Today's Top Stories
1. Dish still searching for wireless partner, but seems to rule out Sprint
2. CTIA to merge trade shows into one event in September 2014
3. Rumor Mill: T-Mobile to land ZTE Grand X smartphone
4. Fujitsu to target U.S. market with smartphone aimed at seniors
5. Samsung readying first Tizen devices for 2013 release Also Noted: Super Wi-Fi Summit
Spotlight On... Samsung, Apple poised to dominate smartphones in 2013
RIM licenses InterDigital patents; AT&T adds Alcatel phone to GoPhone service and much more... 
2012 Year in Review
Every year wireless companies make investments and decisions to plan for the future. It's just part of doing business. However, this year a number of companies made moves that will legitimately set them up for years of growth ahead. The deals that were announced, if they get approved by regulators next year, will reshape the U.S. wireless industry. Special Report
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News From Across the Wireless Industry:
1. Report: Apple's iOS 7 surfaces in developer usage logs
2. In-app sharing and third-party service integration: There's a platform for that
3. The resolutions all developers should make (and keep) in 2013
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* General ad info: Click here | Today's Top News 1. Dish still searching for wireless partner, but seems to rule out Sprint
Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) CEO Joseph Clayton said the company is still looking for a wireless carrier to partner with to build out its planned LTE Advanced network, but he seemed to rule out Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) as a partner.  | | Clayton | In a year-end interview with the Denver Business Journal, Clayton noted that major deals have reshaped the wireless landscape in recent months and that there will likely be more significant changes in the future. "We need a [wireless industry] partner, that much we know," he said. "Who it is remains to be seen." Clayton laid out several options. "AT&T (NYSE:T) needs spectrum. Verizon [Wireless] (NYSE:VZ) is in pretty good shape now with its cable spectrum," he said. "T-Mobile and MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS) still need additional spectrum. Sprint, maybe not so. But spectrum's like oil, gold or water--you can't get enough of it. I could see a half-dozen different options that could play out." The biggest question right now is what Dish will do with its 40 MHz of AWS-4 spectrum, which the FCC said in December could be used for terrestrial mobile broadband. Dish has repeatedly said it wants to partner with a major U.S. carrier and until recently had named Sprint as a potential collaborator. A December Bloomberg report said that the two firms held talks recently on the possibility of Sprint hosting Dish's spectrum on its network. However, a deal seems to be off the table now that Sprint has finalized plans to acquire Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) for $2.2 billion, which will give Sprint access to Clearwire's 160 MHz of 2.5 GHz spectrum. In late December Dish asked the FCC for more time to file its opposition to Softbank's deal to acquire 70 percent of Sprint for $20.1 billion in light of the Clearwire transaction. Dish signaled that it is concerned about a foreign company owning so much U.S. spectrum and that the deal might give Sprint too much spectrum. Meanwhile, questions about Dish's next move with its own spectrum continue to swirl. The FCC said Dish Network must cover at least 40 percent of the population in areas covered by its spectrum with a wireless network in the next four years, or face penalties. Further, the FCC said Dish must cover at least 70 percent of that population within seven years. Dish has said it plans to build an LTE Advanced network with its spectrum. Some analysts have speculated that Dish may decide the buildout will be too costly and will instead sell its spectrum licenses to another carrier, perhaps AT&T. There are no restrictions on Dish selling its spectrum, though the transaction would require FCC approval. Clayton seemed to scoff at the notion that Dish is just in the wireless game to sell its spectrum and turn a profit. "Don't tell [Dish Chairman] Charlie [Ergen] that," he said. "And I didn't come out of retirement to say grace over a declining paid-TV business and to just cut costs and make things as efficient as possible. I came for the ride, the growth and the excitement." "We're going to change the way America communicates and entertains itself," Clayton added. "And it won't just be about wireless. It's about satellite broadband for rural America, too. We want to give the consumer whatever he wants, wherever he's at, and we'll use whatever technology's appropriate to do that. It's simplistic, but it's a big idea." For more:
- see this Denver Business Journal article
- see this Reuters article
Related Articles:
Dish must build 40% of its wireless network in 4 years, FCC says
Dish nabs FCC approval for wireless network
Report: Sprint, Dish held talks on spectrum-hosting deal
