| FRIDAY - APRIL 29, 2005 - ISSUE NO. 161 | ||||
Dear friends of Wireless Messaging and Paging, When I was a young man I used to hear the old folks say, "I never thought I would see the day when . . ." Well, now I can say it too. I never thought I would see the day when someone would make such a small wireless device that:
I'm not sure I know for sure what all these things are, but they are just some of the functions included in the new Nokia N-series of "multimedia mobile devices." They don't even call them cell phones anymore. See more about them in the news section below. I received the sad news that Eric Pakosta, the brother of Fred Pakosta of Advanced RF Communications in Quincy, Illinois died suddenly on Monday April 18, 2005. He was the owner and operator of IE Communications and Ezeeweb Internet Services in Trenton, Illinois. He will be greatly missed by his Family and Friends. Please remember that discounted hotel rooms are available to those of us attending the AAPC Wireless Forum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina IF you make your reservation before May 3. I made mine for two nights, checking in on June 1 and checking out on June 3. After May 3, the price goes up over $100 per night. This is a world-class hotel right on the beach and the AAPC Wireless Forum is the only US trade show/convention dedicated solely to Paging. I hope to see you there. More news follows. |
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 website. 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.) | |||
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www.gtesinc.com GTES is the only Glenayre authorized software support provider in the Paging industry. With over 200 years of combined experience in Glenayre hardware and software support, GTES offers the industry the most professional support and engineering development staff available. New Product Development New Hardware Platform
Continued Support Programs GTES Partner Program CALL US TODAY FOR YOUR SUPPORT NEEDS
|  Wireless Communication Solutions The Hark ISI-400LX is a hardware device that encapsulates serial data into TCP/IP for transmission over the Internet. It can also be configured to convert incoming TAP messages from the serial port and send them over the Internet to Paging providers in email (SMTP) or Simple Network Paging Protocol (SNPP) format. The ISI-400LX with the optional external modem can connect to a secondary dial-up ISP when a failure on the ethernet port is detected.
This device is the perfect companion for the Hark Gateway products. An ISI can be located at a remote location for receiving TAP, TNPP, or Billing traffic using a local ISP eliminating long distance phone charges.
System Features & Benefits:
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Daviscomms—Product Examples For information about our Contract Manufacturing services or our Pager or Telemetry line, please call Bob Popow at 480-515-2344, bob@daviscommsusa.com or visit our website www.daviscommsusa.com
|  Prism Message Gateway Systems Your Choice of Options
Popular Choice for Domestic and International
Logical Choice
Go ahead . . . be choosy . . . choose Prism Systems International
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eRF Wireless
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|  Cassini Captures Swiss-Cheese Look of Saturn Moon Apr. 27, 2005 With this false-color view, Cassini presents the closest look yet at Saturn's small moon Epimetheus (epp-ee-MEE-thee-uss). The slightly reddish feature in the lower left is a crater named Pollux. The large crater just below center is Hilairea, which has a diameter of about 33 kilometers (21 miles). [NASA] | |||||||||||||||||
| WIRELESS NEWS | |
NTT DoCoMo to Terminate Pager Service TOKYO, JAPAN, April 25, 2005—NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional subsidiaries announced today that they will terminate their QUICKCAST® pager service on March 31, 2007. The service started in July 1968. After reaching about 6.49 million subscribers in 1996, the number of subscribers to the service decreased to about 290,000 as of March 24, 2005, prompting DoCoMo to conclude that termination of the service would help to raise operational efficiency. About NTT DoCoMo i-mode and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries. NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service is only available to subscribers in Japan. QUICKCAST is a registered trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan. Source: NTT DoCoMo Press Release Rogers Communications Reports First Quarter 2005 Results [Editor: Selected excerpts from the Rogers report to show Wireless Messaging results.] TORONTO, April 26 /CNW/—Rogers Communications Inc. today announced its consolidated financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005. OPERATING UNIT REVIEW Wireless Subscribers (Actual)
----------------------------------------------
Three Months Ended March 31,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Subscriber statistics in
thousands, except ARPU,
churn and usage) 2005 2004 Chg % Chg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Postpaid (Voice and Data)(1)
Gross additions 329.6 241.3 88.3 36.6
Net additions(2) 89.2 83.2 6.0 7.2
Total postpaid retail
subscribers 4,273.3 3,112.8 1,160.5 37.3
Average monthly revenue
per user ("ARPU")(3) $ 59.20 $ 55.74 $ 3.46 6.2
Average monthly usage
(minutes) 454 362 92 25.4
Churn(2) 1.90% 1.73% 0.17% 9.8
Prepaid
Gross additions 123.3 56.3 67.0 119.0
Net losses(4) (24.2) (29.4) 5.2 (17.7)
Total prepaid retail
subscribers 1,309.9 730.4 579.5 79.3
ARPU(3) $ 12.09 $ 10.96 $ 1.13 10.3
Churn(4) 3.70% 3.80% (0.10%) 2.6
Total - Postpaid and
Prepaid
Gross additions 452.9 297.6 155.3 52.2
Net additions 65.0 53.8 11.2 20.8
Total retail subscribers 5,583.2 3,843.2 1,740.0 45.3
ARPU (blended)(3) $ 47.95 $ 46.97 $ 0.98 2.1
Churn 2.34% 2.14% 0.20% 9.3
One-Way Messaging
Gross additions 5.4 8.1 (2.7) (33.3)
