Subject: [NEXTEL-1] USATODAY.com - Mobile industry struggles in wireless Web endeavors

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 02:29:08 -0800 (PST)

*Please note, the sender's email address has not been verified.

I find this greatly contrasts my scholastic university research. does anyone have any 
other sources.

Cheers

 --- nbruark@q... wrote:

 Andy Seybold's
 Commentary4Mobility

 February 21, 2003

 ____________________

 Slow, Reliable Data

 At the recent Cingular WAVE 2003 conference in Las Vegas, both the chief operating officer
 and the chief technology officer stated that Cingular Interactive's Mobitex network is far
 from dead. In fact, Cingular will add to the network in certain areas of the U.S.

 For those who are not familiar with the Mobitex network, a short history is in order. The
 system operates in the 900-MHz band and was developed by Ericsson many years ago. First
 built in the U.S. by RAM Mobile Data, BellSouth later acquired 49% of the network and then
 bought the entire thing. Cingular was formed to be BellSouth's Mobitex network company.

 The Mobitex network had a peak data rate of 8 Kbps and was designed from the ground up to
 cover inside buildings where service techs and other mobile employees work. It is one of
 two networks of this type in the U.S. and it has been in operation since the early 1970s.

 During this time the Mobitex network has been used for one of the first wireless email
 transports by a company called Radio Mail. It was the network used by RIM to launch its
 first two-way paging device and then its BlackBerry service. At one point, the computer
 industry was looking long and hard at this network and the network now owned and operated
 by Motient for use with laptops and even PDAs. However, the folks at AT&T Wireless were
 able to knock these networks all but out of contention with a technology called CDPD or
 Cellular Digital Packet Data, a faster data network that shared the cellular
 infrastructure and was to be nationwide and ubiquitous.

 Even though AT&T and others could not deliver CDPD until years after they began hyping it,
 computer vendors rolled over and waited for CDPD based on promises. Meanwhile, Cingular
 Interactive and Motient, as they are now known, were providing pretty good coverage in
 many areas. Both of these networks measure their coverage as a percentage of the business
 population in the U.S. and both claim about 92% coverage today.

 Neither network is particularly exciting nor do they have data speeds sufficient to
 provide customers with the ability to surf the Web in a timely fashion. But both of these
 networks deliver mission-critical information to hundreds of thousands of users every day.
 With a speed of 8K or 19.2K on the Motient network, you aren't going to download a 5-MB
 PowerPoint file, but you are going to get your email and other text information in
 near-real time to your BlackBerry or Good Technology G100 device. You will be up-to-date
 and you will have coverage in buildings in many urban areas.

 I have worn a BlackBerry on my belt since Alpha test days many years ago when I became
 hooked on it and the freedom it provides me, so I can tell you from personal experience
 that the Cingular Interactive network provides coverage far better than CDPD ever was and
 better than any GPRS network today. It was designed from the ground up for "push" type
 data communications. Devices on the Cingular and Motient networks have a static address
 and can be easily "found." There is no "roaming" and because the devices are always on and
 listening to the network, users get the impression that coverage is far better than it
 really is. Why is this?

 If you carry a BlackBerry type of device on one of these networks and your email is
 "pushed" out to you as it arrives, you can go in and out of coverage all day long without
 being aware of it. When you are in coverage your device registers in seconds and you get
 your email so you never really know when you are out of coverage. As an example, I drive
 from San Jose to Southern California once a month or more. On the drive down Highway 101 I
 am in Verizon coverage in all but three spots, but I am in Cingular Interactives coverage
 only three times for a few minutes each. Yet when I get to Southern California my
 BlackBerry is up to date because as I drove through each coverage area I received my
 email. I know where these spots are but if I was an average BlackBerry user I would not.

 The folks at Cingular Wireless have said that they will keep this network around for a
 long time, which is great for those who want and need economical, text-based data
 services. In addition to the BlackBerry-type service, these networks are used by delivery
 folks, police departments and other governmental employees, service technicians and others
 who have had a need to stay in touch since before voice networks became data-capable.

