Quincy, always a pleasure to chat with someone on SI who has been a member about as long as I have.
We do love our voice calls. AT&T, Cingular, and VoiceStream try to keep up with SprintPCS offering free nights and weekends, free long distance and free roaming.
Oh my goodness, we agree :-)
There are drawbacks to that kind of marketing plan. Folks around me wonder if switching from a Nokia phone to an Ericsson phone will help them get a call through at night on Cingular's system.
Hmm, interesting point you pose. Let me first qualify my statement, I have been using AT&T Wireless before they enacted that "one rate" program. Of course, the system dropped calls and, at times, had horrible voice quality. Now, I have no qualms with it, however I digress.
When I got my service, I had some brick of a handset manufactured by Ericsson. In order to be able to use that "one rate" plan, I had to contact AT&T Wireless and they had to tell me whether, or not, I was able to use that plan, due to my handset. I assume the main reason I was able to enjoy that "one rate" service was b/c I had a dual band phone.
Hmm, you haven't provided enough details. Could it be that Nokia's phones are superior to Ericsson's? Or, could it be that Cingular is not on the level as AT&T?
Are they driving away high-ASP business customers because they can't get a call through?
That really depends. When do "business customers" typically utilize their cell phones. Take this from me, I have always had the luxury of using my cell phone off peak, after 5pm, or between the hours of 9am-5pm. I use my phone frequently and I cannot remember the time when I last received a "busy" due to no channels available.
Perhaps this is a "cingular" issue and not a TDMA/GSM issue?
But, what if Mom can get accurate position location implemented at the handset browser sent at the touch of the pound key?
We agreed before the "but". I believe that is a huge "but".
The FCC is mandating that wireless providers be able to determine a relatively accurate position of their users (read: not cell site). This is a huge cost, in order to recoup this cost, wireless providers must find revenue streams to, at least, minimize these costs.
As long as users have small, non-colorized screens, I assert that wireless data is dead. Until the time comes when users have large, color screens at "reasonable" prices will there be substantial growth in the market.
An analogy, let's look at trading stocks through your PDA over a wireless connection. Ameritrade (i think) had a commercial for that. Remember IBM's commercial with that person in a park with pidgeons on that wearable computer? I haven't seen any of those commericals. Additionally, I haven't seen a Sprint PCS commercial stating that one can buy things over the limited "internet" (or Amazon.com) they offer.
Wireless Data, or let's say the transmission of wireless data to a handheld, i.e. PDA, phone, device, is before its time. In the distant future, there is a strong possiblity that it will gain traction. Within the next 2 or 3 years, I believe it will not.
If you could download an MP3 to your handset in less time than it takes to play it and pay a nominal fee, would you do it?
I wouldn't, however I am a small "sample" size. However, I bet some users might. Will carriers recoup that cost?
Last year, I owned a couple of desktop machines at home and totally loved my Sprint ION DSL system for its close to 4mb/second transfer rate. Since then, I have purchased my first Vaio Laptop. It has Firewire, 10-baseT and USB ports so laptop expansion problems are now history. Plus, it draws about a tenth of the power compared to a desktop PC plus a monitor. Finally, a winblows<ggggg> machine I actually carry out to and use in the car (MP3 playback).
Now, now. Let's not openly attack MSFT. Didn't MSFT partner with Qualcomm for Wireless Knowledge and BREW?
Of course, the question I pose to you is this: How many users do you believe play MP3's via their notebook within their automobile?
I have observed SprintPCS coverage being greater across the US than DSL and cablemodems combined in rural areas.
I can believe that...... no argument here <gggg>
Sprint had better not wait too long for 1xEvDV.
As long as it is a cheap, and cost effective means for increasing voice capacity, I state "Do it".
If "data" by means of the added voice infrastructure is thrown in for free (or nearly free), offer data service. However, Sprint PCS (or most WSPS) IMHO are not "betting" on profitablity on offering data for the near future.
regards,
dave
BTW: where were you in my "neck of the woods"? |
