Report: Nokia Siemens looking to sell a stake to private equity

Nokia Siemens Networks is talking to several private-equity firms about potentially selling a stake in the company, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

The report said that NSN, a joint venture between Finland's Nokia and Germany's Siemens, is holding preliminary talks on the topic. Silver Lake Partners, TPG, Blackstone, Bain Capital and KKR are among the firms NSN is talking to, and the deal could see a buyout firm owning up to one-third of the equipment vendor. News of the talks comes shorty after NSN agreed to acquire Motorola's (NYSE:MOT) wireless networks business for $1.2 billion--a move that strengthens NSN's position in North America and Japan and which the report said was a bid to enhance NSN's attractiveness to potential partners.

Importantly, no formal proposals have been made and all of the parties could walk away without any deal being reached. The goal of a potential buyout is to get NSN ready for an initial public offering in a few years, the report said, which would allow the parent companies to exit. A Nokia Siemens spokeswoman declined to comment.

The partnership between Nokia and Siemens is set to last until 2013. However, a separate recent Journal report painted a picture of a strained relationship between Nokia and Siemens over the joint venture. That report said that both Nokia and Siemens have recently entertained the idea of exiting the venture.

Despite the recent high-profile Motorola win, as well as a deal with Harbinger Capital partners to provide and manage the private-equity firm's LightSquared wholesale LTE network, things have not been smooth of late for NSN. The company posted a $2.08 billion operating loss in 2009, and Nokia said in its second-quarter earnings statement that NSN will maintain its market share in 2010 rather than grow faster than the market in 2010.

For more:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)

Related Articles:
Harbinger forges $7B LTE pact with Nokia Siemens
Nokia's Q2 profit sinks 40% as pressure mounts
NSN snags Motorola's wireless networks unit for $1.2B

Wireless buoys RadioShack; JD Power smiles on T-Mobile USA

Quick news from around the Web

@FierceWireless: #Motorola picked for public-safety #LTE network in San Francisco. Article | Follow @FierceWireless

> Verizon Wireless launched the Samsung Intensity II, a Qwerty feature phone the carrier will sell for $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Release

> RadioShack's second-quarter profit popped 8.6 percent on demand for mobile phones and other wireless goodies. Article

> JD Power gave T-Mobile USA the top spot in terms of customer care. Article

> HTC is rolling out Android 2.2 to various devices, including the Sprint Nextel Evo.  Article

> Microsoft is working on tablets to counter Apple's iPad. Article

Mobile Content News

> In April, Apple discontinued use of the Google and Skyhook location databases in favor of its own, according to TechCrunch. Article

> TeleNav warned contract renegotiations with Sprint Nextel could lead to a fall in revenue. Article

> Cross-platform applications storefront GetJar announced downloads now exceed 3 million per day. Article

> Digital entertainment services firm RealNetworks reported second quarter revenues of $88.9 million. Article

> Bookseller chain Barnes & Noble will build a series of in-store boutiques spotlighting its Nook solution. Article

> Google introduced new AdWords location extensions enabling local businesses to feature their location and phone number on expandable map ads. Article

> Research In Motion showed off version 2.0 of its BlackBerry App World application storefront. Article

And finally...  Mysterious "monolith" displays appear to be hyping a forthcoming BlackBerry product to AT&T stores, according to Gizmodo. Article

Qualcomm names partners for Indian TD-LTE venture

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) sold stakes to two Indian partners for its broadband wireless access joint venture in India, which the company plans to use to promote TD-LTE network technology.

Qualcomm said Global Holding Corp. and Tulip Telecom each purchased a 13 percent stake in the venture for $28.9 million--actions hinted at in reports speculating on the venture. The U.S. chip maker will retain 74 percent of the venture by investing $164.3 million, the companies said.

Qualcomm paid $1 billion for spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band in India's recently completed broadband spectrum auction. However, to move ahead Qualcomm needed Indian partners, and speculation had been building for months as to which companies might partner with Qualcomm. Global Holding operates GTL Ltd. and GTL Infrastructure, both of which sell network equipment. Tulip Telecom, meanwhile, supplies networking services to companies and governments.

The venture's TD-LTE network will take shape over the next several months. Qualcomm expects to get the spectrum within the next  two to three months and hopes to launch broadband services in 2011, Kanwalinder Singh, president for Qualcomm's Indian and South Asian operations, told Reuters. Qualcomm won spectrum in four of India's 22 service areas, including the cities of Delhi and Mumbai.

For more:
- see this release
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
- see this Reuters article

Related Articles:
Report: Qualcomm in talks with Indian broadband JV partners
Report: Qualcomm in talks with Indian partner for TD-LTE JV
Qualcomm looks to drive TD-LTE via India
Qualcomm's intentions in India could shake up WiMAX's potential foothold 
India's 3G auction set for April 9, 4G auction to follow

FCC approves Samsung LTE phone, likely for MetroPCS

The FCC approved what is likely the first LTE handset for the U.S. market, a Samsung-made phone that appears destined for MetroPCS (NASDAQ:PCS). The phone sports LTE capabilities in the 1700 and 1900 MHz bands, where MetroPCS likely will launch LTE later this year.

The flat-rate carrier said in March that it will launch LTE services in Las Vegas and other, unnamed markets sometime in the second half of this year, and will provide those services to consumers via devices including the Samsung SCH-r900, a CDMA/LTE handset. The device identified in the FCC documents is the SCH-r900. Little is known about the phone except that it has WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, and judging by a photo accompanying the documents it has a similar shape to the Palm Pre.

MetroPCS will provide LTE service on a prepaid basis without device subsidies. Samsung is also providing network equipment for MetroPCS' LTE rollout.