Sprint slams Dish's latest spectrum proposal
Dish's Ergen frets over missing his wireless window, rules out Verizon deal Read more about: Satellite Operators
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2. CTIA to merge trade shows into one event in September 2014
CTIA will merge its two annual trade shows into one "super" wireless industry event that will be held in the second half of the year. The change will occur in 2014 with the first CTIA super show, CTIA 2014, occurring Sept. 9-11, 2014, at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas. According to Rob Mesirow, CTIA's vice president of operations and show director, the new show will be a combination of the two former events--the annual spring confab that attracts all aspects of the North American wireless ecosystem and MobileCon, the mobile IT-focused event that tends to attract enterprise attendees and CIOs. MobileCon, which was held this past fall in San Diego, will actually be co-located at CTIA 2014. Mesirow said that the new super event will focus on six key vertical markets within the wireless industry: networks; global consumer electronics; money; connected home; content, media and advertising; and machine-to-machine. He added that CTIA will be announcing strategic partnerships around each of those vertical markets and that he expects other events to co-locate with the event and help attract thought leadership in each vertical area. Mesirow added that the association decided to debut its new super show in the fall so that companies can launch their mobile consumer products and services in time for the annual holiday buying season. He added that there are no other large mobile shows in the second half of the year that might compete with CTIA for attendees and exhibitors. Over the past few years, wireless companies have complained about the difficulty of managing three major wireless events in the first quarter of the year. The Consumer Electronics Show, which is held every January in Las Vegas has become an increasingly important wireless event for device makers and operators. Likewise, many North American companies now exhibit and send employees to attend the Mobile World Congress trade show in February in Barcelona, Spain. That leaves companies with little budget and manpower left for CTIA's annual spring show, which until recently was typically held in March. In 2012 CTIA moved its annual spring show to May, instead of March, in order to distance it from the other events. In 2013, it will once again host its spring show in May, which Mesirow characterizes as the gateway event that will set the stage for what CTIA is planning to do in 2014. The trade group will also host its annual MobileCon event Oct. 9-11 in San Jose, Calif. That event was rebranded in 2012 as MobileCon after being known as the "CTIA Enterprise and Applications" show, to accommodate IT professionals and CIOs who thought the term "enterprise" was more closely associated with a wired business experience rather than wireless. For more:
- see this press release Related Articles:
CTIA expects significant decrease in fall show attendance numbers
CTIA rebrands fall enterprise show as 'MobileCon'
CTIA hopeful moving annual conference to May will be a hit with attendees Read more about: Rob Mesirow
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3. Rumor Mill: T-Mobile to land ZTE Grand X smartphone
T-Mobile USA appears to be the destination for one of ZTE's forthcoming new smartphones in its Grand line, according to documents filed with the FCC. According to the documents, T-Mobile will sell the ZTE Grand X, a mid-range smartphone running Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android 4.0 software. The gadget supports HSPA+ on T-Mobile 1700 MHz AWS spectrum and Wi-Fi calling. In terms of hardware, the smartphone has a dual-core 1 GHz MediaTek processor, 4.3-inch display with qHD 960x540 resolution and a 5-megapixel camera. A T-Mobile spokeswoman declined to comment. ZTE is expected to use a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show next week in Las Vegas to unveil the Grand S, the high-end model in its Grand line. The Grand X could be a mid-range edition in that line. It's unclear whether a U.S. carrier will launch the Grand S. While ZTE has had little success cracking the U.S. network infrastructure market, the company was the fourth largest handset company in the world in the third quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics (IDC found ZTE as the No. 5 player). According to IDC, ZTE shipped 7.5 million smartphones in the third quarter, up from 4.1 million in the year-ago period, and its global smartphone market share grew to 4.2 percent, up from 3.3 percent. ZTE captured market share at the expense of HTC and Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM), which each lost share in the quarter. For more:
- see this Engadget article
- see this PhoneScoop article Related Articles:
ZTE to invest $30M more in U.S., plans high-end smartphone for CES
ZTE expects 50M smartphone sales in 2013
ZTE grabs smartphone market share from HTC, RIM in Q3
