Entries tagged with “ctia” from WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Today, CTIA-The Wireless Association announced the industry trade group's newly elected Board of Directors' Officers. They are: AT&T Mobility President and CEO Ralph de la Vega as Chairman; Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse as Vice Chairman; Asurion CEO Bret Comolli as Treasurer; Cellcom President and CEO Patrick Riordan as Secretary; and T-Mobile USA President and CEO Robert Dotson as Chairman Emeritus.

The Officers were chosen by CTIA's Board of Directors and will serve a one-year term beginning January 1, 2010.

"These distinguished wireless industry leaders have a wealth of knowledge and experience that will greatly benefit the Association and the overall industry. I look forward to working with these Officers in the coming year as we continue to advocate on behalf of the wireless industry and the more than 276 million U.S. wireless subscribers on many important issues at the federal and state legislatures and regulatory agencies," said Steve Largent, CTIA-The Wireless Association President and CEO.

CTIA's latest surveys shows gains in data revenues, text messaging, wireless users, and an increase o 100 billion miinutes.

Wireless revenues showed impressive year-to year gains. Wireless data service revenues for the year 2008 rose to more than $32 billion. This show a 39% increase over 2007, when data revenues totaled $23.2 billion. Wireless data revenues for 2008 amounted to nearly 22% of all wireless service revenues, and represent what consumers spend on non-voice services.

According to the survey, text messaging continues to be enormously popular, with more than one trillion text messages carried on carriers' networks in 2008--breaking down to more than 3.5 billion messages per day. That's almost triple the number from 2007, when 363 billion text messages were transmitted. Wireless subscribers are also sending more pictures and other multi-media messages with their mobile devices, with 15 billion MMS messages reported for 2008, up from 6 billion the year before.

As of December 2008, the survery recorded more than 270 million wireless users. This represents a year-over-year increase of nearly 15 million subscribers. The industry's 12-month record for subscriber growth was reached in 2005, when 25.7 million new users came online.

Other highlights of the surveyinclude: wireless customers using more than 2.2 trillion minutes in 2008, an increase of 100 billion minutes from 2007, and record-breaking six-month wireless service revenues of more than $75 billion with annual service revenues reaching $148 billion by year-end 2008.

 The CTIA Semi Annual Wireless Industry Survey results were released this morning at International CTIA WIRELESS 2009.

Alltel has chosen the Long Term Evolution standard over WiMAX for its transition to 4G. To many pundits it was not a suprize because Alltel often follows Verizon’s lead.

Alltel also showed an 11% increase in revenue and reported an additional million gross wireless customers during the first quarter.

Alltel Wireless and Samsung announced that the Samsung Muse is now available in Alltel Wireless retail stores and online at shopalltel.com. The Samsung Muse enables music lovers to always have their favorite music tunes within reach.

The midnight blue Muse is a flip-phone providing customers with the ability to store with up to 64MB of internal memory. The Muse has a dedicated music key, which provides users with immediate access to an MP3 player, music library, ringtones, and a free trial offer to preview 20 popular satellite music channels on Alltel’s XM Radio Mobile service. Additionally, the Muse features Alltel’s Axcess TV, GPS-based Axcess Mobile Guide, a 2.0 megapixel camera with video and stereo Bluetooth technology for customers wanting a total multimedia experience.

Alltel Wireless is offering the Samsung Muse for $89.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate. This discounted price is available to new customers who sign-up for a two-year service agreement and to existing eligible customers on qualifying rate plans.

“The Samsung Muse provides customers with the perfect combination of music features and wireless functionality,” states Brian Ullem, vice president of device strategy at Alltel Wireless. “Anyone looking to use their phone as a portable music device will be thrilled with the Muse’s extensive capabilities that make their favorite songs available at their fingertips.”

Alltel Wireless, and LG Electronics Mannounced that the highly anticipated Glimmer by LG will be exclusively available in Alltel retail stores and online at shopalltel.com beginning, March 13. With a slide-out keypad and touch-screen interface, the LG Glimmer incorporates traditional phone functions with the latest multimedia features. The LG Glimmer is loaded with a 2 MP camera with video capabilities, an MP3 player with customizable equalizer, an expandable memory slot and is GPS capable. This phone has several of Alltel’s Axcess applications including Alltel Navigation, Axcess Search, CityID and Axcess TV. In addition, users can listen to their favorite music while utilizing other multimedia features on the phone, such as taking photos, recording video or sending text messages. The Glimmer also features 3D graphics support and 128MB of internal memory. The LG Glimmer also supports Alltel’s new service, Axcess Voice2TXT.