In other LTE device news, photos have leaked on the blog Boy Genius Report of an LG-made LTE dongle for Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ). Verizon has previously indicated that its first LTE devices will be dongles, and that handsets will be coming to market next spring. A Verizon spokeswoman declined to comment. Verizon plans to launch 25-30 commercial LTE markets in the fourth quarter, and rumors have pegged Nov. 15 as a potential launch date.

For more:
- see this Phone Scoop article
- see this IntoMobile post
- see this Boy Genius Report post

Related Articles:
Rumor Mill: Verizon rolling out LTE SIM cards, new global hotspot
Rumor Mill: Verizon launching LTE network Nov. 15
Verizon launching LTE user trials in 5 cities
MetroPCS: LTE launching in Vegas with Samsung handset this year
MetroPCS to launch prepaid LTE and avoid subsidies
MetroPCS selects Ericsson, Samsung as LTE vendors

Alcatel-Lucent slumps to loss in Q2, as component shortage persists

Alcatel-Lucent (NASDAQ:ALU) reported a net loss in the second quarter but maintained its 2010 outlook. The equipment vendor said it is still dealing with component shortages but now has a better handle on the situation.

For the quarter, Alcatel-Lucent reported a net loss of $240 million, a reversal of the net profit of $18.2 million in its year-ago quarter when it benefited from a one-time sale of its stake in French aerospace electronics company Thales. Alca-Lu's revenue clocked in at $4.96 billion, down 2.4 percent from $5.09 billion in the year-ago period but up 17.4 percent from the first quarter of 2010. The company also posted an adjusted operating profit of $36.4 million in the quarter, compared with a loss of $80.7 million in the second quarter of 2009. This number excludes items like the cost of the merger between Alcatel and Lucent and is often seen by analysts as a key measure of the firm's actual performance.

Alcatel-Lucent said revenue for its wireless division was $1.33 billion, up 5 percent from the year-ago quarter. The company's WCDMA business was the key driver, with a nearly 50 percent increase in growth, driven mainly by the North American market. The company expects the second half of the year to be stronger, backed by increased order demand.

For the year, the company expects growth of between 0 and 5 percent for the telecommunications equipment market. Alca-Lu also said it continues to expect to reach an adjusted operating margin of between 1 and 5 percent.

The company said component shortages are easing, but still persist. Component shortages also crimped rival Ericsson's (NASDAQ:ERIC) sales in the second quarter.

"It's not over yet. The issue is still there, but we have a better way of handling it," Alcatel-Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen said in a conference call with reporters. "It's an industry-wide, global problem that won't be resolved over the next three months though," he added, according to the Wall Street Journal.

For more:
- see this release
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
- see this FierceWireless Q2 earnings page

Related Articles:
Alcatel-Lucent pondering $500M services hub in India
Alca-Lu CEO says operator spending will fuel turnaround
Alcatel-Lucent hit by component shortage, slumps to wider loss 

AT&T names IP network suppliers; Top Women in Wireline list released

Quick news from around the Web

@FierceWireless: RT @engadget: BlackBerry Bold 9780 caught on video running OS 6. Article | Follow @FierceWireless

> 2010 Top Women in Wireline. Special report

> AT&T selected Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco and Juniper Networks as its suppliers for its IP/MPLS/Ethernet/Evolved Packet Core equipment. Release

> Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) said the FCC's chairman should quit pushing for broadband regulation. Article

> LG released its new Optimus Z Android phone, article, and promised an Android tablet for the fourth quarter. Article

> Motorola released a lightweight flip phone for Sprint Nextel's Boost Mobile. Article

> Nokia introduced its new Ovi browser for its Series 40 phones. Post

> The brand name of DoCoMo's forthcoming LTE network? Xi, pronounced "crossy." Article

Mobile Content News

> Millions of Android smartphone users have downloaded a malicious wallpaper application that collects their personal data and sends it to a mysterious Chinese website, according to data uncovered by mobile security firm Lookout. Article

> Online retail giant Amazon.com released the latest version of its Kindle ereader device. Article

> Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the company is positioning its Android mobile operating system to drive revenues exceeding $10 billion a year. Article

> NewBay Software announced its LifeCache rich media solutions suite will power AT&T's new Mobile Share media management initiative. Article

> Apple launched iAd for Developers. Article

Broadband Wireless News

> A Sprint Nextel device capable of bringing 3G connectivity to the Apple iPod Touch has passed FCC testing. Article

> Altair Semiconductor announced commercial availability of a new TD-LTE reference design for use in dongles and other gadgets. Article

> TeliaSonera is mulling a new mobile data pricing model that involves bundling LTE network usage charges with the cost of mobile content. Article

European Wireless News

> Vodafone divestitures, including Verizon Wireless, should be pursued at sensible prices. Commentary

> The debacle surrounding the antenna issues with the iPhone 4 has severely dented the handset's U.K. prospects. Article

> A new report from research firm Forrester claims that only a minority of consumers download apps on a monthly basis. Article

> Telit Communications will distribute a complete range of M2M solutions developed by Orange. Article

> Vodafone dropped launch plans for more 360-branded handsets. Article

> BMW, General Motors and Renault selected the Nokia MeeGo operating system. Article

And finally... Motorola slammed Apple's antenna foibles with full-page ad. Article

HTC nabs two executives from Sony Ericsson

HTC snagged two senior executives from rival Sony Ericsson, but the Taiwanese smartphone maker also said that one of its own top executives is leaving the firm.

The company said it hired Ron Louks as its chief strategy officer and Kouji Kodera as its chief product officer. Louks, the former CTO of Sony Ericsson, will be responsible for driving new strategic initiatives and technology incubation at HTC. Kodera, formerly Sony Ericsson's head of products, will run HTC's global product portfolio planning and management.

In addition to the hires, HTC said Jason Juang, a senior executive vice president at HTC, has left the company "to pursue other opportunities."

