AT&T and Verizon Wireless Agree on the Deployment of Initial 5G Models; Standards Timing Becomes an Issue

It looks as if both AT&T and Verizon Wireless are getting on the same page about the initial 5G deployment models. Last week, representatives from both companies discussed this thoroughly during the 5G North America event. The Event kicked off with a keynote address and panel discussion specifically directed towards 5G’s current state.

Detail of the Event’s Key Highlights

Talking about 5G deployments, they were mainly expected to center on the fixed use of broadband. It was mainly noted during the early panel discussion conducted on topic. Its main purpose is to help carriers make use of technical specifications for powering technically superior equipment capable of supporting both higher speed of data and greater capacity for the government cellphone plans and the rest of the users.
 

Representatives from both companies welcomed this agreement. They openly spoke their mind in this regard.

Mr. Brian Daly Says…

According to Mr. Brian Daly, the director of core government and regulatory standards at AT&T, the company was waiting for such a fantastic opportunity to get some command on consistently increasing demand for video streaming services. Taking video support into consideration, it was perhaps one of the big use cases that all of us see. Moreover, the company was thinking about taking advantage of its diverse portfolio of fixed, mobile and satellite assets for meeting the demands of government cellphone plan users.

Mr. Alexander Khalin Says…

According to Mr. Alexander Khalin, the Director of Corporate Strategy at Verizon Wireless, the company agreed on initial development plans about all sorts of fixed wireless broadband services.

Twist in the Tale:

Recently, there has been a controversy between the companies about the move towards 5G standards and, the perceived difference of opinions in terms of timing for those standards is mainly responsible.

AT&T Asked for Some Extra Time:

According to some reports, AT&T has led a group at a recently conducted standards meeting for securing some form of 5G standards booked by the end of 2017. It is way ahead of the initial timeline finalized for the third-generation partnership projects of mid-2018. AT&T explained this move as the company requires some extra time for testing some standards to get ready for further testing and commercial deployments by mid-2018 for government cellphone service and other users.

Verizon Wants to Keep the Schedule as is:

The company seems to have its eyes set on promoting its own 5G agenda related to plans for network trials starting in 2017. This is why the company has come up with a counter proposal stating it would like to keep the schedule totally unchanged. Mr. Khalin did not comment on this week’s event.         

AT&T’s Explanation            

The company was waiting for an opportunity to get some form of standard committed between the time period of December 2017 and March 2018. It could possibly be for a non-standalone radio specification to help inform silicon vendors as they get ready for the development of chipsets early to support network trials. AT&T mentioned this effort under the guise of a carrier waiting for an opportunity to ensure “Learnings” from all of the existing and thought-out trials for 5G networks that could possibly be driven into a kind of standards process.

Summary of the Story:

If everything goes right, then the government cellphone service subscribers of both the companies would benefit. However, fortunes don’t seem to be supporting both the companies in this regard. It is turning out to be full of controversy between the two largest cell phone service providers in the US. It will be very interesting to see which way the decisions go.

Sprint Cell Phone Service Subscribers Will Now Be Able to Pay for Napster through Their Sprint Bill

Finally, Sprint INC. comes forward with some kind of good news for its customers. And the good news is for Sprint’s cellular phone service customers using Napster.

What is so special about it?

The company is putting in some efforts to make it easier for its customers to be able to pay for their Napster subscriptions through their Sprint Bills.  In simple words, if you are a customer of both then you will certainly find it easier to pay for both through your Sprint bill.

Any Advantage Associated?

To be honest, there are not many advantages for cellular phone service users- apart from the fact that they will have the luxury of paying the bills of both Sprint and Napster via their single Sprint Bill. Automatic access to Napster or something like that could make this partnership of the two companies meaningful/advantageous to some extent for Sprint customers.

But Why?

As for reason, anyone signing up for Napster gets one month free access to Napster. Besides this, cell phone service customers of prepaid brands of Sprint like BoostMobile and Virgin Mobile are likely to get access to Napster without having to bother about using up their data.

Who Will Get Benefited by This Partnership?

Only Sprint INC. and Napster are going to be benefitted with this deal to some extent. But the lion’s share of benefits will fall in the lap of Napster. As far as benefits for Sprint INC. are concerned, the company is merely going to get some new cell phone service users and nothing else. Apart from this, this deal is not likely to bring anything special to the company.

