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The Wireless Outpost Newsletter Issue #15 Vol. 4
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Another issue of the Wireless Outpost Newsletter. This newsletter
is for the soon to be educated cellular phone user community. If you know of
anyone else that may have an interest in our newsletter, make sure to forward
them a copy. Now we move forward at Mach II speed!
[Note: This newsletter is delivered Bi Weekly on Wednesday.]
INTERNATIONAL INQUIRY FROM AFRICA RESORTS TO NIGERIAN BANK SCAM
It had to happen sometime. As we mentioned in our last newsletter, we have started offering international shipping on bulk orders for cellular phones used in other countries outside the US. Actually, we have been but we just finally announced it here. So we recently received an inquiry from some trading company in east Africa. Let me fill you in so this will make sense.
First, we get this inquiry out of nowhere. No real contact info, they are using an anonymous email address, etc. Said they were going to deposit money into our international bank account. They didn't have our bank account info, never asked for any quotes, etc. Finally, they come back with a request to quote out about several million dollars worth of cellular phones.
Yeah right. So you never know. We send out a bogus quote. Then they come back wanting free samples. Red flag time. They want FREE samples again. We all sat around snickering over that one. Their request for free samples was declined so they come back and said if we want their business, WE HAD BETTER send them the free samples.
Well, demands like that are so well received here, we told them that they will get their free samples when they pay for them upfront and their government sends them a rebate check for their purchase. I mean for seven million dollars, we were most eager to comply with their demand. They responded with some other nonsense and we told them to get lost and find somebody else to bother. We weren't biting and if they were legitimate, then we would lose out. An acceptable risk as far as we were concerned.
This is the response they sent back to us. Quoted directly from their email.
I THANK YOU FOR YOUR LAST LETTER.
MY FRIEND THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA TRANSFER AMOUNT
OF 1.2 US BILLION DOLLARS INTO MY ACCOUNT LAST WEEK AND I WANT TO BLOCK THIS
MONEY.PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN ALLOW ME TO TRANFER THIS AMOUNT INTO
YOUR ACCOUNT.
BEST REGARDS
CHIEF OSONDU OLU OKEKE
Yeah baby! Busted big time! They continuously asked us for our bank account info so they could wire transfer money into our corporate accounts. The request was repeatedly declined until they could prove that they had the finances to make a purchase for seven million dollars. Now we know why they were asking. They were trying to pull that stupid scam with my friend, cousin, brother in Nigeria, South Africa, or somewhere over there ran off with 1.2 billion dollars and I want to send it to you even though I don't know you.
With that kind money they could have bought out the country's entire internet backbone and still had plenty left over. Yet they were so wealthy over there that they used a Yahoo email address. Hmmm.... Okay Mr. Chief, you sure did impress us with your title, demand, and response.
Should I fall to my knees and kiss your boots now? What they didn't know was that we had the same request three times from different areas of Africa in the same week. Another was writing to us from France for a shipment to Africa. We blew the first three off so we just had to follow through with this one to see what exactly they were up to. It didn't take long to find out. So there you have it. A new twist to the Nigerian billion dollar bank transfer scam. Don't these people ever give up?
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES JUST OBSERVING OTHER CELL PHONE USERS
I am usually a fairly tolerant person. But even I can only take so much. It all began when I hopped the train to Penn Station in New York City. All these phones bleeping and bleeping. At some point, it got my attention so I put down my book and just started to casually observe everyone with their cell phones. I wasn't eavesdropping but they didn't have to talk in public either.
The guy sitting in front of me was a businessman. His phone went off about every 10 minutes. Mostly shop talk, a quick call to the significant other, and a quick sales call. He must have got shot down because he waited, stared out the window for about ten minutes and then picked up his phone again. I assume he was checking messages because he wasn't saying anything and he kept pressing buttons.
Another cell phone starts ringing real loud with some annoying tune. Answer that phone!!!! I kept thinking to myself. "Yeah, that is so phat! I think we will be arriving in another hour and a half." About 15 minutes passes and his phone rings again. "Hey, whaz sup? About another hour and 15 minutes and I should be there." I can't help but thinking, what the devil is that call all about that he has to report in every 15 minutes? I know parolee, that must be it. A jealous girlfriend? I don't really care.
