Page 1 2 3 Page 1 2 3 | FRIDAY - DECEMBER 16, 2005 - ISSUE NO. 191 |
Dear friends of Wireless Messaging, A+ Carter Blumeyer gets the A+ this week for his follow-up report on emergency communications, the reliability of ReFLEX, and his work as a Communications Specialist in Urban Search and Rescue for FEMA. Don't miss it in the LETTERS TO THE EDITOR section on page three. He is the one who sent the now famous message from New Orleans on his P-935 ReFLEX pager to me while deployed by FEMA right after Hurricane Katrina. A reader has 2,000 Motorola Scriptor LX2 POCSAG pagers on 152.450 MHz. They are brand new and not refurbished. He is willing to re-crystalise and tune the pagers within the VHF band. Please contact me if you are interested. Be sure to check out the Wireless Messaging T-Shirt at the end of page three. It has been reported that wearing this T-Shirt cures feeblemindedness, envy, impure thoughts, and a multiplicity of other ailments. Results may vary. I sent one to Ron Mercer and expect to receive a full report from him after the holidays. But seriously, Ron mercer's paper on the advantages of ReFLEX has recently been updated—it is very good. I can think of a half-dozen companies that are working on new advertising for the newsletter. This support of the newsletter is sincerely appreciated. Current circulation consists of around 2,000 regular readers in about 50 countries. There are many more occasional readers. Support comes from paid advertising and voluntary contributions. Donations of any amount can be made through PayPal by clicking on the DONATE button: There are two more Fridays left this year. I can't promise that there will be a newsletter on both of them since I am a little behind on my consulting work, and I need to get caught up with that and with invoicing for the advertising in the newsletter. Rest assured there will be immediate bulletins about any significant wireless events that may occur, and most likely complete newsletters as well. It all depends on how much work I get done. Just in case, I want to wish everyone an early Merry Christmas. Now on to the news and views. |
A new issue of The Wireless Messaging Newsletter gets posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon central US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the Internet. That way it doesn't fill up your incoming e-mail account. There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world's major Paging and Wireless Data companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers—so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It's all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology. I regularly get reader's comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Data communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my web site. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it. NOTE: This newsletter is best viewed at screen resolutions of 800x600 (good) or 1024x768 (better). Any current revision of web browser should work fine. Please notify me of any problems with viewing. This site is compliant with XHTML 1.0 transitional coding for easy access from wireless devices. (XML 1.0/ISO 8859-1.) MORE PAGES
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| WIRELESS NEWS |
BlackBerry Users Can Relax: NTP Won't Shut You Down
By Jerry Knight
Monday, December 12, 2005; D01
This column is for all those traumatized people who type with their thumbs.
You know who you are: You carry a little BlackBerry wherever you go, and you're freaked out by reports that your pocket e-mail machine could be shut down by a dispute over who holds the patent on portable text-messaging.
To all those BlackBerry users, including many Washington area lawyers, lobbyists and government workers, I send this message: Don't worry.
It's not bye-bye, BlackBerry. Santa Claus is more likely to fall down your chimney than your BlackBerry is to go black.
The BlackBerry blackout threat is the urban myth of the moment—a too-bad-not-to-be-true tale. Check with some patent and trademark lawyers and you'll find they think the odds of BlackBerry shutting down are extremely remote, even though it is legally possible.
"This is gamesmanship. Everybody's playing chicken, waiting to see who's going to blink first," said Scott Creasman, a patent lawyer in the firm Powell Goldstein LLP.
The case reminds me of the old National Lampoon cover showing a pistol pointed at the head of a lovable pooch with a headline, "Buy this magazine or we'll shoot this dog."
There is "a gun to BlackBerry's head," said Doug Miro, a partner with Ostrolenk, Faber, Gerb & Soffen LLP in New York. But, he added, the consequences of pulling the trigger are precisely why it's not going to happen.
The gun is in the hand of Washington lawyer James Wallace, who represents NTP Inc., the little Northern Virginia company that claims the patent on portable text messaging. In years of legal proceedings, NTP has won in every venue. Judges and juries have ruled that NTP's patent was knowingly violated by Research in Motion Ltd., the Canadian company that sells BlackBerrys.
When people infringe on a patent, one obvious solution is to make them stop. The other obvious solution is to make them pay.