This Deal Indicates Something Very Special:

This partnership of the two companies is a strategically thought out move that specially indicates the way different companies are attempting to gain new customers for rapid growth. Napster specially depends on such strategically thought out partnerships for growth. 

However, there is something to notice for every customer. Customers will still be able to pay for their Spotify bills via their Sprint cell phone service bills.

What Else?

This is not the end of everything. Sprint is certainly not the first or new partnership of Napster in any way. The company also declared its partnerships with the likes of Even, known for conducting rigorous audio tests for the iOS app of Napster. In addition to that, Lufthansa Systems, an Airline technology provider, is also in line for offering high quality music for every customer aboard Lufthansa Airline’s Flights.

Moral of the Story:

Coming back to the point, this deal is not of much meaning for Sprint customers as they already get the benefit that both Sprint and Napster are talking about. The deal will simply earn Sprint INC. some new customer whereas Napster will have another strong partnership to rely on for further growth. Now it will surely be very interesting to see the impact of this deal or partnership between the two companies on cellular phone service users and the growth of both the company’s themselves.

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Enjoy HD Videos, Superfast Tethering and Internet with T-Mobile and Sprint's Expensive Unlimited Data Plan

These days wireless customers seem to be very fond of high quality video content. Considering their penchant for high quality videos, T-Mobile and Sprint Communications, two of the premiere government cell phone service carriers in the United States, are ready to thrive on this craze of their valuable customers.

They are Heeding Calls:

Both of the premiere government cell phone service carriers have introduced “Easy to Afford” unlimited data plans for cellular phone service users with some compromises.  Sprint Communications added more expensive data plans offering less compromises. Similarly, T-Mobile also followed the footsteps of Sprint Communications and came up with a bit more expensive of a data plan for all of its customers on Monday. 

These new, expensive data plans offered by both of the companies to the users differ in terms of data and other things currently on offer. Let’s see what both of the companies are offering to their valuable customers in these expensive data plans.

T-Mobile One Plus Data Plan:

The company has launched the One Plus data plan during the month of August 2016. It was initially priced at $70 per month. As T-Mobile noticed that some of the cellular phone service users are ready to pay an extra amount of money for enjoying high quality video content, it now has increased this plan price up to $95.

What Is the Difference Between This Expensive Data Plan and more Affordable Data Plans of T-Mobile?

Expensive Data Plan

There is some difference between T-Mobile’s recently launched expensive data plan and the other cheap data plans for cellular service users.

·        Consumers willing to pay more money for the best video content experience can relish full HD videos on their mobile phones.

·       They will be able to use their phone to connect or tether other devices such as a laptop for enjoying superfast internet speed.

Cheap Data Plan:

Coming to the cheap data plan, let’s take a look what it offers: 

1.  It only provides DVD quality video.
2. The tethering speed was very slow.

However, users are given unlimited data usage, texting and calling in both of the plans.

This is what Sprint Communication’s Plan is:

Talking about Sprint Communication’s expensive data plan, it was launched by the company at least a week before T-Mobile came up with its own expensive data plan. However, Sprint Communications, a premiere government cell phone service carrier, successfully undercut T-Mobile’s price of the expensive data plan. Sprint Communications raised the price of its expensive unlimited data plan from $60 to $80 as a starting price.

The Difference:

Both the cheap and expensive unlimited data plans of Sprint Communications offer unlimited calling, data usage and texting. The only difference is in terms of the quality of the video content limited by Sprint Communication’s cheap unlimited data plan.

The latest pricing battle is the result of constantly slowing growth of the US wireless market. Consumers are not taking any significant interest in switching their careers either. This has also played a crucial role in slowing down the growth of the wireless market in the entire United States at least for the last five to six years. But with the arrival of Apple’s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, most of the carriers, including T-Mobile and Sprint Communications, can expect an increase in the defection rate. 

T-Mobile Issues Tips for Customers to Stay Connected with Their Loved Ones During Hurricane Hermine in the Southeast

A hurricane named Hermine is expected to strike in the southeast as a category 1 storm tomorrow early in the morning. This is why T-Mobile, one of the government cell phone service carriers in the United States, is preparing its network. The company has deployed its operations and engineering teams and is continuously monitoring weather patterns.