Net losses (9.9) (10.0) 0.1 (1.0)
Total one-way subscribers 186.2 231.3 (45.1) (19.5)
ARPU(3) $ 8.82 $ 9.02 $ (0.20) (2.2)
Churn 2.64% 2.54% 0.10% 3.9
Wholesale(1)
Total wholesale
subscribers 98.6 - - -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------One-way messaging (paging) subscriber churn for the quarter increased to 2.64%, while one-way messaging ARPU decreased by 2.2%. With 186,200 paging subscribers, Wireless continues to view paging as a profitable but mature business segment, and recognizes that churn will likely continue at relatively high rates as one-way messaging subscribers increasingly migrate to two-way messaging and converged voice and data services.Source: Rogers News Release Nokia to launch phone that stores 3,000 songs By Dinesh C. Sharma, CNET News.com Nokia on Wednesday announced a trio of new phones, including one that can store up to 3,000 songs.
Additionally, the handset comes with a stereo headset with remote control. The N91, expected to ship by the end of the year, will also feature a 2-megapixel camera, e-mail support, a Web-browser and video-sharing capabilities, the device maker said. The phone supports WCDMA, wireless local area networking and Bluetooth, and subscribers can shop at online music stores directly from the device, the company said. Users can synchronize the device with their computers via USB 2.0 and create and manage playlists that, in turn, can be shared with others via Bluetooth, e-mail or multimedia messaging. Another new WCDMA handset from Nokia is the N70, a smart phone featuring a 2-megapixel camera, a flash and "front camera" for video calling, stereo FM radio, a digital music player, visual radio and 3D games. The camera has a "slide and shoot" design, in which the slide automatically activates the camera. The handset's camera has an integrated flash, 20x zoom capability and other options. Video and photo from the camera can be transferred on to a PC; organized in a slideshow or album on the camera; or printed using a USB cable, Bluetooth or reduced-size dual voltage multimedia card. The device is expected to be available in the third quarter. Lastly, the Finnish phone maker announced the N90, which features a 2-megapixel camera with autofocus and 20x digital zoom, an integrated flash, video capture with editing functions and Carl Zeiss optics, Nokia said. Carl Zeiss optics, named for the pioneering German optician, are used for projection and illumination. The handset's rotating camera barrel is designed to let users shoot video, as well as pictures. When the main display is unfolded and twisted, the N90 can be used to shoot video in MP4 format. The N90 also features different options for storing, sharing and printing photos and video clips, and it supports 3G functions such as two-way video calling, video streaming and Net surfing. It is a triband phone for GSM 900/1800/1900, EDGE and WCDMA networks. Source: ZD Net Verizon Profit Surges on Record Wireless Subscribers April 27 (Bloomberg)—Verizon Communications Inc., the largest U.S. telephone company, said first-quarter profit rose 47 percent as the company's wireless unit added a record number of clients and exceeded analysts' expectations. Net income increased to $1.76 billion, or 63 cents a share, from $1.2 billion, or 43 cents, a year earlier, when pension costs hurt profit, New York-based Verizon said in a statement today. That beat the 60-cent average estimate of 29 analysts in a Thomson Financial survey. Sales rose 6.6 percent to $18.2 billion. Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg is seeking to tap a wider market to fuel sales and reduce the company's reliance on wireless, which has been the fastest-growing unit for more than four years and accounted for 41 percent of revenue in the quarter. He pushed a $7.62 billion bid to buy MCI Inc. to add to corporate clients and more than double Verizon's enterprise market share. "There is strategic merit in the acquisition," William Power, a Robert W. Baird analyst in Houston, said before the report. He rates the shares ``neutral'' and doesn't own them. "It better positions them to compete in the broader telecom market." Analysts on average expected revenue of $18.1 billion. Verizon's profit had exceeded analysts' estimates by an average of 2 cents a share for the past eight quarters before today. Verizon shares fell 6 cents to $34 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have declined 16 percent this year. Nineteen analysts recommend investors buy Verizon shares, 13 suggest holding them and one says to sell. New Subscribers Bedminster, New Jersey-based Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 mobile-phone company, added 1.64 million wireless subscribers, surpassing predictions for 1.32 million, the average of seven estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Subscriber additions outpaced larger carrier Cingular Wireless LLC. Churn, the rate at which customers switched providers, improved to 1.3 percent from 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter. "They've really executed well across the board with one of the lowest churn rates in the industry," Power said. Verizon's average monthly wireless bills fell to $49.03 from $50.32 in the fourth quarter, still up from $48 a year earlier. Total wireless revenue rose to $7.42 billion. That missed the $7.45 billion average estimate of four analysts in Bloomberg's survey. Verizon jointly owns the wireless unit with U.K.