Posted by Jason on Mar 24, 2008 in
Announcements |
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We’ve been writing about the cell phone market at the Skydeck blog for almost a year without ever saying what Skydeck plans to do. That’s been pretty frustrating, since what we’re working on has implications for many of the problems that we’ve talked about here.
Skydeck still hasn’t launched — you need an invitation to join our beta test — but as of today we’re no longer a secret.
Skydeck is building an online service that will help people to take control of their cell phones and their cell phone bills.
First, we’re unlocking the valuable information hidden in your cell phone bill. (more…)
If you thought that the debate about open access was over, it’s really just begun.
Last week the FCC announced that Verizon and AT&T were the big winners in the 700 MHz auction, as expected. In particular Verizon won the ‘C’ block, the nationwide license to which open access conditions apply.
Now the regulators have to decide what the open access provisions really mean, and how they’re going to be enforced.
For most of us, open access means ‘any application on any device’: you can attach any compatible device to the network and run any application that the device is capable of running. Verizon used similar language last year when the company announced that it was going to open up its existing network to ‘any application, any device.’ (more…)
Posted by jaked on Mar 7, 2008 in
Programming |
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The next BayFP meeting is Wednesday, March 12th. Something a little different this time (although with some connections to Burak Emir’s talk last month about pattern matching in Scala); I’ll be speaking about Twelf.
(more…)
Posted by Dan on Feb 25, 2008 in
Announcements |
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This week’s Carnival of the Mobilists, hosted by Taptu, summarizes some of the best mobile stories and blog perspectives of the week.
First off, we appreciate Taptu highlighting our story about SJA Mobile. Other topics include mobile applications, local search, the death of the mobile app, solutions for device fragmentation, Google’s Android, Twitter addiction (in a good way), implementation possibilities for mobile web 2.0, MWC recaps, ideas for Nokia apps synergies, and more.
Posted by Jason on Feb 22, 2008 in
Mobile Market |
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Within 24 hours of each other this week Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all announced unlimited nationwide calling plans that start at $99.99. T-Mobile’s plan includes text messaging as well.
The analysts and the journalists and Wall Street all cried ‘Price War‘ and Verizon’s stock price dropped 10% before recovering. We think they were all overreacting, to say the least.
There’s a big difference between the advertised price of the voice plan and the total amount of the bill.
The average total bill in the US is about $60 per line ($53 according to the CTIA, plus taxes). All of the coverage so far can be summarized as “$100 is way more than $60, but it must still affect a whole lot of people, right?” Wrong.
$60 includes the voice plan, text messaging, email, web browsing, ringtones, games, premium text messages, 411, international roaming, activation fees, equipment protection, roadside assistance, state and federal surcharges, late fees, just-for-the-hell-of-it fees, and taxes. Voice costs only $40 per line on average including roaming and overage charges.
So how many people spend $100 or more on voice every month? According to Verizon, one half of one per cent of all their subscribers. Do they contribute a disproportionate amount of revenue? No. If every single one of them switched to the new plan, Verizon’s revenue would drop by one third of one per cent.
If rumors of a $60 unlimited plan from Sprint are correct, all bets are off. But $99.99 is a phony war.
UPDATE 2/28: Sprint comes in at $89.99 for unlimited voice and a bundle of data services for another ten bucks. On the quarterly conference call, CEO Dan Hesse admits that the number of subscribers spending $100 or more per line is in the low to mid single digit percentage range. (Or in English, less than 5%.) Nothing to see here, move along.
Posted by Jason on Feb 21, 2008 in
Mobile Market,
Phones,
Public Policy |
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zzzPhone is a brave attempt to take the build-to-order model pioneered by Dell for PCs and apply it to the cell phone market. Several blogs have covered them and the New York Times picked up the story today.
This is the kind of innovation that open access makes possible. The market for the zzzPhone today is probably no more than a few tens of thousands of units worldwide, so it wouldn’t make sense for a major carrier to do a deal with them. But zzzPhone doesn’t need permission from a cell phone company to launch; their phones will work on any GSM network, including AT&T and T-Mobile in the US.
But even with open access, there are big challenges ahead for zzzPhone. PCs are not like cell phones and the Dell model may not succeed.
(more…)
Posted by Dan on Feb 20, 2008 in
Consumer Advice,
Mobile Market |
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Since we posted about mystery charges from SJA Mobile a few things have happened that confirm our suspicions and also suggest that SJA has taken notice.
We are not the only ones. Comments on our blog and posts on HowardForums reveal that lots of people have been on the wrong end of charges from SJA Mobile, most of them Sprint customers.
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Posted by Dan on Feb 5, 2008 in
Mobile Market |
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My Sprint bill contained an odd new charge this month: SJA Mobile: Alerts – SJA Mobile Alerts – 01/03 $4.99
I had never heard of SJA Mobile, so I dug around on their website. It seems that all they do is offer refunds. But for what service?
It looks like SJA Mobile acquires lists of cell phone numbers, sends blank or meaningless text messages to each number, and then adds $4.99 or $9.99 to the customer’s bill each month until the victim customer figures it out and cancels.
(more…)
Posted by Dan on Jan 28, 2008 in
Mobile Market |
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It’s time for the Carnival, and we’ve got plenty of freshly popped mobile insights for you.
This has been yet another big week for mobile, with the 700 mhz auction kicking off last Thursday and a number of the big carriers (Verizon, ATT) announcing strong growth in their wireless businesses.
So without delay, lets get to the stories, starting with my pick for this week’s best post.
The 700 mhz auction began last Thursday, and has the potential to change the game of wireless as we know it. In our best post this week, John Puterbaugh from Nellymoser lays down a concise yet thorough review of the 700 mhz auction that defines (more…)
Posted by Dan on Jan 24, 2008 in
Mobile Market |
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AT&T’s new SIM-only option is a positive step towards open access, and opens a new chapter in the US cell phone service market. However, it also highlights just how far behind the US is compared to the rest of the world.
A few days ago AT&T began offering customers the option to purchase cell phone service online without buying a phone, but the deal made no sense. The service-only SIM cost $5 ($10 minus $5 online rebate), but required you to commit to a standard 2-year contract. Elsewhere on the site you can get a free phone in return for signing a 2-year contract. There’s nothing to stop you from selling the phone on eBay and keeping the SIM. Why pay $5 to NOT get a free phone?
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