August 20, 2007
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Editor’s note:
Lawyers in the driver's seat

What's New:
• Municipal WiFi in trouble
• Class action suit against Cingular can continue

Executive Analysis:
• Motorola RAZR2 coming soon
• 700 MHz auction set for January 16, 2008

Also Noted:
UWB to pass WiFi; Wi-Fire boosts Mac WiFi;
And much more...

Hands-On Wireless:
• Least surprising study: IT pros have security worries
• Nokia asks to bar Qualcomm

I suppose that lots of attorneys are a sign of an industry moving out of the initial engineers-and-entrepreneurs stage of development. In this transition, though, companies have to make sure that they keep the engineers working as hard as the lawyers or they risk losing it all--just ask SCO if you don't believe me. I'm not worried that we're about to run out of innovation in the wireless industry, but I do think that C-level executives have to keep their priorities straight--and innovation has to remain priority number one in a still-developing industry. -Curtis

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What’s New

1. Municipal WiFi in trouble

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After beginning with great excitement and promise, municipal WiFi is hitting some very public snags. The most visible snarl is in San Francisco, where politicians are trying to change the basic agreements with Google and Earthlink that would govern the city's network rollout. In general, it seems that a combination of tight municipal funds and nervous telcoms is putting the brakes on city-wide wireless deployments in city after city. Both AT&T and Earthlink are pulling back on existing contracts and are not signing new deals. What's the key to getting new projects off the ground? Start with a hefty financial commitment from the city, and you're heading in the right direction.

For more on the slowdown in municipal WiFi:
- read the news analysis at CIO-Today

2. Class action suit against Cingular can continue

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If you pay any attention to commercials, you likely know that Cingular doesn't exist anymore. That's no protection against being sued, though, and a federal judge has said that a customer class-action suit against the carrier can continue. At issue is the way Cingular dealt with AT&T Wireless customers when Cingular took over AT&T Wireless--shortly before AT&T took over BellSouth, which meant that it was, in turn, taking over Cingular. The hands-on takeaway: Pay close attention to the conflict resolution clauses in your contract, especially if your carrier is swallowed by another.

For more on the Cingular suit:
- read the legal analysis at eWeek

Executive Analysis

1. Motorola RAZR2 coming soon

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Ready for a new phone but not quite ready for the iPhone? Motorola's RAZR2 could be the answer for you. When it hits carriers in September, it will be the biggest cell phone introduction since, well, you know. There will be GSM, CDMA, and HSPDA versions coming out at the same time, with availability through every major U.S. carrier (as well as regionals like US Cellular and Alltel). This looks to be a stainless-steel smart phone with twin hi-res screens and haptics--a new technology that lets the user feel when soft-keys are pressed.

For more on the RAZR2:
- see this DailyTechRag article
- read the product report at CIO-Today

2. 700 MHz auction set for January 16, 2008

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The date has finally been set: The FCC will auction the 700 MHz band currently used by analog television on January 16 of next year. That's the day that the wireless communications market gets a bit bigger as the most significant RF land rush since the original cellular phone auctions gets underway. The new band will be somewhat open, though not nearly as open as Google wanted. There are more questions than answers at this point, but at least the world knows when more answers will start to come.

For more on the FCC auction:
- read the news at NetworkWorld

> UWB to pass WiFi. Article

> New Hughes satellite up. Article

> Motorola MOTOMAGX mobile Linux announced. Article

> Wi-Fire boosts Mac WiFi. Article

Hands-On Wireless

1. Least surprising study: IT pros have security worries

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In what must be one of the least-surprising study conclusions of the year, embedded-security firm KoolSpan reports that IT professionals are concerned with wireless security. As is often the case, the details of the study are more interesting than the big picture. In this case, the details paint a picture of IT professionals most concerned about laptop users who send confidential information in the clear across public WiFi connections. It also says that those same professionals are taking a hard look at cell-phone data networks to provide performance and security for their users. Is there growth in the market? So far, the survey reports, only 8 percent of organizations have deployed truly secure wireless networks.

For more on the concerns of IT pros:
- read the complete article at WirelessWeek

2. Nokia asks to bar Qualcomm

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It's been an interesting year for Qualcomm. First, there was the Broadcom lawsuit that resulted in a ban on some Qualcomm chips in the U.S. Next came the Nokia dispute, with each company accusing the other of patent infringement and license violation. Now, Nokia has taken a page from the Broadcom playbook and has asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban certain Qualcomm chipsets from the U.S. Don't think you should be worried? Qualcomm chips are in many of the most popular smartphones and 3G cell phones sold in the U.S.--maybe in the ones that your users have in their pockets. Oh, and Qualcomm's suit against Nokia? A judge has put it on indefinite hold.

For more on the Nokia/Qualcomm dispute:
- read the analysis at eWeek

©2007 FierceMarkets, Inc. This email was sent to tayllorcriss@gmail.com as part of the IT-Wireless email list which is administered by FierceMarkets, 1319 F Street NW, 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20004, (202) 628-8778.

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