The pending release of the next iPhone and the introduction of Windows 8 will pose a challenge to the makers of Android devices, research firm IPR found in a recent study. The new Apple and Microsoft smartphone offerings may lure away customers with new features like better screen resolution and next-generation features, IPR said in a news release Friday. The Apple and Microsoft introductions will require Android device makers to retool smartphone feature sets, lower prices and provide more flexible options, IPR said. The research firm said their study shows that it will take lower price points to maintain and expand Android’s market base (http://xrl.us/bnos4x).
Consumer Cellular, the AARP’s exclusive wireless provider, has added two Motorola mobile phones to its no-contract phone offerings. The Motorola WX416 is a flip phone for “casual users,” while the Motorola EX430 features a full QWERTY keyboard. Both have a 2-megapixel camera, are Internet capable and are compatible with hearing aids, Consumer Cellular said. The WX416 costs $35 and the EX430 costs $80. “Both of these phones offer excellent value, and we're pleased to further expand our offerings for consumers who want the convenience of a cellphone without the expense and commitment of a long-term contract,” Consumer Cellular CEO John Marick said in a news release. “We'll continue to refine our lineup of affordable phones and plans to meet our customers’ needs” (http://xrl.us/bnoszo).
Correction: NATOA Executive Director Steve Traylor wrote the FCC that it was his understanding (CD Sept 6 p4) that a draft order granting the NCTA’s cable-CLEC forbearance petition “retains the requirements for LFA [local franchise authority] approval of mergers between cable operators and ILECs,” said an erratum filed with the agency (http://xrl.us/bnosyr).
Two more low-power TV stations lost FCC-mandated interference protection. Media Bureau orders Friday to Texas broadcasters yanked their Class A status, after neither responded to bureau information demands. Lubbock Television’s KGLR Lubbock (http://xrl.us/bnosy3) and B Communications’ KFLZ San Antonio (http://xrl.us/bnosyt) didn’t meet “obligations as a Class A licensee” and changing “the Class A license to a low power television license therefore serves the public interest,” said orders signed by Chief Barbara Kreisman of the bureau’s Video Division. The bureau has ended Class A status of at least 15 low-power stations since the commission in February got power from Congress to auction full-power TV frequencies and reimburse those and Class A licensees for relocation expenses, our data show (http://www.warren-news.com/showcause.htm). Other Class A’s opposed bureau show-cause orders threatening to revoke Class A status (CD May 3 p2).
Intelsat will provide broadband satellite capacity for Gogo, an in-flight connectivity company. The capacity will enable Gogo “to offer customers in-flight Internet access for transoceanic air routes and other areas around the globe starting in early 2013,” Intelsat said in a press release Thursday (http://xrl.us/bnosyk). Gogo will use Ku-band satellite capacity on Intelsat 19, Intelsat 21, Intelsat 22 and Intelsat 27, which are designed “to provide high-speed connectivity for airline passengers crossing portions of the Atlantic and northern Pacific oceans, as well as routes over South America, Asia, Africa and Australia,” it said. Intelsat 21 will operate at 302 east and Intelsat 27 is planned to launch next year, Intelsat said.
The FCC International Bureau accepted an application from Intelsat to modify the authorization of its Intelsat 8 satellite. Intelsat would like to change the requested orbital location from 169.10 degrees east to 169 degrees east and “by expanding the requested frequencies to include a command uplink in the 13.997 - 14 GHz frequency band,” the Satellite Division said in a public notice (http://xrl.us/bnosw5).
An affiliate of investment firm Sun Capital Partners has bought S&N Communications, a North Carolina-based regional construction and maintenance company that provides services to telecom, cable, natural gas and utility companies. In the past five years, S&N has installed more than 22 million feet of fiber optic cable and connected about 500,000 homes with telecom, cable and gas service, Sun Capital Partners said. “S&N Communications is a niche business overlooked by many buyers, but has attractive cash flow characteristics,” Sun Capital Partners Co-CEO Marc Leder said in a news release Friday (http://xrl.us/bnoso7).
Michigan flagged Lifeline Awareness Week on Friday with a video from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. The clip talks about the qualifications and nature of Lifeline and features an interview with Michigan Public Service Commission Chairman John Quackenbush. The benefit is often “substantial over time,” he said in the video (http://xrl.us/bnor99). “It can add up to $148 per year for certain customers.” Half of those eligible participate and the PSC hopes to reach the rest of those eligible, he said. Michigan holds Lifeline Awareness Week Sept. 10-16, the video said.
Correction: ViaSat’s satellite-based broadband service is called Exede (CD Sept 5 p4). The ViaSat-1 satellite had 100,000 subscribers as of June 30, including those from Exede and Xplornet in Canada. That figure excludes JetBlue’s LiveTV service, served by Viasat-1 but not part of the Exede service.
Through Sept. 11 International Broadcasting Convention, RAI Amsterdam -- http://xrl.us/bnj8h5