Entries tagged with “lost phone” from WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Due to pressure from animal rights group PETA, Sprint has agreed to stop showing the chimpanzee movie star spot in movie theatres "turn off your cell phone."

Sprint has issued the following statement:

"Sprint and its advertising agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, take all necessary precautions to ensure any animals appearing in Sprint advertising are taken care of and are treated well. As of July 3rd, an ad that appears in movie theatres and features a chimpanzee, will no longer be shown. Sprint will not feature great apes in future ads."

PETA's Liz Graffeo wrote in the PETA Blog:

"Chimpanzees and other great apes who are forced into the entertainment industry are ripped away from their mothers when they are only days old, are trained by being beaten, kicked, and punched, and are then discarded at filthy roadside zoos when they're no longer useful in show business."

Mformation research shows the great concern phone owners have about their data and their lifes.

A lot of information is now stored on mobile devices:

• 94% of users surveyed store telephone numbers.
• 65% also store address and other contact information on their phones.
• 83% have digital photos.
• 51% have videos.
• 48% have calendar information.
• 40% have music downloads.

They believe the trend of using the phone to store valuable and sensitive data from every aspect of life is set to continue. People are also worrying about losing their precious mobile phones.

• 82% of people fear that if their phones were lost or stolen, someone would use the information stored on them for fraudulent means.
• 90% of those questioned are worried about the loss of their personal data if a mobile device were to go missing.
• 72% admitting that the personal information stored on their devices would be difficult to replace.
• 40% of respondents even said that losing a mobile would be worse than losing their wallet.

Because mobile phones are being used for such a wide range of activities, when a device is lost, it can prove to be devastating for the user:  91% of people questioned in the UK and US said they would be "devastated" if they lost their mobile phones.

For this reason, Mformation contends that it unacceptable that three-quarters of the people interviewed said that it would take a day or more to get a new phone fully up and running with all their personal data after a loss or theft. In fact, 61% of people said that this should take 2 hours or less.

AT&T will start offering cloud storage for web accessible devices, this month. AT&T Synaptic Storage is a storage-on-demand distribution and retrieval of their data from any location, anytimevia the web..

Customers will be able to specify their storage criteria -- called user policies -- through a web-based customer portal. The service automatically scales storage capacity up or down as needed, and users pay only for the amount they use.

Alltel Wireless launched "My Circle," in 2006 that allowed customers to make and receive calls to and from any number on any network.  Starting tomorrow, Alltel  customers on "My Circle 10" and "My Circle 20" calling plans will automatically receive an additional five numbers for unlimited calling.  

With the addition of five numbers to "My Circle," Alltel customers in these 91 CMAs in 22 states will now have unlimited calling to more of the people that matter most to them.  The new "My Circle 15," previously "My Circle 10," and "My Circle 25," previously "My Circle 20," will maintain the same competitive rates.  "My Circle 15" starts at $59.99 per month and includes 900 anytime minutes, and "My Circle 25" starts at $99.99 per month and includes 2,100 anytime minutes.   The five additional numbers will be automatically available to existing "My Circle" customers on eligible plans.

In the 91 Cellular Market Areas (CMAs) that Verizon is required to divest, Alltel will continue to operate as Alltel Wireless until they are sold.

comScore, has been keeping score on wireless handsets, plans and e-commerce, with their e-commerce dashboard. Flagship phones generated revenue while discounts, free phones and other offers fueled volume sales, noted the report. Substantial numbers of phones sold on carriers websites were free phones with 75% of AT&T's phones sold were gratis.

Revenue was generated by the big-guns, the "flagship" phones. Three of the four flagship phones (iPhone, T- Mobile HTC G1, and BlackBerry Storm) ranked as the top revenue driver on their respective sites, while being ranked just inside the top ten models in terms of unit volume.

Meanwhile, Sprint's flagship phone, the Samsung Instinct, ranked lower than the others - #7 in terms of revenue and #15 by unit sales.

Flagship Phone Unit Sales (New, Postpaid Lines Only) November 2008 - January 2009 Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Wireless E-Commerce Report
Wireless Carrier Site	Phone	Ranking by Sales Revenue	Ranking by Unit Sales
AT&T	Apple iPhone	1	9
Sprint	Samsung Instinct	7	15
T-Mobile	HTC G1	1	8
Verizon	Blackberry Storm	1	8

 

"Given what we saw with the other three carriers, it was surprising that the Samsung Instinct didn't rank higher in terms of sales or unit revenue on the Sprint site, particularly given its strong performance overall for Sprint," said Brian Jurutka, comScore vice president. "This finding underscores some of the key differences between the online and offline sales channels, thereby giving carriers a better understanding of handset market dynamics and the actionable insights needed to modify their product offerings, messaging, and user experience depending on the channel."

A Swedish newspaper, Affarsvarlden has reported that Ericsson has an outsourcing contract with Sprint.

Ericsson has won a service contract from Sprint worth several billion dollars.. The contract is for the operation of Sprint’s mobile phone networks and will last for several years

he contract is a surprise given that Sprint operates a so-called CDMA network, a standard that Ericsson no longer supports.