I get bored with listening to these conversations about business and their personal lives. Back to my book I go. Still quite a ride ahead of me and thanks to that guy, I know I still have an hour and 15 minutes to go. Good time to catch up on my reading and ignore everybody. We pull into the next station. I am sitting there minding my own business and some
woman sits next to me talking on her cell phone.
By this time, I am trying really really hard to read my book and not listen in on her conversation. She finishes her conversation and not even two minutes later she is dialing her phone. Starts asking somebody how they are doing. More uninteresting personal stuff. She hangs up. Her phone rings and back we go to the mundane conversation. Now I am in my groove and I finally get to a point that I can almost ignore her.
Some time passes. On and off that phone this woman is dialing and talking to just about everybody in the country asking how they are doing. I am about to toss her a phone book in case she runs out of people to call. I finally look at my watch and realized that I have had to listen to her conversations for nearly an hour. I couldn't take it anymore. I finally just said what I was thinking.
"Look. I am really not that interested in your personal affairs and I am not impressed that you have a cell phone. You have been on that phone for nearly an hour. I didn't ask you to sit here and invade my personal space with your phone conversations. It is time to put it away so I can have a little peace and quiet to read my book." To my surprise, there was a wave of applause from the people in my cab of the train. The other commuters must have been just as tired of it.
She put it away looking kind of miffed. I actually got in about 20 minutes of reading too. But no sooner had she stepped off the train at the next station and that phone was right back on her ear. It was still glued there when she boarded the train on the next platform. I would bet that she has a platinum account with her wireless carrier as much as she talked.
I can take the moral high ground on that one because I don't even use a cell phone. If I had one, I would conveniently forget where I put it anyway. I don't want an electronic leash stuck on my ear. I just want to read my books when I can scrape in a few spare minutes to chew on a chapter when I can. The next time, I am going to claim that radio waves from cell phones cause me to have seizures. Maybe I will be able to catch up on my reading then.
HOP ON WIRELESS AND THEIR SUPER WEAK PRESS RELEASE
Hop On Wireless is doing their best to get mentioned in the media. Their latest attempt was so weak that it didn't even get any notice by anyone but us. Of course, we have to write about it because it is one of those hardy har har press releases. Hold on to your shorts because this one is going to have
you scratching your heads.
They sent out a press release that they were extending their product lines! Yes they are. They are going to offer headsets to the general public for half the cost of retail units. They will only cost $15 to $25 each and they normally retail for about $30 to $50 each. Wow! That is so noteworthy that I am just dying with excitement over here.
Oh yeah, the headsets also reduce radiation exposure because they keep the cord away from the user's ear. If you want to buy one, all you have to do is stop by their headquarters to buy one. Run! You gotta have it. It is better than sliced bread. Even retailers can buy them! Wow again.
From reading their press release, it looks like they are going to try and become a distributor of cell phone accessories now. I think we are about to see a digression from that elusive disposable cellular phone. Not surprising as the CEO has a history of morphing the company into different ventures when the previous one seems to be quickly cooling.
They still haven't done their homework though. They are soon going to find themselves in shock when they learn that they are just another clone of so many other companies out there who are trying to do the same thing in a very competitive market. Roll out some more new accessory products. I just can't wait to hear about them. They will figure it out sooner or later.
Let me think here, I believe they will lose interest in that after a while when they realize it isn't going to work and move into an SMS messaging answering service or developing text software games for pagers. They have really been active lately in issuing press releases. I hope they aren't trying to figure out why their stock remains in a penny status. Even the appearance on CNN did little if not nothing to boost the stock price. I would have to think that time is starting to run out.
XARA ONLINE COMES OUT WITH AN INTERESTING SMS WEB APPLICATION
Xara Online has taken web development and SMS messaging to new heights. Quite an ingenious application too. Talk about KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid, they have done that. Europe is heavily populated with SMS users and that trend is about to hit the US in force. Believe me, it is one of those applications where you are going to say, why didn't I think of that first.
They have designed an application that you can place on your website with a small amount of code that will allow the website owner to send SMS messages to cell phones regardless of their location. To send an SMS message to a cellular phone, you have only to remotely access your website and enter the message to be sent. It will be delivered in real time via the SMS service.
