Pages

Sunday 28 December 2014

AT&T, Verizon, Samsung, Apple in 2014: A Competition Review




It often seems obvious for executives from wireless carriers to comment at investor conferences on how they think the industry is fiercely competitive. Such a comment sounds even more obvious when it comes from executives at AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless. However, the year that went by has justified their statements thoroughly as every other cellphone network carrier felt the tremors of stiff competition in the marketplace.

In reality, the pricing competition started gaining momentum right from January of 2014 and only kept picking up pace during the rest of the year. In fact, it got a real boost when the merger dialogue between Sprint and T-Mobile US broke down. Although financial analysts have been chafing about the probable impact of the ongoing price competition on the long-term margins and investment of the network carriers, it is, somehow, a great development for customers.

In the smartphone arena too, the pricing competition is pacing up as Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and their device partners look out for fresh customers in the emerging markets. Parallel to this has been an unusual development that saw average selling prices going down with low-cost providers like Xiaomi coming up. Although Samsung Electronics and Apple are secure in their own niches as the No. 1 and No. 2 smartphone players, respectively, pressure has mounted as well and is greater than what they have been facing until now.

Further on, the overwhelming $44 billion auction for the AWS-3 spectrum has brought to the surface carriers’ desire for extra network capacity. The hefty amount being spent in the auction highlights even better the challenges that smaller carriers are facing. It is a bigger problem for those who have realized that they are falling short of the resources to continue and compete with the Tier 1 operators. As a result, such operators have entirely abandoned their wireless business.

Competition certainly heated up in 2014 on various accounts this year, and it only appears ready to heighten up ahead into 2015. The resulting disruption should then hopefully illicit greater innovation from carriers and device manufacturers.

Sunday 21 December 2014

Fiber Rollout over New Net Neutrality Push Halted by AT&T




After the recent statements made by President Obama and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler regarding the possibility of reclassifying broadband providers under the Title II regulations of the Communications Act for utilities, AT&T has moved to pause its planned rollout of its new U-Verse GigaPower fiber service until the expected argument regarding the issue is settled once and for all. The CEO Randall Stephenson said that it is not feasible to make a move investing the amount of money deploying fiber to 100 cities while being still unaware of the rules under which those investments will be governed. Therefore, it is wiser to simply pause and take time to develop the insights and understanding about how those rules will be implemented and what their impact would be.

Reacting to the statements made by Obama and Wheeler on the Net neutrality push, AT&T threatened legal action if any attempt was made at Title II classification for broadband providers along with other carriers. Although, this latest move by AT&T seems logical in the turn of events, it also throws some light on the psychology of the major carrier. AT&T is indeed feeling threatened by the statements made by Obama and Wheeler regarding the new push because being reclassified as a utility would mean that the company would no longer enjoy the advantages it currently does as a broadband provider.

Without the advantages in infrastructure control and the local monopoly power that AT&T has been benefiting from all these years, it would be forced to compete against local competitors and resellers, much like its namesake predecessor did when the Bell System was broken up during the 1980’s, which led to competition and growth in the telephone sector that drove down prices for local and long-distance calling.

Sunday 14 December 2014

Cell Phones: What they Mean to the Youth




When the devices called cell phones first appeared on the scene, little did anyone imagine the impact it would have on everyone’s lives. Yet here it is today, resting in everybody’s hands, being used more than any other device available. More than anybody else, it’s the youth that has well harnessed the power of using cell phones in keeping their social lives up and running.

Going by recent research, it has been indicated that young people use their cell phones a whole lot differently than their elders. It is apparent that young people are constantly using their cell phones – texting, checking email, surfing the internet, clicking pictures, etc. Supposedly, older people use their cell phones less frequently, however, there is not enough data to actually prove it.

Young adults also use text messaging as their primary method of contacting friends – over 80 percent report texting as their preferred way to do so. The percentage of people who use texting as their primary method of contacting friends drops in older age groups. Older adults (over the age of 50) either prefer calling or are more likely to use email. Given the age difference in the number of texts, it shouldn’t be surprising that younger adults find it more appropriate to use their cell phones in a greater variety of situations than do older adults. Contexts such as having dinner with friends, being in line at the store, in church, intimate situations, at the gym, having coffee with a friend and many other similar situations suggest how the use of cellphones defines the communication channels among the youth.

For obvious reasons, this may explain why young adults are so attached to their cell phones. This isn’t addiction, but social interaction. When people conduct their social life via cell phone calls, text messages, and social networking, keeping track of your cell phone takes on particular importance. Therefore, older adults should not rush into making judgments about cell phone use in younger adults. Perhaps, instead they can respect the cell phone and internet natives because young adults have in deed grown up using cell phones and the internet the way their elders have grown up using handwritten letters and the landline telephone for communication. It is commendable how the youth of today have learned to effectively use the medium and utilize it to the optimum. Maybe they will be more engaged with and attached to their social groups than older adults who are still learning to keep in touch in this modern era.