What’s New

Submitted on March 2011, 01:00 pm by Scott Covell

The passing of our close friend and colleague, Brian Gottfried, was a shock to everyone who knew him. In mourning his passing, many of you expressed an interest in helping the family in some meaningful way. To that end, SBA has worked closely with Wells Fargo Advisors to establish 529 college education funds for each of Brian’s children. The funds were established through the Bright Start College Savings Program which will allow Brian’s wife, Lisa, to take advantage of the low cost investment options managed by Wells Fargo and invested in a range of Oppenheimer Funds. Directions on how you may contribute are attached. Please note that you may contribute with one check which will be divided amongst the three children with Jacob, the oldest, receiving the slightly larger portion or you may write 3 separate checks –one for each child.

Once your donation is received by Wells Fargo, a notice will be sent to me in order that I might inform Lisa of your generous contribution. You may, however, remain anonymous.

If you wish to contribute please make your checks payable to the “Wells Fargo Advisors” and write the child(ren)’s name(s) and account numbers in the memo section of the check(s). The check(s) and the instructions for deposit should be mailed directly to:

Wells Fargo Advisors

Attn: Timothy Prescott/Edward Aiello

3399 PGA Blvd. Ste #400

Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410

If you have any questions, please contact:

Timothy Prescott

Vice President – Investments

Edward Aielio

Vice President - Investments

They can both be reached at 561-691-5151 (direct) or 888-246-7564 (toll free)

Please feel free to pass along this email to anyone outside of the SBA Family.

On behalf of Lisa and the children, we would like to thank you for your support, thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Submitted on January 6 2009, 02:06 pm by Scott Covell

Economist Recommends $17.4 B Stimulus for Wireless Infrastructure

Since the presidential election, PCIA has communicated the importance of wireless infrastructure to President-Elect Obama’s Transition Team and leadership of the new Congress.

At the request of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the incoming Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, PCIA provided data on the strong economic value of wireless infrastructure deployment, identified appropriate regulatory relief in the infrastructure siting process, and suggested funding priorities for the wireless industry.

On behalf of Obama’s Transition Team, former FCC Chief Economist Dr. Alan Pearce prepared an economic analysis of the wireless industry as input to development of the infrastructure initiative economic stimulus package. Dr. Pearce relied on PCIA to provide crucial financial and other quantitative data for use in his analysis.

His resulting report, entitled “Accelerated Wireless Broadband Infrastructure Deployment: Impact on GDP & Employment in 2009 – 2010,” estimates that direct and indirect investments of $17.4B for wireless broadband infrastructure would increase GDP by 0.9 – 1.3% or $126.3B – $184.1B and create approximately 4.5million – 6.3 million jobs. The report also emphasizes that time limits should be placed on local jurisdictional review of wireless infrastructure applications and the FCC should clear the backlog of pending applications referred for NEPA review.

PCIA and its members will continue to be important contributors to the work of the new Administration and Congress as a fast-track economic stimulus package is adopted.

Submitted on 27 January 2012, 10:11 am by Fierce Wireless

French operator SFR has criticised France Telecom (FT) Orange for signing a roaming agreement with Iliad's Free Mobile, allowing Free to launch low-cost services.

Esser

The CEO of SFR, Frank Esser, said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde that Free Mobile wouldn't have been able to offer such cheap pricing without the Orange roaming deal, adding, "We have always said that we will never sign such an agreement."

Esser pointed to Free Mobile's "social" package, which costs as little as €2 per month for one hour of calls. "Making offers for €2 does not provide support for a quality network. Transporting voice still has a cost, despite the assertions of Mr. Niel," Esser said, referring to Iliad CEO Xavier Niel.

Recent French newspaper reports have speculated that Free Mobile network is struggling to support the number of customers it has signed up, with coverage in Paris being reported as poor.

Free Mobile is also said to still be in the process of negotiating mobile termination rates (MTR) with other French mobile operators. Iliad, has suggested that asymmetric MTRs be adopted, which SFR's Esser has rejected. "There is no question of accepting the asymmetric MTRs for voice calls and SMS, this would subsidise the Free Mobile offers up to €7," Esser said.

Separately, Bouygues Telecom announced significant price cuts to its quad-play and smartphone subscriptions in response to Free Mobile's offerings. A report carried by Les Echos has suggested that Bouygues Telecom's speed of reaction has been triggered by it losing customers to Free Mobile.

Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom have already lowered the price of their low-cost packages, Sosh, Red and B&You, repsectively, in an effort to retain customers.

Separately, the French regulator Arcep announced late last week that it would inspect Free Mobile's network in an effort to address accusations made by its competitors that the new entrant's infrastructure was not operational. Some reports indicated Free was turning off some its antennas and directing traffic onto Orange's network, which would violate the terms of its licence, since Free must cover 27 percent of the population with its own network in order to maintain the roaming agreement. Free Mobile has denied turning off its equipment.

"Our competitors are trying to make it seem to consumers that there is a problem with our network. There isn't," Free Mobile CEO Maxime Lombardini told Reuters. "When you are faced with false rumours, the best thing to do is get back to the real facts."

For more:
- see this L'Expansion article (translated via Google Translate)
- see this Les Echos article (translated via Google Translate)
- see this Reuters article

Submitted on 27 January 2012, 10:09 am by Fierce Wireless

Nokia's fourth-quarter loss of €1.07 billion underscores the uphill task the company has in competing with Apple and Samsung for smartphone prominence, according to a new report Fitch Ratings.

However, the credit ratings firm believes Nokia's robust cash position provides breathing space for the company to challenge the two leading suppliers as the Finnish company makes the transition to a new smartphone strategy based on its partnership with Microsoft's Windows Phone.

Of note, Nokia's poor fourth-quarter results failed to affect the company's credit rating which Fitch had already factored into a downgrade made in June 2011 from 'BBB-'/Negative from 'BBB+'/Negative.

While some analysts have registered their surprise at Nokia shipping over 1 million Lumia smartphones since the Windows Phone devices wen ton sale in November, Fitch has indicated that it will take several more quarters before the success of the Lumia range can be evaluated, especially given the high cost of marketing that is required to promote the new smartphones.

Fitch confirmed that any change to Nokia's rating was not likely until the company's situation becomes clearer, and is also dependent on the wider success of a broad product range of based upon the Windows Phone platform. Looking further into the future, Fitch said that it would judge a successful turnaround for Nokia once it could demonstrate an ongoing refresh of its smartphone products with new models, together with regaining market share in key markets, including sales traction in the United States.

Commenting on the Nokia's likely 2012 performance, CEO Stephen Elop said the company's operating margin would be around break-even in the first quarter, give or take 2 per cent. He also said that Nokia annual guidance targets had been dropped, claiming that 2012 would be a year of transition.

For more:
- see this release
- see this Cellular News article
- see this The Guardian article

Submitted on 27 January 2012, 11:18 am by Wireless Week

Fresh on the heels of Samsung's defeat in a German court last week, a Mannheim judge has reportedly tossed out the electronics giant's second complaint against Apple.