The explanation they give on their website as to its uses state that you can send messages to your sales executives, send product launch updates to customers, or just use it for personal reasons. The service appears to be quite affordable too. You pay a monthly fee of around $4.95 and you can buy a bank of SMS messages ranging from $15 to $90 depending on how many you think you may need to send.
The $90 will buy you 1000 messages. They are currently running a promotional offer that gives you 30 free messages with your initial purchase. When you need to buy more credits for SMS messages, you simply send them an email and they debit your account and off you go. It looks like it is a very user friendly application. Shouldn't take but a few minutes to
set up. They even offer a free trial before you buy.
You might want to take a moment to investigate their website and the other services they offer. They have what the non-technical types like you and I would probably like to have. Small businesses might be interested in checking them out too if you have an online presence. If you would like to see how others have utilized their applications, make it a point to look at the case studies that they have available.
The diversity of applications that they have implemented is quite impressive. You can click on links directly to the websites who have used the Xara Online software and download case studies for review and analysis. Below the link for a case study download, they provide a link for you to obtain further information on the specific application that was used for that particular website.
If you are in a hurry and just cannot wait, you can take advantage of their free trial by clicking on the link below. They have a short form that you need to fill out. The link for the
free trial is located
here.
These applications have to be one of the best kept secrets in the industry. We are going to take a closer look at what they have to offer and seriously consider using some of their applications on our website too. A brief review of their website was fairly screaming that these were "must have" services for any company with a website. Do yourself a favor and drop on in and take a look at what they have to offer. I am confident that you aren't going to be disappointed.
NEW ZEALAND & US RECREATIONAL BOATERS CAN GET A NEW KIND OF TRIP
Being a former US Navy man and Shellback who has been blessed by the Golden Dragon myself and now living on the New Jersey coast, this is a unique service that caught my attention. A company called TerreSphere Communications, Ltd., will being offering a low cost service for recreational boaters in New Zealand called MariCell.
Basically, the service will allow for boaters to send in a report trip so that if they are overdue to be coming in then the New Zealand Coast Guard will be alerted that they are overdue and begin a search for them. The local wireless operators have subsidized the service so there are no monthly subscriptions fees. This allows the user to pay as they use the service.
The information can be transmitted via cell phones with SMS or GPS capabilities. They are currently honing the service so that WAP phones will also be able to utilize the service. The GPS capability also allows you to transmit your current location when submitting the trip report so that the Coast Guard has a point of reference to use when the information has been reported.
Another advantage to this type of service is that you will not have to transmit your intention over open airwaves. Perfect for shrimp boat owners, law enforcement, and recreational boaters. Use of the service should be fairly easy. First, you have to register and provide all the vital information to the service provider. After that you submit characters that relay pertinent information as to your intentions.
There is definitely an unlimited potential to this kind of service when you consider just how much many coast lines there are in the world. If you are a wireless operator that covers the coastline, you may want to consider looking into this company and the services they provide. You can visit their website for further contact information at
www.terresphere.com which lists offices both in the US and New Zealand.
ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY OFFER NEW SILICON CAPACITOR
Once again, further improvements to wireless technologies allow for manufacturers to continue to build even smaller cellular phones. If not smaller, they will allow for more room to add new and interesting gadgets to be built right into our cell phones. The Silicon capacitor is the next one on the list. Why? Because it can shrink the boards used in cell phones by 45%.
The silicon capacitor is the first of its kind to be developed by a company called Vishay Intertechnology, Inc., trading on the NYSE under the stock symbol: VSH. The performance specifications for the silicon capacitor indicates that quality will not be an issue although the boards can now be designed to be smaller.
The capacitors can be used in wireless phones, GPS devices, and cordless phones. Smaller batteries for these phones shouldn't cause too much of
a problem as the unit will also help in the boosting of electrical performance. We would anticipate that manufacturers will
convert to these new capacitors in the near future because they will help to enhance the cosmetic appeal of telecom handsets.
This innovation is just another peek through the window for the future of wireless devices. It shouldn't take much longer before I will get one of my cellular phone pens that I have been dreaming about. These types of breakthroughs are coming out faster and faster with each coming year. You don't need a crystal ball to see that changes are coming in the wireless world.
For more information on the company or on this specific unit, please visit their website at the following location:
Tech junkies and those who are intimately involved with the electronic design of telecom handsets should find it to be interesting enough. The briefing they have provided includes the how, why, and what type of information should you be interested in the scientific details.
