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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: slacker711 who wrote (19805)	3/3/2002 3:46:59 PM
From: Dexter Lives On	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196650

Nokia continues to hedge their bets in a variety of technological directions. Pretty smart in that it will help ensure their survival in the new wireless world order. Some other companies are not being so smart about it - taking big bets in one specific direction. Of course some are so far gone they have no choice but to stick with their cards and hope for the best. That Mobilcom post certainly illustrates that - when a couple of these SP's go under, the cascade effect will be nothing short of spectacular... unless you're on the wrong side of the falling dominoes, I guess. IMHO. Rob

To: slacker711 who wrote (19805)	3/4/2002 9:19:42 AM
From: slacker711	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196650

Sprint PCS, It's Up To You wirelessweek.com By Andrew Seybold March 4, 2002 Wireless Week Will we see a dramatic increase in the number of wireless data users in 2002? Well, it depends on what Sprint PCS does with its pricing when it goes live this year. If it sets prices similar to the other wireless operators, 2002 won't be a great year for wireless data. But if Sprint PCS takes a leadership position in pricing, we could have a great year. Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless recently cut prices. Cingular dropped the price of the first megabyte of data from $50 to $7, and subsequent MBs from $70 to $30. AT&T added so many pricing options that its per-MB price is anywhere from $2.50 to $10. Its overcharge is $0.0075 per KB or $7.50 per MB. VoiceStream Wireless is pricing data depending on the type of device used, and Verizon Wireless is catering to laptop users and offering data at $30 per month with a per-minute charge equal to voice minutes. I find it interesting that although these wireless operators want data users, they don't seem as eager to obtain them as they once were. Perhaps operators are moving more cautiously because of the negative press about wireless data. They want to replicate the success of i-mode in Japan (30 million-plus data users) or even the three South Korean operators (4 million-plus), but they're concerned about balancing voice and data services, return on investment and growing quarterly adds. It's a balancing act to be sure, but I believe it can be done and Wall Street will see that there is a wireless data business. Enter Sprint PCS. Sprint PCS is serious about data. It's waiting to turn on its network until the entire system is ready and it has indicated that its prices will enable software developers and information providers to make money. With CDMA2000 1X, Sprint PCS has the capacity to keep its voice customers happy and offer reasonable pricing for data services. Suppose Sprint PCS were to use the pricing models I believe will create a wireless data market. Sprint PCS could make a big push into data because it spent only $700 million upgrading its network and got increased voice capacity along with data. Like it or not, other operators would have to follow its lead or fall behind. If data access was affordable and companies offering it understood that customers need flexibility in pricing, we might be able to add millions of data subscribers this year. Above is a pricing model I think would attract a large number of users. It's flexible enough to entice early adopters as well as corporate users. My model isn't based on an instant return on investment, but rather on building a data market. Each type of device would be priced somewhat differently–the more data that can be sent over the network, the more the user should pay. Because most laptop users don't travel every month, setting both a monthly fee and pricing by the KB or minute is the wrong approach. There should be unlimited flat-rate pricing as well as pricing for the occasional user. I would require each data user to have a voice account in order to maximize my income per user. I'd offer additional content that customers may want to purchase on a per-transaction basis over and above their monthly rate. I would offer flexible corporate rates that take into account the number of devices, permitting the company to mix and match them. I would offer special pricing for customers using one or more devices–they could use their phones to be notified of data waiting and then fire up their notebooks and retrieve it. I can hear it now, echoing down the halls of Cingular, AT&T, VoiceStream and even Verizon: "We can't make money at these prices, we'd go broke!" Well, if they don't get serious about their data pricing, they may end up having to explain why wireless data hasn't turned into the gold mine they predicted. Hypothetical Consumer-Attracting Pricing Plans Wireless phone with browser $9.95 per month unlimited use $0.10 per transaction for occasional users Smart phones $19.95 per month unlimited usage $0.12 per transaction for occasional users PDAs/BlackBerry-type devices $39.95 per month unlimited usage $0.15 per transaction for occasional users Laptops $49.95 per month unlimited usage* $0.20 per transaction for occasional users *Laptop users should be permitted unlimited usage unless they want to download a single file that is larger than 2 MB. In this case, they should be charged a "transaction