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So I am thinking, What would I do differently if I owned a major wireless carrier? While I may not be qualified to do so, I have been in the business long enough to give some really good, blunt advice.  So please read below my open letter to each wireless carrier I felt important. I wrote these as though I had a quick paragraph to tell each company what they need to do.  A quick summary if you will.....

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

2009 brought with it a lot of buzz on the streets  with Unlimited Monthly plans by such companies as Cricket Wireless, Metro PCS, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, and the big four.  At the end of 2009 and this year , the competition for this sector of the business is heating up and has become more competitive than ever before.

As I wrote about in my article Wireless Predictions for 2010, I stated that there needed to be some consolidation in the market for the "Tier B" carriers.  Since then , big carriers like Verizon Wireless and AT&T have reduced their monthly unlimited plans to reach into the little guys pockets.  Here are the points that I feel are important to show just how much this is heating up....

Michael Dell pulls Mini 5 Android tablet from his parka, offers to put one in yours in 'a couple of months' (video): "

Hot on the heels of us thinking maybe the Dell Streak / Mini 5 was possibly due for a name change to the 'M01M,' a roving heckler from TechCrunch managed to catch the man himself, Michael Dell, on the street and get a quick demonstration of the thing -- which he with no uncertain terms referred to as the 'Mini 5.' He swiped through a number of home screens and quickly showed the five megapixel camera on the back, mentioned 3G wireless, and then tucked it away again. No price was given, but the biggest news is confirmation that it's coming out in 'a couple of months,' which is something of a surprise given the company was still calling it a concept just a few weeks ago. Video of this choice encounter is after the break.

Handset market bounces back in Q4: "
The 'year-long recession' in the handset industry is over--at least according to research firm Strategy Analytics. The firm found that handset shipments rose by 10 percent in the fourth quarter to 324.4 million units, up from 293.8 million in the year-ago quarter

AT&T nears record with 2.7M net adds in Q4: "
Verizon Wireless' aggressive holiday ad campaign slamming the quality of AT&T Mobility's 3G network didn't stop customers from signing up for AT&T wireless service. The carrier rounded up 2.7 million net new wireless subscribers during the fourth quarter--the second highest quarterly gain in the company's history.

However, issues surrounding AT&T's wireless network continue to be a sore spot for the carrier, and executives spent much of their quarterly conference call discussing what AT&T is doing to improve it. Specifically, AT&T will spend $18 billion to $19 billion on its network this year, notably above the $17.3 billion it spent in 2009. This includes an increase of $2 billion for improving backhaul capacity.

Microsoft hints at Windows Mobile 7 announcement at MWC: "

Yesterday, on Microsoft’s earnings call, CFO Peter Klein briefly mentioned that Microsoft’s “next mobile operating system” would be announced “in a few weeks.” Conveniently, just a few weeks from now, the Mobile World Congress convention will be taking place — beginning February 15th —

Palm stock rallies 11% after Verizon iPhone not announced: "

Everybody and their mother thought that a Verizon iPhone announcement was a sure thing for Wednesday’s Jobsnote. While the magical and revolutionary (Steve Jobs’ words, not ours) iPad was unveiled to an overhyped public, the iPhone for Big Red was nowhere to be seen, not even as one of Jobs’ famous “Oh, one more thing” moments.
Judging by the depressed price of Palm’s stock that morning, investors seemed to feel the same way, pushing Palm’s stock down nearly 3% by the time Jobs took the stage.

Apple's iPad brushes aside AT&T: "
The iPad is finally here, but it's not quite what the market was expecting. In the days leading up to the event, reports were all over the map: Apple would make the tablet for AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless' 3G networks; Apple would introduce the new version of the iPhone OS; and--one more thing--Apple CEO Steve Jobs would reveal an iPhone for Verizon at the end of the presentation. Admittedly, FierceWireless engaged in this speculation as well.

Apple announces the iPad, changes the course of history: "

Today at 10:00AM PST, hundreds of thousands of eyes were glued to computer screens as Steve Jobs made one of the most anticipated announcements in Apple history: the iPad. Some might giggle or scoff at the name, but that’s where the snark stops. The hardware and software had event attendees up on their feet applauding. Before we get into a deep run-down of the device, here are some specs you need to know right off the bat (we’ll continue updating these if there are move developments):

Is this the Motorola MOTOSPLIT?: "

Okay, we're not anywhere close to 100 percent on this, but we just got a blurry screenshot of something we're told is the Motorola MOTOSPLIT, a Snapdragon-powered Android set in the vein of the Droid with a totally wild split-horizontal sliding QWERTY keyboard. Yeah, we want one -- it reminds us of the beloved Nokia 6820, although it's much thinner. We're told this thing is coming to AT&T in Q3, which makes sense; we've only pinned down three of Ma Bell's five planned Android devices, and this would be a nice higher-end compliment to the Backflip. We'll keep an eye out -- and you let us know if you hear anything good, okay?

Apple’s upcoming tablet spotted on the Internet?: "

According to mobile applications analytics firm Flurry, the Apple tablet is alive and kicking in the halls of Apple’s Cupertino campus. The analytics firm has supposedly detected the presence of an estimated fifty Apple tablets, first detected last October, whose location can be traced back to Cupertino. The tablet, whose usage has spiked in recent weeks, is reportedly testing over 200 different applications, the bulk of which are games, entertainment, news, books, and lifestyle applications. Now, for a reality check, we personally couldnt imagine a possible tablet running anything other than OS 4.0. So whether this is just a new iPhone in testing, sonething else, or even a way to throw people off track, we don’t know. We do have a barrage of potential names, and a handful of potential content partners though, so we’ll just have to wait until Wednesday for Apple to make this device official.

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AT&T rumored to lose iPhone exclusivity this Wednesday?: "

“But it’s tied down to AT&T…” Those may be words that you’ll never hear again when it comes to the iPhone. Now, it’s not written in stone just yet, but one of Hot Hardware’s inside sources feels very confident that AT&T will lose its iPhone exclusivity during Apple’s big announcement this week. If this is true, coupled with an announcement / beta release of iPhone 4.0, Apple’s iPhone sales could skyrocket — especially since some people have avoided the iPhone like the plague strictly because of AT&T. Where will the iPhone go? Will there be an unlocked version available? We’re not quite sure, but we’ll find out soon as it’s shaping up to be a big week for Apple with a tablet announcement, iPhone 4.0 and now possibly the iPhone may finally be unshackled from AT&T’s grip. One thing to consider, however, is that if AT&T loses its exclusivity this Wednesday, who’s going to want to buy an AT&T-locked iPhone until the next generation model comes out? That alone gives us some doubt.

[Via Business Insider]

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