EarthVision Newsletter Archive Sent: Friday, August 06, 1999 Subject: EarthVision Cellular Consumer News In this weeks EarthVision Cellular Consumer News: ********************************************************************** Wireless Carriers Filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Consumer Alliance Questions Authority Motorola "Bride" Phone coming soon! AT&T & Sprint struggle with growth Airtouch & GTE - Internet access using a digital phone? Bell Atlantic Mobile - Dedicated to Customer Service *********************************************************************** ++Wireless Carriers Filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy++ Airadigm has filed for bankruptcy one day after Nextwave Personal Communications Inc. received a federal district's court's affirmation of it's dramatically reduced debt for wireless spectrum it had bid to use to offer cellular services. The FCC in an appeal of the Nextwave Personal Comm. Inc. decision, warned the US district court against taking action that could encourage other carriers of whom bid for wireless spectrum to file for bankrupcty. It appears as if a number of smaller carriers are filing for bankruptcy protection in an effort to get reduced cost for acquiring the spectrums used to offer cellular services. Note: Basically, wireless carriers have to bid at an auction conducted by the FCC to pick up spectrums that will allow them to carry a cellular signal over a specified frequency. Since these carriers bid at the auction and have found they were unable to pay for the bids, they file bankrupcty and get a reduced price on the frequency they had originally sought to purchase. When a carrier defaults on a bid, the public then owns that frequency again. Then it is put back on the auction block for other carriers to bid. By filing bankrupcty, these companies maintain control of the frequency and no further auction can take place on that frequency. ~~Christmas is just around the corner. Be sure to tell your friends about us. And ask them to sign up for our EarthVision Cellular Consumer Newsletter!~~ ++Consumer Alliance Questions Authority++ The Wireless Consumers Alliance asked the FCC to rule whether it has the authority to pre-empt state courts in imposing fines on carriers found violating state consumer protection laws. This consumer group pursues the consumer advocacy issues in the wireless industry. No need to worry, they are watching out for you. ++Motorola "Bride" Phone coming soon! ++ This phone will begin appearing on the market in the next few months. Remember that you heard it here first! The state of the art Bride phone will carry a micro internet browser. The handset will work on the 900 MHZ, 1900 MHZ, and 1900 MHZ GSM networks so it can be used globally. Sprint PCS will use the Nokia 6185 which uses an older version of the WAP software for internet browsing. ++AT&T & Sprint struggle with growth++ AT&T has boasted an impressive 1.5 million digital wireless subscribers. So far this year AT&T has added 43 cell sites and about 6,000 radios to boost coverage in Manhattan. Complaints in this area were extremely high due to blocked and dropped calls. And they intend to add another 67 cell sites and about another 5,000 radios to keep up with demand. AT&T states they intend to grow like mad and steal competitor market share although they are losing money in the short term. Even Sprint has the same idea and will continue to grow although they too are losing money in the short term. ~~Quote by Confucius "Poor handwriting better than poor memory~~ ++Airtouch & GTE - Internet access using a digital phone?++ In a highly unusual move this week, Airtouch and GTE rolled out the same phone within 7 hours of each other. The Qualcomm 860 Thin Phone. This phone is being promoted as a solution to wireless modems needed for laptop computers. The officially unrelated announcements spark more than just passing whispers. If they were to create an alliance, that would be good news for consumers who rake up the roaming charges as a larger footprint would be created on the digital network. Airtouch customers will also be able to purchase Net Access. A data service that runs at 14.4 kbps on the carriers network. With Net Access, customers can purchase the Qualcomm thin phone for about $130 and connect it to their laptop with a serial cable to have access to the internet. ~~If you currently have us bookmarked using Internet Explore 5.0. Erase the bookmark you have currently set. Go back to our site at www.earthvisioncellular.com and redo the bookmark. We had a special feature designed into our site. Once you have done the bookmark again, take your curser over the link to EarthVision Cellular and see what happens!~~ ++Bell Atlantic Mobile - Dedicated to Customer Service ++ BAM has a car with nine antennaes on it to monitor call reception and quality. They drive the car around and capture data on the call signal strength, and other factors that is stored for later analysis. Not only on their networks but on competitor networks as well. Allowing BAM to determine where to invest in putting up new sites to improve customer satisfaction. They have cars both in Pennsylvania and in New York City. The car is driven around during peak times to capture the most valid information. BAM has stated they know customers want good prices on packages, but customer satisfaction will be the key to keeping customers on their service. ~~ If you were sent a survey, please take a moment to complete it and return it to us. We are looking to make improvements and need as many surveys returned to assist us in making certain we are fulfilling our promise of service to you. For those of you that have already responded. Thank you very much. The positive feedback was very much appreciated! ~~ Back