Some of the necessary steps being taken by T-Mobile:

As a government cellphone service provider, the company is leaving no stone unturned to prepare necessary equipment as well as providing supplies to help its valuable customers stay connected before, during, and after the storm.

The company is preparing…
•    Generators for backup
•    COW (Cell-on-Wheels)
•    Fuel tanks

The company has also decided to set up a command center in crucial areas where the storm is likely to impact. The company will closely manage network traffic with the help of its GEO-Redundant Network Operation Centers. If needed, further coordination for responses will be initiated.

Mentioned below are some of the tips suggested by T-Mobile, a government cell phone service provider, to increase their chances of getting connected with their loved ones before, during and even after the storm.

•    Keep your Phone fully charged
•    Save the battery life of your phone
•    Prefer texting over calling
•    Keep your calls short and to-the-point.
•    Don’t let your phone get wet
•    Utilize Wi-Fi calling

Let’s see how following these useful tips will help you connect with your loved ones and do many important things before, or after the storm.

1. Keep Your Phone Fully Charged:
T-Mobile has suggested all of its private and cellular Phone Service users to keep their phone battery fully charged.  You should also charge your cellphone in case of electricity breakdown. Car chargers and portable chargers will be very handy in such a situation to keep you connected with your loved ones. If possible, look for several other options right now in your nearby retail stores.

2. Save the Battery Life of Your Phone:
You must utilize the power saving mode available in your cellphone to save the battery life. Reducing screen brightness, turning all of your location based service completely off and reducing application’s usage and downloads will also help.

3. Prefer Texting over Calling:
Since text needs less network resources, it will be the most productive and easy option to know about the wellbeing of your loved ones during and after the storm, suggests T-Mobile.

4. Keep Your Calls Short and To-The-Point:
The company has also suggested that users keep their calls short and to-the-point to ensure network availability for others during severe weather conditions.

5. Don't Let Your Phone Get Wet:
T-Mobile has strongly suggested everyone to keep their phones dry or cover them using some waterproof covering. This will save your phone from getting damaged because of moisture.

6. Utilize Wi-Fi Calling:
Just in case cellular phone service does not work, then utilizing Wi-Fi is the best option for you for calling or texting purposes. Using Wi-Fi calling, T-Mobile customers will be able to call or text their loved ones. You just need to have a Wi-Fi capable phone in the absence of cellular phone service network, and have a Wi-Fi network connection.
•    iOS users should go to Settings> Phone> Wi-Fi Calling
•    Android Users should go to Settings > More Connection Settings > Wi-Fi Calling

If needed, T-Mobile has suggested all its customers to drop a call to 611 (Customer Care Number) using their handset.

Analysis of Yahoo INC., AOL and Fleetmatics's Acquisition by Verizon Communications - Its Business Growth in the Wireless Service Sector

The period from 2006 to 2015 can easily be called a golden period in the history of Verizon Communications. The company witnessed the compounded growth of at least 4% on a yearly basis in its revenue on the New York Stock Exchange. This golden period for Verizon has contributed to sales of almost $88 billion in the government assisted cellphone sector. 

Verizon’s wireless service subscribers increased at a rate of 9% every year from 2006 to 2015. In simple words, the company’s consumer pool grew from 59.1 million subscribers in 2006 to almost 140 million subscribers in 2015. Coming to the revenue, it grew at a pace of 9.2% every year.

To be honest, it is not so easy to continue consistent growth in the wireless business sector. There are not many subscribers available in the market for the company to switch subscribers from their current government assisted cellphone service providers to Verizon’s free cellphone plans.

This is perhaps why the company is facing a snail’s pace growth going forward in the wireless sector. And this just seems to be the icing on the cake. There could more serious reasons responsible for leading the company towards potential financial disaster in the times to come. Let’s now go through those reasons and analyze Verizon’s financial future in the government assisted cellphone sector.