-based Vodafone Group Plc. Cingular had churn of 2.2 percent and added 1.42 million subscribers in the first quarter. Sprint Corp., the third-largest wireless carrier, had churn of 2.9 percent, and added 800,000 wireless subscribers. DSL, Local Lines Verizon continues to lose local-phone lines at a faster pace than smaller competitors SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp., the No. 2 and 3 U.S. local phone carriers. Local lines declined by 796,000 as customers switched to wireless phones or Internet-based telephone service. That's up from 699,000 lost in the fourth quarter and more than the 715,000 three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected. Business lines dropped 68,000 to 16.4 million last quarter, said Banc of America Securities analyst David Barden. Sales at the local-phone business fell 4.3 percent to $4.48 billion. Verizon sells local-phone service in 29 states and the District of Columbia. MCI Fight Denver-based Qwest on April 21 raised its bid to $30 a share from $27.50 in an effort to wrest MCI from an agreement with Verizon, whose latest offer is $23.10 a share in stock and cash. Buying MCI would boost Verizon's share of the market for business customers to about 29 percent from 14 percent, according to Yankee Group analyst Sean Hackett. Verizon plans to connect 3 million homes with a fiber-optic network by the end of the year to offer faster Internet speeds and television programming, and will spend as much as $30 billion over 15 years, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. Verizon Wireless is spending $1 billion through the end of the year to extend its network to support data services including video and fast Internet access, and will pay another $4 billion to upgrade existing towers and buy airwaves. (Verizon plans a conference call at 8:30 a.m. New York time. To listen, dial (1)(888) 802-8577 in the U.S. or (1)(973) 935-2981 outside the U.S.) Source: Bloomberg.com Wireless secures and tracks postal vans 7 April 2005 Only the named driver can log in to the truck. By Paul Roberts, IDG News Service When ponies delivered mail, fleet management meant keeping everyone in line at the hitching post. Today, the ponies are gone, and the US Postal Service (USPS) uses wireless technology to manage industrial vehicles that sort the mail. New security applications can now monitor and lock down vehicles. Asset tracking... The tracking technology is similar to systems used by other companies that manage large fleets of equipment, such as DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Target and the US Navy—but with the addition of authentication. ... and security The wireless asset tracking system allows fleet managers to control equipment and vehicles used by the USPS. For example, vehicle collisions were notoriously difficult to detect and track in busy mail processing centres. With Pivms, onboard sensors will detect the impact of a collision, log it and identify the employee who was driving the vehicle at the time. Source: TECHWORLD Sprint Launches Enhanced Roadside Rescue and Directory Assistance Services From directions to roadside assistance, new offerings highlight first stage of wireless location-based services from Sprint Media Contacts: OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — 04/27/2005 Sprint (NYSE: FON) today introduced a pair of location-based services that will enable its customers to access driving directions and roadside assistance through a simple wireless voice call. The new services are available upon request to most Sprint customers subscribing to Roadside Rescue, which provides assistance for motorists, or to customers who use their Sprint PCS Phone to dial 411 to reach Sprint PCS Directory Assistance. "Our customers view their mobile device as a critical link to the world around them, and Sprint is strengthening this link by providing services that can leverage location information," said Joe Averkamp, director - Business Development, Sprint. "Wireless services allow customers to be mobile, and these location-based services can identify their locale in order to get the directions, help or services they need while mobile. Ultimately, we envision a host of new location-based applications which will complement our existing voice and data services and dramatically simplify and enhance the way people connect through wireless technology." With the new location enhancement of these two services, customers looking for help or information when the unexpected happens won't be out of luck if they don't remember the last mile marker or street sign they passed. Instead, they can ask Roadside Rescue dispatchers to identify their locations to send help, or ask directory assistance operators to pinpoint their position for turn-by-turn directions from wherever they are to wherever they want to go. The level of precision in locating the customer will depend on a number of factors, including the Sprint PCS Phone being used by the customer and the customer's phone preference settings. Customers should continue to dial 911 in any emergency situation. Location-based enhancement will be offered on an opt-in basis for no additional charge for the two current voice applications, Sprint PCS Directory Assistance (411) and Roadside Rescue. Pricing will remain $1.25 per directory assistance call (plus airtime) and $4.00 per month for Roadside Rescue subscription. Billing methods and prices may change in the future. Sprint's directory assistance services are provided through an agreement with INFONXX, the world's largest independent provider of directory assistance and enhanced information services. INFONXX, based in Bethlehem, Penn., provides local and national directory assistance and customer-focused solutions to Sprint. In the future, Sprint anticipates additional opt-in location-based voice services and location-based data services as well. Possible applications include mapping services to provide detailed maps, traffic information and points of interest such as nearby ATMs, gas stations and restaurants; and weather applications to supply current information and forecasts even when users are uncertain of area ZIP codes. Sprint is also exploring location-enabled applications for business needs, such as workforce management and field force automation. About INFONXX About Sprint Source: Sprint News Release |
