Does anybody have leverage with Apple?
responds Dan Hesse of Sprint to Charlie Rose in this interview
Wow, I never thought I would hear a telecom CEO say that about any device maker. It is the new reality as I wrote in my recent book:
Prior to Apple introducing the iPhone, carriers pai…
Verizons repeated miscues with the iPhone
Its unlimited iPhone data plan was a differentiator from AT&T, but it could not resist moving to tiered plans. Why? Ostensibly because smartphone users are “data hogs”. Well, here is a reality check from Consumer Reports “…the median Verizon smart phone customer gets the worst deal. He pays top dollar, $30 for 2GB, and at [...]
Changing Expectations
I was flying across the US last week and was really annoyed to find that my flight didn’t have Wifi. I mean really, 6 hours without an Internet connection, how would I get anything done? Of course when I have…
The incredibly fragmenting telecom market
Ok, so the title may sound strange as we brace for another round of telecom consolidation via ATT-T-Mobile. But as I recently reviewed family and business telecom expenses for tax filings, I was impressed that AT&T and Verizon are on pace to be less than 20% of our telecom spend after being the dominant vendors [...]
The Itch is Back
The good news is I received my Gingerbread update on my Nexus One. It arrived on Wednesday morning – the day of the iPad 2 announcement (imagine that, what a coincidence). Gingerbread is very nice – it’s the first time that I can truly say that Android works as seamlessly as iOS – there aren’t any new [...]
The Honeymoon Ends in Despair: The Sad Sad Case of Verizon Wireless
For years – since the first one was released – I had an iPhone. I had the iPhone, then the 3G, the 3GS and the 4. For me to continue to acquire that fashion statement, I had to suck it up and go back to AT&T, a carrier that I hated for eons – because [...]
Android Phone Without Google Voice? Yes, But What a Deal! You Get What You Pay for @ Virgin Mobile.
News of Virgin Mobile starting to sell an Android phone is disruptive, to say the least. Not because of the phone – it’s a dinky little Samsung Intercept – but because of the plans. They are all contract-free, and start at $25. The basic level only gives you 300 minutes to talk, but it includes [...]
Burning Questions: Do telcos understand variable cost economics?
Somewhere from my fuzzy recollection of economics classes, I seem to remember that as products evolved in their lifecycles, you moved from “charge what market will bear” to “variable cost pricing “ – i.e. make sure price covers your variable costs and there is some left over to cover residual fixed costs. If anything, I [...]
Life with Evo
2 weeks ago I wrote about switching camps from iPhone to Android, and with the news today that Android is now outselling iPhone I figured I could either take credit for the shift or do something far more useful and write a short post about my experiences so far. To recap, I dumped iPhone/AT&T for [...]
Skype Blocks Fring – Or Not? Fingerpointing… But Where is Skype for Android?
Just two days ago I reported how mobile video call app Fring enabled making video calls on 3G, even to other platforms, say Skype. That was a huge improvement for iPhone users, since their native Facetime only allows iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 calls, and only over wi-fi. But the new option proved to be [...]
