Wireless Hardware

SBA to buy TowerCo assets for $193.5M

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:59:54 -0400

SBA Communications agreed to buy up to 430 wireless towers from TowerCo for $193.5 million in a deal that is expected to close by the end of May. The companies have yet to work out the specific number of towers that SBA will buy from TowerCo. SBA plans to fund the acquisition with cash on hand and withdrawal from its $335 million senior credit facility. The towers are located nationwide. Each tower serves an average 1.5 mobile carriers.

For more on the deal:
- read this article from South Florida Business Journal

Exec Pay: Who makes what in wireless?

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:59:59 -0400

Exec Pay: Who makes what in wireless?

Few issues stoke the ire of workers like executive pay. The average CEO of Standard & Poor's 500 company list made $15.06 million in 2006, which is the most recent year for executive compensation figures. The ten U.S.-based, public wireless company CEOs whose pay we tracked averaged about $18.34 million in 2006. Only half of them are on Standard & Poor's 500 list.

Because every company has their own nuanced approach to executive compensation, we tried to make it easy and follow the new 2006 rule that the SEC requires public companies to disclose total compensation, which includes salary, bonus and "other" compensation. The "other" compensation category includes vested restricted stock grants and "stock gains," the value realized from exercising stock options during the past fiscal year.

Just today AT&T announced its executive compensation figures for 2007. Chairman, president and CEO Randall Stephenson, who took over from Ed Whitacre Jr., received total compensation of close to $22 million. President and CEO of AT&T Mobility Stanley Sigman received compensation of $36.9 million, before he retired at year-end. Ralph de la Vega, who took over for Sigman, received $12.4 million in 2007.

Whether it was because of retirement or a forced resignation, some of the CEOs in our top ten list--Sprint Nextel's Gary Forsee, Motorola's Ed Zander and AT&T's Ed Whitacre Jr.--are no longer at their posts. Take a look back at what these executives and their still-gainfully-employed colleagues made back in 2006. How much does it cost to retain a wireless leader? Here are ten answers that brought varying degrees of success. Click here to see the start of the report, or select a name below. -Brian

Ed Whitacre Jr., AT&T CEO

Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm CEO

Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon CEO

Gary Forsee, Sprint Nextel CEO

Scott Ford, Alltel CEO

Ed Zander, Motorola CEO

Mike Zafirovski, Nortel Networks CEO

Michael Gallagher, FiberTower CEO

Doug Hutcheson, Leap Wireless CEO

Steven Dussek, Dobson CEO

Tropos promotes Ayers to president and CEO

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Mesh networking company Tropos Networks announced the appointment of veteran sales executive Tom Ayers as president and CEO. Ayers will take the helm from Ron Sege who will continue to serve as an adviser.

On behalf of Tropos' Board of Directors, Chairman Dave Hanna said, "I want to take this opportunity to thank Ron for his vision, evangelism and tireless commitment to Tropos and the whole metro WiFi industry. "He built a great foundation here at Tropos and I look forward to working with him in his future endeavors."

Ayers has worked in the industry for 30 years including his most recent position as SVP of field operations at Blue Coat Systems and a prior post at McAfee.

For more on Tropos' new CEO:
- read this press release

Google goes it alone on white space spectrum

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 06:59:58 -0500

While most of the wireless industry is gearing up for the January 700 MHz spectrum auction, Google, which intends to bid in that auction, is also investigating the "white spaces," or unlicensed spectrum that sits between spectrum currently licensed to television broadcasters. Google and others would like to use this spectrum to carry mobile Internet devices. While past efforts by Google, Microsoft, Philips and others for prototypes that run on the white spaces were largely rejected by the FCC, Google has since decided to go it alone with its own tests. The company presented results of an "initial phase of ongoing trials" around white space technology that it says demonstrates that digital televisions and wireless microphones can exists side-by-side without interference.

For more on the tests:
- read this report from MarketWatch

Standardized phone chargers inch closer

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:59:54 -0400

Earlier this week, the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) agreed to use the micro-USB as the future common connector and charger for mobile devices. The forum includes many GSM carriers as well as device makers Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG. Micro-USB is thinner than mini-USB, making it better suited for the ever-thinner mobile device.

"We're speeding up the inevitable," OMTP's CTO Nick Allott said. "OMTP itself has no power to do anything, but by making that statement that includes our membership--representing about 85 percent of the GSM market--we are making a strong public statement that, as an industry, this is the way we want to go."

For more on the standard connectors:
- read this article from ZDNet

Palm hints at loss; loses Treo engineer

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 06:59:55 -0400

Palm has lowered its expectations for profits during the quarter ending August 31. The company expects to break even or lose one cent per share on revenue of $359 million to $361 million. Previously, the company expected to make one cent per a share on revenue of $355 million to $365 million. This time last year, Palm posted a profit of 16 cents per share, which came out to 21 cents when special items were excluded.