The contract value is estimated at just over 2 billion dollars, one of the greatest of all time for the company.

Ericsson will take care of the Sprint center and also in the spider web of contacts with Sprint’s suppliers.

The order from Sprint would mean the third major contract for Ericsson in the U.S. market.

In a news release, AT&T says that  demand for connectivity remains strong and they will invest $17 billion to $18 billion in 2009 in its wireless and wired broadband networks.

Approximately two-thirds of AT&T's 2009 investment will extend and enhance the company's wireless and wired broadband networks. To support increased customer demand in mobility, broadband and video, the company plans to add nearly 3,000 jobs in 2009.

On the downside they expect to reduce jobs in other areas - primarily wireline - due to economic pressures, a more streamlined organizational structure and continued shift among residential customers from wired voice services to wireless and broadband.

As providers and developers increasingly focus on tapping the potential of the mobile Internet, AT&T's broadband investment priorities include multiple projects designed to enhance its #g network. With 3G services now available in nearly 350 U.S. metropolitan areas, the company will focus in 2009 on enhancing coverage and reliability across this footprint, including the planned addition of more than 2,100 new cell sites across the country. Additionally, AT&T will expand 3G service to 20 new markets this year.

If you are wondering if Alltel still exists after the Verizon purchase, yes it is still operating in parts of 22 states. Alltel Wireless subscribers in portions of 22 states, will be part of Alltel. These territories were not included in the company's recent sale to Verizon Wireless. 

As part of the Verizon Wireless-Alltel Wireless merger, which closed Jan. 9, 2009, Verizon agreed to sell - or divest - 105 wireless markets.  In total, the divested territories operate in 22 states nationwide with annual revenue of $1.5 billion, serve 2.2 million customers, employ over 2,500 workers and operate more than 120 retail locations. 

Alltel is continuing to provide service in states including Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.  Merger information and updates are available at www.alltel.com. 

Customers with questions regarding service can visit their nearest retail store or call Customer Service at 1-800-Alltel-1. Alltel Wireless continues to be an industry-le

AT&T promised to bring 5,000 jobs back to the United States and was able a least get 3,000 of them back by the end of 2008.

An AT&T news release states “The company has met its goal of bringing back on shore and in-house more than 3,000 jobs that previously had been outsourced by BellSouth outside the U.S., and it met its goal of completing this repatriation before the end of 2008.”

The bulk of thejobs are now located in broadband support centers in North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Kentucky, with most of the others scattered across states in the Southeast.

AT&T is more than halfway toward its goal of bringing back another 2,000 outsourced jobs to locations in the former SBC territory; states where these jobs have been located include Indiana, Texas, Nevada, Michigan and Arkansas. Most of the jobs provide support for wired broadband customers.

According to Boy Genius Report and leaked Verizon documents, Verizon is ending it’s “worry-free” test drive program where you could get out of a contract in 30 days without paying for the air-time, usage and taxes when you changed carriers.

It’s hinted that some “people” would run up a high phone bill than bail out.  After February 15, customers who want get out of their contracts in the first thirty days will they still have to pay their bills. No Early Termination fee will be charged it the customer ends service within 30 days of sign-up.

Verizon is also changing the New Every Two program in which a discount is given on a new phone when a customer agrees to another 2-year contract. Presently, customers with a monthly calling plan that is $79.99 and greater receive a $100 NE2 discount on a new handset. Starting Febraury 15, that discount will be reduced to $50. Customers with a monthly calling plan of $34.99 to $79.98 will receive a $30 discount instead of the current $50.

Sprint Nextel Corp. will to reduce internal and external labor costs by approximately $1.2 billion by cutting 8,000 jobs.

The reduction total includes approximately 850 positions expected to be eliminated under a voluntary separation plan started late last year.

"Labor reductions are always the most difficult action to take, but many companies are finding it necessary in this environment," said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. "We continue to improve the customer experience and these improvements are reflected in much higher levels of satisfaction in customer surveys and in independent performance tests. Our commitment to quality will not change."

Sprint has seen a notable reduction in calls per subscriber to customer care and increased customer satisfaction resulting from customer service improvements. They have great customer service but somehow don't seem to keeping their customers. Go figure...

Sprint is offering a new group of flat-rate plans for Nextel Direct Connect. The new plans include unlimited Direct Connect, Group Connect, Mobile-to-Mobile, Text Messaging and Picture Mail, starting at $29.99 per month. These plans are supposed to save businesses money because the offer unlimited connections within the employee workgroups saving more costly pay per minute phone use.

Their news release notes that with other mobile providers, a business is asked to choose a plan based on monthly anytime voice minutes required per user and then pay incrementally for features such as push-to-talk, text messaging and picture mail. While this approach makes sense for consumers, businesses use mobile communications tools differently and need plans to address the fact that most communication occurs between workgroup members.

With Nextel Direct Connect Custom Plans, the focus is on key services used most by workgroups, which are bundled with unlimited usage, at a low flat monthly rate. A business can then attach a bucket of anytime voice minutes to be shared with the entire workgroup.

The stress on cell phone networks form the millions of people attending the presidential inauguration is expected to cause dropped calls, delayed text messages and data loads.