CELL PHONES COMING OUT FROM THE MANUFACTURERS & MMS HYPE
Cell phone manufacturers appear to be in fierce competition with one another to roll out the most phones the fastest. So we thought we have better provide another running update to help keep you in the loop. Sometimes it is easier to see as much as possible in one shot so you can get a better feel for it. So here is the latest scoop.
The Siemens 3118 GSM mobile phone. It will be targeted to the low and mid income groups. The phone will have GPRS, Java K, and WAP capabilities. The Java K will allow for up to 20 games to be downloaded but the phone will only store 3 games at a time. It will also allow the user to add a graphic to identify the inbound calling party. It looks kind of like a flattened egg with buttons?
Nokia is rolling out the 3650 and 3510i. With the Nokia 3650 being manufactured for the US market. The Nokia 3510i will be introduced to European and African markets by the 4th quarter. The Nokia 3650 won't be available until sometime next year but it will have some decent features. The cell phone includes a large display screen, downloadable games and ringtones, built in camera, and camcorder capabilities for short videos. It has a weird design so you would
want to see it.
Samsung will be rolling out their new SPH-1700 CDMA which will use Microsoft software as the platform for their smartphone. The phone is going to be offered by Sprint PCS. SK Telecom is rolling out the "Pose", a mini portable computer with a built in cell phone also using the Microsoft smartphone platform. They will also be looking at rolling out a PDA cell phone hybrid.
Boost Mobile, backed by Nextel Communications is rolling out a number of Motorola IDEN cell phones. Including the Motorola IDEN i95cl, i50sx, and the i60c as well as three versions of the i55sr models. These phones also use Java for the game applications that will be available to users.
Stepping back a minute, the Nokia 3650 is expected to be a low end phone with MMS capabilities. Nokia expects to roll out another ten phones this year. Now you know why we didn't bother to go into detail on the descriptions of all these phones. It would have been pages and pages of content. You are better off visiting their websites for full information. We could easily miss something.
Speaking of MMS or MultiMedia Messaging Services. A recent study states that MMS hype is likely to follow the path of WAP phone hype. In other words, don't believe the hype or you may be sorry. It is expected that MMS can replace a maximum of 10% of SMS service users. Part of the reason is that the MMS service will not be financially feasible for the youth market who uses a majority of the SMS services in Europe. Next reason and probably the biggest, not enough interest by consumers in MMS service.
The real problem is that the manufacturers and carriers start falling for their own hype. Kind of sounds like the Politicians. The flaw in that is they forgot to check with the people who would use it to see if they would be interested. So much wasted time, so much wasted money. For politicians so many wasted re-election votes.
Rumor has it that there is definite talk about Cingular and T Mobile USA merging. If that were to happen, we would have two behemoth wireless carriers with Cingular and Verizon sitting at the top of the stack. It could happen as early as next month too.
More on that as the details develop. This is only a special announcement.
MOTOROLA GOING EBAY FOR PROMOTION OF CELLULAR PHONES
I would have to say that this is a unique marketing approach by Motorola. Using Ebay to sell off their phones? They did a test back in July to sell 100 phones as a bulk lot that the highest bidder could then design the phones to their own specifications. We are sure how well it went but here are the details to their marketing approach.
They put these phones up for auction and the winner was going to be allowed to change parts that are not normally allowed. For example, they would be able to remove the Motorola logo and put in a ten character phrase of their own. They would have been allowed to change the color and pattern of the badge portion of the phones too.
To enter into the auction, you would have had to have some cash because these were Motorola V60 phones with the minimum bid price set at $380 per phone or $38,000 dollars on the lot. It has been a while since we heard anything on it and we waited to see what the results may have been before we decided to post an article on it.
None of the other carriers seemed willing to enter into such a marketing approach as many felt that it would not be a financially viable way to produce cellular phones in such small quantities. Motorola did the test with selling on Ebay just to see what would happen and to see if
this might present a viable option.
We fouled up on our end and didn't get in there in time to see if there were any takers. We haven't heard of any at this time. Had something like that proven to have had some interest, the chances are very likely that these types of auctions would have been geared to the higher income bidders who would have been willing to pay more money for a unique product.