I have built two web pages about Mountain Communications in Mountain Home, Arkansas—a regional Paging company that the owner wants to sell. The first page has several photos and some links to background information on the company. Please click here for that page. If you like what you see and want to read all the financial details, please send me an e-mail and I will send you the unpublished address of the second page. This is an outstanding opportunity for someone to acquire a Paging company in a beautiful resort area of the Arkansas mountains where there are several large lakes and rivers. They tell me the fishing and boating are great in that area. By the way, this business also includes some wireless broadband, a trunking radio system, and a two-way radio dealership. Update: we are willing to negotiate. Please call Brad Dye at: 618-842-3892. |
Equipment Needed—Want to Buy the following
Please contact Brad Dye if you have any of this equipment to sell. Equipment located outside of the USA is OK. |
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THIRD TERM SUPPORTER |  Building on its long success story in 1-way Paging, Advantra International has become the expert in designing and manufacturing the most advanced and lowest cost ReFLEX™ radio modems for 2-way data-communication. The company also focuses on offering total telemetry solutions. Advantra’s current product mix of own products includes the ReFLEX™ radio modules Barran, Karli and Wirlki and the new, highly successful and very low cost location device, the Kepler. Advantra thanks its solid reputation to its world-renowned development team, state-of-the-art manufacturing, excellent customer service and its proven track-record. Location Devices & ReFLEX Modems
Sales and Marketing Contacts
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Newsletter repair prices—starting at:
**Special pricing on cellular and pager refurbishment**
Ask for Special Newsletter Pricing. Please call: (800) 222-6075 ext. 306 for pricing.
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Please click here to e-mail Ayrewave. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Intelligent Paging & Mobile Data Products
Selective is a developer and manufacturer of highly innovative Paging receiver/decoders and mobile data equipment including the PDT2000 Paging Data Terminal, THE MOST INTELLIGENT PAGING RECEIVER IN THE MARKET. The PDT2000 is a large display pager designed for desktop or in-vehicle mounting and is widely used by emergency services and in onsite Paging systems for forklift dispatch etc. All of the following capabilities are standard features of the PDT2000 and of our other Paging data receivers:
Our mobile data equipment includes a range of intelligent Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) which may be interfaced to a variety of wireless networks including GPRS & CDMA cellular. Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and GPS solutions, Dispatch & Messaging software. We offer mobile communications dealers and systems integrators a “fast to market” job dispatch and job management capability with the inbuilt job processing system which may be interfaced to a variety of CAD & JMS Specialised local area Paging systems, Paging interception and message reprocessing software, field force automation and mobile dispatch solutions. We do custom product development and export worldwide.
I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for Selective Communications. Please contact me directly for any additional information. | TGA Technologies 
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CUSTOM APPLICATIONS
Please call me so we can discuss your need or your idea. Or contact me by e-mail for additional information. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Remember that old word “Residuals”? The EE Group is actively seeking Dealers with sales/ service/installation capabilities to promote the latest wireless AVL, SCADA and data products from Telegauge Systems, Inc. This innovative program requires NO inventory and NO billing by your facility; you just sell it and sign up the end user to collect the commissions. Now the real reason to choose the EE Group and Telegauge over the host of others; we pay you permanent residual income every month on your airtime sales forever. Airtime commissions range up to 12% per month based on prior sales and you buy all equipment direct from the factory at 2-tiered wholesale prices as well for great margins. Telegauge builds fully 2-way overt and covert (hidden) GPS based Automatic Vehicle Location, SCADA, remote management, telemetry and data systems routed via cellular and satellite that are delivered to the end user via the Internet or direct to the desktop. Applications are both ‘canned’ and custom depending upon the customers needs. We even have full dispatch systems including credit card swipe and billing if needed. Finally, the prices on the product are guaranteed to be the LOWEST in the industry at under $600 retail for the equipment and from $6 to $30 on the monthly airtime with most customers in the $15 range. Note too that the price is the same for cellular OR satellite world wide coverage and no one else has this exclusive capability. Telegauge provides the product, software, airtime, billing and final information from a single source and you can be a BIG part of it. You stock NOTHING, just collect the checks. We are paid by the manufacturer to support YOU and unlike other factories; we never bid against you, restrict you or take your deal. We help you with demo equipment, brochures, information, sales assistance, web advertising and user name/passwords for the website so that you don’t even need to buy anything to start up fast. Contact us for a no-obligation CD of all the presentation and training material, price spreadsheets and information at: EEGroup@EEonTheWeb.com or for fast action call for a link to the Dealers Only page: 310-534-4456 and mention that you found out about it via Brad Dye’s Newsletter. You have nothing to lose and some great residual income to gain. Call or e-mail NOW. |