HTC, which said earlier this month that its second-quarter unaudited net profit rose 33 percent amid surging sales, also made some internal changes to its corporate structure. Jason Mackenzie, previously vice president of HTC North America, was promoted to president of HTC North America and Latin America. David Chen, previously HTC's vice president of product development, was promoted to chief engineering officer. And Florian Seiche, who was  previously vice president of HTC Europe, Middle East and Africa, was named president of HTC EMEA.

HTC has benefited from its high-profile Android devices, like the Droid Incredible for Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and the HTC Evo for Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), but is also going to return to its roots this fall and promote Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform. 

For more:
- see this release

Related Articles:
HTC focuses on innovation despite Windows Phone 7 restrictions
HTC's Q2 profit surges 33% on strong sales
HTC touts brand growth, multi-platform approach
HTC's rise linked to Android, innovation
HTC boasts of U.S. smartphone growth

Mobile phone recycling: Turning intention into action

Earlier this month, I was helping a friend of mine pack up his belongings to move to a new apartment. As it usually goes, packing ends up being a combination of "what to bring to the new place" and "what needs to be thrown out," and if the process is not done carefully, everything could fall into the former category and nothing into the latter. After convincing him that he could part with his old VHS and audio tapes (including, among others, a used copy of Steve Perry's solo album on tape), we went through his drawer of gadgets he didn't use any more: Walkmans, headphones, chargers and about a dozen mobile phones. Without thinking twice, he grabbed everything inside and dumped them into a trashcan.

            "What do you think you're doing?" I asked, a bit perturbed.

            "Throwing out what I don't use anymore," he responded, reaching for another old, unused phone.

            "You can recycle those," I told him.

            "You mean with the soda cans and newspaper?"

Good question. Recycling phones isn't anything like recycling soda cans or newspaper, and most, if not all, recycling centers are not equipped to handle some of the potentially hazardous material, nor strip out some of the valuable and re-usable materials within. But most users would not know this and even consider it once they've finished with a phone. In the end, I took his old phones to be recycled. I left the Steve Perry tape behind.

Consider the following

From the very beginning of the mobile phone market, we've all had our eyes on how many mobile phones would sell each year. With the exception of the economic downturn of 2009, that number has steadily climbed ever higher. But frequently overlooked in this analysis is what happens to old mobile phones once they have reached the end of their usage lives. Consider the following:

• Every year since 2007, vendors have shipped more than one billion phones worldwide. In the United States alone, that number came to 180 million units last year. Even if just ten percent (currently considered a good benchmark) are recycled, there is still plenty left out there.
• Earlier mobile phones contained one or several toxic materials, including PVC, phthalates, TBT, cadmium, beryllium, lead and chlorinated flame retardants, brominated compounds, antimony trioxide, arsenic. Most recycling centers are not equipped to handle them.
• Within emerging markets, old phones are re-purposed among friends and family, thereby extending a phone's useful life. In mature markets, like the United States, constant upgrades have led to less usage of older phones.
• According to an IDC survey taken in 2008, 35.3 percent of our respondents intended to recycle their mobile phone. But very few of those respondents knew how.
• In that same survey, 20.8 percent of our respondents said that they would donate their phone to a charity. Again, few of those respondents knew how.
• Finally, 5.5 percent of our respondents in that survey indicated that they would simply throw away their old phones.

Going just by these figures and trends alone, there is ample opportunity for the mobile phone market to bring mobile phone recycling to the forefront.

The first is to make recycling mobile phones part of the sales process. Carriers and retailers are in the perfect position to make mobile phone recycling a more accepted practice today. Moreover, since the United States mobile phone market has reached subscriber saturation, practically every person walking into a store should, theoretically, have a mobile phone that he or she will no longer be using. Rather than simply ending the selling process by ringing up the sale and showing how to use the phone, a carrier or retailer could collect the old phone to be recycled. And as an incentive to bring in old phones, a customer could be provided with a discount to be used towards another product or monthly service bill. At the same time, those customers who do not purchase a phone should still be able to drop off a phone at a carrier or retailer to be recycled.

The second is for vendors to make mobile phone recycling a goal for the public to see. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung announced an ambitious goal to recycle one million mobile phones this year. Dubbed "March to a Million," the program aims to teach teens on the importance and ease of mobile phone recycling, with cash and other prizes available to schools that recycle the most phones. LG hosted its own ecoMobilization High School Cell Phone Recycling program this past spring, collecting thousands of phones in the course of 30 days. A similar competition is expected for this fall. Such programs as these bring the recycling movement out in front and build goodwill between the company and community.

Finally, carriers can tap into their subscriber bases to recycle their phones once they reach the end of a contract. As carriers are eager to provide a deep discount or even a free phone in exchange for renewing another two years, providing the means to recycle the old phone would not hurt either.

Recycling is just one piece of the puzzle

I did not touch upon many other facets of the green mobile phone effort, such as mobile phone design, manufacturing, packaging, and energy efficiency, among others. Each of those could take up their own column. Last month, IDC published a report examining what the leading handset vendors are doing in this space, and which ones excel in areas mentioned above. Much work has been done in each of these categories, and certainly many of the vendors have set examples for others to follow.

Like many of you, I've held on to many of my old phones, mostly due to nostalgia. Someday I will get around to giving them up for good. I don't plan on using any of them ever again as they lack many of the features and functionalities I've become accustomed to. Chances are I'll recycle it or give it a second life by passing it on to a friend of family member.

But you still won't find me picking up my friend's old Steve Perry tape.

Ramon Llamas is a senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. In his role, Llamas tracks the quarterly results of the leading and emerging mobile device vendors, and uses the data to forecast the short-term and long-term direction of the mobile device market, and how it affects handset vendors, carriers and customers. He recently released his worldwide mobile phone and smartphone 2010 - 2014 forecasts, as well as a worldwide forecast of the mobile phone touchscreen market. In addition to being featured in FierceWireless, Llamas has been featured on Bloomberg Radio, National Public Radio, and quoted in Investors Business Daily, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Llamas can be reached at RLlamas@idc.com.

