Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel hits bump for network (Vocoder) upgrade

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 14:23:47 -0500

Nextel hits bump for network (Vocoder) upgrade

Last modified: February 19, 2004, 10:51 AM PST
By Ben Charny
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Nextel Communications said it is months late on the launch of a
technology to boost its network calling capacity, an upgrade key to
keeping pace with competitors.

The U.S. wireless carrier now plans to install a faster voice coder, or
"vocoder," by the middle of this year, Chief Operating Officer Tom Kelly
told financial analysts in a conference call on Thursday. Nextel said in
late 2002 that the vocoder, expected to double its network capacity,
would be in place by the third quarter of 2003.

Vocoder technology puts an audio processor inside phones that translates
voices into bits of data to be sent over the airwaves. The faster a
vocoder operates, the more calls a cell phone network can handle
simultaneously.
Kelly did not provide a specific reason for the delay, other than to say
that "certain types of calls" using the new gear haven't yet met
Nextel's quality standards. Tests on a fix Nextel came up with are
expected to end in a few weeks, he added.
U.S. wireless carriers are feeling a capacity pinch, after racking up
record-setting subscriber gains over the last five or six years. To
create more room on their networks, most are migrating to
third-generation cellular equipment that is capable of shuttling calls
at broadband speeds.

But Nextel has been slow to adopt 3G technology, which comes with a
billion-dollar price tag. Instead, it's counting more heavily on using
vocoders to handle the job for now.

The delay was a blemish on Nextel's otherwise better-than-expected
fiscal fourth-quarter 2003 earnings report on Thursday. Reston,
Virginia-based Nextel, the fifth-largest wireless carrier in the United
States, said it had earnings of $530 million, or 48 cents per share, for
the quarter ended Dec. 31. The results beat Wall Street analysts'
predictions of 41 cents a share.
http://news.com.com/2100-1039-5161834.html

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From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 15:27:01 -0500

I see Bumbling, Mumbling Barry West had nothing to say about his pet vocoder project.
I know Timmy will cancel his H-1 Visa and send him packing back to BT if he does not get that vocoder working!

 
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From: sparkie_rf <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 03:01:53 -0000

--- In [email-masked], Marcelrf <Marcelrf@B...> wrote:
> I know Timmy will cancel his H-1 Visa and send him packing back to 
> BT if he does not get that vocoder working!
> 

We should call Barry West the 'Keith Jackson' of wireless.

I can hear it now,

Its a cool crisp sunny fall saturday, and Barry gets the ball. Oh 
wait, he's rumbling, stumbling, and rut-row, fumbling.

 
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From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 23:27:08 -0500

BAWWAAAAAAH!

 
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