| Editor's Corner: The 25 Most Powerful People in U.S. Wireless and Wireline 2013 Also Noted: Radisys
Spotlight On... Is it ignition time for in-car apps?
Verizon gets Nokia's Lumia tablet a day early; Virgin will sell the HTC Desire and much more...  Grading the top 13 wireline service providers in Q3 2013
With the third quarter 2013 earnings season now complete, FierceTelecom is taking a look at the results of the top U.S. ILECs. In this report, we break down the numbers in our quarterly chart, which summarizes how the top 13 ILECs performed in terms of revenue, access line losses, and subscriber additions. Special Report
 Grading the top U.S. wireless carriers in the third quarter of 2013
The following charts the top U.S. wireless carriers in the third quarter of 2013 by subscriber base, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, and includes major metrics--such as churn, ARPU and revenue--of each carrier. As the third-quarter reporting season comes to a close, it's time to start parsing the information to see which carriers slipped and which managed to get ahead. Special Report
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News From Across the Wireless Industry:
1. Industry wrestles with the growing problem of spectrum pollution
2. Pfizer looks to cut its dosage of BlackBerry
3. Most enterprise mobile apps are vulnerable to common exploits, warns HP
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The 25 Most Powerful People in U.S. Wireless and Wireline 2013
Who are the movers and shakers that make or break the wireless and wireline industries? In this annual list, Fierce ranks the men and women who make the decisions that shape the telecom industry. And for the first time, we've included several power players from the wireline side of the business as we found that the gap between wireline and wireless is rapidly narrowing and those who exert influence on one side of the business typically have just as much power on the other. Gauging a person's power isn't an easy task. When we devised this list, we looked for individuals who we believe have a unique mix of influence, business savvy, leadership and technical expertise. We also picked individuals--like T-Mobile US' (NYSE:TMUS) John Legere or C Spire's Hu Meena--who are shaking up the industry with innovative offerings.  In the fast-changing world of telecom, power can be fleeting. Some of last year's top-ranked power brokers no longer make the cut. For example, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's outgoing CEO, has seen his power quotient drop since he announced earlier this year that he would be retiring. Likewise, BlackBerry's (NASDAQ:BBRY) former CEO Thorsten Heins is no longer on the list after being ousted as the top chief of the company Nov. 4. And Alcatel-Lucent's (NYSE:ALU) former CEO Ben Verwaayen, who resigned early this year, is also off the list.
Perhaps just as interesting as those who were ousted from the list are those newcomers who are on the list for the first time. John Legere, T-Mobile's outspoken and innovative new CEO, is on the list for his company's disruption of traditional wireless pricing strategies. And so is Maggie Wilderotter, the CEO of Frontier Communications, a company that is making interesting inroads in the rural broadband market. This list is a compilation of who we think are the innovators and leaders in the U.S. wireless and wireline markets. We realize that the telecom industry is a global business, and many of our candidates oversee international companies, but we selected people based upon their influence here in the United States. You may not agree with all our picks but I can assure you that this list was not compiled lightly. The Fierce editors scrutinized every person we selected to make sure we could justify their position. Write me or comment below and let me know if you disagree with our picks or think we overlooked someone.  Click here to see our 25 most powerful people in wireless and wireline.