Alltel announced a major expansion to “My Circle,” with the introduction of “My Circle 5” and “My Circle 20” - two new options now offered in addition to the original “My Circle 10” that allows free calling to circle of 10 phone numbers. Now new and existing customers can take advantage of this exclusive calling feature.

For almost two years, customers on rate plans of $59.99 or higher have taken advantage of “My Circle 10,” allowing them to choose who they call for free - any 10 numbers on any network. With the addition of these two new “My Circle” options, now there is a circle for everyone. New and existing customers on any rate plan of $49.99 or higher will receive “My Circle 5” and the ability to choose any five numbers on any network for unlimited free calling. Customers on calling plans of $99.99 or higher will benefit from “My Circle 20,” providing unlimited calling to any 20 numbers on any network for free.

Alltel Wireless, and SpinVox, the leading provider of Voice-to-Screen messaging, launched a new service called Voice2TXT. The launch makes Alltel Wireless the first of the five largest U.S. carriers to offer its customers the ability to receive voicemails in text form.

Voice2TXT is available on any Alltel Wireless SMS text message capable phone and quickly converts incoming voicemails to text messages in the customer’s inbox. This innovative service allows the user to discretely respond to voicemails in any setting without having to dial and listen to voicemail messages. Voice2TXT also allows customers to store and forward converted voicemails as regular text messages as well as retrieve the original voicemail should they choose to do so.

The service is available in a variety of pricing options: $4.99 per month for 20 voicemail conversions (each additional is 25 cents); $9.99 per month for 50 conversions (each additional is 20 cents); and $19.99 per month for 100 conversions (each additional is 10 cents). For more information visit www.alltel.com/voice2txt.

Alltel Wireless, announced the availability of TimecardGPS, an application that enables users to track an employee’s location, record shift time and capture job or work order information from LBS-enabled wireless phones.

Available for $12.49 per handset per month, the service covers:

• Tracking - Enables supervisors to request field workers’ locations, track movement and set up “smart fences” to determine employee location.
• Team Clock-in and Out - Allows a supervisor to clock-in and clock-out employees as well as capture individual task information on a single wireless device.
• Real-time job tracking - Sends real-time job information from field workers to employers, complete with tasks, subtasks and editable fields.
• Customized reports - Supplies electronic reports with payroll, job costing and productivity information.
• Web log-in - Provides real-time access to field workers’ positions, timesheet and job information via the Internet.

“In today’s fast-paced business environment, there is a need for supervisors to have rapid access to information regarding their field employees and their progress,” said David Maddox, director of advanced data solutions for Alltel Wireless. “The TimecardGPS application provides a supervisor instant information on an employee’s exact location and job completion data.”

For more information on TimecardGPS, please visit www.alltelsolutions.com/timecardgps.

Alltel Wireless, announced the launch of Axcess Family Finder, a service that enables parents to determine the location of their child’s Axcess Family Finder-capable (GPS enabled) phone from the Web or their mobile phone.

Axcess Family Finder features easy-to-use interactive maps to monitor or guide family members to specific locations. The service also allows parents to identify specific areas that their children frequent, including movie theaters and parks, by using the Axcess Family Finder Web site, www.alltel.com/familyfinder.

The service, developed for Alltel by WaveMarket Inc., is available for $9.99 a month per child application.

Alltel announced that the Federal Communications Commission has approved the company’s merger with TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners (GSCP).

Alltel expects the merger to close before Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22. At close, Alltel shareholders will receive $71.50 per share in cash.

Alltel operates America’s largest wireless network, which delivers voice and advanced data services nationwide to more than 12 million customers. Headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., Alltel is a Forbes 500 company with annual revenues of nearly $8 billion.

Alltel Wireless, today launched Alltel Wi-Fi, powered by Boingo Wireless that  provides customers with laptop access to thousands of hotspots throughout North and South America.

Alltel also provides wireless broadband access via Alltel Wireless Internet service, allowing customers to access the Internet from their laptop or smartphone at speeds of up to 2.4 Mbps on its nationwide data network.