Greenpacket, a leading Malaysian wireless equipment developer, announced yesterday it would work in collaboration with Augere Holdings following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two wireless companies. The agreement calls for the sharing of knowledge and expertise on a long term basis, a mere exchange of mutual commendation tacked onto the back of their business arrangement.

As part of the pact Augere will be sending USD $7.2 million Greenpacket’s way for the provision of UH Shuttle USB modems, specifically for usage in South Asian regions. Augere already has broadband service operations in the area, but chose to tap into Greenpacket for the quality of their equipment, experience in state-of-the-art technologies and innovative products.

Kelvin Lee, Senior General Manager of Greenpacket, said his company is “…very excited to be partnering with Augere to deliver broadband access in emerging economies.” He further cited the two developers’ “common vision…to realize a future of wireless freedom and broadband for all.” Given the ability of Greenpacket’s “high performance modems” and the harvesting of a mutually beneficial relationship, Lee foresees a near future in which “Augere will be able to provide a fast, game-changing wireless broadband experience to its end users.”

Greenpacket’s Packet One Networks, otherwise known as P1, is a global leading 4G WiMAX provider. They currently rank as one of the top three suppliers of WiMAX modems, the range of which are extensive enough to cater to both emerging and already developed markets.

All kidding aside, there is a method to the madness of quirky marketing executives. There is significant money to be made from those that fall within the criteria for Generation Y- born between the mid-1970s to early 2000s. A recent report from the Financial Brand came out discussing the market research statistics of Generation Y, and it paints an entirely different picture than the one the media depicts of our recession. A majority of Generation Yers wouldn’t consider their situation to be “bad”, more than 60% of them don’t think that their financial situation has worsened and 89% of them don’t think that they will be worse off than their parents. That makes them the ideal customer in this unsteady economy.

Clearwire, a WiMAX company, has finally come to terms with their customer base. Most middle-aged people wouldn’t know the first thing about 4G, not that there is anything wrong with that, of course. They are content with the Internet connection that they pay a little bit extra for with their cable service. And it works quite well for most purposes, believe it or not. So, why should they switch now and disturb the relationship they have with their current provider? A few seconds extra spent surfing the web isn’t worth it. These people understand the value of life, not the substitute used these days in terms of social connections found online.

The current generation, however, is much different. We find friends in other countries with just a few clicks. We need to watch that video NOW. G-d forbid we don’t see overnight Internet celebrity Antoine Dodson’s infamous rant within the next minute. We live in the 21st century and we are entitled, aren’t we? The word buffering will soon be just as foreign as music sharing program Napster.

Clearwire has found a way to put money into this sorry phenomenon. They have done research and marketed this group of obnoxious young adults. Clear understands how this newer generation, like most immature individuals, is scared of the word commitment. They get married later, and Clear is sensitive to their lack of responsibility. That’s why, in a press release issued yesterday, they came out with a new product that is “pay-as-you-go 4G mobile broadband service for tech-savvy Gen Y customers.” Yes, this new Rover is “designed for digitally addicted youth who refuse to settle for long-term contracts, overpriced Internet service, or speeds slower than what they've become accustomed to at home.”

It may turn out to be a great product; but please, stop talking down to us. This is slightly embarrassing; especially when Clear mentions that “devices signify status.” Vanity isn’t a trait especially designated to any age group; that affects individuals on all ends of the age spectrum. If you’re going to target us as your typical customer, a little respect would be nice. K? Thnx

Today, Clearwire and Rover, in a much anticipated web conference, confirmed their partnership on the ROVER brand pay-as-you-go 4G internet service. The service, which utilizes the Clearwire WiMAX network, is available for sale online immediately and in retail stores in select WiMAX markets (Houston and St. Louis). What makes Rover different than the traditional Clear market or Clear product? 
 
On the webcast this morning we were able to gain some insight from Clearwire Chief Commercial Officer Mike Sievert and Rover General Manager Seth Cummings. "Rover is a brand aimed at a new market", says Sievert, "We are aiming to appeal towards a segment of the market that has been traditionally under-served in the mobile internet arena." So who exactly makes up the "pay-as-you-go" customer base that they speak of? Sievert quips "The 18 to 24 year old city dwelling youth", typically urban, who are not fond of counting their minutes or megabytes. There is definitely sound reasoning to attack the market in this way. There are many individuals who love "Truly Unlimited", like myself, for example. There are however, many customers who enjoy prepay for the simplicity of the billing and, of course, the lack of the 2 year contract. "Generation Y addicts who have grown up only knowing a true all digital lifestyle, who want to cut the cord and don't like two year contracts" are the target market for the new Rover brand. 
 