--Sue |
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Today's Top News 1. Sprint's tri-mode LTE smartphones don't support simultaneous voice and data
Sprint (NYSE:S) has been touting its "Sprint Spark" tri-mode LTE service as major advancement in its network capabilities, but the first tri-mode LTE smartphones the carrier has rolled out do not support simultaneous voice and data over LTE. Sprint has rolled out a handful of tri-mode LTE smartphones so far, including the HTC One max, LG G2, Samsung Galaxy Mega and Samsung Galaxy S4 mini. Sprint has said all of the smartphones it sells in 2014 will be tri-mode LTE devices. The devices' capabilities were questioned in a post on Geek.com, which noted that unlike earlier Sprint LTE phones, the new tri-mode devices can only handle one transmission path at a time--CDMA for voice or LTE for data. "It is true that when on a phone call or sending a text, customers cannot simultaneously use LTE," Sprint spokeswoman Kelly Schlageter told FierceWireless about the tri-mode phones. "However, the reverse is not true. If a customer has an active LTE session, they will still receive calls and texts." She noted that Enhanced Circuit Switched Fallback (eSCFB) is "the technology that allows that to happen." The Geek.com report intimated that there are large sections of Sprint's network where eCSFB is not deployed. "If you own a tri-band LTE phone in a market where these technologies have not been deployed, you'll find that your LTE is practically nonexistent," the report said. However, Schlageter disputed the scope of the problem. "There are still a small percentage of sites in a few markets (about 3%) in our LTE footprint where eCSFB needs to be deployed," she said. "The majority of those sites will be complete by the end of the year. In the interim, customers served off of those cell sites will be unable to connect to LTE." Schlageter said the tri-mode LTE smartphones will be able to handle simultaneous voice and LTE data when Sprint deploys Voice over LTE. She noted Sprint has not yet set a timetable for when that will happen. Sprint has said its Spark service, which combines 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz LTE transmissions, will come to the top 100 U.S. markets during the next three years, with speeds capable of reaching 50-60 Mbps and perhaps faster. The first markets with limited availability of Sprint Spark are Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Tampa. Sprint expects to cover 200 million POPs with LTE on its 1.9 GHz spectrum by the end of 2013, and will expand that to 250 million POPs by mid-2014. The company has also started deploying LTE in its 800 MHz spectrum, which was freed up from the closure of its Nextel iDEN network. That deployment will continue into 2014. As for its 2.5 GHz spectrum, Sprint plans to have 5,000 2.5 GHz TD-LTE sites on air by year end, and expects to cover 100 million POPs with 2.5 GHz LTE by the end of 2014. Sprint controls 120 MHz of 2.5 GHz spectrum in 90 of the top 100 U.S. markets. For more:
- see this Geek.com post
Related Articles:
Sprint abandons pursuit of H Block spectrum
Crown Castle CEO: Sprint, Verizon LTE overlays will pump up tower activity
Sprint Spark to combine LTE in 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz, will offer 50-60 Mbps peak speeds
Sprint to cover 100M POPs with 2.5 GHz LTE by end of 2014
Sprint shakes up sales and marketing organizations under SoftBank
SoftBank's Son urges patience with Sprint turnaround, says it could take 2 years Read more about: Sprint, Clearwire
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2. T-Mobile to sell $2B in debt to fund spectrum purchases
T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) plans to sell $2 billion in debt after raising $1.8 billion in a stock sale as part of a plan to build up its war chest to buy spectrum. The carrier revealed the debt sale in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and said it is "currently considering an acquisition of spectrum from a private party. If we reach agreement to acquire such spectrum, we anticipate that a portion of the net proceeds of this offering will be used to finance such acquisition." T-Mobile used the same language in describing its stock sale earlier this month. Earlier this month, T-Mobile said it would not participate in the January auction of the 1900 MHz PCS H Block. T-Mobile is likely eyeing other auctions, including the incentive auctions of 600 MHz broadcast spectrum, and the auction of the AWS-3 bands, which are compatible with its existing AWS holdings. New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin wrote in a research note Monday that previously he had expected T-Mobile to spend around $5 billion on spectrum over the next two years, but that given the recent capital raises and the coming auction schedule, he now believes T-Mobile could spend around $7 billion in total on spectrum. The most likely target, according to Chaplin, is Verizon Wireless' (NYSE:VZ) 700 MHz A Block spectrum, which it has largely not yet sold after putting it on the block in 2012. Verizon paid $2.4 billion for the licenses. "In addition to the A Block, there are two spectrum auctions coming in 2014: 1) The H-Block, which TMUS has said they won't bid on, and; 2) AWS-3, which we believe they may bid on," Chaplin wrote. "We expect 50 MHz of AWS-3 to be auctioned in 4Q14. This will be a major auction that all carriers will likely participate in. If TMUS succeeds in acquiring all of the A Block, we now believe they might need to come back to the market in 2014. A 10MHz license could fetch at least $3BN." All of this is designed to bolster T-Mobile's LTE network and improve coverage. T-Mobile said it has already combined MetroPCS' LTE spectrum (mostly likely AWS airwaves) in Las Vegas with T-Mobile's network and spectrum, doubling the LTE spectrum deployment and dramatically increasing data speeds for both T-Mobile and MetroPCS customers with capable devices. The company expects to repurpose additional MetroPCS LTE spectrum in other cities, including New York City, before the end of the year, thereby expanding the channel size of T-Mobile's LTE network to at least 10x10 MHz in 40 out of the top 50 markets by year-end. T-Mobile expects to start deploying 20x20 MHz LTE widely next year. T-Mobile now has LTE service in 94 of the top 100 markets and plans to eventually cover 90 percent of the top 25 markets with 20x20 MHz LTE. T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray has said that rollout will include "substantial" deployments in 2014. For more:
- see this SEC filing
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
Related Articles:
Sprint, T-Mobile, Dish and others urge FCC's Wheeler to let them get 600 MHz spectrum
Analysts: Sprint, T-Mobile ditched H Block to focus on other spectrum, avoid Dish complications
T-Mobile rules out H Block auction, willing to buy spectrum from 'a private party'
T-Mobile to raise $1.8B in stock sale, could use funds to buy spectrum
T-Mobile adds 1M subs in Q3 as 'uncarrier' strategy keeps rolling Read more about: wireless spectrum, AWS-3
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3. Report: Nokia nixes plans for NSN/Alcatel-Lucent deal
Nokia (NYSE:NOK) is not considering a deal between the company's Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) unit and rival Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) after gauging the possibilities for a transaction, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The report, citing unnamed sources, said Nokia recently explored whether Alcatel Lucent's wireless and IP-router divisions would fit with NSN, but Nokia has decided not to pursue formal talks right now. Multiple reports in late September said Nokia's board was considering such a move but that no formal talks were ongoing. Nokia spokesman Doug Dawson declined to comment to FierceWireless. Alcatel-Lucent also declined to comment, according to the Journal. Alcatel-Lucent has focused on IP and wireless, especially LTE and small cells, as it seeks to transform itself into more of a networking specialist and shed around 10,000 more jobs. Earlier this month the vendor said it is seeking to raise around $2.7 billion in fresh capital via a combination of new shares and debt. Further, the company reported a narrower loss for the third quarter amid rising revenue. The results indicate that the vendor's massive new cost-cutting plan is starting to take hold as it tries to nurse itself back to health as a smaller company. Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) deal to buy Nokia's handset business for $7.35 billion is expected to close early next year, and NSN will be by far the largest unit within Nokia and will account for around 90 percent of its sales. While a deal might look good on paper, NSN is still in the midst of trying to turn around its own business. NSN has shed many units over the past two years to focus on mobile broadband and is working to maintain stability in its business and focus on growth in wireless. NSN CEO Rajeev Suri recently told the Financial Times he will not be pushed into any "silly acquisitions" and won't make any major transactions in the short term, but said deals will be something to consider in the long term as NSN continues to improve its finances. Suri also recently stressed to Reuters it is not always necessary to acquire weaker rivals, adding that: "We don't have to do deals for the sake of deals, just because we have money." "I am a believer in market forces determining the outcome. I'm a believer in 'just wait,'" he said.
For more:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
Related Articles:
Huawei plans $600M investment in '5G,' rules out M&A
Alcatel-Lucent seeks to raise $2.7B to fund turnaround efforts
Report: Nokia's cash balance clears way for Alcatel-Lucent buy
Alcatel-Lucent posts smaller Q3 loss as cost cuts take hold
Alcatel-Lucent's Combes: 'This company could disappear'
Reports: Nokia's board considering NSN deal with Alcatel-Lucent Read more about: Mergers and Acquisitions, Alcatel-Lucent
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4. Samsung ships 800K Galaxy Gear smart watches in 2 months
Samsung Electronics said it has shipped 800,000 Galaxy Gear smart watches in two months since its debut despite middling reviews of the gadget.  | | Galaxy Gear | According to Reuters and the Wall Street Journal, Samsung revealed the shipment figure on Tuesday. "It's the most sold wearable watch available in the market place...and we plan to expand its availability by expanding mobile devices that work with the Gear," Samsung said in a statement, according to Reuters. Samsung does not reveal quarterly smartphones sales but will occasionally reveal milestone sales for flagship products, such as its Galaxy smartphones. According to the Journal, analysts said Samsung's release of the Galaxy Gear sales figures was likely intended to minimize concerns in the market that sales of the smart watch have been a disappointment. Samsung declined to say whether the 800,000 sales figure had exceeded or fallen short of internal expectations. "This is probably just to show that the shipments have reached close to 1 million," Doh Hyun-woo, an analyst with Mirae Asset Securities, told the Journal. "Still, the figure only shows us that people are rarely buying this product given that the Galaxy Note [3] smartphones are expected to average 10 million units in sales per month."