"If some of these estimates come true, people should anticipate delays with regards to sending text messages or making phone calls or getting onto the Internet," said Joe Farren, spokesman for the CTIA .

"If there are 4 million people on the mall streaming video, sending pictures, or calling, there could be congestion," said Farren.

CTIA has asked people to send text messages instead of making phone calls and to send photos only after the event. Problems can occur because sending MMS or photographs takes up a lot of bandwidth. They also suggest that cell-users have a back-up plan. They suggest that visitors establish a rendezvous place and time to connect with your party, or try moving to an area where there is less congestion for better reception.

Verizon has added a 3-cent fee for all mobile-terminated messages delivered across its network beginning Nov. 1. An email was sent by Verizon partner OpenMarket.

This change will affect the mobile content providers who rely on text for their business. Mobile content providers and aggregators are concerned the rate increase will cause advertisers to eliminate their text programs.  Verizon says that they need to cover costs. 

This story is worth following because Verizon seems to haven gotten so much "bad" press they sent out an official statement and give their two cents worth of opinion you can read by clicking on continue reading.

For a seventh consecutive reporting period, T-Mobile ranked highest among the five largest wireless carriers in customer service performance, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Wireless Customer Care Performance Study Volume 1.

Now in its sixth year, the semi-annual study provides a detailed report card on how well wireless providers service their customers in three point-of-contact methods: telephone calls with a service representative and/or automated response system (ARS); visits to a retail wireless store; and online Internet connection. Within each contact method, processing issues such as problem resolution efficiency and hold-time duration are also measured. With an index score of 105, T-Mobile ranks highest in wireless customer care performance, followed by Verizon Wireless (101), Alltel, (99) and AT&T (99).

In particular, customers report that T-Mobile displays strong performance in resolving problems in one contact and in its ARS point-of-contact method. “The fact that T-Mobile performs well in handling issues with regard to the ARS channel is particularly noteworthy,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates.

J.D. Power Ratings of Carriers
T-Mobile - Award Recipient 5 out of 5
Alltel - 3 out of 5
AT&T - 3 out of 5
Sprint Nextel -  2 out of 5
Verizon Wireless - 4 out of 5

The study also finds several key wireless customer care patterns:

• Forty-seven percent of wireless customers have contacted the customer care service center for assistance within the past year. Additionally, among customers who contacted the service department, 42 percent had a billing-related service inquiry and 57 percent of these contacts were attributed to inaccurate charges.
• Among customers who contact their carrier, 73 percent do so by telephone while 23 percent do so through their carrier’s retail store. E-mail/Internet interactions account for only 4 percent of customer contacts.
• The average initial reported hold time on calls to the customer care service center is 3.89 minutes—up from 3.17 minutes in the last reporting period (July 2007). Additionally, customers who visit the carrier’sretail store report.

GLENDALE, Ariz. - When a capacity crowd of more than 73,000 fans pack University of Phoenix Stadium for pro football’s ‘Big Game’ on Feb. 3, Alltel Wireless has ensured the stadium has the wireless network infrastructure in place to keep them connected from kickoff until the final whistle. As Official Wireless Provider of the Arizona Cardinals and University of Phoenix Stadium, Alltel Wireless is the only wireless carrier to own and operate a cell site located directly inside the stadium.

Whether rooting for New York or New England, the exclusive on-premise tower will provide fans with wireless coverage throughout the facility -including high-speed data services on Alltel’s Axcess Broadband EvDO network.

“There’s no question that fans in the stadium will want to share their ultimate football experiences with those that matter most by making phone calls and sending countless text, picture and video messages,” said Gary Bailey, director of network operations for Alltel Wireless. “With our exclusive in-stadium cell site, our customers and any fans attending ‘The Big Game’ can be confident that those important calls and messages will get through.”

Alltel’s Axcess Broadband service provides wireless access to the Internet at speeds comparable to wired broadband connections such as cable modem or DSL. Fans at the game will be able to surf the Web for statistics, game updates, video clips and photos, as well as access e-mail and download large, graphic-rich files right from their seats at speeds of up to 2.4 Mbps.

Verizon Wireless  announced that it will allow customers use their own devices on the Verizon network by the end of 2008.

In early 2008, the company will publish the technical standards the development community will need.  Any device that meets the minimum technical standard will be activated on the network. Devices will be tested and approved in a $20 million state-of-the-art testing lab which received an additional investment this year to gear up for the anticipated new demand. Any application the customer chooses will be allowed on these devices.

Verizon is now offering a plan that allows unlimited calling between customers’ home phones and their Verizon wireless phones,  200 wireless minutes, unlimited landline calls and other features for a $59.99 a month.

It appears that the  plan is aimed at young people who don’t have a landline phone and at people who don’t have a cellphone.

10/01/2007 Coverage of Wireless and Mobile News Launch:
   
    PR Leap, PR.com, Fast Pitch, and PRZoom

It is interesting to note that only the PR.com release appeared in Google News search. While previous news releases coverage of Google News was found previously with PR Zoom and Fast Pitch.

In October 2008 we released this news release "Wireless and Mobile News Readership Triples" on WidespreadPR.com.

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