The "Network of Networks" title was touted yet again as the sound reasoning for the branding of the new pre-paid flavor service. According to Sievert, over 80% of their CLEAR (retail brand) customer base is tied into a 2 year agreement, no doubt the goal of an aggressive internal sales department in Seattle. Though Clear retail offers a no contract option as well, it is more-than-evident that they are in no way interested in growing their interest through that market base.  
 
In fact, there is no way that Clear wants to deal with the "Cricket Crowd" as a means of growing their overall business. Many of this "market" that Sievert speaks of did not qualify for 2 year contracts in the first place. As someone who has owned businesses both in the "traditional post-pay" and "pay-as-you-go" wireless retail sector, I can say that the "Cricket or Boost" crowd requires a certain stomach to deal with on a day to day basis. There are many challenges to face when operating such retail locations. The first and foremost is that you are not operating on commission or residual from the carrier; it’s strictly cash. This is a great business model for the scum of the netherworld, but for those of us who like a steady flow of GAAP approved business models, deductions and cash flow, it's tricks will make you duck and dodge customers who can in smelling straight from the garbage can demanding world class service for pennies on the dollar, world class customer support and billing, unmatched product reliability and ALWAYS think you owe them something free. I say good luck to Rover in general and the authorized resellers and dealers in particular that resell the service. Hopefully the bottom-feeder crowd I just described don't own computers and won't have a use for this service, reserving it more for the other segment of the prepay market; people who qualify for two year contracts, but simply refuse to sign one. 
 
Anyways, when is Clear going to make an announcement to the 2 year contract crowd and let us know when phones and tablets are coming out?

Clearwire has been getting plenty of criticism for coming out last month with intentions to test out LTE technology, most likely because WiMAX isn’t a technology the mobile industry has any interest in furthering its advancement in the mobile field. With a combination of WiMAX and LTE, Clearwire might have the security to move forward in the mobile sector. Maybe Clearwire will finally come forward as a leader in mobile technology, taking the initiative and monetizing on their precedence in the 4G market.

Other possibilities floating around include partnerships and advancements in the emerging M2M/smart grid space. The company has said in the past that it intends to pursue other wholesale customers aside from its core investors like Sprint, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable. They already signed contracts last month with Best Buy, giving Best Buy the opportunity to market Clear service under their own branding, Best Buy Connect.

Another possibility is that Clear might be introducing a prepaid mobile WiMAX approach like the kinds Sprint/Nextel CEO Dan Hesse has mentioned numerous times in the last couple of months. Sprint is the majority shareholder of Clearwire and they are selling Clear’s WiMAX technology under their own branding. Maybe Clear will begin marketing their services just like Sprint does.

One thing remains certain though, is that no matter what they do, Clear can capitalize on their early placement in the 4G market just by lowering their prices to rates that newcomers Verizon and MetroPCS can’t compete with. If they start off the cut-throat competition with low rates, then their adversaries wouldn’t be viable options until they have launched in enough markets and/or raised enough capital to sell their services and sustain low margins.

Whatever the case, Monday is bound to be a big deal. When Clear announced their wholesale arrangement with Best Buy, they didn’t hold anything close to a webcast. (They wrote a press release and sent it out.) The fact that members of the press and industry analysts are invited to stream it live appears to make it a bigger event than the release of information of a major upcoming profit gain in the form of a partnership with Best Buy. What they actually plan on informing the public is something we will have to wait until Monday to find out.

Bostonians are excited to hear that they are going be some of the first testers of “4G” service (see article here) from various providers by the end of the year. They are the only city that is going to be privileged enough to have a taste of “4G” speed services from four different service providers, two offering WiMAX technology, the other two being LTE. An article in the Boston Globe happily describes the faster data services that are going to be available for the city starting in the upcoming month.

There is no question as to which companies are unrolling “4G” services this year; there are only four companies releasing what they are calling fourth generation wireless service within the next few months and they are Clearwire, Sprint, Verizon, and MetroPCS. Clearwire and Sprint utilize WiMAX technology, and Verizon and MetroPCS make use of LTE technology. Luckily for Boston, they are all scheduled for deployment in that one city in 2010.