Money is what the dispute over the BlackBerry patent is all about. A Virginia jury has ruled that NTP is entitled to 5.7 percent of RIM's BlackBerry sales. That's about $240 million so far. NTP's share could, by one estimate, total $3 billion before the patent expires.
That's why NTP isn't likely to shut down your BlackBerry
Its goal is to wring as much money as possible out of RIM. It's not going to collect any more money by getting an injunction to shut down the service and would probably get less.
"An injunction is crazy," Creasman said.
"To me, it wouldn't make a lot of sense," Miro said.
Still, the legal proceedings have now reached the "pay or die" stage.
Miro and Creasman agree with NTP lawyer Wallace on what could happen next.
If RIM won't agree to pay royalties, NTP can go to court and ask for an injunction prohibiting RIM from using NTP's patented technology, which could mean shutting down BlackBerry service in the entire United States.
"They stole our technology. They refuse to take a license," Wallace said. "Why shouldn't we shut them down? We have a right to."
Yes, he does, the two other lawyers agreed. "I've not seen a case in which the plaintiff [NTP in this case] prevailed and sought an injunction and was turned down," Miro said.
RIM's lawyers aren't talking. The Canadian company and its lawyers have played hardball all along and have done little to discourage people from thinking they could lose their BlackBerrys if NTP wins the case. It has said that it developed a "workaround" that would keep the devices running without using the disputed patent, but it has provided no details and some tech experts are skeptical that it could be done.
The bye-bye-BlackBerry threat is a variation on what has long been known in Washington as the "shut down the Washington Monument" ploy.
You know how this gambit works. Congress gets into a stalemate over the budget and some bureaucrat warns solemnly, "Well, if we don't get the money, we're going to have to close the Washington Monument to tourists." Or cut the high school football team. Or drain the swimming pools. Or whatever painfully symbolic sacrifice you can come up with.
In the end, BlackBerrys aren't likely to be shut down, but all the fear and trembling hasn't helped RIM's stock.
The people who have the most at stake in how the BlackBerry brawl ends are the stockholders of Research in Motion—and the speculators who have bet against BlackBerry by shorting RIM stock.
The short sellers—who borrow shares and then sell them, betting that they can buy them back later at a lower price—have made good money so far. Though BlackBerry sales have grown steadily, RIM stock is falling. It peaked at around $93 a share in October of last year and closed Friday at $64.13.
That's a $5 billion loss in market value—substantially more than is at stake in the patent case.
National Bank Financial Ltd., a Toronto investment firm, estimated that settling the dispute would cost RIM about $1 billion. It's a price the firm could easily afford, NBF notes, because RIM has $2 billion in cash.
So why not simply settle?
Perhaps it's a matter of pride. RIM is Canada's best-known high-tech company, the north-of-the-border equivalent of Microsoft or Google. It would be a real comedown for the Canadians to admit that their revolutionary product is based on U.S.-owned technology.
Source: The Washington Post
News Analysis
By Heather Green
NTP Sticks It to RIM
The outfit holding the vital patents has forged a new alliance—one that puts BlackBerry's U.S. service in greater jeopardy
Patent-holding company NTP, already locked in a bitter legal dispute with Research In Motion (RIMM), has stepped up pressure on its nemesis: It has forged an alliance that not only favors a RIM competitor, but could bolster NTP's case in the patent fight that threatens RIM's U.S. business.
On Dec. 14, NTP said it reached an agreement that allows privately held e-mail startup Visto to license NTP's technology for sending wireless e-mail—the same technology that's at the center of the patent dispute. That makes three competitors, including Nokia (NOK) and Good Technology, that are now NTP licensees. NTP also bought a stake in Visto.
The deal comes amid dwindling options for RIM, seller of the popular BlackBerry e-mail paging service. NTP four years ago successfully sued RIM for infringing on NTP's wireless e-mail patents. After a tentative $450 million settlement fell apart in June, RIM has battled back through court appeals, holding out hope that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) will strike down NTP's patents.
TAKING SIDES. With the appeals route in the lower courts exhausted, the U.S. District Court in Virginia overseeing the case is expected to decide as early as next month whether to uphold an earlier injunction that would in effect shut down the BlackBerry e-mail service in the U.S.