The Gear connects to Samsung's Galaxy smartphones via Bluetooth. The gadget can notify users of incoming messages, such as calls, texts, emails and alerts, and delivers a preview of those messages. Users can also conduct hands-free calls with the Gear using the device's built-in speaker, and can snap pictures and video with a 1.9-megapixel camera. Many reviewers had given the Gear tepid reviews, and dinged it for its $299 price tag, with PC Magazine concluding, "The Samsung Galaxy Gear advances the smart watch concept, but it's too expensive, limited, and difficult to use in its current form." However, as The Verge notes, Samsung recently updated the Gear's software to improve notification support, which was a major issue for many reviewers. When it was first announced in early September the Gear was compatible only with the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition. However, in in late October, Samsung expanded compatibility to the Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III. On Monday, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) said it will begin selling its Toq smart watch on Dec. 2--Cyber Monday, the day after the Black Friday holiday shopping bonanza--for $349. Qualcomm announced its Toq smart watch the same day Samsung unveiled its own Galaxy Gear smart watch. However, Qualcomm has made it clear the device is more of a proof of concept than a mass market attack on the smart watch segment. For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
- see this The Verge article
Related Articles:
Qualcomm's Toq smart watch: $349 and available Dec. 2
In wearables, more questions than answers
Inside Samsung's push to develop its Galaxy Gear smart watch
Samsung, Qualcomm announce competing smart watches: Galaxy Gear vs. Toq Read more about: Galaxy Gear, Qualcomm Toq
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5. Nokia shareholders reportedly approve $7.35B deal with Microsoft
Nokia (NYSE:NOK) shareholders approved the $7.35 billion sale of the company's devices and services unit to partner Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), according to multiple reports. There was no official announcement from Nokia about the company's extraordinary general meeting, but Agence France-Presse reported that the deal had gone through, and said that Nokia reported the deal was almost unanimously approved (99.7 percent) by shareholders who had voted ahead of the meeting in Helsinki. The deal is expected to close in early 2014. Under the agreement, which was first announced in early September, Microsoft will acquire Nokia's devices and services unit and a license to its patents and mapping software. Roughly 32,000 Nokia employees are expected to transfer to Microsoft, which is positioning itself as a "devices and services" company as CEO Steve Ballmer prepares to retire. Stephen Elop, who was formerly Nokia's CEO and a Microsoft executive, is currently serving as executive vice president of Nokia's devices and services unit. He stepped down as CEO when the deal was announced, but is expected to return to Microsoft and is widely seen as a leading contender to succeed Ballmer. In addition to maintaining the Lumia Windows Phone smartphone business, Microsoft has said it will use Nokia's low-end feature phone business to "extend its service offerings to a far wider group around the world while allowing Nokia's mobile phones to serve as an on-ramp to Windows Phone." Microsoft has a long road ahead of it to making Windows Phone a strong contender to Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android and Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS, even with Nokia's hardware businesses inside of it. According to research firm Gartner, Windows Phone captured 3.6 percent of the global smartphone market--still paltry compared to Android and iOS, but up from 2.3 percent in the year-ago period. In the third quarter, Nokia shipped a record 8.8 million Lumias in the quarter, up from 7.4 million in the second quarter and up significantly from 2.9 million in the third quarter of 2012. In North America, Nokia scored a major win in device sales in the quarter, recording 1.4 million unit sales, almost all of which were certainly Lumias. That figure is up from 300,000 units in the year-ago period and 500,000 in the second quarter. During the summer Nokia launched Lumias through AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T), T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS), Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and others, including the 928 at Verizon, 925 at T-Mobile and 1020 from AT&T. Nokia appears poised to continue its forward momentum in the holiday season, with new devices such as the Lumia 1520 phablet device and its first tablet, the Lumia 2520, which runs Microsoft's Windows RT operating system. Following the close of the deal, Nokia Solutions and Networks, or NSN, will remain the largest unit of what will be left of the company, and Nokia's interim CEO Risto Siilasmaa, has said Nokia "will continue to manage NSN as a strong, independent unit." The company hopes its HERE mapping and location services platform, which it will license to other companies, will become more important as more devices are connected to the cloud and connected cars become more of a reality. Finally, the Nokia is banking on its Advanced Technologies division to serve as a research and development hub within the company. For many in Finland, losing Nokia's hardware business has been a bitter pill to swallow, given the company's heritage and standing in the country. Many Finns were outraged at Elop's multimillion-dollar bonus, after years of losses and tens of thousands of job cuts, but politicians and others have said that the deal will open up new opportunities for tech startups in Finland. For more:
- see this AFP article
- see this AllThingsD article
Related Articles:
Nokia, Samsung extend patent-licensing deal for 5 years
Nokia's network unit reports sales decline, looks ahead to growth
Nokia sells record 8.8M Lumias in Q3, gets big boost in N. America
Nokia unwraps Lumia 2520 tablet, Lumia 1520 phablet
Nokia's interim CEO Siilasmaa maps out company's future Read more about: Microsoft, Nokia
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Also Noted | This week's sponsor is Radisys. |  | eBrief | Partnering for DPI Deployment Analysts project DPI in the marketplace will boom in the near term to secure networks and manage available bandwidth. See how carriers are teaming up with vendors for successful deployment. Learn more today! |
SPOTLIGHT ON... Is it ignition time for in-car apps?  ABI Research forecast last month that there will be 35.1 million shipments of cars with in-car entertainment systems equipped with one or more smartphone integration technologies by 2018, with nearly 50 percent based on Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS and close to 45 percent using MirrorLink, the device interoperability standard created by the Car Connectivity Consortium. However, independent application developers should not get their hopes up too much. partly because regulatory issues and other conditions from car manufacturers might make the costs of developing such apps prohibitive. For more on the in-car app market, check out this FierceDeveloper special report.