They chose the right phone to auction too as the Motorola V60 phone has been quite a hot seller as of late. You can't blame them for trying something different. The market for cellular phones being purchased from carriers in the US is starting to slump pretty good and now is the time to find out how they can boost sales and revenue.
ELECTRONICS IN GENERAL CAUSING DRIVER DISTRACTIONS
A new study indicates that cellular phone use has been unfairly targeted by politicians as a driver distraction. Cellular phones are not the only electronic devices which are causing distractions that lead to accidents. Welcome to the 21st Century and the electronics that we use in our vehicles because of a faster pace of living.
The home and the office are demanding more and more of our time. To compensate we have began to fill our vehicles where we spend a good portion of our days with electronics to entertain and/or to assist us in our productivity while sitting in a traffic jam or during the long commute to the office.
People are now adding VCRs, DVDs, fax machines, TVs, navigation systems, Radio CD players, and laptops to the various electronics that are becoming staple fixtures in their vehicles. All of them are far worse distractions than cellular phones, yet politicians seem to think that cell phone bans are going to fix the problem of driver distraction.
We got news for the politicians. It ain't happening. Ban cell phones all you like and you still won't see a reduction in driver distraction related accidents. Truck drivers have to hold cell phones to their ears while taking assignments on their laptops and drive a huge rig on top of all of that. Cell phone bans introduced by politicians have been vigorously fought and defeated as being unreasonable and off target.
So what is more distracting, reading and sending an email or talking on a cell phone. Watching TV or talking on a cell phone. Common sense will give you that answer free of charge. Law enforcement seems to be more bothered by the laptops and TVs being installed in vehicles as a potential distraction hazard.
Electronics in general would therefore be expected to cause far more accidents than eating, drinking, smoking, or pets. Personally, I think there are multiple solutions to the problem and I don't trust the politicians to be smart enough to take the time to do their homework to find out what they may be.
Sure we could do it but we don't have unlimited government resources or the political sway to get things done as say a Congressman or Senator might have. But the real root of the problem is real simple. Americans are expected to do more in less time by their employers and families. Not blaming the employers either because it is a fact of life. It is a fact of the American culture.
The politicians try to bundle it up in a nice and neat little package. I think that is what irritates me the most. When in reality it is a very complex issue and it doesn't not have a simple cure all solution. Am I to believe that they are really that blind to reality and consider the American public to be that stupid? I can't wait for the November elections to see how many of these idiots get rolled out of office. Hopefully not as many will make it into office.
ANOTHER STUDY SAYS ANALOG PHONES MIGHT CAUSE BRAIN TUMORS
Here we are again, and once more we must side step saying one way or the other if cellular phones may cause cancer. However, we will reiterate that none of these studies have ever said that cellular phone use causes cancer. They all state that it might cause cancer. So far no proof has been provided that would have offered anything definitive. Here is what the latest study had to say.
A group of Swedish scientists conducted a survey of around 1600 patients diagnosed with brain tumors. Their survey suggests that people using early generation analog phones had a 30% more likely chance of developing brain tumors. If you used that same phone for 10 years plus then your chances of developing a brain tumor increased to 80%.
It appears as if they did some kind of survey and then analyzed the results of the collected data to come up with these results. Digital phones and cordless phones were said to not have showed any increased risk overall in a five year latency period. The FDA and the CTIA have not used these survey results to validate any information on their current research project which is still in progress and will probably use a more detailed research approach.
My question would be why aren't any of these studies going back as far as WWII, Korea, or Vietnam to make a comparison with field radio operators as the subjects for their studies. So far, none of the studies have been able to produce a direct link of cellular phone use to cancer. Rather they are all re-hashing the findings by 20/20's made up experiment where they used an early generation analog phone to increase the RF transmission to
its highest output.
This study is going to be used by the Federal District Judge in Baltimore to make a ruling on the cell phone cancer case before proceeding with the case. We were hoping for something a little more scientific rather than a survey analysis. Academics is fine but that is all it is. Academic. Without some good old-fashioned scientific results, I am not going to be as easily convinced.
In another 20 years, I will know if there is really a link to cell phone use and cancer. I don't use a cell phone as a tether but we keep one available in the car for emergencies and to see if we need something or to get directions if we are lost. It is an analog phone too. Why not, it gets the best coverage and we can get a signal.