Customers in Latin America may contact Brad Dye for price and delivery information. Español esta bien. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Wireless Overview System Operation Payment Guardian requires absolutely no customer interaction and integrated seamlessly into the vehicles electrical system and is not visible to the customer, decreasing the possibility of tampering. Unlike other similar products on the market, Payment Guardian™ requires no keypads or input devices, eliminating the hassle of having to generate codes and giving those codes to the customer each and every payment cycle. With Payment Guardian?, lenders no longer have to rely on customers to enter codes into a keypad correctly. With Payment Guardian, only non paying customers require use of the system. Once the system has been activated in the customer’s vehicle—each time the ignition is turned to the OFF position, Payment Guardian reminds the customer that payment has not yet been received or insurance is not current and provides them with specific instructions to contact the leinholder immediately. If the reminder is ignored, you can simply activate Payment Guardian’s Starter Interrupt feature allowing no one to start the vehicle until the system is reset. Payment Guardian’s system control center has been designed to meet the different need of individual lenders and dealers that want a total customized solution to manage their systems, providing you with 3 different ways to use the systems features. This enables you to instantly activate system features, schedule activations to occur at a preset time or completely automate the systems features, allow you to just manage your systems with just a click of the mouse. System Features Audible Voice Reminder Starter Interrupt Emergency Override Vehicle Finder Door Unlock
| High-speed simulcast Paging with protocols such as POCSAG and FLEX™ requires microsecond accuracy to synchronize the transmission of digital Paging signals.  Zetron's Simulcast System uses GPS timing information to ensure that the broadcasted transmissions between the nodes of the Simulcast System and associated transmitters are synchronized to very tight tolerances. This system is ideal for public or private Paging system operators that use multiple transmitters and wish to create new Paging systems or to build out existing systems into new regions. For more information about Zetron's High Speed Simulcast Paging System, the Model 600 and Model 620, go to: www.zetron.com/paging.
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Advertise Here Details about the various advertising plans can be read here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
InfoRad® Wireless Office (Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP) is designed for the professional who needs full-featured wireless messaging capabilities. Features include enhanced user interface, message log with search function, scheduled Paging, group and individual message addresses, TAPI Smart™, multiple protocol SMS communication compatibility. AlphaCare™ support services available. With a 32-bit architecture, InfoRad Wireless Office is designed for compatibility with Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. For more information on InfoRad Wireless Messaging software, and a free demo, please click on the logo.
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| MORE TECHNOLOGY NEWS |
Press Release
Icom Incorporated and Kenwood Corporation
Technical Research Alliance Demonstration of a
Very Narrowband Digital Communications Technology
April 6-8, 2005 - International Wireless Communications
Exposition and Convention, Las Vegas, NV.
Icom Incorporated (Parent company of Icom America) and Kenwood Corporation, market leaders in Land Mobile and Amateur radio communications worldwide announced on February 25, 2005, a joint business and technology alliance to develop state-of-the-art digital communications technology for the Business & Industry sector. Both companies will be making a simultaneous announcement and showing working prototype samples at IWCE. You are invited to visit the Icom America booth (#5001) to get a first hand look at this groundbreaking technological advance.
These engineering samples are the result of this technical collaboration, and will demonstrate a very narrowband 6.25kHz digital communications technology using an FDMA 4-level FSK modulation method. This technology meets the requirements of the FCC Emission Mask E, for spectral efficiency. Both companies are also directly involved in the formation of efficient digital radio technologies in Europe (ETSI Digital PMR 446/DMR) and Japan. Both companies have committed to jointly continue research and development for the benefit of Business & Industry users, as well as offer a solution for existing system operators to migrate to an efficient digital solution.
Chris Lougee, Vice President of Icom America’s Land Mobile Division, had the following comments regarding this exciting news.
“The demonstration samples Icom will display are the ‘first steps’ to present a migration solution to digital technology for the ‘Business and Industrial’ two-way radio user. Consumers have come to expect robust voice-and-data capabilities in their wireless communications devices. Digital radios will offer similar capabilities, enabling Icom dealers the possibility to provide radio communications solutions never before imagined.
With this technology, Icom digital radios could effectively ‘double’ or even ‘quadruple’ spectrum capacity with their 6.25kHz capability, although this depends a lot on final spectrum licensing and rate of migration in the future. A huge impediment to radio solutions growth in the past has been the lack of available spectrum. One of the solutions to this problem could be solved with 6.25kHz capable Icom digital radios.