To avoid similar pitfalls, competitors have aligned themselves with NTP. In March, Good Technology signed an agreement to sell an equity stake to NTP as well. Mobile-phone giant Nokia obtained NTP licensing agreements 18 months ago. Visto, which holds 25 of its own patents covering wireless e-mail and data transmission, said it discussed licensing with NTP for a long time.
"This isn't a rash decision," says Brian Bogosian, chief executive of Redwood Shores (Calif.)-based Visto. "We felt [NTP's] patent portfolio was something that would provide our customers with the added insurance on top of what our portfolio provided."
NTP also says it took a stake in Visto to strengthen its legal position in asking for the injunction. Rather than simply being a patent holding company that doesn't sell any products or services, it now has stakes in two companies that are in the mobile e-mail business. "If there is an argument about whether an injunction is appropriate, we aren't in the same set of circumstances," says Don Stout, co-founder of NTP.
RIM LIMBO. Furthermore, the move is seen as a way to make RIM rivals more appealing to BlackBerry customers who are considering alternatives. Visto licenses its mobile e-mail technology to such companies as Sprint (S), Britain's Vodafone Group (VOD), and Canadian wireless carrier Rogers Communications (RG), which are trying to move the wireless e-mail service beyond the traditional business market.
With uncertainty and concern rising about the outcome of the RIM-NTP suit, RIM competitors have been fielding a growing number of calls from BlackBerry customers, according to executives at Good Technology, Visto, and Microsoft (MSFT). Licensing agreements with NTP give individuals and companies an added reason to check out these alternatives, analysts say. "It's a huge opportunity to try to steal some market share while RIM is in limbo," says Gene Signorini, an analyst at researcher Yankee Group.
While analysts say that BlackBerry customers are reluctant to give up on their beloved market-leading device, some companies are considering their options. Boeing (BA) says that, as a precaution against a possible service interruption, it's reviewing alternatives and is in the process of developing contingency plans. The aerospace company declined to give details.
LEGAL GAMBLE. In early December, consultant Gartner advised clients to stop or delay crucial BlackBerry rollouts, pending the outcome of the case. "I would say that every 2 out of 10 companies are starting to investigate something else, but are still hoping it goes away before they have to do anything," says Ken Dulaney, a Gartner analyst.
Many analysts expect that the two sides will settle before a court orders an injunction. Estimates for that kind of deal range from $650 million to $1 billion. During the past two weeks, the two sides traded settlement proposals, though they didn't reach an agreement .
For the moment, however, RIM shows no signs of giving up. In one last big legal gamble, RIM plans to appeal its case to the U.S. Supreme Court. A key part of its strategy has been to hold out for the PTO review, which is expected to be finished soon. So far, the PTO results have gone RIM's way.
In preliminary reviews, all of the eight NTP patents initially discussed in the trial have been rejected. Still, even if the patents are overturned by the PTO, NTP can appeal those verdicts to a panel within the PTO, and then to the courts.
HIGH STAKES. At the same time, the company has discussed a technological alternative. The so-called workaround would let RIM keep its service up and running without relying on the disputed NTP patents if the judge imposes an injunction. Though RIM has only talked broadly about the workaround, Gartner's Dulaney says it would entail an upgrade to the company's e-mail servers and to servers run by corporations.
With the prospect of a settlement or a workaround, some RIM customers remain convinced they won't face any service interruptions. "It feels like it's a lot of posturing," says Tom LeClare, senior messaging analyst at LanData Systems, a software developer and services provider that uses 500 BlackBerry devices. Posturing or no, the stakes are nonetheless getting higher for RIM, as well as its investors and customers.
Source: BusinessWeek online
SMS remains key revenue driver for operators
Dublin: 15.12.2005 20:00PM
15.12.2005—Despite growth in enhanced messaging services over the next five years, SMS will remain a key revenue driver for the messaging market globally, according to a new strategic report from Informa Telecoms and Media. The market is projected to grow to US$120bn in value by 2010.
The Mobile Messaging 2005 report, which looks at SMS, multimedia messaging (MMS), mobile email and instant messaging (IM), reveals that person-to-person messaging will continue to represent the lion’s share of the global messaging business, but application to person (A2P) and interactive messaging will become increasingly important as new services such as mobile marketing and delivery of rich content come on-stream.