Clearwire and Sprint are, for all intents and purposes, the same thing. Sprint is the majority shareholder of Clearwire and they share the same WiMAX network.
“We should launch sometime during the month of September,’’ said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse in a speech while in Boston last week.This will please many Sprint customers, especially those who have the first “4G” compatible smartphone, the HTC EVO 4G, that is currently sold out in many stores all over the country. Sprint has another “4G” phone due to come out next week, the Samsung Epic 4G, which will probably also sell out, especially in cities like Boston that get “4G”. Clear, however, will be launching within the next week, according to Matthew Drinkhahn, Clearwire’s general manager for Boston. Data service will be available under the brand name Clear with plans starting from $30 a month.

Verizon and MetroPCS also have launching plans in Boston for the current year using LTE technology. They will likely be offering similar services. MetroPCS already has a LTE-enabled phone, the Samsung Craft. Verizon is sure to follow, but their cell phone services won’t be available until they create their own LTE-enabled phone. Until then, Verizon will be releasing dongles to expand coverage. Those two LTE carriers still have a long way to go before they release “4G” services that are even comparable to the WiMAX services that Sprint and Clear are going to be providing.

Metro PCS currently offers some of the most aggressively priced voice and data plans in the country. If they are able to get a jump could start in the 4G market, they could push other major carriers to develop 4G technology and infrastructure of their own. Currently Sprint is the only carrier offering 4G plans, which utilize WiMAX technology instead of LTE. If Metro PCS is able to move into this market ahead of AT&T and Verizon, it could accelerate the downward trend in data plan pricing, all the while forcing those companies to invest more heavily in their own high-speed infrastructure.

What is wireless backhaul, and why is it important? Wireless backhaul uses wireless communications systems, typically microwave or satellites, to get data from an end user to a major network, or the transmission of network data over an alternative wireless route. Backhaul costs are a significant mobile wireless operator’s network operating expense, and the demand for backhaul capacity is increasing. By enabling more flexible, cost-effective, and high-capacity microwave services, the FCC proposes to increase deployment of fourth-generation (4G) mobile broadband networks across America.

The FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeks to update regulatory classifications, and to provide for increased spectrum sharing to be made available for broadband backhaul or other advanced point-to-point uses, by
• permitting greater spectrum sharing;
• permitting Adaptive Modulation, which would allow temporary operations below the minimum capacity under certain circumstances to maintain critical communications; and
• permitting “Auxiliary” Fixed Stations, which may permit more efficient use of spectrum at a substantially reduced cost.

The FCC’s Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeks comments on other technical and policy changes, including:
• modifying or lowering efficiency standards in rural to reduce backhauls costs;
• reviewing antenna standards, and possibly allowing smaller antennas or greater use of fixed service facilities; and
• general review of the FCC’s rules to promote flexible, efficient and cost-effective provisions of wireless backhaul service.

In essence, the FCC is considering updating its rules as broadcasters and other microwave users move to digital-based systems. This impacts entities that use and produce wireless backhaul facilities, including broadcasters, microwave equipment manufacturers, satellite services, and tower operators as well as entities that carry the wireless backhaul traffic, including wireless carriers. While critics may oppose relaxing efficiency standards in rural areas, does it make sense to do so if it will ultimately reduce backhaul costs and thereby promote broadband deployment? Will it help, or diminish the availability of scarce backhaul spectrum? How will these proposals impact WiFi, WiMAX and other broadband technologies? Most important, will these proposals promote fourth generation (4G) mobile broadband network deployment by reducing the cost of broadband backhaul solutions?

We welcome your thoughts.

Comments and reply comments (in WT Docket No. 10-153) are due 60 and 90 days, respectively, after publication of the item in the Federal Register.

© 2010 Technology Law Group. Craig Dingwall is an attorney with the Technology Law Group, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm specializing in telecommunications transactional matters, complex litigation and intellectual property issues. Craig can be reached at cdingwall@tlgdc.com, at 202-895-1707, or at our website: www.tlgdc.com. The views in this article are those of the author, and do not necessary represent those of the Technology Law Group.

The executives of T-Mobile should be ashamed of themselves. They are playing on the ignorance of the American public. Well, in all honesty, Sprint and Clearwire are doing something similar, but at least they have better reasoning. Let me say it once and let’s make this clear: There is no 4G service in America yet. Americans can’t help it if they don’t know what 4G is if no one is going to be brave enough to come out against the marketing strategists who are duping the general population.