What is Sprint's trump card?

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) has a lot to smile about after its second-quarter earnings announcement. The carrier posted a net subscriber gain of 111,000 customers--its first venture into net subscriber gains in three years. Sprint also had its best postpaid churn ever, at 1.85 percent. The folks over in Overland Park, Kan., should pat themselves on the back for a job well done. My question is: What's next?

Of course, it's worth taking a moment to recognize how far Sprint has come in the span of a few years, and what kind of company Sprint CEO Dan Hesse inherited from Gary Forsee at the end of 2007. Sprint's brand and reputation were in tatters: Subscribers were leaving in droves, customer service was rated terribly, activist investors like Ralph Whitworth were rattling management, and the company's relationship with and plans for Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) were anything but clear. Everything seemed to hit a low in the first quarter of 2008, when Sprint lost a whopping 1.09 million subscribers and customer satisfaction hit an all-time low on the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

However, for ten consecutive quarters, Sprint's customer service ratings have improved and, according to Hesse, the ACSI ranked Sprint as the company that has improved the most over the past two years. Sprint said it now expects to have positive total net wireless subscriber additions during the remainder of 2010.

Sprint's trump card for the past year and a half has been its relationship with and majority stake in Clearwire and its mobile WiMAX network. Sprint has been pushing 4G as both a strategic imperative and as a key part of its brand--a way to set itself apart from the competition. And the launch of the HTC Evo in the second quarter, Sprint's first 3G/4G smartphone, provided a clear boost to the carrier's second quarter results.

But Sprint has been relentlessly promoting the fact that is has the "first and only" 4G network, and that will soon change. Both Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and MetroPCS (NASDAQ:PCS) plan LTE launches this year, while AT&T (NYSE:T) plans LTE for next year. Even T-Mobile USA is putting pressure on Sprint by arguing its HSPA+ network provides "4G speeds." Sprint's first-mover advantage appears to be fading. What to do?

My bet is on a prepaid 4G service offering, which Sprint has hinted about and which Hesse has told me is still being discussed internally. Such a plan would combine two elements of Sprint's core philosophy: the flexibility and growing strength of prepaid and the advantages of mobile WiMAX. And if such an offer were provided with unlimited data, it would stand in stark contrast to Verizon's LTE offerings, which are likely to be priced around a postpaid, usage-based model.

Sprint has made progress, but its fortunes could get roughed up by any number of factors: for example, if Verizon gets Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone. To truly succeed, Sprint may need to do something more--something dynamic.

On the company's earnings conference call Hesse said that in a recent interview with NPR he likened Sprint's turnaround to a baseball game. The first three innings have been about achieving stability; the second three will be about growth and the last three will be about delivering best-in-class services. If Sprint were a team and I were one of its fans, I'd be hoping that its manager had an ace closer like Mariano Rivera warming up in the bullpen. --Phil

Report: 4G to fuel infrastructure spending in 2011

Global wireless infrastructure spending is expected to pick up in 2011 after two years of declines, according to a new report from research firm iSuppli. Increased 4G deployments will drive that growth, as more carriers deploy LTE networks. iSuppli predicts infrastructure spending will reach $40.3 billion in 2011, up 6.7 percent from $37.8 billion in 2009. According to iSuppli, capital spending decreased 5.9 percent in 2009 and will fall an additional 2.3 percent in 2010. Release

Will LightSquared succeed with its LTE ambitions?

In the nearly two decades that I've been writing about the wireless industry, I've witnessed some very high-profile business failures (Iridium and Metricom, to name a few). Many of these flameouts had a few things in common. First, they thought they could build a network from scratch and--despite fierce competition from existing players--attract enough customers to offset the billions in infrastructure costs they would incur.

Secondly, they thought they could beat the existing service providers at their own game by offering consumers a better alternative. Iridium's plan was to launch a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites that would blanket the earth with coverage and provide global voice and data services to globe-trotting executives that needed global coverage. Metricom's plan was to offer wireless data service using small repeaters installed on light poles and compete with the wireline DSL and cable modem companies.

So you can imagine my skepticism when I first learned of private-equity firm Harbinger Capital Partners and its plans to launch a nationwide wholesale LTE network (dubbed LightSquared) that some estimate will cost between $6 billion and $10 billion to build. Like the examples above, LightSquared believes it can build out this costly network from scratch and attract wholesale customers, which will then resell mobile broadband services using the LightSquared network. And company executives believe LightSquared can attract enough wholesale customers (they have said they're talking to at least 30 possible wholesale clients) to justify the company's buildout expenses. And like the examples above, LightSquared also believes it can beat existing service providers (like Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR), AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ)) at their game by providing better coverage and better quality of service.

But LightSquared likely will be a bit late to the game--it plans to cover 100 million people by year-end 2012 as opposed to competitor Clearwire, which plans to cover 120 million people by year-end 2010.   

Will LightSquared succeed? I spoke with Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben and I have to admit, he talks a good game. He knows the industry, he knows the technology and he understand the importance of building an ecosystem to support LightSquared's ambitious plans.

For more on LightSquared's plans (and the industry's reaction), check out my feature article here. I've talked to various players in the industry about this 4G upstart and I think you may find their responses interesting.  

I remain skeptical--but also hopeful. I'd like to see a new upstart make it in the 4G space. But if history is any indication of the future, LightSquared has a tough road ahead. --Sue  

LG's smartphone struggles continue in Q2

LG Electronics posted weak second-quarter results, with its handset unit unable to produce smartphone hits. The South Korean electronics conglomerate's handset division suffered its first loss in four years.

