The voice of today’s consumer

Without a contract binding them to a single carrier, consumers could theoretically shop around for lower prices for their mobile phone service, and more easily jump ship if a better deal came along.

Other popular devices are available through only one carrier, so consumers interested in buying an iPhone, for instance, have no choice but to sign a multiyear contract with AT&T.

“When the carriers don’t have this false loyalty of the contractual obligation, they’ll have to focus on things that really deliver benefits to their customers,” said Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-google-phones15-2009dec15,0,4170231.story

One factor that may be influencing Motorola shares is a research note Tuesday morning from J.P. Morgan’s Ehud Gelbaum. On the surface, it doesn’t sound like a bullish stance: Gelbaum resumed coverage of Motorola, cutting his rating to Neutral from Overweight. (Morgan had been advising Motorola on its now-postponed spinoff of its handset business.) Gelbaum says returning the company’s handset business to profitability is a “doable but Herculean task.” But he also notes that the company has $1.52 a share in cash, and that the value of the remaining four businesses totals more than $7 a share, well above the current share price. Gelbaum notes that stocks rarely traded up to their sum-of-the-parts valuation when the outcome of a restructuring remains in doubt. The stock, he says “represents only option value on the restructuring’s success as we expect grim results for the next three quarters.” But bargain-hunter may have seen a stock trading at a considerable discount to its component parts, and dived in.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/108010-is-motorola-worth-more-dead-than-alive?source=feed

The U.S. House of Representatives is holding a hearing Wednesday on legislation that would require carriers to offer wireless service without contracts when devices are not subsidized.. The Wireless Consumer Protection bill is sponsored by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.

The bill immediately brings to mind the iPhone because AT&T (NYSE: T) requires customers to sign a two-year contract even though the popular $400 device is not subsidised by the carrier. Carriers typically insist on contracts because they discount many of the devices they sell to customers. CNET News.com also notes the legislation mirrors a legal squabble in Europe when T-Mobile was forced to sell an unlocked version of the iPhone for $1,460 in Germany. In the end, T-Mobile eventually persuaded a German court that the two-year contract was legal.

 http://www.moconews.net/entry/419-bill-may-require-carriers-to-eliminate-2-year-contracts-when-customers-/

Despite Red’s inability to make any real public statement, Japanese publication Nikkei has it that Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida will be announcing the final discontinuation of HD DVD tomorrow, as well as halted sales of hardware and media by March (as in days from now). Apparently Toshiba will pull its units from retail shelves, but has no intention to give burned early adopters any refunds (no kidding?); it sounds like the ceasefire will include the bare PC drives as well, so those hoping to keep using HD DVD as a personal data storage medium probably won’t have much luck. Apparently the announcement will come alongside Toshiba’s plans to build new semiconductor fabs, which we’re sure they’ll try to spin as an advancement that far overshadows the hill of beans (read: hundreds of millions) they’ve lost in the format war.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/18/toshiba-expected-to-announce-death-of-hd-dvd-tomorrow-stop-sale/

Until now, much of the focus in the auction for the coveted 700MHz wireless spectrum — whose airwaves are considered particularly suited for broadband because they can travel long distances and penetrate walls – has been on the large number of nontraditional bidders like chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM), various cable operators and even Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen. Then, of course, there’s Google. As early as last summer, the search giant said it would meet the minimum requirement for bidding (a cool $4.6 billion) if the FCC allowed all four of the company’s license conditions, including stipulations that the new airwaves be kept open to all downloadable applications and devices. In the end, the FCC met just one of Google’s “open” requirements, stating that one of the blocks of the upcoming spectrum be kept accessible to all mobile devices.

http://techland.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/01/15/google-officially-cleared-for-spectrum-auction/?section=money_technology

The major cellphone operators’ hold on which devices U.S. consumers can use on their networks may be slipping as large manufacturers like Motorola and Nokia dabble in selling “unlocked” phones.
Up until recently, unlocked phones: handsets that can be used on multiple carrier networks, have been available only in “gray” markets where Americans have bought phones from overseas. Now manufacturers are selling them on their websites and through certain retail channels.”Cellphones rank just behind keys when it comes to items that Americans don’t leave home without,” said Albert Lin, an analyst with American Technology Research. “And as cellphones become the most important thing people carry with them through their day, they will look for products that fit their lifestyles better. And believe me, they will want more than 5 to 20 choices. They’ll want hundreds of options.”

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/cnet/2007-01-24-unlocked-phones_x.htm

Today, many consumers would like to be able to keep their cell phone handset or multi-functional handheld computer (PDA) when they switch to a new cell phone service using a compatible network. Letting consumers re-use handsets, another term for cell phone, saves money and saves the environment by keeping otherwise usable handsets out of landfills. But a cell phone company practice that prevents consumers from keeping their phones when switching carriers is called “handset locking.” This software lock prevents consumers from using their cell phone on another compatible network.

http://www.hearusnow.org/wireless/whatsatstake/cellhell/

In the latest battle to provide better cell phone consumer protections, a Federal Circuit Court in Atlanta has ruled that, contrary to FCC claims, states have the right to regulate how many of the “hidden” cell phone fees are disclosed on customer bills.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/08/cell_phone_ruling.html

“The committee has been working diligently this session with consumer advocates, as well as the wireless industry, to better understand the issues at hand and to find possible legislative solutions to these concerns brought forth by consumers”

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/05/ny_cell_phone_law.html

Even if your recent phone is GPS-equipped, it probably needs a firmware update that the phone companies may not offer. Instead, they’ll point you in the direction of a new phone and surprise! another two-year subscriber commitment.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1902386,00.asp