Icom takes an industry leadership role with digital radios that meet the 6.25kHz equivalent efficiency standard set by the FCC (which was the original intention in the ‘Re-farming’ Docket) Our dealers and their customers will benefit from this Icom leadership and they can take comfort in the fact that Icom can provide them with exciting products for years to come, no matter what the final result of the FCC requirements are.”
Some Technical Hints Regarding The Demonstration Samples To Be Displayed
Modulation Method
Data Baud Rate
Advanced VOCODER (Fig. C)
AMBE+2 and IMBE are the trademarks and property of Digital Voice Systems Inc.
Icom’s Vision Of A System Solution
Function
In the 6.25kHz digital mode, it is possible to have a 4,800 bps data application in addition to voice communication without the need for adding a modem. It is possible to send data like messages at the same time while utilizing voice communication, and the sending of GPS position data information is also possible during voice communication. Transmit and receive of existing status, messages can be offered as standard features. Also, as voice is digitized, construction of a remote site from a repeater via the Internet can be done, and it is possible to conduct dispatching.
Migration
With 6.25kHz digital mode operation capability in an existing 12.5/25kHz analog FM radio, it is possible to provide multi-mode portable and mobile radios and repeaters, making migration* from an existing analog system to a digital system easy.
*Multi-mode repeater/terminals would need to be purchased for a system, but initial system capability could be analog only. Option to add digital capability in the future, i.e. ‘migrate’ to digital, would be available via an easy software upgrade of repeater/terminals for example.
Icom America’s parent company, Icom Inc., was founded in Osaka, Japan. Icom is a publicly held Japanese corporation; its stock is traded on the Osaka and Tokyo Stock Exchange. Icom began as an engineering and manufacturing company, making advanced, compact solid-state radio equipment for use by amateur radio enthusiasts. Icom has since grown to become an industry leader with a product line that includes state-of-the-art communications equipment for land mobile and marine use as well as avionics. Icom America's headquarters are in Bellevue, Washington.
Source: Icom Press Release
Voice and Data Convergence—a Vendor’s Perspective
Author: Kelly Wiegard, Allworx
Wednesday, 27 April 2005, 15:02 GMT
The first time I heard about VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) was in 1996. At that time, I was working for a telecommunications manufacturer who said the ability to make calls using the Internet was the next wave. Now, almost 10 years later, VoIP is finally here and is on the tip of everyone’s tongue.
Frost & Sullivan research predicts that VoIP will account for approximately 75% of world voice services by 2007. But, what does this mean to you, as reseller, and your customers?
The initial market positioning for VoIP telephone systems emphasized cost savings—reduced long distance expenses via toll bypass, and reduced cost for wiring and cabling. Ironically, VoIP’s most important enhanced features are the least ones advertised: Greater flexibility in system architecture configurations. Employees with VoIP telephones can work from their homes and it appears to the caller as if they are in the office. Sites can be connected via the Internet creating virtual telecommunication systems across multiple offices. Business calls can be made anywhere in the world and no one needs to know from where you are calling. For example, an employee can make calls via a soft VoIP phone on their PC. The PC transmits via a wireless network interface card to a cellular network. The call is then routed to the main office over a VoIP gateway. At the main office, the call is redirected out to a client. The time is right for VoIP. The technology is stable, the applications have real benefits and, most importantly, customers are asking for VoIP. This is an exciting time for telecommunications.
According to In-Stat, more than 30% of firms, even those with less than 100 employees, are interested in and planning to adopt VoIP telephony solutions by 2005. However, most people have forgotten something in this VoIP craze; many small businesses do not have the network infrastructure to support a VoIP telephone system.
With the advent of VoIP, the telephone system is no longer a strange piece of equipment where you have to punch a series of numbers at the “programming station” in order to get the telephone system to behave as desired. The telephone system now “hangs off” of an existing data network, just like a printer or server. Many times, the VoIP telephone system incorporates an intuitive web-based system administration interface. Thus, management of the telephone system can be done from anywhere in the world and by savvy networking engineers.
VoIP systems allow data networking vendors to move into a telecommunications field. The smart data networking vendors have already started looking at solutions to add to their product line. However, why hasn't the market seen a greater movement of data networking providers offering telecommunications solutions?
The biggest hurdle for data networking companies to overcome is finding VoIP products that offer more than just telecommunications functionality. Most VoIP products offer just telephony functionality like voicemail, automated attendant, and unified messaging. They do not incorporate the networking aspects needed to make the VoIP product a truly converged solution.
There is hope. A few manufacturers have seen the light and have begun producing devices that are friendly to the data networking vendors while providing a complete VoIP telecommunications solution. In other words, the product combines the typical telephone system capabilities with firewalls, DHCP and DNS servers, web hosting, e-mail hosting and group collaboration tools (think Microsoft Outlook’s Calendar capability) all in a single device.