Until I can see something definite in these studies as to why I can't use an analog phone, then as far as I am concerned, they can take these ridiculous studies and shove them until they choke. This has been going on for how long now and nobody has yet to come out with a true technically oriented
scientific study? Hmmm.
Doing a study based on the survey is probably the fastest way to get your name published in a scientific journal as being the author of some form of study. Looks real good on a resume too. Not saying that you shouldn't heed the warning of a possible link either. I am saying that I am not going to heed it because I haven't been given any reason to do so.
It has been proven that cell phone batteries, cigarettes, and other products contain carcinogens that can kill me. So I no longer tear open batteries to inspect their guts and I finally curbed my addiction to eating paint chips containing lead. I have multiple undisputed scientific tests that I can reference in detail that tells me why I must change my behavior. I haven't seen anything of the sort with these supposed studies on cellular phone cancer links.
Do these Yahoos actually get paid for this stuff? I am going to bet that the defending attorney is going to challenge the validity of this study. I know I would.
Here is comes! Politicians are going to be allowed to spam your SMS enabled cell phones. The Federal
Elections Commission has allowed for the standard disclosure rules to be removed since a New Jersey technology company petitioned that the disclosure rules would require too much text ad space to be used. The FEC agreed and granted the petition.
Here is the hilarious piece of that. Only one-third of the 131 million cell phone users actually have SMS enabled cellular phones. Out of that only 4.5 million people actually use the service. Whereas in Europe, about 175
million people actually use SMS. Why everyone is so keen on spamming SMS right now is unknown.
These ads will probably follow those that you have already been getting for the promotion of a new movie or something. So they probably won't cost you anything other than the time it takes to scroll through them and delete them. Get enough of them in there and you will be deleting as much spam off your cell phone as you are your email box.
Some politicians are dying to use it and others are being advised against it. Of course the CTIA and the advertising industry are all for it. They hope that they can attach their messages to the end of news alerts, stock quotes, and sports scores that people have opted in to receive. In other words, the more alerts you opt to receive, the more spam you can expect to be attached.
It is very likely that it will be reversed to where you must read the spam message first before you can view the actual content that you were hoping to see in exchange for credits on your account. Like I said, politicians aren't always the smartest people. So they are not quite sure how the SMS works and this kind of service is being hyped up to them as the next best thing by the SMS spam providers.
The other thing you should be wary of is the smear campaigns or special interest groups asking for you to vote for this bill or that bill which are going to come across your SMS enabled cell phones. The messages will not contain who is paying for the ad. It was suggested that those who pay for these campaigns include a toll free number or website for people to check into them to see what they are all about and why they sent the ad.
The FEC comment was that if they made a mistake then they will fix it later. They will fix it later? That was the comment of Vice Chairman Karl Sandstrom. So if this does get out of hand, you will now know who you can blame for any travesties that may occur with your receiving political SMS messages from special interest groups.
Is this what they call letting the good times roll? Don't forget. It is your civic duty to get out there and vote. If you don't vote then you shouldn't be complaining about which politician did or didn't do this and that. You had a chance to make a difference and if it didn't go in your favor then at least you gave it a shot. You can't ask for anymore than that.
CINGULAR GETS SUED BY DEALERS ON CHARGES THAT WILL LIFT AN EYEBROW
It doesn't look like Cingular has the same affinity for their agents and dealers as say Sprint PCS. One of their dealers
has sued them for a number of charges. Some of the questions being asked of other dealers and former Cingular employees will raise an eyebrow or two. We would hope that Cingular wasn't pulling these practices on their dealers and agents.
We took a look at the Cingular Dealer's website which is soliciting other Cingular dealers and employees to submit information in the lawsuit against Cingular. If what is being presented here is true, Cingular has probably put themselves in a poor position to be trusted by wireless retailers.
Here are just some of the questions being asked of visitors to the website. You may find them to be as are very intriguing and disquieting as we did.
Do you have knowledge of the telesales department or any Cingular internal distribution channels intentionally soliciting customers from dealers' customer base to buy direct ?
Do you have knowledge of any internal company distribution team which was offering service pricing and equipment prices which was not offered
through dealer distribution?
Do you have any knowledge of dealers' residuals intentionally being purged?
Do you have knowledge of Cingular providing marketing development funds or other funds being paid out solely to favored dealers?
