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 3 February 2012, 10:06 am by Fierce Wireless

Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas has expressed anger at the decision by India's Supreme Court to revoke the mobile licence it jointly holds with Unitech. Baksaas told Reuters that the ruling is a very serious attack on Telenor's investments, and withdrawing from the Indian market "is one alternative that is on the table."

Baksaas

The court's decision to cancel 122 mobile licences, which also impacts Etisalat, Russia's Sistema and many local mobile operators, follows accusations that the licences were subject to corruption when sold in 2008.

But the Telenor CEO is adamant that his company is being penalised unfairly. "We met every inch of that regulation of that licence. We have brought competition to the Indian market ... just to see a ruling that has significant retroactive consequences. It is an action that we have never seen in any country before."

Baksaas added that the move created a high level of uncertainty, and would immediately impact activities with its partner Unitech that involves investments totalling $3 billion in India.

The CEO also stated that he would ask the company's largest shareholder, the Norwegian government, to lobby the Indian government on Telenor's behalf. "That is part of the tool kit," said Baksaas.

One institutional investor told Reuters that securing the Norwegian state's help would be the only route to salvaging Telenor from the situation.

Saeed Baradar, a telecoms specialist at Societe Generale in London, told Bloomberg: [Telenor] "really needs to get out because shareholders worry that capital discipline will be broken in India." He estimated that the operator may have to pay an additional $2.1 billion to rebid for the mobile licences that have been withdrawn by the court.

However, the court ruling seems likely to benefit some of the larger mobile operators, such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone, which remain unaffected. Observers believe this upheaval could lead to much needed market consolidation.

"This verdict is good news for established incumbent operators and, in the short term, we are likely to see some increase in tariffs," a director of consulting firm Frost & Sullivan told Reuters.

For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this separate Reuters article
- see this Bloomberg article

Submitted on 3 February 2012, 10:03 am by Fierce Wireless

A German court ordered Apple to stop online sales of its older model iPhones and 3G-enabled iPads, but Apple managed to reverse the ruling within hours. The dust-up stems from a court injunction secured by Motorola Mobility in December after Apple failed to license Motorola wireless patents.

Apple's iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, but not its latest iPhone 4S, were involved in the dispute, as were all 3G models of the iPad, but not the Wi-Fi-only models.

An Apple spokesperson said Motorola repeatedly refused to license its patents on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago.

However, Apple may still fall to a separate ruling in Germany related to its iCloud and MobileMe push email service. A court granted Motorola's request for an injunction against Apple's push email service; Motorola argues the products infringe on its patent for a similar paging technology.

"Apple believes this old pager patent is invalid, and we're appealing the court's decision," an Apple spokeswoman told AllThingsD, which noted that Apple is likely to fight the injunction.

The battle between Apple and Motorola is just one of dozens of patent-infringement lawsuits spanning the globe and invovling just about every major smartphone manufacturer.

For more:
- see this Bloomberg article
- see this AllThingsD article
- see this Reuters article
- see this BBC News article
- see this Teltariff.de article (translated via Google Translate)

Submitted on 4 February 2012, 6:56 pm by Wireless Week

Users of 4G smartphones are discovering their speedy broadband service also zips through battery life, which could slow phone carriers' battle to convert customers to higher-speed networks.