "Our employees have done everything we have asked and for that we are thankful. We are extremely focused on making this transition as easy as possible on our employees."

In mid-November Cox stopped selling wireless service to new customers and said that it would shut off all wireless service by March 30. The decision came after Cox abandoned plans to build its own wireless network; the company has been operating as an MVNO of Sprint since November 2010 and launched wireless service in less than 50 percent of its total footprint.

Fierce Wireless: iPhone commands 75% of handset industry profits; Simplexity inks CDMA, WiMAX deal with Sprint

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:11:45 +0000

Quick news from around the Web.

@FierceWireless: BTIG's Walter Piecyk: Pre-paid iPhone Could Disrupt the Wireless Market: Post (reg. req.) | Follow@FierceWireless

> A Windows Phone developer left the company to work on Amazon's Kindle team. Article

> Motorola Mobility warned that some of its refurbished Xoom tablets contained information from the previous owner. Article

> Ericsson's CEO said job cuts may be in the manufacturer's future. Article

> Simplexity MVNO Services, a mobile virtual network enabler, announced it will use the Sprint nationwide wireless network to offer third-party branded voice and data services. The deal covers CDMA and WiMAX. Release

Fierce Wireless: Falcone's Harbinger Capital loses 47% of value due to LightSquared writedown

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:03:16 +0000

Harbinger Capital Partners, the hedge fund that backs wholesale LTE provider LightSquared, reported a 47 percent drop in its biggest fund, thanks in large part to a writedown in the company's investment in LightSquared. LightSquared is still working to secure approval from regulators to launch its terrestrial service, which has been mired in concerns that its network interferes with GPS receivers.

According to multiple reports, the losses in 2011 caused Philip Falcone's Harbinger to see its assets drop to $4 billion at the end of 2011, from a high of $26 billion in 2008. Harbinger has invested $3 billion in LightSquared, and Harbinger cut the value of its investment in LightSquared by nearly 60 percent.

"The decline was primarily due to a conservative adjustment in the Fund's holdings of LightSquared, to be consistent with the results of work done by the Fund's third party valuation firm," Harbinger spokesman Lew Phelps said in a statement released to news outlets Friday. "The valuation takes into account uncertainty about the outcome of political issues related to alleged interference with the GPS system by LightSquared transmitters," Phelps added.

Fierce Wireless: HTC posts weak Q4 results, warns sales could fall 36% in Q1

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:48:18 +0000

As expected, HTC reported a 26 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit, but the Taiwanese smartphone maker also forecast a tough first quarter as it undergoes a "product transition" and warned that its first-quarter revenue could fall as much as 36 percent from the fourth quarter.

HTC reported net profit in the quarter of around $369 million, as was expected after the company released unaudited results for the fourth quarter in January. The company's 26 percent drop in quarterly profit was its first profit drop in two years. Revenue for the quarter clocked in at $3.42 billion, down 2.5 percent from the year-ago period. For the first time, HTC did not provide shipment volumes for the quarter, nor did it provide a shipment forecast.

However, it was HTC's weaker forecast for the first quarter that has analysts and investors worried. The company said that it expects revenue to be between $2.2 billion and $2.36 billion for the quarter, weaker than analysts' expectations of $2.86 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Fierce Wireless: Nokia, NSN deny rumors that CEO Suri will be replaced

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:18:17 +0000

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and Nokia Siemens Networks denied a report that Siemens is actively seeking to replace Nokia Siemens CEO Rejeev Suri, who is leading the infrastructure vendor through a massive reorganization.

Suri

While a Nokia spokeswoman declined to comment, Reuters reported that Nokia called reports about Suri's exit "complete rubbish." Further, Nokia Siemens spokesman Ben Roome confirmed that Jesper Ovesen, the executive chairman of Nokia Siemens, said that the NSN board "has full confidence" in Suri.

On Friday Reuters reported that Sibylle Wankel, a Siemens supervisory board member, said that Siemens CFO Joe Kaeser has been looking around for a replacement to Suri. Wankel represents the IG metall trade union, which protested outside of NSN's Munich offices last week.

Telecom Ramblings: Consolidated To Buy SureWest

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:45:22 +0000

Hybrid RLEC/CLEC Consolidated Communications (NASDAQ:CNSL, news, filings) said today that it is making a major M&A move by purchasing SureWest Communications (NASDAQ:SURW, news, filings). SureWest operates last mile networks for both residential and business customers in Kansas City and Sacramento, while Consolidated Communications operates in … [visit site to read more]

Telecom Ramblings: Earnings Preview: Level 3′s Complicated Q4

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:44:32 +0000

As longtime readers know, I have spent some effort over the years modeling the results of Level 3 Communications (NYSE:LVLT, news, filings), but haven’t tried to quantify much on the subject since the Global Crossing deal was concluded. The company reports its Q4 results on Wednesday morning, and there are so many moving parts that it is hard to predict just what they will say. But many eyes will be on the company this week, so I’ll give it a go anyway. … [visit site to read more]

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