BlogNew Year’s Resolutions & Predictions
A lot of sites are making resolutions and predictions for the new year… so here are some. Remind us to revisit them come year’s end if we don’t. But first, a couple of site-specific resolutions.
1) We will cover MacWorld Expo live. This has been a problem in past years, but we worked with IDG and Apple to make sure this wouldn’t be a problem. Many thanks to IDG for pulling through at the last minute and delivering media badges.
2) SEO will get better. Actually it already has (go google Phone News… we’re not at the top but we’re at least on the first page). But, we’re going to work on it even more with SEF filenames and paths.
Now, onto the juicy stuff… predictions!
3) Every carrier will go 4G. By that, I mean every carrier will follow Sprint and announce their plans to go to 4G.
4) Cingular Wireless will become AT&T Wireless. Stan Sigman was just placed in the head of AT&T’s “wireless” division. Not “mobile”, not anything else. The AT&T Wireless name still has significant recognition and synergy… and the legacy AT&T Wireless did not have negative connotations.
With everyone on a single billing platform, there’s no confusion when Cingular becomes AT&T Wireless.
5) T-Mobile will encounter delays and significant problems with UMTS deployment. By choosing UMTS 1700, costs of handsets will not be cheaper as predicted, and foreign handset makers will likely not include UMTS 1700… opting instead for a tri-band 850/1900/2100.
Very few devices from abroad will be able to access T-Mobile’s new network, and T-Mobile will incur increased deployment costs… which will also be passed onto the consumer (on top of increased handset costs).
6) WiMAX will start to go free. Free WiFi clouds are old hat these days, people will start to find ways to monetize WiMAX in a method similar to AM/FM radio… free yet low-end. Net Neutrality will not be an issue here, like all things, you get what you pay for in terms of bandwidth.
Imagine a nation where no matter where you go, the internet is wireless, on every laptop, PDA, and even your watch… and it’s free to use.
7) Helio will either collapse or restructure. Sorry. Helio was a great idea… make a carrier that caters to nerds. Unfortunately, nerds know MVNOs are just added smoke and mirrors. Without truly unique devices (such as Series 60 CDMA handsets), Helio doesn’t stand out, and will fade away.
Amp’d Mobile will hang in for at least the year. Amp’d prepaid rate, combined with (now free) EV-DO, actually provides comparative advantage to carrier offerings. Throwing around Motorola E815’s for $40 will keep them in business. If they can get a Motorola Q on prepaid as well, they may be able to lure business customers with a second line… boosting millions of new adds potentially.
9) Sprint will restructure prepaid. Boost will head over to CDMA as soon as QChat lands, Virgin will continue. Boost may be co-branded as Sprint Prepaid to better position it as a first-party offering. Data will be cheap, voice will be semi-cheap.
10) EV-DO will be completely Rev A by CTIA ‘08. All EV-DO Rev 0 deployments will be upgraded ASAP as carriers prepare for video calling network-wide. Sprint, using their agreements with Qualcomm, already has the hardware that makes this straightforward… Verizon will dole out the cash to compete.