Quick news from around the Web. @FierceWireless: AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson met with FCC's Tom Wheeler to talk auctions last week. Filing | Follow@FierceWireless > Google is working on a new camera API for Android. Article > The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has given Apple another chance to stop sales of Samsung smartphones that infringe on its patents. Article > Nokia's Lumia 2520 tablet is arriving at Verizon a day earlier than AT&T. Verizon said it would be available at select stores Nov. 21 for $399.99 with a new two-year contract. Article > Sprint MVNO Ting will support the Google Nexus 5 smartphone. Article > Virgin Mobile will sell the HTC Desire which features Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with Sense 5.0, BlinkFeed, and HTC Zoes. Article > Samsung has a patent application that details how to have a bended display on a mobile device. Article > C Spire broke ground on its $20 million data center in Starkville, Miss. Article > Dropbox is raising a funding round that could value it at more than $8 billion. Article (sub. req.) Mobile Developer News > Amazon plans to make room in its cloud computing service for mobile app developers who want to offer an HD experience. Article > Android users are two to three times more likely to share articles with friends than iOS users, according to a recent study from Rumble. Article Cable News > CNBC launched a new iPad and iPhone app that will offer a live feed from its cable network to subscribers of several major distributors, including Comcast, DirecTV , Dish Network, Cablevision , AT&T U-verse TV, Verizon FiOS TV and Charter Communications subscribers. Article > EchoStar's Sling Media launched a channel on Roku's over-the-top video platform that allows pay TV subscribers to watch live programming and DVR content. Article
And finally… The term "Selfie" is the Oxford University Press word of the year for 2013. Article > Is your strategy for small and medium-sized businesses bringing rewards? - Wednesday, December 4th, 11am ET / 8am PT / 4pm GMT Gain insights into where service providers are currently experiencing problems in the sales cycle, with a benchmark for the SMB market by sector, as well as ideas on how to increase efficiency. Register Today! > Unraveling the LTE Roaming Puzzle- Wednesday, December 11th, 2pm ET/ 11am PT This webinar will delve into the challenges of LTE roaming as well as explore potential solutions. Register Today! > Virtualization: The OEM Secret to Launching New Devices Faster and Cheaper- Now Available On-Demand How do some OEMs manage to outpace the competition by launching new devices to market faster and cheaper without sacrificing functionality and performance? In this webinar, Red Bend Software will unveil this secret and present how virtualization can bring significant business benefits to smartphones, tablets and connected cars. Register today to view this presentation > Now Available On-Demand- ePMP - Connect the Unconnected This webinar explores the benefits of the new ePMP 1000 solution - an unlicensed, outdoor proprietary RF interface technology that brings reliability and high performance. View Now!
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| > Account Executive – Cablevision - Edison, NJ The Account Executive is responsible for selling Optimum Lightpath Products and services to mid market companies in an assigned geographic area. This position will sell to new accounts as well as to existing accounts as assigned. The AE-II will generate leads by cold calling, networking and referrals as well as closing leads generated through various marketing initiatives...Learn More > Need a job? Need to hire? Visit FierceWirelessJobs | |
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