Intel lands ZTE deal, outlines product roadmap through 2014
ZTE loads up on Android, Windows and LTE with high-end devices Read more about: ZTE Grand S
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4. Fujitsu to target U.S. market with smartphone aimed at seniors
Fujitsu plans to market its "Raku Raku" smartphone aimed at seniors in the United States and Europe in a bid to bolster its exposure and sales outside of the company's native Japan.  | | Fujitsu's "Raku Raku" phone | Fujitsu President Masami Yamamoto said the company will expand the smartphone's distribution in 2013 as part of a wider strategy to break into new markets. "As the Japanese market has already hit a peak, we have to sell devices overseas to increase our sales numbers," he said, according to Japanese publication Asahi Shimbun. Fujitsu hopes to increase sales from 8 million units in fiscal 2012 to 10 million in 2014, the report noted. The Raku Raku smartphone, which runs on Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android platform, sports a large, easy-to-read display and loud volume for older users. The phone was released in Japan this summer and Fujitsu expects to make country-specific modifications to the device. Fujitsu, like other Japanese companies, faces a range of challenges in expanding outside of Japan. Japanese rival Panasonic decided to exit the European market after making a big push there just last year. In the United States, the market for senior-friendly gadgets is a niche one, but still going strong. In October, GreatCall, the maker of the Jitterbug smartphone line, introduced a touchscreen Android smartphone based on the Kyocera Milano. The device, the Jitterbug Touch, is sold without a contract for $169. For more:
- see this Asahi Shimbun article
- see this The Verge article
Related Articles:
Fujitsu, NEC and NTT DoComo forge new smartphone chipset venture
Panasonic, Fujitsu target European smartphone market Read more about: Raku Raku, Jitterbug
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5. Samsung readying first Tizen devices for 2013 release
Samsung Electronics will release its first smartphones running the Linux-based Tizen operating system later this year. Japan's Daily Yomiuri reports that Samsung plans to offer Tizen devices through carrier partners including NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone and France Telecom. Sources say the manufacturer is seeking to nurture a Tizen ecosystem to rival Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android and Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS. Android currently dominates the Samsung device portfolio, although the company also offers smartphones running its own bada OS. Early last year, a Samsung executive said the firm would merge bada with Tizen, but the company quickly backpedaled: "Samsung and other members of Tizen Association have not made a firm decision regarding the merger of bada and Tizen," Samsung said at that time. "We are carefully looking at it as an option to make the platforms serve better for customers." Targeting multiple device categories including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks and in-vehicle infotainment systems, Tizen combines open-source technologies with a standards-based HTML5 development environment, enabling the creation of device-independent, cross-platform mobile applications. The Linux Foundation hosts the Tizen platform, and Samsung and Intel head the technical steering committee developing the OS. Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) has said it will support Tizen and Mozilla's forthcoming Firefox mobile OS. "The reason we are excited about supporting those platforms is that we think that these platforms are driving an agenda around HTML5. We wanted to have involvement in it. We want to be completely aware of what HTML5 means for mobile devices," Fared Adib, Sprint's senior vice president of product development and operations, told FierceMobileContent in October. "We are waiting to see how mature these platforms are going to be before we agree to deliver products with manufacturing partners on those platforms." For more:
- read this Daily Yomiuri article
- read this CNet article Related articles:
Samsung joins Linux Foundation, pledges $500K to support open source
Samsung vows major bada investment to build Android alternative
Samsung backpedals on bada/Tizen merger plans
Samsung considering Bada for U.S. market Read more about: Samsung Electronics, Linux
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Also Noted | This week's sponsor is Super Wi-Fi Summit. |  |