For a reseller, there are several advantages to providing a truly converged solution to a customer.
First, the customer calls one company for all of their needs. No other company can come in and second-guess the way that a network was constructed, especially if the customer wants to upgrade to VoIP. Second guessing a network’s design is one of the most effective ways of winning a customer away from their current data networking vendor. But if you offer both voice & data infrastructure support, you’ll maintain your current customers and even find new ones.
Second, it is more difficult for a customer to switch vendors. It will be harder for a customer to pull their business if they have their telephone system and data network with the same vendor. So, you can see why Comcast wants to be the cable, telephone and Internet service provider for businesses. It is harder for the customer to move three key services to an alternate provider than one.
Finally, the customer can build a lasting relationship with the vendor. This makes it harder for the competition to win your business. If you are in a customer’s business on a regular basis performing data networking or telecommunications services, the customer sees you more often and looks to you for advice on the next phase of the infrastructure for their business.
In conclusion, VoIP is here to stay…this time. So, now is the time to get ready. As a single solution provider, you will need to update your skills, depending on your current specialty (voice or data). VoIP will get you into both sides of the business if you are prepared. Also, I believe that if a company can offer one stop service to their customers, they will be in a better position to win a prospect’s business. But, you need to find the right product for your set of customers. A strong VoIP product needs at least these five key components:
A keynote: If a manufacturer can’t demonstrate these features to you, on site, and within one session, they probably won’t “cut the mustard” in the real world. So, be on the lookout for multi-function devices to add to your arsenal of products.
Source: It Observer
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| Wi-Fi, WiMax, and VoIP News |
Skype reaches out to mobile users
TORONTO—A desire for wireless access will help drive the market for voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, according to speakers at the Voice on the Net (VON) Canada conference.
“The benchmark with telephony is, it has to be a mobile service,” said Niklas Zennstrom, founder and chief executive officer of Skype, which provides a free downloadable voice over IP software client. “Wi-Fi plays and important part in this.”
Zennstrom, who spoke Tuesday to about 150 people at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, said mobile workers are starting to get away from notebook PCs and using lighter devices, such as personal digital assistants and smart phones.
Skype is working on VoIP clients that will operate on platforms like Symbian, Windows Mobile and Embedded Linux, he said, adding dual-mode wireless handsets that work on both Wi-Fi networks—originally designed as local-area data networks using the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ 802.11 protocol—and cellular networks.
“If we can put Skype on those phones, it will become useful.”
About 155,000 users download the Skype software each day, and about 35 million people use the software now, Zennstrom said.
The software has become so popular it could become a de facto standard as a VoIP software client, said Tom Evslin, an independent consultant and former chairman of VoIP wholesale provider ITXC.
He said Skype could become similar to Windows, in that other software developers will feel they have to make their software compatible with it.
Evslin added voice over Wi-Fi will help drive down the cost of mobile telephony.
“Wireless (carriers) charge ridiculous access rates because they can,” he said. “That will change with Wi-Fi.”
But Wi-Fi was originally designed for data networks, and a public hotspot operator using the IEEE 802.11b standard – which provides maximum throughput of 11 Mbps – should not expect more than 12 customers to be able to make VoIP calls simultaneously, said Ben Guderian, director of marketing strategies and industry relations for wireless equipment maker SpectraLink Corp.
Most Wi-Fi hotspot applications include quality of service tools that give voice calls higher priority over data traffic to prevent problems such as latency and jitter. This means if 12 people are making voice calls, data traffic could be locked out.
“If you’re sitting in a hot spot and people are talking on their phones … people on their laptops are going to start to get upset,” Guderian said.
Voice over Wi-Fi is getting popular among enterprise users, especially in health care, said Guderian, who spoke to about 40 attendees during a panel discussion titled “Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Why Not?”
Guderian said users will want dual-mode handsets that can operate on cellular networks outside of buildings and on Wi-Fi networks inside buildings, but there are some barriers to implementation.
For one, the handsets are more expensive, and to work on both cellular and Wi-Fi networks, the devices have to be capable of handing off calls from one network to the other.
“The biggest issues with this is where the carriers fall because they hold all the cards,” he said.
But the ability to roam seamlessly between networks without dropping the call may not be a big issue for most business users, Guderian said.
“Today most of us would be perfectly happy if we’re getting in the car we say, ‘Hang on, I’ll call you back.’ I’m not sure that’s a show-stopper in dual-mode devices catching on.”
Source: business.ca
Don’t Take My Skype Away
April 24, 2005 06:07 PM | Stuart Henshall
Bill [Campbell] and I sat down with Jeff Pulver at VON Canada and began to get a real sense of his deeper passion for the IP community. We discussed developers and more. This post focuses on what’s wrapped up in our “freedom to connect”.