On a company-wide basis, LG's net profit fell to $724 million, down from $1.08 billion in the year-ago period. However, its handset unit posted an operating loss of $101 million in the quarter, a dramatic reversal of the $524 million profit it recorded in the year-ago period. The loss was triple the size projected by five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

LG said handset shipments rose 13 percent from the first quarter. The company shipped 30.6 million units in the second quarter, up from 27.1 million in the first quarter and up 2 percent from the 29.82 million it shipped in the year-ago period. However, LG's handset unit had an operating loss margin of 3.5 percent, compared with a 0.9 percent profit margin in the first quarter. The share of LG's handset sales in North America rose from 28 percent in the first quarter to 32 percent in the second quarter.

The company blamed the declines in profits on a falling average selling price for its phones--which it did not disclose--in developed markets, as well as continued investment in research and development and marketing.

"We believe the smartphone market will become a mass market and our strategy is to boost market share first with mid-end models such as the Optimus series we are planning to launch this quarter," LG CFO David Jung told analysts. "Our handset business will continue to experience difficulties in the third quarter, and would start recover from the late fourth quarter," he added.

According to Forbes, LG will continue to focus on developing handsets running on Google's Android platform (Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) launched LG's Ally, the manufacturer's first Android phone for the U.S. market, in May). However, LG also plans to support Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Phone 7 platform.

For more:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
- see this Reuters article
- see this Bloomberg article
- see this Forbes article
- see this FierceWireless Q2 earnings page

Related Articles:
Verizon allies with LG for vendor's first U.S. Android phone, the Ally
LG teams up with Marvel for 'Iron Man 2' campaign
Trailing in smartphones, LG tumbles in Q1

AT&T debuts new Sharp phone; Verizon suffers outage in Manhattan

Quick news from around the Web

@FierceWireless: Rambus Sees ITC Ruling Helping Sway Other Potential Licensees (sub. req.) Article #Nvidia. | Follow @FierceWireless

> AT&T Mobility announced the Sharp FX from Personal Communications Devices, a $99 feature phone with a touchscreen and slide-out Qwerty keyboard that features Qualcomm's FLO TV service. Release

> HTC plans to push its brand in mainland China. Article (sub. req.)

> Chip technology vendor ARM beat its revenue forecasts. Article

> Canadian carrier Rogers enjoyed a rise in quarterly earnings. Article

> The "Qi" wireless power specification is now ready. Article

> Verizon Wireless suffered a service outage in parts of Manhattan yesterday. Article (sub. req.)

Mobile Content News

> Global financial services provider Citigroup warned customers its free mobile banking application for Apple's iPhone contains a security flaw. Article

> Google appears to be eying the launch of a digital music store later this year. Article

> Google introduced Google Maps for mobile 4.4, promising more efficient access to information on nearby locations. Article

> According to a new survey, no one would pay for Twitter. Article

European Wireless News

> Ireland's Imagine acquired Clearwire's operations in the country. Release

And finally... An app from Cloud Music leverages Google's Docs storage service to stream music to Android rival Apple's iPhone. Article

Rumor Mill: Motorola will launch Android tablet in November

Motorola (NYSE:MOT) will release a 10-inch tablet in November running version 3.0 of Google's Android platform, according to a report on The Street.com. The report, citing Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar, did not provide any specifications.

The handset vendor has hinted in the past that it plans to jump into the tablet market. In May, Moto co-CEO Sanjay Jha said at an investor conference sponsored by Barclays Capital that Motorola is thinking about a "companion product" to a TV that would sport a 7-10 inch screen and that would allow users to walk around their house and watch TV. Motorola also showed off a prototype Android tablet earlier this year as part of a demonstration of Verizon Wireless' (NYSE:VZ) forthcoming LTE network.

"We're very focused on participating in this convergence between mobility and home, and I actually think you will see some products from us in a very short period of time," Jha said during the investor conference. Jha will lead Motorola's handset division and its set-top box unit in a new company called Motorola Mobility once the company splits early next year.

A Motorola spokeswoman declined to comment.

Details about Android 3.0, which is code-named Gingerbread, have been spreading across the Web. The Android blog Phandroid posted what it said was a picture of an Android phone running 3.0.

For more:
- see this The Street.com video
- see this Slashgear post
- see this Phandroid post

Related Articles:
Motorola's Jha: Android will eclipse Apple's iPhone
Motorola jazzed by continued Droid demand
Motorola gives more breakup details ahead of split
Motorola plans tablet, follow-up to Droid

AT&T issues software patch for data upload glitch

AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) said that over the next two to three weeks it will filter out a patch to fix an Alcatel-Lucent (NASDAQ:ALU) software bug that affected some users' data upload speeds. AT&T first identified the problem earlier this month along with the equipment maker. 

The carrier said that the issue affects around 2 percent of its subscriber base, a figure that includes iPhone users and others--which works out to 1.8 million subscribers out of AT&T's 90.1 million total customer base. The problem, which slowed some users' data uplink speeds to around 100 Kbps, only affected HSUPA service and only in markets served by Alcatel-Lucent equipment.

AT&T declined to comment on how much the software fix will cost.

The glitch is the one of a series of technical snafus suffered by AT&T and iPhone vendor Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Apple came under fire for antenna problems related to its iPhone 4, and offered customers free bumper cases to mitigate the issue. Apple also said it had been incorrectly calculating the number of bars available for cellular service on the iPhone, and issued a software patch to fix that.

For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this Bloomberg article

Related Articles:
AT&T: Alca-Lu software bug affected uplink speeds
Apple: Free cases for iPhone 4 owners
Apple blames iPhone 4 reception flaws on software glitch
Apple, AT&T slammed in lawsuits over iPhone 4 antenna issues

U.S. regulators declare iPhone jailbreaking legal

Federal regulators said in a ruling that consumers can jailbreak their mobile devices without fear of legal repercussions from handset makers over violating copyright protections.

The Register of Copyrights (which is part of the Library of Congress), ruled that jailbreaking a phone does not violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act--over the objections of iPhone maker Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). The relevant exemption states that "computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset," are exempted from violating copyright laws.