SPOTLIGHT ON... Samsung, Apple poised to dominate smartphones in 2013 Samsung Electronics and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) thoroughly dominated the smartphone market in 2012, so much so that, according to analysts, they ended 2012 as the only two companies with double-digit global market share. The two firms have also eaten up most, if not all, of the profits in the industry. The tough sledding for the likes of LG Electronics, HTC, Nokia (NYSE:NOK), Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) and Sony Mobile Communications appears likely to continue in 2013. However, all of those companies are sure to mount vigorous challenges to break out of the doldrums. Later this month RIM will kick off its comeback bid with the formal unveiling of its first BlackBerry 10 smartphones. Nokia and HTC are expected to announce new devices running Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone platform, while LG and Sony will likely introduce new high-end Android models. China's Huawei and ZTE are also expected to increase their presence in the smartphone market this year. Analysts warn that although Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy line of Android gadgets are at the top of the heap now, consumer tastes have proved fickle in the past and could shift in 2013. Article (sub. req.) Quick news from around the Web. @FierceWireless: OK, officially back in action for the new year. Let's see what 2013 has going on so far. --PG | Follow@FierceWireless > PlatinumTel launched its new PTel Mobile brand. Article > Research In Motion licensed patents from InterDigital. Article > The FCC formalized rules on satellite-based wireless service in airplanes. Article > One in four Americans owns a tablet, according to Pew Research. Article > LG Electronics reportedly plans to release a smartphone with a full-HD display at the upcoming Mobile World Congress trade show. Article
> The Senate approved the renomination of Mignon Clyburn to the FCC. Release > Sony Mobile Communications is rumored to be prepping two new high-end Xperia Android devices, codenamed Yuga and Odin. Article > AT&T Mobility added a new phone from Alcatel to its GoPhone service. Article > Two BlackBerry 10 devices arrived at the FCC. Article > Google's Motorola Mobility is reportedly developing the "X phone." Article (sub. req.) > Research In Motion will pay $65 million to Nokia for patent licensing. Article > Research In Motion sold NewBay to Synchronoss Technologies for $55.5 million, about half of what RIM paid for it. Article Mobile Content News > Revenues from Facebook's mobile advertising initiatives will eclipse its desktop efforts next year, according to a new Merrill Lynch forecast. Article > Developers have identified traces of Apple's next iPhone and iOS software update in app usage logs, The Next Web reports. Article Mobile Developer News > The 2013 resolutions developers should make. Editor's Corner > If you're going to offer in-app purchases in mobile games, a higher price tag won't necessarily scare users away, according to a recent research report. Article And finally… $1.3 million in Apple hardware stolen on New Year's Eve. Article > Globalstar's New "Wi-Fi" Super Highway - Tuesday, January 22nd, 11:00am EST/8:00 am PST This webinar will discuss the innovative technology, public benefits, and regulatory outlook of providing a new 22 MHz channel under the existing 802.11 IEEE standard. Join to learn technical aspects of TLPS deployment and the outlook for near-term relief from the FCC. Register Now!
| > Only 1 Week Left to Register: Exclusive Executive Breakfast for Fierce Readers at CES 2013! Executives from AT&T, Samsung, RACO Wireless, and Glympse explore how the latest innovations in wireless connectivity are poised to revolutionize the world. Join FierceWireless Editor-in-Chief Sue Marek for this exclusive breakfast event at CES, Jan. 8th, in Las Vegas. Sponsored by AT&T and RACO Wireless. ACT NOW: REGISTER TODAY! > Super Wi-Fi Summit 2013 - January 30 - February 1 - Miami, FL Get to Super Wi-Fi Summit and hear how the use of White Spaces and spectrum sharing can lead to increased broadband efficiencies and the opportunity for new services. Hear from every major player in the White Spaces sector and understand this exciting opportunity. Register today. > GSMA Mobile World Congress - 25-28 February 2013 - Fira Gran Via, Barcelona GSMA Mobile World Congress is the planet's best venue for mobile industry networking and collaboration. Join us in Barcelona to explore the New Mobile Horizon. > Mobile Today and Tomorrow at Mobile World Congress - February 25, 2013 - Barcelona, Spain Worldview session for professionals involved in every aspect of mobility who need to know about the transition to next-generation mobile technology, devices, and applications. More information at www.andrewseybold.com > IWCE - March 11-15 - Exhibits: March 13-14 - Las Vegas Convention Center IWCE connects the working world to mobile voice, video and data solutions. Join 7,500 technology buyers and 330 of the top manufacturers in communications technology, and influential industry leaders presenting on next-generation networks, spectrum, regulatory, infrastructure and interoperability. Click here for more info. > Fierce Innovation Awards 2012 Live Announcement of this Year's Winners - Now Available On-Demand Please join Jason Nelson, Publisher of FierceWireless, FierceTelecom, and FierceCable as we announce the winners of the Fierce Innovation Awards 2012. Click here to RSVP today.
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