Palm's senior vice president of engineering, Michael Farese left the company after two years onboard. Farese joined BitWave Semiconductor, a developer of radio frequency integrated circuits for handsets, as president and CEO. Farese helped develop the Treo 700 (photo) and Treo 750 (photo).

For more on Palm:
- check out this article from CNET about Farese
- read this article from the AP

Will T-Mobile USA offer the Linux-based RAZR2?

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Following Verizon Wireless' announcement early Friday morning that it would offer the RAZR2 V9m (the EV-DO version), AT&T and Sprint have announced their own RAZR2 plans and Motorola chimed in to remind us that Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, US Cellular and Verizon Wireless will all have the RAZR2. AT&T is going to offer the 3G version of the handset, the RAZR2 V9, while Sprint is offering the EV-DO version (V9m), like Verizon Wireless.

Current Analysis' principal analyst for mobile devices, Avi Greengart believes T-Mobile USA is going to launch the Linux-based version of the handset, the V8, which is the first one to run on Motorola's MOTOMAGX Linux platform. "It's fast," Greengart said. "It's not obvious to end users that it's a Linux phone, but it is obviously much faster than previous RAZR's. It's running on a 500MHz processor."

AT&T noted in its release that its former brand Cingular had an exclusive with Motorola for the launch of the first RAZR, but no such deal exists between carriers and the handset maker for the RAZR2. Greengart says that the onus is on Motorola to convince consumers to buy the RAZR2 as a result. "Motorola is going to have to foot the bill on this one. Carrier advertising budgets tend to be spent on marketing exclusive devices to consumers. I suspect AT&T will continue to focus on the iPhone. Verizon Wireless will likely focus on the LG Chocolate 2, which is only at Verizon. It's good for Motorola that this handset will have wide distribution, but it's going to have to convince consumers to seek this out, and [the RAZR2] is pricey [at $299.99]," Greengart said. Especially when you can get an iPhone for another couple hundred dollars.

Greengart says the critical question that will decide the fate of the RAZR2 is whether consumers are going to view this as a hot new fashion item that they need to pay a premium for or are they going to just see it as another version of the RAZR. "That's why I think Motorola is going to have to do a good job marketing it. The RAZR2 is not only a more attractive phone, and it is more attractive, but it's also more durable. I think marketing campaigns could play off of that.... maybe they should show Beyonce falling down the stairs with [a RAZR2 in her hand]. Then she gets up and says, 'See? Still beautiful,'" Greengart quipped.

For more on the RAZR2 launch:
- read this release from Motorola
- read this release from AT&T
- read this release from Sprint

Nortel considers acquisition spree

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 06:59:55 -0400

Reports indicate that Nortel is in talks with various acquisition targets like 3Com, Foundry Networks, Tellabs and Sonus Networks. Nortel is looking to expand its reach in key markets like the enterprise, VoIP and IPTV.

"We are doing lots of analysis internally on how to grow the company organically and we started discussions recently with companies that we believe can be adding to our growth trajectory," Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski said in an interview. "We're confident that we'll be able to successfully integrate other activities if the pricing is appropriate," he said.

Nortel reported its Q2 earnings earlier this week and posted a loss for the quarter.

For more on Nortel's plans:
- read this article from PC World

Nokia's net more than doubles

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:59:57 -0400

Nokia posted a strong Q2 as it took a 38 percent share of the global phone market. Nokia shipped a better than expected 100.8 million devices in the quarter, which is up 29 percent. Average selling prices for the phones were down about $16.4 to about $123. Sales in the U.S., however, fell 21 percent year-on-year and 14 percent since last quarter. The company is putting more focus on the U.S. market in 2007 and points to sales of its N-Series phones, which more than doubled, as signs of improvement in the market. It appears that Motorola's losses are, in part, Nokia's gain, according to analysts.

For more on Nokia's quarter:
- read this press release
- also read this WSJ article (sub. req.)

PLUS: Nokia applauds the FCC's 700 MHz auction rules. Release

AND: Nokia opens its first design studio in India. Release

Nortel swings to a loss

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:59:56 -0400

Nortel Networks posted a $37 million loss in its Q2 because of lower revenue and various charges. That's down from $342 million in net income this time last year. Some of the fees that affected the bottom line include charges of $36 million for restructuring and $35 million from ongoing discussions with the SEC related to an accounting probe. The company's revenue fell 7.8 percent to $2.56 billion from $2.78 billion. Nortel had expected flat or slightly decreased revenue. The company's largest unit, its carrier business, fell 16 percent to $1.06 billion, partly because it sold its UMTS business last year.

For more on Nortel's Q2:
- read this WSJ article (sub. req.)
- and read this press release