• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

At&T Wireless Adds Data Service ; Video Info Goes Mobile

Posted on: Thursday, 22 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

Redmond's AT&T Wireless Services Inc. yesterday introduced a new high-speed data service in four cities, including Seattle, that it said will let customers view news, movie trailers and weather forecasts on their cell phones, laptops and personal digital assistants.

Attracting new customers through new products is key for AT&T Wireless, which in the first quarter lost 367,000 subscribers and could reveal additional losses from last quarter in today's earnings announcement.

The new service, called UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), is to be rolled out in two additional markets by year-end.

Analysts said UMTS needs a more memorable name and the company must distinguish it from its other two data offerings. But they agreed it represents a step forward for the company and may pose competition for Wi-Fi.

Launching the new service, which AT&T Wireless has spent $200 million to develop, was required by the company's top shareholder, NTT DoCoMo Inc., which otherwise could have forced the company to buy back NTT DoCoMo's stake. NTT DoCoMo owns about 16 percent.

The UMTS network may be built out further when AT&T Wireless is sold to Cingular Wireless LLC, which is expected to occur by year- end.

UMTS, also known as WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), is available immediately in Detroit, Phoenix, the Bay Area and Seattle, the company said. It's slated to be available in Dallas and San Diego by year-end.

The UMTS service costs $25 per month when used on a cell phone and $80 per month when used on a PDA or laptop. Both offerings include unlimited connection time for data.

The services require using a new phone, either Nokia's 6651 or Motorola's A845, each of which costs $300. They're available at AT&T stores, online and from customer-service representatives, and inventory levels are high, said AT&T Wireless Chairman and Chief Executive John Zeglis in a teleconference yesterday.

Voice service isn't available for users of the modem. Users of the two phones who want voice service must also buy a GSM voice plan. Those plans start at $30 per month, with occasional specials.

A UMTS modem in the form of a PCMCIA card, jointly made by Lucent and Novatel and selling for $150 after rebate through those same outlets, makes the new service usable on a laptop or PDA.

Customers using UMTS on cell phones, without having bought an optional $5-per-month subscription from Seattle's RealNetworks Inc., can receive text, graphics and still images of news, sports, weather, movie times and restaurant listings, said company spokesman Mike DiGioia.

Those who have bought the subscription can view and download full- motion news and entertainment from ABC News, NPR News, CBS Marketwatch, Fox Sports, The Weather Channel and other sources, all delivered through RealNetworks.

AT&T Wireless and RealNetworks said the new network's speed and the technological treatment of the streamed material are sufficient to ensure high-quality sound and motion.

UMTS claims to offer downloads averaging between 220 kilobits per second and 320 kbps, with bursts of up to 384 kbps, DiGioia said. That's a minimum of four times faster than a dial-up modem at peak theoretical performance. Upload speeds are about 64 kbps, still faster than a dial-up modem.

AT&T Wireless also offers two other data-oriented services, which like UMTS can bring news, sports and headlines to cell phones.

The oldest and slowest, called GPRS, dates back to the launch of AT&T Wireless' GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network - the successor to its TDMA (Time-Division Multiple Access) network - in 2001. It operates at between 35 and 40 kbps.

Then there's the slightly faster EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution), which AT&T Wireless introduced nationally at the end of 2003. It runs at between 120 and 130 kbps, with bursts of up to 200 kbps.

DiGioia declined to say how many users the older two services have but said the company is "satisfied with their uptake."

All three services will continue to be offered, DiGioia said.

"Our sales force will help people understand which service is best for them," he said.

Maybe, maybe not, said Ira Brodsky, president of technology analysts Datacomm Research Co. in Chesterfield, Mo.

"You can't be going after the market talking about EDGE, GPRS, and UMTS," he said. "The name is so important. It's everything. `UMTS' is boring and not memorable."

But he said AT&T Wireless' announcement is important.

"There are 1.3 billion wireless users in the world," he said. "This type of service, along with its main competitor, EVDO from Sprint and Verizon, will really unlock the market."

In addition, UMTS for laptops and PDAs could end up being a competitor with Wi-Fi, the much-discussed Internet access service available in many hotels, airport lounges and coffee shops.

AT&T Wireless, which in February agreed to sell to Cingular Wireless LLC for $41 billion, lost 367,000 customers in the first quarter because of computer glitches and spotty network quality.

Second-quarter earnings and subscriber figures are due out today, and some analysts expect AT&T Wireless to report additional customer losses.

AT&T Wireless promised NTT DoCoMo in 2000 it would introduce the fast Web service in 13 of the largest U.S. cities by June 2004. In December 2002, AT&T Wireless reduced the number to four because of slumping demand for wireless Internet access.

This report includes information from Bloomberg News.

P-I reporter Dan Richman can be reached at 206-448-8032 or danrichman@seattlepi.com.

More News in this Category