I was pleased I dropped my iPod/iTalk on the table. Jeff spoke at New York speed and my scrawl was no match. Since then I’ve also had a little time to reflect. Jeff’s Von Canada talk was titled “Shift Happens” and he wasn't only talking to the audience. He himself has made a shift.
He told me that the one thing people should understand from Skype is that they took off-the-shelf components and assembled them and made it work better. While the industry may be very defensive (think SIP etc) about that, the reality and the result is that end to end IP is really happening. He pointed out that based on the inflection points and Skype’s current trajectory it is not a question of when. It is now. So wakey wakey!!!
Jeff on looking to the immediate future…
He alluded to a mindset war and not a technology war. I’m wrapping that into three points:
Jeff on Net Freedoms:
We had a short segment on Net Freedoms which made the most impact on me. We take our freedoms to be self-evident until they are taken away. The battle above means a very different landscape for mobile providers, and traditional telecoms. The best of the smart service providers will become dumb access pipe providers when it is all over. “We” all need connectivity and our freedom to connect. Former Chairman Powell and the new FCC Chairman must work to ensure those net freedoms become adopted and subscribed to by the service providers of the world.
Jeff shared his activities in Washington over the last few months trying to explain what his fears are. He says they are taken too much for granted. We need to guarantee the freedom to run our own applications. There really is a greater need for a call to action. This one needs to be on more than just the blogger radar. He’s running a VoIP Policy Summit 2005 in Washington on May 4th and planning a rally on the steps of the capital at the end of June. Getting the people out for the rally means the message must become one about our basic freedoms. This is not just about technology.
My wish is... that if you Skype then you will want to support Net Freedoms. As the largest VoIP community in the world this is not just about technology. It is the freedom to connect to whomever you want. It’s the freedom to converse, the freedom and rights to privacy, to exchange data, to control your own information. So free conversations and a great app like Skype is nice. However net freedoms is bigger than that. Skype is a vehicle and it is easy to associate consumer stories with it. It already makes the net freedom story easier to tell.
Jeff commented that he thought that Niklas may take this too much for granted and could be a blind spot. I’m pretty sure he’d like Niklas on the steps of Congress telling his story and sharing his vision. Niklas* recently presented this paper (CEPT Conference Presentation). He’s not unaware, he’s just powerless relative to “users”. “We” Skype users are the ones to make the case, and be the ones to march on Washington. Skype is a great app as long as it has “consumer trust” and promotes user freedoms.
My conclusion: Net Freedom is a badge that all Skypers should wear as long as Skype preserves our trust. Something we will be blogging a lot more about here.
Source: Skype Journal
[VON = Voice On the Net Canada]
[Jeff Pulver, Chairman, pulver.com and Pulver Blog]
* Niklas Zennström CEO and co-founder of Skype. His keynote presentation from Voice on the Net Canada 2005 is available for download.
Prior to Skype, Niklas Zennström co-founded and was the first CEO of KaZaA – the most downloaded software in the history of the Internet. Following KaZaA, Niklas founded and served as CEO of Joltid, which creates the worlds largest secure peer-to-peer content distribution network. Prior to being an entrepreneur, Niklas spent 8 years with Tele2 in various business development positions, among others as CEO of Everyday.com and also worked two years for ATT-Unisource. Niklas has a dual degree in Business Administration and Engineering Physics from Uppsala University. [source]
NEWS BRIEF
Cisco Acquires Sipura Technology
By Dan Lee
San Jose Mercury News
04/27/05 8:27 AM PT
"This is really a technology acquisition," said Victor Tsao, senior vice president and co-founder of Cisco's Linksys division. "They are very good at creating products at an affordable cost." Sipura adapters, which cost about $59 each, allow users with a broadband Internet connection to make calls over the Internet using traditional analog phones.
Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) Latest News about Cisco Systems agreed to pay US$68 million in cash and options for Sipura Technology, a San Jose, Calif., start-up that specializes in telephone adapters and other technology for consumers to make calls over the Internet.
The acquisition is the first by Cisco's Linksys division, which sells networking gear used to create wireless Internet networks in homes and small businesses Latest News about small business.
"This is really a technology acquisition," said Victor Tsao, senior vice president and co-founder of Cisco's Linksys division. "They are very good at creating products at an affordable cost."
Sipura adapters, which cost about US$59 each, allow users with a broadband Latest News about Broadband Internet connection to make calls over the Internet using traditional analog phones. Linksys had already been using Sipura's technology in some of its products.
"I think this is just an indication of how important voice over IP is for the consumer market," Gartner Latest News about Gartner analyst David Willis said.
Linksys is one of Cisco's "advance technology" divisions the San Jose networking giant is looking to for much of its growth. Linksys posted sales of $220 million in Cisco's second fiscal quarter, up 40 percent from a year earlier.
Source: MacNewsWorld
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