Do you have knowledge of Cingular wireless changing residual reports and eliminating certain description information for those reports?
Did Cingular open a company distribution outlet within 3 miles of any of your locations?
Were customers your dealership signed up solicited to upgrade their equipment
through Cingular's own internal team with greater incentives than you could offer and was your residual taken away?
The above were some of the questions in their questionnaires for visitors. The complaint filed against Cingular alleges deceptive business practices, unfair competition, customer theft, fraud, coercion, intimidation, and misrepresentation. The plaintiff is filing for $25 million dollars in damages and is requesting to be released out of their Cingular dealer contract to sign up with another wireless service provider.
If you want to visit their website to view all the questions being asked of other Cingular dealers and former employees, you can visit their website here:
http://www.cellulardealerlawsuit.com
Based on what we saw, there looked to be a little bait and switch going on at the expense of the Cingular Wireless Dealer and Agent. They had better get their PR firm on the horn to do some damage control pretty quick. The reason why we are brave enough to print this kind of information is because we can. That and we have a few aces up our sleeves.
STUDY COMES OUT TO SUPPORT OUR THEORY ON NUMBER PORTABILITY
The Carriers and the CTIA are in direct opposition of Consumer Groups and regulators when it comes to the implementation of Local Number Portability (LNP). The looked at Australia as an example of what they could expect if LNP was to be implemented. It has more to do with fear than it does with money though the money is what carriers claim is an issue. This is what they fear.
In Australia, LNP has already been implemented. The churn rates of subscribers increased by 25 to 50% higher than normal. Another company here in the US did a survey on business wireless users. Keep in mind that these results reflect only businesses and do not include consumers. It is a given that consumer churn is going to skyrocket.
Six percent said they would likely switch carriers in the next twelve months even without LNP. Nearly 37% said they might change in the next twelve months. When the survey asked if their degree of interest in switching carriers if they could keep the same phone number, the results skyrocketed with 52% of business users stating they would probably switch wireless service providers.
So implementing LNP as a whole might cost the industry a billion dollars. Sounds like a lot of money. But in the whole scheme of things especially as an industry, it is only a drop in the bucket. The carriers are saying they need this money to improve network buildouts which have slowed substantially and to develop new advanced services (which nobody is buying).
The truth of it is yes, churn will increase and then it will find a stable balance once everyone gets adjusted. But that isn't the only concern that carriers have with LNP. It is going to be much easier to lose customers to as well as steal customers from competitors. That will result in a needing a larger budget toward marketing costs which drives down profit for the carriers.
The added competition should also result in wireless carriers working harder to improve coverage along with customer service, and providing other incentives to win to retain wireless customers. That sounds pretty good to me and I am sure it must sound pretty good to most of you too. In exchange, expect to see higher penalties for canceling service and longer service contracts.
I also know we have a number of wireless carrier employees who read our publication. The stuff we write here is not intended as a dig on you personally. We also appreciate the fact that this kind of thing may be a sensitive subject for you but as a publication, it is our civic duty to call it as we see it.
RETAILERS HAVE AN EASIER PATH TO OFFERING PREPAID WIRELESS SERVICES
If you have been considering offering prepaid cellular services to your retail customers, you may want to look into the services provided by Q Comm International Inc. (OTCBB: QCCM) as a potential vendor. A visit to their website will also offer you the opportunity to obtain a free report on the prepaid wireless industry if you need additional information before you decide if it is for you and your company.
They provide prepaid wireless services through Verizon Wireless, Cingular, AT&T, and a variety of regional carriers as well. The Point of Sale (POS) terminal called the Qxpress 200 will allow the retail owner to curb learning curves because there is no airtime card inventory to handle. Reports are generated directly from the system for your review and analysis so you always have an accurate picture of how well you are thriving on prepaid cellular service.
Another advantage to this type of service is that you as the retailer pay for "inventory" as it is used and there is no startup fee for setting up the POS terminal. The company also offers other services besides prepaid wireless service which includes prepaid telecom cards and prepaid local dial tone services. All of them are services that will drive up foot traffic to your retail unit(s).
Paul C. Hickey, CEO of Q Comm International has a background in building and operating an IVR service bureau. A background any company would need to have in order to fully comprehend the technical scope of prepaid services provided through an electronic means. Our research into the company indicates a well financed positive growth due
to an aggressive growth plan.