There are committees set up in the free world market who standardize what these universal terms mean. They decide which speed equates to which generation (the G in 3G and 4G) of mobile broadband access. The ITU, International Telecommunication Union, determines the quality of speed that defines the latest generation. They have set the 4G standard at having peak rates of 100 Mbps for mobile users/cell phone services. Carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile are throwing the word 4G around as if it has any value when in reality the 4G standard was only approved in mid-June, AFTER the EVO marketing campaign, and the broadband networks approved hadn’t then been put into use yet.

WiMAX and LTE are technologies that have had their latest versions approved, in terms of 4G speeds. These newer technologies haven’t been put into usage yet, though. Verizon and AT&T aren’t even up to marketing their speed capabilities yet, so we have yet to see which version they will advertise as which speed. Sprint and Clearwire, however, are still using their IEEE 802.16e (first generation WIMAX) connection standard, the version that wasn’t approved. IEEE 802.16m is considered 4G speed by the ITU and it will be implemented as soon as it’s done getting touched up for commercialization. It will be marketed as WiMAX 2 even though it’s the first 4G approved WiMAX and will get probably get automatically updated from most 802.16e enabled models to the m version, like the Sprint HTC EVO “4G”. So, at least from Sprint’s side they have produced an almost 4G standard that they will soon upgrade to legitimate 4G.

T-Mobile, on the other hand, has been blasphemous in calling their HSPA+ connection as running on “4G speeds”. No, their speeds are on 3GPP (later 3G) speeds and this is their latest version. They project peak speeds at 56 Mbps, much lower than the 100 Mbps necessary for 4G. At least when Sprint was advertising the EVO as 4G, they were well on their way of getting approval for 4G service. The 802.16m version got approved within 2 weeks after the EVO’s release and it will be integrated under the name WiMAX 2 within the year. The G2, T-Mobile’s “4G” phone, is a far call from getting any remotely 4G-like speeds. Unless the HSPA+ is also getting a major upgrade within the year, they have misled Americans in the cruelest way, taking advantage of the American public's ignorance in technological matters.

Just last month, Intel disbanded its offices in Taiwan, scaring investors in Taiwan that the future of WiMAX might not be so stable. Intel told investors that it was just a “normal process that takes place as new technologies mature”, but not everyone was convinced. Taiwanese companies make approximately 80% of WiMAX devices; their investment in the technology is estimated to be upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars. The potential damage to Taiwan's economy could be devastating.

Today, however, Azimuth Systems, a company that provides testing for wireless solutions such as WiMAX and LTE, announced that Taiwan’s Institute for Information Industry has chosen to use the ACE™ MX MIMO channel emulator for the purposes of WiMAX testing. Azimuth publicized their press release earlier today with numerous statements about the quality of their products and services, but investors should see this for the good news that it is. Taiwan is continuing to work with WiMAX, even without the Intel local office. WiMAX technology is still flourishing in Taiwan.

Several days ago, there was a Sobel Media Event at the Samsung Experience at Columbus Circle in the AOL- Time Warner building. It was a wonderful event, called “How Wireless and Mobile is Changing Everything”, and it was exclusive too, by invitation only. It is part of a new series called "The Future of Digital Media: NYC Edition" from SobelMedia. This event featured a panel discussion from three experts in the 3G and 4G fields: Ari Zoldan, CEO of Quantum Networks, LLC, Brian Reich, Managing Directoy of little m media, and Robert Raciti, CEO of Raciti Capital Advisors.

The event was hosted in the Samsung store on the third floor, and the first 45 minutes of the event was spent trying out Samsung products. It was great having the event in such a central, convenient location in New York City; it also works out that the store is beautiful and expansive, too, making it an accommodating place for the 75+ attendees.

Brian Reich acted as moderator through the first half of the discussion, directing questions at Ari Zoldan and Robert Raciti. They spoke appropriately without making any controversial statements. The majority of the discussion was devoted to discussing the future of our world with advances in technology. They spoke about how 4G will revolutionize the way we operate and process information.

Summarizing the main points, Mr. Zoldan said, “We are still in the infancy stage [of technology]… as speeds penetrate our technological arena in the development of applications and programs”. Another point that was brought up was the ‘universal right’ of internet access (as was most recently declared in Finland), says Mr. Zoldan, “Wireless access has become a commodity in several countries around the world. The need for faster speeds will be inevitable to support and accomplish innovation.”

Bill Sobel, from SobelMedia said of the event, "SobelMedia has been working with the Mayors Office of Media & Entertainment for the past 3 years on a variety of events. We were pleased to have Ari on the panel with Brian Reich of little m media and Robert Raciti of Raciti Capital Advisors."