 The folks at Cingular believe that at some point its Cingular Interactive customers will
 decide to upgrade to the GPRS network and have put into play several plans to help these
 customers when the time is right. In the meantime, they have pledged to keep the Mobitex
 network around and not pull the data rug out from under their existing customers as AT&T
 Wireless is doing.

 CDPD uses Cellular AMPS channels that are needed for the carriers while the Cingular and
 Motient networks use channels that are not part of the cellular band. This means that CDPD
 would have to sacrifice some of its cellular spectrum for upgrades but Cingular
 Interactive and Motient do not, and the number of customers on these networks is still
 growing.

 If you are a BlackBerry user on a GSM/GPRS voice-and-data network and would like to find
 out how much better the Cingular Interactive and Motient networks are at delivering your
 email and other content, exchange your GPRS BlackBerry for one on either of these
 slow-speed data-only networks and give it a try. Some of the current growth of these
 networks is because folks who have tried the "other BlackBerry" have discovered from
 co-workers how much better the service is on Cingular and Motient and have switched.

 As a long-time BlackBerry user I am pleased that the Cingular Interactive network will be
 around for a long time. There is a lot of life left in the network and while I will
 experiment with BlackBerrys and other devices on all of the other networks, I think that
 it will be years before I trust my email, which has become mission critical to me, to a
 voice-and-data network provider. Thanks Cingular!

 Andrew M. Seybold
 Andy@o...

 (Posted with permission)

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From: "melsamples <[email-masked]>" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 16:22:16 -0000

I have to agree with this article--don't know anything about who 
wrote it but I bought and tried an AT&T Wireless Blackberry and the 
AT&T Wireless coverage is lousy in LA, San Diego, and Seattle, the 
three cities I travel--I returned it and then tried a Danger device 
on the T-Mobile network with the same experience. 

I then got a Blackberry--actually a Good Technologies G100 device on 
the Cingular Interactive network and it works great! I have coverage 
in doors and in all three cities--I get my email in near real time.

I understand that Nextel is going to be selling a Blackberry device--
does anyone know when it will be available? Since I have a Nextel 
phone and am happy with the coverage I am wondering if the Nextel 
service will be at good?

Mel

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From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 11:45:09 -0500

I tried the Wackberry on the Nextel network sometime ago. Coverage was good in several
major cites however once you started driving through Bumpkin Virginia and you left the
main roads coverage dropped like a rock.

The Wackberry's audio was so low using "Direct Connect"  I was forced to use a modified
handsfree device in the car with other chatting occupants. The battery life was quickly
reduced if you are a heavy "DC" user. The  unit was also awkward to hold for any length of
time while engaged in an interconnect call.

The "Man on the Street Price" of $500 is ridiculous .......period.

Besides that it was fine.

---

From: "Wayne Schulz <[email-masked]>" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 17:41:21 -0000

I've been using the Blackberry for about 4 weeks now. In a nutshell 
here is what I found.

1. Earpiece volume is low. Anyone looking for heavy use in the field 
is going to be disappointed. Almost unusable.

2. Lacks speakerphone - making more than casual DC usage impossible.

3. No SMS, Graphical Web Browser.

4. Nextel doesn't support it. Their Customer Service people haven't 
the slightest clue what it is. Can't help you debug it. Don't have a 
clue if the service is working / down/ etc. Any call to support is a 
30 minute marathon of constant call transfers.

5. Service outages have happened three times since I've had it.

6. The device frequently reboots itself (randomly) - sometimes in 
the middle of a phone call.

7. Coverage has been good here in Glastonbury CT.

8. Doesn't handle embedded graphics (such as if an email was sent 
from someone who pasted in their company logo).

9. Dialing the phone is akward at best. No shortcuts for favorite 
numbers.

Regards,

Wayne

http://www.s-consult.com

---

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 12:51:54 -0500

You have added some good points........

Hence, Wackberry.........

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