July 2013

Leap of Fate for T-Mobile and Dish

Fate may be conspiring to bring Dish Network and T-Mobile US together.

AT&T's $1.2 billion offer to buy Leap Wireless takes a strategic option off the table for both Dish and T-Mobile. That makes it more likely that the two will ultimately join hands. Dish seeks to use the wireless spectrum it has amassed through a partnership with an established national phone carrier. Dish lost the chance at one potential partner last month, when it abandoned efforts to buy Sprint Nextel S -3.57% . In light of that, another possibility was for AT&T, which needs more spectrum, to buy Dish. But the Leap offer and a January agreement to buy $1.9 billion in spectrum from Verizon Wireless mean AT&T has two deals in front of the Federal Communications Commission, making it unlikely to add a third, according to UBS. For T-Mobile, Leap's spectrum was considered highly complementary. And buying it would have helped the carrier expand its MetroPCS brand to more markets. With Leap now all but locked up by AT&T, T-Mobile may look more favorably at Dish's spectrum stash.

Smartphone Upgrades Slow as 'Wow' Factor Fades

Fewer people are upgrading their smartphones—a trend that could make it harder for companies from AT&T to Apple to keep up the pace of revenue growth.

The rates at which American cellphone users have traded in their devices for more advanced models have declined over the last few years, according to analysts at UBS. They turned negative last year, when about 68 million people upgraded their phones in the U.S., down more than 9% from a year earlier. UBS predicts upgrades will fall again this year. AT&T and T-Mobile have introduced plans in recent days to make it easier for subscribers to trade up to new phones if they are willing to give up the usual carrier subsidies. But it remains to be seen whether customers will bite. There are two components to the trend: With smartphone penetration approaching 70% of contract subscribers last year in the U.S., there are fewer customers left to upgrade to the Internet-ready devices and data plans. And among existing smartphone owners, fewer are seeing the need to buy the latest Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy as the pace of innovation slows.

T-Mobile: AT&T’s New Plans Make You Pay for the Same Phone Twice

T-Mobile lashed out at new rate plans from rival AT&T, criticizing them as a poor imitation of T-Mobile’s earlier efforts. Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s chief marketing officer, said that when his company did away with phone subsidies it also lowered monthly rates. AT&T’s new Next plans, by contrast, charge the same monthly rates while also eliminating the discount typically provided by carriers when purchasing a new phone. “You get to pay for the same phone twice,” Sievert said.

The Pros and Cons of a Surveillance Society

Here are three topics much in the news these days: Prism, the surveillance program of the national security agency; the death of Trayvon Martin; and Google Glass and the rise of wearable computers that record everything. Although these might not seem connected, they are part of a growing move for, or against, a surveillance society.

On one side of this issue we have people declaring that too much surveillance, especially in the form of wearable cameras and computers, is detrimental and leaves people without any privacy in public. On the other side there are people who argue that a society with cameras everywhere will make the world safer and hold criminals more accountable for their actions.

But it leaves us with this one very important question: Do we want to live in a surveillance society that might ensure justice for all, yet privacy for none?

Tech industry, Obama administration should push for more disclosures in wake of Yahoo victory

[Commentary] President Barack Obama should help lead the effort to provide sunshine on the surveillance program. If the government's efforts are reasonable, as Obama has said, more disclosure can only be beneficial -- for the country and for his administration. And in the case of the Yahoo suit, it will be illuminating to all Americans to learn what information Yahoo specifically objected to providing. Balancing privacy and security is increasingly challenging. Silicon Valley companies can help Americans better understand that balance by being open about their own operations and by leading the discussion about what privacy protections consumers can reasonably expect.

Microsoft says it doesn't give NSA secret encryption keys

Microsoft, addressing persistent concerns that it has helped the U.S. government gather customer information, said it doesn't provide direct access to e-mails, instant messages or Skype calls and refuses to grant agencies the ability to break its encryption. In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the company asked for permission to share more information on its communication with government agencies, saying it has a constitutional right to do so. Microsoft said such permission has been delayed and asked Holder for personal help.

Still no signal on White House GOP nominee for FCC

The Federal Communications Commission could spend the remainder of its summer down two members — a reality that has Senate Democrats and Republicans blaming each other while fearing the potential of new policy delays.

President Barack Obama nominated Tom Wheeler as chairman months ago, but the White House still hasn’t named a GOP candidate for the FCC’s other open slot. With Republicans still insisting both nominees move together, the Senate very likely doesn’t have enough time to confirm two commissioners before its August break. That’s prompted plenty of sniping. Democrats have accused Republicans of dragging their heels when it came time to recommend a GOP nominee to the president. Republicans have countered that the White House is to blame. Sen. John Thune, the ranking GOP lawmaker on the Senate Commerce Committee, told POLITICO that “it’s been weeks” since GOP leaders offered up their candidate. The White House declined to comment for this report and didn’t say when it might break its silence with an announcement. GOP leaders, for their part, took quite some time interviewing candidates before offering up Mike O’Rielly, currently a staffer for Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), according to industry sources — though Republican leaders declined to comment on the possibility.

President Obama uses Univision, Telemundo to press case for immigration reform

President Barack Obama sat down for interviews with four Spanish-language television stations, as the White House looked to increase pressure on House Republicans to pass immigration reform.

The President hoped the interviews, granted to Univision and Telemundo stations in Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and New York, would help sell a comprehensive reform package at risk of stalling in the GOP-controlled House. Reporters for the Spanish-language networks were also given “behind-the-scenes access to the White House and the president’s top advisers,” and would broadcast from a special location on the South Lawn, the White House said. During the daily White House briefing, press secretary Jay Carney broke from normal procedure to make sure he called on two Spanish-language journalists visiting the White House.

Tech makes push for issues beyond immigration

It has been the summer of the immigration push in Washington — but there are other tech issues seeing some traction even with H-1B visas and border security dominating the D.C. discussion. Patents, spectrum auctions, tax reform and trade issues remain high on the tech wish list — and company representatives and lobbyists say they have seen progress as things percolate on Capitol Hill.

“We have seen unprecedented congressional focus on patent litigation abuse,” said Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association. “We have worked closely with Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to keep spectrum auctions on track. We are encouraged by growing bipartisan pro-business consensus on tax reform.” And it’s clear that some in the industry are more focused on those issues — even as immigration is taking up most of the Washington bandwidth and creating hurdles for other pieces of legislation.

China's online population rises to 519 million

China's population of Internet users has grown to 591 million, driven by a 20 percent rise over the past year in the number of people who surf the Web from smartphones and other wireless devices. The end-of-June figures from the China Internet Network Information Center represent a 10 percent rise in total Internet use over a year earlier. The number of wireless users rose to 464 million. The latest growth raised the percentage of China's population that uses the Internet to 44 percent, according to CNNIC.

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