The company lacked patience for seeking new growth in wireless advertising and IoT (Internet of Things) considerably. Rapid acquisitions by Verizon Communications cannot be ignored. How? See below:

• AOL’s acquisition at a cost of $4.4 billion in the month July 2015.
• The company took no time in buying a privately held company named Telesis at the start of 2016.
• Recently the company has paid almost $2.4 billion for taking over Fleetmatics.
• The biggest announcement came when Verizon Communication announced the acquisition of Yahoo INC, one of the largest e-mail service provider in the world, at a cost of $4.8 billion.
• Increasing market impact of new business has also played an important role.

 Most experts, including the entire management of Verizon Communications, are very positive about finding new business growth, especially in the domain of government assisted cellphone and free cellphone plans including the Internet of Things.  

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Verizon communication’s acquisition of AOL and Yahoo INC indicates that free cellphone plans had been setup for ripping through the internet and all forms of media in future. The combined acquisition of Yahoo INC and AOL is a golden opportunity for new growth in the wireless sector via more than 600 million mobile users and almost 280 million e-mail users.

Most importantly, Verizon’s revenue will increase to help the company increase its market share up to 10%. In this way, the company will only be behind Facebook with 30% and Google with 16% market share.  These Acquisitions must help Verizon’s advertisement business on wireless devices through free cellphone plans without much problems.

T-Mobile Recorded 890K Postpaid Subscriber Additions in Recent Quarter

T-Mobile lead other carriers by adding a considerable number of post-paid customers in the latest quarter.

The post-paid customer additions did not reach the standards set in last year’s quarter, but the customer increase is way ahead of the combined number of AT&T, Sprint and Verizon additions. Not only this, there is a remarkable growth in prepaid customers as well. The company’s post-paid phone additions correlates with Wall Street estimates and the total revenue as well as service escalated annually.

Jennifer Fritzsche, analyst at Wells Fargo said the numbers are “solid” and stressed over the significance of free cash flow in near future for the company. T-Mobile is also a provider of government cell phone service or government assisted cell phone plans.

Fritzsche commented "While gross adds for the industry were slow overall (and growth driven more by lower churn), TMUS lead the industry by a wide margin in handset adds,"  "The Free Cash flow metric is becoming increasingly meaningful for TMUS and (depending on the auction spending) is a metric which should see a significant ramp in 2017. Free cash flow expectations for the remainder of 2016 should largely depend on the amount of working capital outflows from handset purchases and its spend in the upcoming broadcast auction." 

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The company gained 890,000 net post-paid customers, including 646,000 post-paid phone adds in the second quarter. T-Mobile's latest quarter revenues surged 12 percent year over year to $6.9 billion and the total revenues mounted 13 percent year-over-year to $9.2 billion.

As a result of another successful quarter due to continued strong customer growth and improved revenues, the company’s shares rose slightly. The carrier also provides services for the Lifeline program which is known as government cell phone service.

Moffett said "For the record, we've never thought T-Mobile would be acquired. But more importantly, we've never though that one need to think it would be in order to want to own the stock," "T-Mobile's remarkable growth rate -- service revenues were up 12.1 percent from a year in today's report in a market that is down year-over-year -- and free cash flow trajectory make the case without one having to believe it will be acquired."

Sprint Beats Expectations by Adding a Significant Bulk of Subscribers

The fourth largest telecom giant in the nation rose above expectations with a net gain of 173,000 postpaid subscribers in the second quarter of the year, which also includes several government cell phone plans. With the aid of heavy discounts and free cell phone services, the company managed to attract more subscribers for any first quarter in the past nine years. In contrast to a pervious net loss of 12,000 customers last year at this time, the company seems to be on cloud nine with the significant addition this quarter which ended June 30.

The company also faced a lower postpaid phone churn of 1.39 percent in the second quarter which is an improved churn over the last five quarters. Another achievement was that it’s postpaid base is net positive against the other three rivals. For the first time in the more than 5 years it has gained more subscribers from each of the rivals than it lost.

Though the company reported a considerable number of customer gains with certain plans including government cell phone plans, these came at a good cost. The loss figures soared to $302M, which is much larger than its $20M loss last year for the same period. Not only this, the wireless revenue topped at $6.1 billion rather than expected $6.2 billion expected by those at Wells Fargo Securities.