Independent retail chains may find this to be a viable option for offering prepaid cellular services rather than going directly to the carriers because Q
Comm can offer a variety of prepaid services from one source. The company has recently launched prepaid credit cards and they can assist the retailer with using the POS system for other services or products they may already provide to their customers. One example would be prepaid gasoline which could be marketed to the parents of teenagers.
The Qxpress 200 can be used in nearly any country and it supports of a host of languages and currency requirements. The device will also support multiple suppliers, products, and denominations for prepaid services. Cellular phones for their prepaid wireless services are available through the company. If you would like to learn more about the services they offer, you can visit them at the following URL.
http://www.qcomm.com/
EDITORIAL COMMENTS, DEFINITIONS, AND AN ADVANCE NOTICE TO OUR READERS
Has anyone really read the Patriot Act which followed the 9/11 event? Some of the basic rights we have given up for security made me instantly think of Stalin's State of Communism. Talk about carte blanche authority for government agencies. Don't get me wrong, I believe in nailing terrorists too, but I don't like the idea of these kinds of laws being applied to Americans. Here is just some of what we gave up.
Client Attorney privilege. The government can monitor any conversation. A speedy trial. The government can hold you indefinitely without any reason and they don't have to charge you with anything or take you to court. You can be denied an attorney or the right to face your accusers and material witnesses. They can do a search and seizure simply out of suspicion. Next, the government is encouraging
bureaucrats not to comply with the freedom of information act. Last. Librarians are under a blanket gag order that they cannot mention if the government has been in to pick up reference materials in relation to an investigation or they will suffer the above.
Can you imagine how broadly that can be applied here in the US by the government?
Any one of us could be subjected to these laws outlined under the Patriot Act simply out of suspicion. Real criminals are the ones who should be worried most. When they disappear, who is going to miss them? As far as I am concerned, that is domestic terrorism so lock them up straight away.
If you read the article on the recreational boaters and don't know what it means to be a Shellback or to be blessed by the Golden Dragon, allow me to tell you now. There is an initiation in the US Navy that when you cross the equator on a Navy ship which transforms you from being an inexperienced and useless
Pollywog to a respected and salty Shellback. The initiation?
Well, I can't really tell you about that. But you have to have a strong stomach, plenty of determination, and an iron will. It goes on for a full day too. It is not for
wimps, I can tell you that. When I was woken up at 2 AM to begin initiation, the first words out of my mouth was that I was going to be a Shellback! Ugh. Then I stole the Jolly Roger flag too. (The Skull & Crossbones used by Pirates.)
I paid dearly for the theft and I refused to release my claim on it. Frat house initiations couldn't even come close to this kind of ceremony. I was tossed in the ship's brig with several shellbacks and my initiation turned into a real treat then. They had me nearly convinced that the theft would result in a court martial.
At the end of the initiation, I still OWNED that Jolly Roger Flag. Even the "Terminator" couldn't get me to fess up as to where I stashed it. When I left the Navy, I gave it to a new recruit and told him to hold on to it and that if he left, he too must pass it on to an active duty member. I hope he did.
The Golden Dragon. That is when you cross the dateline in the Pacific Ocean. We crossed the dateline only 3 days before we crossed the equator. Obtaining both of these titles of honor that close together is less than common even in the Navy. Especially if you are not on an aircraft carrier or submarine.
Next, we will be introducing you to a new publication coming from East Africa in the near future. It is being published by Symbia Telecom. They are a wireless operator there that covers quite a bit of the Northeastern area of Africa. When we have a chance to review their publication, we will do a full review for your viewing pleasure.
Finally, we would like to publicly thank all the different wireless organizations out there for their support of our publication and website. It is quite an honor to have reviewed your comments and compliments. We appreciate each and every one of them. So keep them coming! It is your feedback that helps us to improve our publication and website.
PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND ASSOCIATES ABOUT OUR NEWSLETTER. WE
APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE IN MAKING OUR NEWSLETTER A SUCCESS.
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when you aren't looking. If you want your name to vanish from our list because our newsletter is just too boring or someone else signed you up, let us know. We will reluctantly take you off of our newsletter list. And we still reserve the right to make faces at you when you aren't looking.