“We believe the messaging market has great potential,” said Dan Winterbottom, one of the report's authors, “with total revenues approaching US$120bn globally by 2010. This is one of the key growth sectors in mobile services.”
Part of this growth will come from new markets, such as the developing areas of Asia Pacific, and part from an increasingly complex marketplace where messaging is driven by business users as well as by consumers. One example of this is mobile email, which is attracting the attention of a number of major players including Microsoft.
The A2P market has seen a considerable amount of evolution recently—increasing penetration of higher-performance handsets, as well as moves by brand owners to go direct to the consumer have combined to create a more attractive environment for content providers and mobile consumers alike.
Alongside existing content such as ringtones and games, the report suggests new platforms such as full-track downloads, end user-generated content such as mobile blogging and fan-based communities are helping to fuel new growth in the sector.
Looking further ahead towards the medium-term future, the outlook for enhanced messaging including mobile email, MMS and IM is promising, said Winterbottoom. “The common theme that runs through the success stories in the sector is consumer benefit—whether that means sharing pictures on a network, downloading music on demand or giving consumers the power to shape mobile content in a way that suits them.”
As part of the research programme for the report, Informa Telecoms and Media carried out an online survey of mobile professionals worldwide to assess opinions and market trends. This revealed for example that device usability is still a key success factor for messaging, and that longer term, technology issues such as how to manage the convergence of different messaging types are critical.
The report concludes that device usability, pricing and quality of service are the immediate concerns to be addressed, but that in the medium term the prospects for enhanced messaging are good.
By John Kennedy
Source: SiliconRepublic.com (Ireland)
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[An informal translation from Spanish.] Cellular Telephones Do Away With Paging Service By Agencias The dramatic drop in tariffs, the competition from cellular telephone equipment that becomes cheaper and cheaper, as well as the "calling party pays" plan, have allowed even people from the low-purchasing-power class to have access to mobile communications. The first great victim, of the convergent features that have been included in the cellular telephone, was Paging, which received a major blow starting in 1999 with the strong entrance of the "calling party pays" plan into the market. So after having reached almost one million users, at the end of the first quarter of 2005 there are now 90 thousand, according to the Productivity Index for Telecommunications from the Federal Commission of Telecommunications (Cofetel). The Mexican Business Association of Pay Telephones has seen the advancement of cheaper and cheaper cellular telephones and the important drop in tariffs give their branch of the industry a smaller share of the telecommunications sector. Now, this convergence allows cellphones to transmit voice, data, and video images (which has impacted photography market) so that sending short messages that cost one peso has become the "final blow" to Paging. According to this report from Cofetel, today there are only 90 thousand paging users, while in better times this number was more than one million. Currently there are over 400 thousand pay telephone booths in the whole country. Source: Vanguardia | Acaba la telefonía celular con el servicio de radiolocalización Por Agencias La dramática caída tarifaria, la competencia en materia de telefonía celular que ha llevado a ofrecer equipos cada vez más baratos, así como el esquema "el que llama paga", han permitido que incluso clases de menor poder adquisitivo tengan acceso a la comunicación móvil. La primera gran víctima de las convergencias en las que ha entrado la telefonía móvil fue la radiolocalización móvil personal (paging), que tuvo el mayor impacto a partir de 1999 con la entrada en vigor de "el que llama paga". Así, de contar con casi un millón de usuarios al concluir el primer semestre de 2005, ahora son 90 mil, según el Indice de Productividad del Sector de Telecomunicaciones de la Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Cofetel). La Agrupación de Empresarios de Telefonía Pública Mexicana reconoció que el avance de la telefonía móvil con equipos cada vez más baratos y un importante desplome de las tarifas ha propiciado que esta rama tenga una menor participación dentro del sector de las telecomunicaciones. En la actualidad, la convergencia permite que mediante un celular se pueda transmitir voz, datos, imagen y video, lo que ha impactado al mercado de las imágenes fotográficas, en tanto que el envío de mensajes cortos con valor de un peso ha sido "la puntilla" para el paging. De acuerdo con el reporte de la Cofetel, hoy sólo existen 90 mil usuarios de paging, cuando en sus mejores tiempos este número fue de más de un millón. Mientras, en la telefonía pública hay más de 400 mil casetas en todo el país. Fuente: Vanguardia | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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