CEO Marcelo Claure shared "We had another quarter of solid progress in our turnaround, with the highest first-quarter postpaid phone net additions in nine years, the lowest postpaid phone churn in company history, and finally being postpaid net port positive against all three national carriers after five years," "We also grew wireless net operating revenue year-over-year while aggressively reducing the cash operating expenses of the business and our network is performing better than ever."

The contract termination charges totaled $113M, mostly related to a deal with Ntelos. The net operating revenue dropped to $8.01 billion, against $7.98 billion predicted by the analysts at Thomson Reuters. 

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With a close at $4.62, the telecom company’s shares rose 27.6% since the beginning of the year.

Though the company has won postpaid customers in the country, but the analysts show doubt about how it is going to improve its network without increasing the capital expenditure.

Sprint and T-Mobile Swoop Down on Price Hike by Verizon

Verizon ups the charges for its monthly plans as well as the amount of data offered in these plans, to which the competitors, namely T-Mobile and Sprint were quick to react.

The United States' largest carrier hikes its monthly service by $5 to $10 monthly along with adding supplementary data in each of these plans. Some additional features were also introduced such as "Safety Mode" feature that lets users stay connected even if they reach their monthly allocations, while decreasing speed to 128 Kbps and enabling users to keep unused data from the last month.

But several offers were already sailed out by its competitors, to which the competitors pounced upon quickly. John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile tweeted that his company has introduced a data rollover feature through its Data Stash offering long before.

He tweeted "If you're going to copy #DataStash, why copy @att's sad version of it?" "A copy of a copy = a terrible @verizon version of @TMobile #DataStash."

Marcelo Claure, Sprint CEO also mentioned "GREAT strategy @Verizon," "Step 1: Raise prices. Step 2: Tell them you aren't raising prices. Step 3: Tell them to be thankful. #SwitchtoSprint."

While this seems to be a price hike, some analysts noted that the company actually dropped the prices in terms of cost per gigabyte of data. And the move is looked at as an effort to better monetize its users. For instance, "Safety Mode" charges $5 per month for customers who are not currently on the company’s two costliest data plans. 

Read more: Free Cell Phone Lifeline Program

As per a research note written by Wells Fargo Securities analysts "While Verizon continues to lead the industry in network performance (as shown from numerous third-party studies), in some ways a case could be made with these new plans and offerings Verizon is acting more 'me too' to meet some of the perks which Verizon's competitors are already offering." "While an increase in the monthly recurring charge is a positive for ARPU – with things like Data Rollover and Safety Mode offered – there are more opportunities for customers to be smarter with their data usage and limit the upsell capability of this ARPU."

T-Mobile Outshines AT&T and Verizon in Customer Satisfaction

T-Mobile tops the four major wireless carriers in customer service ratings, according to the latest report released by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The US Company has moved ahead of AT&T and Verizon Wireless in the past year. It offers discounts through government cell phone plans in various states.

Internet service and pay-TV companies got poor rankings in the ACSI report as well as a recent customer survey. Wireless carriers performed better than home Internet and subscription TV providers, indicating bigger competition in the mobile market. Claes Fornell, ACSI founder and Chairman said in a press release “Innovation tends to be strongest in markets with multiple companies vying for consumer preference.” “There are numerous wireless carriers and plenty of different cell phones to choose from. The same is not true for pay TV and ISPs, where consumers are usually beholden to a duopoly.”

Out of ACSI's 100-point scale, T-Mobile scored a 74, an escalation by 4 points when compared to last year. AT&T and Verizon lag behind with each getting 71. Where Verizon stuck to the previous year’s score, AT&T stepped up one point since last year. Sprint got a hike by 5 points by moving from 65 to 70 as compared to last year.

Though the total number of subscribers is only half the size of those of Verizon and AT&T, T-Mobile also topped others in terms of number of smartphones sold in the recent quarter. The company has brought some intense changes in recent past such as killing contracts, free international data roaming, data rollover, data exemptions on music and video services, and many more. 

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The company is currently working on network quality, which has remained the biggest issue. It is targeting to buy low-band spectrum to eradicate network issues over rural areas and indoors. Thus the residents of some rural areas having government cell phone plans from the company are going to have better network quality.

The average score achieved by a wireless phone company is usually 71, while scores for home Internet service and pay-TV were 64 and 65, respectively.