AT&T Tests New Bundle: Netbook, Wireless and Wired Broadband for $59.95 a Month

AT&T is testing its new netbook-plus-wireless broadband bundle in its Atlanta and Philadelphia markets, offering a ultra-portable netbook with built-in AT&T 3G wireless capabilities when bought with a $59.95 per month "Internet at Home and On the Go" broadband service that includes both at-home digital subscriber line service plus wireless broadband.

Mini laptops available in selected AT&T stores in Atlanta and Philadelphia include the Acer Aspire One, Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Mini 12, and LG Xenia. Promotional prices range from $49.99 to $249.99 with the purchase of an "AT&T Internet at Home and On the Go" plan, which includes an AT&T DataConnect plan and AT&T Fast Access DSL, starting at $59.95 per month. Without those AT&T services, these mini laptops range in price from $449.99 to $599.99.

AT&T is offering two mobile DataConnect plans in the trial, including a 200 MByte plan for $40 per month and a 5 GByte plan for $60 per month.

For users who wnat more standard notebooks, the trial also will feature the Lenovo X200 for $749.99 with "Internet at Home and On the Go." The laptop is available for $849.99 if a user buys only the two-year DataConnect plan.

The embrace of traditional mobile phone subsidy models is part of the story. The bundling of wireless and wired broadband might ultimately be just as big a part of the story. Consider that the $60 a month plan includes both wireless broadband and DSL as well.

Though the DSL likely will not include the faster speeds many users now require, you might think of the offer as something like a "free DSL" program, as wireless broadband access now costs about $60 a month for 5 Gbytes of usage. The new AT&T includes the heavily-discounted PC plus wireless and DSL broadband for just $59.95 a month.

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=26676

Verizon to Activate 25 to 30 LTE Markets in 2010

Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg says his firm will begin deployment of its fourth-generation Long Term Evolution network "later this year with a few commercially-ready markets and will roll it out to 25 or 30 markets in 2010."

But the infrastructure only is "just one piece of the puzzle," he says. "It's the combination of devices, applications and network capabilities that will really cause this market to take off," Seidenberg says. "No single company will be able to envision, let alone provide, every aspect of this whole 4G ecosystem on its own."

That is a primary reason why the 4G business model will be different from what we have seen with 2G networks, with 3G being someplace in between. Where 2G was largely a vertically-integrated business, 3G has been more open, at least to the extent that broadband access to the Internet itself is an "open" environment.

The 4G model inevitably will be more of an "ecosystem" approach, in part because many applications are seen as "machine to machine," and in part because device and application openness will be much more central ways of creating new applications.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/telecommunications/20090401/NY9285501042009-1.html

Big Telcos Bluffing about Broadband Stimulus?

Some people think the "big telcos" are bluffing about refusing to apply for funds to be awarded under either of the programs authorized for "broadband stimulus" programs as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

There are concerns about strings attached to the grants, to be sure. But there are other, more practical issues that suggest many "big telcos" will be unable to apply, or will find the "strings" too onerous.

"Big" companies serving "urban" areas, or even rural areas within states where they also serve classic small and rural communities, are generally barred from getting Rural Utilities Service funds, and RUS is in charge of some of the funds. So "big companies" cannot apply for RUS funds.

Big companies might be able to apply for NTIA funds, if they get waivers. But the clear logic and language of the statute makes clear a preference for non-profits and government-related agencies as "eligible" applicants. That's why the language about "waivers" exists. "Big telcos" are seen as exceptions to the rules about eligible applicants.

You can make your own educated guesses about the likelihood of applications from "big companies" being funded, under those circumstances. "Big companies" aren't seen as the logical applicants, even if the final rules might allow them to bid. At this point, waivers seem to be necessary, in any event.

Aside from strings that also bother some U.S. governors about accepting funds authorized by other parts of ARRA, it is possible bigger telcos might just take a pass for those reasons alone. The statute is written in ways that make clear an intention to fund non-profits and projects that primarily create jobs (it is part of the "stimulus" bill, recall), and only secondarily create infrastructure.

There are lots of reasons for carriers to think they will not be allowed to apply for some of the funds, and are not the most-favored applicants for most of the funds.

http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/04/big-telcos-bluf.html

Is Cable's WiMAX Business Model Anything Like Wi-Fi?

Cable operators continue to have more questions about wireless services than they do about any other products delivered over their wired broadband plant. They should. Wireless would be the first service not delivered over networks they fully control, and which build relatively logically on what their existing networks offer, in terms of value.

Wireless wouldn't be the first service they've ever offered that must take share from other providers in a saturated market. Cable digital voice clearly has had to take share from incumbent telcos. But core video entertainment and cable modem services essentially were "green field" services that only had to grab attention, not steal market share.

Wireless voice and data are not businesses where cable has existing core competence, and a price "race to the bottom" is not where cable traditionally is most comfortable.

Everybody seems to think mobile video and content is where cable might leverage its formidable assets in a more-logical way. But no killer app yet has emerged.

Should that tack succeed, the business model for WiMAX might be along the lines of how Cablevision Systems Corp. positions it own metro Wi-Fi offerings. Essentially wireless access drives the value and profitability of cable modem service.

So if "cable modem services" provide the business model for providing free metro Wi-Fi, perhaps wired video entertainment will provide the ultimate business model for WiMAX.

Thinking About Absconding with a Netbook Under Contract?

LM Ericsson has developed a new modem, intended for use in netbooks sold at a discount by wireless providers, that will remotely disable the computer if a customer on a contract stops paying his or her bills. Of course, there are other applications as well. An enterprise information technology manager dealing with a stolen laptop could lock down data on the machine to ensure security.

Lenovo Group, which makes the enterprise-oriented IBM ThinkPad line of PCs, has said it will build this sort of feature into its laptops.

The new Ericsson modem also is said to have the ability to remain active even when a PC is turned off, perhaps listening for messages such as email or Skype calls.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090331/ap_on_hi_te/tec_techbit_laptop_modems

Opera for Virgin Mobile

Opera Software will be available on some Virgin Mobile USA handsets as part of a deal that makes Virgin Mobile USA a distributor of the mobile browser. Helio was the first U.S. carrier to sign a deal with Opera Mini in the United States.

Open Range to Bring WiMAX to 6 Million Rural Homes

For those of you who might be wondering, high-speed broadband in rural America is not in as dire straights as you might think. There's a problem, but it is being solved. Consider that estimates of rural un-served or underserved households range from six million to 10 million.

Then consider that just one company--Open Range Communications--has raised enough money to bring fourth-generation wireless to about six million U.S. households in rural U.S. areas. And construction is about to begin.

Level 3 Communications has announced an agreement with Open Range Communications, which intends to deliver wireless broadband using WiMAX to 500 rural communities in 17 states, reaching an audience of six million potential subscribers.

Open Range will leverage Level 3’s extended on-net services to offer high-speed Internet and voice services to millions of previously un-served or underserved communities across North America.

Open Range has gotten a $100 million investment by One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase and a loan provided by the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Utilities Program (RDUP) for $267 million.

Personally, I'd argue Open Range is going to build more broadband facilities, reaching more potential customers, than every single project funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("broadband stimulus"). And for a lot less money.