Jailbreaking is the process of modifying a phone or operating system to run applications not approved by the initial vendor or carrier.

However, analysts said the ruling likely will not have many practical implications for the wireless industry. The ruling--which applies to all handsets and not just the iPhone--does not require Apple or other handset makers to allow jailbreaking, but instead does not penalize people who circumvent controls designed to stop jailbreaking.

"There's no real practical implications here, except for the fact that what is not a particularly common or widespread practice is now legal," Michael Gartenberg, analyst with the Altimeter Group, told FierceWireless. "The risk versus reward is still too great for most folks. The people who were going to do it are probably going to do it anyway."

Additionally, noted Tim Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies, Apple has not taken legal action against people who have publicized the fact that they have jailbroken their iPhone. "What this ruling says is that Apple can't sue you," he told FierceWireless. "It also doesn't say Apple can't find ways to try to prevent you from doing this." Apple, meanwhile, can still void the warranty of users who jailbreak their iPhone.

Apple has argued that the DMCA protects the encryption Apple put in the software that starts up the iOS platform. Apple has argued that unauthorized modification of its platform "has been a major source of instability, disruption of services and other issues."Apple indicated that it is not changing its policies due to the new ruling.

"Apple's goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience," Apple said in a statement provided to Cult of Mac. "As we've said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably."

Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, told FierceWireless that he does not think the ruling will have many practical implications, but might allow more reputable sources to publish jailbreaking how-tos. Nevertheless, he called it a "symbolic slap" to Apple.

"I think it's an important step forward from the perspective of that it clarifies things a bit on ownership. If you buy a device, what are you allowed to do with it?" Greengart said. "It doesn't change the economic incentives to lock it down. And for that matter, it doesn't change the economic invectives for a consumer to seek locked down devices."

In a statement, the CTIA urged consumers to use caution if they decide to jailbreak their devices. "Wireless carriers and handset makers go to great lengths to protect their customer's privacy by blocking spam, filtering for viruses, and testing software that is sold through their portals," Michael Altschul, CTIA's general counsel, said in the statement. "Unfortunately, 'jailbreaking,' or other modifications to a wireless phone's operating system, increases a consumer's risk for malware, spyware and other vulnerabilities."

One area where the ruling could have an effect is in the legal battle between Virgin Mobile USA and MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS). MetroPCS in the summer of 2008 began a program to flash competitors' CDMA handsets so that they can work on MetroPCS' network. Virgin Mobile, which subsidizes some of the cost of its handsets and then recoups those expenses through monthly fees, asked MetroPCS to stop selling the service. In response, MetroPCS filed a claim seeking to show that it does not violate any trademarks or interfere with Virgin Mobile's contracts. Virgin Mobile then counter-sued with trademark infringement and contract interference claims. In September, a federal judge threw out Virgin Mobile USA's claim that MetroPCS was meddling with its contracts by using its MetroFlash service. However, the judge did not dismiss some trademark infringement claims that Virgin Mobile brought against MetroPCS.

According to the Register of Copyrights' recent ruling: "Computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable used wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telecommunications network, when circumvention is initiated by the owner of the copy of the computer program solely in order to connect to a wireless telecommunications network and access to the network is authorized by the operator of the network."

The current status of the Virgin/MetroPCS case is unclear: Virgin Mobile and MetroPCS representatives did not return calls for comment.

For more:
- see this Wired article
- see this Cult of Mac article
- see this Ars Technica article
- see this PCMag.com article

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iPhone 4 hits more countries; HTC moves to 'Super LCD' screens

Quick news from around the Web

@FierceWireless: The reality of augmented reality in #mobile. Article A look at a technology that hasn't taken off yet, but has potential. | Follow @FierceWireless

> AT&T completed the sale of Wayport to Swisscom. Article

> MagicJack's planned GSM femtocell has been delayed. Article

> Apple's iPhone 4 arrived in 17 more countries. Release

> HTC said it will switch to "Super LCD" screens in its forthcoming devices, a move that comes after the company has suffered shortages of AMOLED screens. Article

> The LiMo Foundation and GNOME Foundation announced they will partner on Linux. Article

> Koreans are upset the country is not among those getting the iPhone 4 this week. Article (sub. req.)

Mobile Content News

> Android appears to be gearing for the inclusion of operator billing technologies. Article

> Marketing software and services provider Aprimo launched Aprimo Mobile. Article

> Apple introduced the iPhone 4 Case Program application. Article

> NBC Universal Digital Studio announced an agreement with Samsung Electronics to launch "FCU: Fact Checkers Unit." Article

Broadband Wireless News

> Nokia Siemens Networks ended its TDD technology cooperation with Chinese vendor Huawei. Article

> Reliance Industries now plans to deploy WiMAX in the 2.3 GHz band instead of TD-LTE technology. Article

European Wireless News

> The war between WiMAX and LTE is over, according to one analyst. Article

> Industry chatter indicates that there is something going on between the giant Russian operator, MTS, and Telekom Austria. Article

> Vodafone's CEO announced that the company achieved its first quarterly service revenue growth since the recession started 18 months ago. Article

> Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg attempted to put a positive spin on the company's prospects. Article

> Vodafone Greece launched 3G femtocell services. Article

> Nokia needs a Steve Jobs doppelganger. Commentary

And finally... Kings of Leon were peppered with bird poop at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Article

Analysts: Sprint improving, but subscribers continue to search for exits

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) is likely to show improving subscriber trends when its reports second-quarter earnings Wednesday, but analysts predict the carrier will still post a net subscriber loss.

According to Wall Street analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, Sprint is going to post total net subscriber losses of between 50,000 and 150,000 customers in the second quarter.

Sprint has made strides in adding both prepaid and wholesale customers, analysts said, but is struggling with postpaid subscriber losses. Analysts predict Sprint is going to lose 425,000 postpaid subscribers in the second quarter, a marked improvement from the loss of 991,000 in the year-ago period.

Sprint likely will crow about its HTC Evo, its first 4G smartphone running on Clearwire's (NASDAQ:CLWR) mobile WiMAX network, which analysts said was a hit during the quarter despite the fact that Clearwire's network is still expanding. According to a research note from Deutsche Bank analyst Brett Feldman, Sprint's postpaid losses might have been as much as 100,000 higher without the Evo. Sprint is poised to release its second 4G smartphone, the Samsung Epic 4G, later this year.

Sprint's earnings come in a bit of a topsy-turvy time for the carrier. Sprint announced last week that Dan Schulman, the head of its growing prepaid unit, will be leaving the company. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has also indicated that the company, along with Clearwire, might deploy LTE technology on top of the existing WiMAX network. 

For more:
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article (sub. req.)
- see this FierceWireless Q2 earnings page

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Article updated July 27 to reflect the date of Sprint's earnings announcement.

CTIA sues San Francisco over cell phone radiation law

CTIA's battle against the city of San Francisco over cell phone radiation policy just escalated into a lawsuit. On Friday CTIA filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of San Francisco seeking to block enforcement of the city's "Cell Phone Right-to-Know" ordinance. The trade association said the ordinance is at odds with FCC standards that are used to ensure cell phone safety.

Specifically, CTIA said the ordinance, which requires retailers to display a phone's specific absorption rate (SAR) at the point of sale, causes confusion and misleads consumers into thinking some phones are safer than others. "The FCC has determined that all wireless phones legally sold in the United States are 'safe,'" CTIA spokesman John Walls said in a press release.

Nevertheless, some scientists and public advocacy groups have questioned the limits set by the FCC on how much radiation can be absorbed by body tissue. They argue that the limits set by the FCC in 1997 are outdated and were established for adult males. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the ordinance is not an attack on the cell phone industry but an effort to better inform consumers about the devices they are purchasing.

CTIA has already protested the ordinance by saying that it will no longer hold its CTIA Enterprise and Applications conferences in San Francisco. The conference will be held in San Francisco this October, but will be in San Diego in 2011. 

For more:
- see this Washington Post article
- see this release

Related Articles:
CTIA snubbing San Francisco over cell phone radiation law

Verizon exec quiets tiered data pricing rumor

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) will not switch its 3G data pricing plans to a tiered, usage-based model before it launches its LTE network, a top executive indicated, putting to a rest a rumor that had sprung up about a potential switch.

"You have not seen us rush out to make any kind of a change," Verizon Communications CFO John Killian said during Verizon's earnings conference call Friday, when questioned whether Verizon will follow AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) to a tiered-pricing approach. "We will continue to monitor the situation, of course, and look at opportunities that will say what is the best equation for us to drive long-term shareholder value, and we will be very focused on that. I cannot say enough, though, about the opportunity we see ahead given where we are today with smartphone penetration."

Killian said the wireless carrier is seeing enormous benefits from its smartphone lineup, especially its selection of phones running Google's Android platform, such as the Motorola (NYSE:MOT) Droid X. Verizon added 665,000 lucrative retail postpaid customers in the second quarter, outpacing rival AT&T's 496,000.

Earlier this month Engadget reported, citing an unnamed source, that Verizon was preparing to launch tiered data plans for its 3G data network.

AT&T in early June replaced its unlimited smartphone data plans with two tiers: 200 MB for $15 per month and 2 GB for $25 per month.

However, Verizon may well rely on tiered pricing for its forthcoming LTE service. In June, Killian indicated the company will change its pricing plans when Verizon launches LTE in 25-30 commercial markets later this year. "We will probably need to change the design of our pricing where it will not be totally unlimited, flat rate," he said at the time.

For more:
- see this ZDNet article
- see this AP article

Related Articles:
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AT&T chief: Industry moving toward usage-based pricing

Apple delays white iPhone again; Clearwire buys stake in Irish WiMAX provider

Quick news from around the Web

@FierceWireless: RT @fmanjoo: How often does your phone drop calls? Cell companies won't say. It's a secret! My @Slate piece. Article | Follow @FierceWireless

> Problems continue to plague the white Apple iPhone 4. The company now says it won't be available until later this year. Article

> The CEO of LG Display Co. said that the company is having difficulty fulfilling orders from Apple for its iPad.  Article (sub. req.)

> Clearwire purchased a seven percent stake in Ireland based WiMAX operator, Imagine Communications.  Article

> Microsoft is now an official ARM processor licensee but it's unclear why they want to be. Article

Mobile Content News

> AOL launched a new smartphone portal as well as a pair of free apps exclusively optimized for Google's Android platform. Article

> Another contentious chapter in the story of ebooks--Random House cries foul after literary agent Andrew Wylie launches a new publishing venture to produce ebook editions exclusively for Amazon.com.  Article

> Verizon Wireless saw a 23.8 percent jump in data revenues. Article

And finally... Sprint Nextel is working with GeckoSystems International to power a programmable human-sized robot. Article

HP pushes tablets, new version of webOS

Hewlett-Packard says now that its $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) is complete, it's moving full steam ahead with plans to release products based on Palm's webOS platform. 

Speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, Todd Bradley, executive vice president of the personal systems group division of HP, said that the company will be releasing multiple tablet products later this year.

"I think you'll see us with a family of slate products, clearly a Microsoft product in the enterprise and a webOS product broadly-deployed,"  Bradley said. "Slates are going to be an enormous category, this is just in its infancy." The new tablets will join a host of others running on Google's Android platform as handset and computer makers alike try to capitalize on the success Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has found with its iPad; Apple said this week that it sold 3.27 million iPads in its latest quarter.

Former Palm CEO Job Rubinstein, who now is a member of HP's executive team, also said that webOS 2.0, a refreshed version of the company's highly-praised operating system, is on track for later this year, according to Engadget. Additionally, he said that Palm is aggressively working on new hardware.

HP CEO Mark Hurd said in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine that HP wants to focus on developing mobile phone hardware now that it has acquired webOS. However, he said that the company will continue to emphasize the corporate HP brand above all else, and that Palm might fade into the background as a "sub-brand," similar to HP Pavilion computers.

For more:
- see this Engadget post
- see this Fortune article
- see this Engadget post
- see this Frankfurter Allgemeine article (via Google translation)

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Top wireless stories of the week

Check out this week's most-viewed stories across Fierce's wireless publications:

FierceBroadbandWireless
1. NSN buys Motorola's wireless infrastructure biz for $1.2B; What's in store for the WiMAX piece?
2. Nokia Siemens finally gains relevance in the U.S. market
3. The deluge of data: Opportunity knocking?

FierceDeveloper
1. Apple issues iOS 4.1 beta update to developers
2. Critics applaud Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 sneak preview
3. Google pulls plug on Nexus One--still for sale to developers

FierceMobileContent
1. RIM touts new multimedia experiences with BlackBerry 6.0
2. Five mobile social networks you need to follow
3. Sprint Zone app touts interactive subscriber services

FierceWireless
1. 2010 Top Women in Wireless
2. Harbinger forges $7B LTE pact with Nokia Siemens
3. Verizon trials $50 prepaid unlimited plan

FierceWireless:Europe
1. Vodafone Germany in race to deploy rural LTE network
2. O2 Telefónica launches mVoIP in Germany, other countries to follow
3. Orange enters mHealth with 'smartnumbers'

AT&T's net adds soar with 3.2M iPhone activations

AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) once again experienced strong quarterly subscriber growth, largely thanks to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and the launch of the iPhone 4. AT&T reported that in the second quarter of 2010 it gained a net 1.6 million subscribers for a total of 90.1 million subscribers. The company activated 3.2 million iPhones in the quarter, its largest number of quarterly iPhone activations ever. The carrier said around 27 percent of those activations were customers new to AT&T.

The company reported consolidated revenues of $30.8 billion, up from $30.6 billion in second quarter of 2009. Operating expenses were $24.7 billion in the quarter, down slightly from the $25.1 billion in the previous year's quarter, and AT&T's operating income margin was 19.8 percent, up from 18 percent in the year-ago quarter. Here's a breakdown of the other key metrics:

Net adds: AT&T activated 3.2 million iPhones in the second quarter, but the company didn't say how many of those iPhones were the iPhone 4, which AT&T only started offering June 24. AT&T's quarter ended June 30. Nevertheless, the company did say that pre-orders of the device were 10 times higher than the first day of pre-ordering for the iPhone 3GS. In addition, the company said that retail postpaid net adds totaled 496,000, for a total of 67 million. Analyst firm Technology Business Research noted that without the strong iPhone growth, AT&T would have posted a decline in postpaid net adds for the quarter.

ARPU: AT&T's postpaid subscriber average revenue per user increased 3.4 percent from the year-earlier quarter, to $62.63. The carrier said its postpaid data ARPU reached $21.07, up 18.6 percent vs. the year-earlier quarter.

Devices: AT&T continued to show strong growth in connected or emerging devices such as ereaders. The company had 896,000 net adds in the quarter for a total of 6.7 million connected devices. On the integrated device front, AT&T increased its number of 3G integrated device customers by 2.9 million for a total of 29.7 million. This is an increase of 98.2 percent year over year. The company said 53.2 percent of its 67 million postpaid customers have integrated devices. AT&T CFO Rick Lindner said he believes this percentage could climb to the 70 percent to 80 percent range.

Churn: Postpaid churn was 1.01 percent, down from 1.07 percent in the year-earlier quarter. Total churn was 1.29 percent vs. 1.48 percent in the second quarter of 2009.

Data revenue: Wireless data revenues increased to $4.4 billion, up $936 million from the year-earlier quarter. The number of AT&T subscribers with wireless data plans was up 24 percent over the previous year. Lindner said that early results from the company's move to tiered data pricing plans have been encouraging. In particular, he said the company had expected a lot of customers to migrate to the lower price point ($15 per month for 200 MB of data) but a large portion migrated to the $25 per month for 2 GB of data plan. In addition, he said AT&T is seeing benefits from lowering the point of entry so customers can move into the integrated device category and try data services. "We believe over time they will migrate to higher-tiered plans," he said.

Network: The company did provide some insight into its HSPA network improvements. In particular, AT&T said that in areas where it has upgraded the backhaul and has HSPA 7.2 in place, customers are seeing a 32 percent to 47 percent increase in download speeds. In New York City, the company said that 3G dropped calls have declined by 23 percent in Manhattan and 13 percent in the New York metro area since the fourth quarter of 2009. 

For more:
- see this release
- see this AT&T slide presentation
- see this AT&T Investor presentation
- see these key stats from AT&T's 2Q
- check out the FierceWireless Q2 earnings page

Related Articles:
AT&T kills unlimited data pricing, supports iPhone tethering
With 1.9M total net adds, AT&T pushes growth with connected devices
AT&T nears record with 2.7M net adds in Q4
Which U.S. carriers have bigger Q1 subscriber bases?

Report: Smartphone surge continues unabated in Q2

The hottest segment in mobile keeps on growing. According to a new report from research firm Strategy Analytics, smartphone shipments rose 43 percent to a record 60 million units in the second quarter. Nokia (NYSE:NOK) continued to lead the market via its Symbian phones; the firm's smartphone market share jumped to 40.3 percent, according to the firm, up from 38.8 percent in the first quarter (but down slightly from 40.7 percent in the second quarter of 2009). Research In Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) market share stood at 18.8 percent, down slightly from 19.1 percent in the first quarter and 19.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) took 14.1 percent market share, down from 15.9 percent in the first quarter but up solidly from 12.5 percent in the second quarter of 2009. Special feature