Folks this is pretty impressive. Click on this link, wait for the cartoon to finish and hold on to your chair, you are not going to believe this!
Marc
Welcome to Marc's Blog. - From time to time you will find comments, opinions, and discussions related to various topics of interest to me, and some of them may even be relative to the Wireless Industry. Let us hear from you! - Marc
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile all claim to offer nation's 'largest 4G network'
Wow here is a shock, competing carriers making the same claim. But if you read their fine print you realize that, if you carefully draw your circle small enough you can make any claim that you want! For example L&W is the largest, most successful telecom consulting firm in the world! As long as you read my fine print statement that says, "located on FM 2818 in Bryan, Texas".
Marc
Marc
Harbinger, LightSquared face investor lawsuit, $56M payment
Well it looks like troubles continue to mount for Harbinger Capital!
Last Friday, on an investor call, Phillip Falcone said, "While it is clear that the investment thesis was dead-on, going through the regulatory and political process here has been very disturbing, to say the least," Falcone said, according to the Wall Street Journal. "We are continuing to plow ahead on a number of different fronts. ... We are continuing to evaluate a number of the options we believe we have."
On Friday, Harbinger was sued by investors in the fund who claimed that they were misled over the "all in" investment Harbinger made in LightSquared, which has totaled more than $3 billion. Harbinger and its chief Philip Falcone "knew from the outset, or were reckless in failing to know, that LightSquared's technology interfered with GPS systems," according to the suit. The suit claims that because of LightSquared's status now, investors "stand to lose substantially all of the value of their investments." Harbinger declined to comment on the suit.
Last Friday, on an investor call, Phillip Falcone said, "While it is clear that the investment thesis was dead-on, going through the regulatory and political process here has been very disturbing, to say the least," Falcone said, according to the Wall Street Journal. "We are continuing to plow ahead on a number of different fronts. ... We are continuing to evaluate a number of the options we believe we have."
So let's just examine those two statements individually, "While it is clear that the investment thesis was dead-on, going through the regulatory and political process here has been very disturbing, to say the least" Reading this can't you imagine a White Star Line press release on April 15, 1912 saying that the maiden voyage of the Titanic was, except for that unfortunate event with that iceberg, superbly successful.
"We are continuing to plow ahead on a number of different fronts. ... We are continuing to evaluate a number of the options we believe we have." which is clearly akin to Captain Smith on the Titanic announcing to the passengers, "Ladies and gentlemen pay no attention to that ice on the deck, it is part of our North Atlantic cruise entertainment, please just enjoy the rest of your voyage, and by the way, drinks are on the White Star line for the rest of the trip!
I believe that the investors are correct, do I believe they will recover their investment, not a chance!
Time will tell!
Marc
Monday, February 20, 2012
What do you get when you mate Elephants?
There seems to be a business theory going around that if Mega Corporation C mates with Mega Corporation U, the offspring of this mating process will be a new Corporation that is quick, agile, customer friendly, and provides phenomenally outstanding customer service to its customers.
Well the reality is when you mate elephants you get elephants not gazelles! The same is true in business. The next time you fly out of Houston on the new United Airlines remember the new elephant created is not a gazelle, in fact it isn't even an agile elephant, its more like a decrepit Mastodon! One wonders if there might just be too much in-breeding in the airline industry these days.
If you remember the Proud Bird with the Golden Tail, that once was Continental Airlines, well you are going to be very disappointed with the new United Airline.
Such a shame, my opinion, the new United took the worst features of both airlines and created a really bad airline. But maybe things will get better over time!
Marc
Well the reality is when you mate elephants you get elephants not gazelles! The same is true in business. The next time you fly out of Houston on the new United Airlines remember the new elephant created is not a gazelle, in fact it isn't even an agile elephant, its more like a decrepit Mastodon! One wonders if there might just be too much in-breeding in the airline industry these days.
If you remember the Proud Bird with the Golden Tail, that once was Continental Airlines, well you are going to be very disappointed with the new United Airline.
Such a shame, my opinion, the new United took the worst features of both airlines and created a really bad airline. But maybe things will get better over time!
Marc
Another fascinating day of Travel in a post 9/11 world
I arrived at the airport my requisite 2 hours before flight time in Houston. The folks who work with me think I am crazy to do this, but I don't miss many airplanes! But the real reason I get here 2 hours early is so I have zero stress going through the security shuffle at the airport.
I have recently adopted the airline "green" initiative, as all of you know I am Mister Save the Planet, and it is really convenient to have the boarding pass on the iPhone and have one less thing to keep up with. Been working great for the last two months. But today in Houston things have changed again with the TSA. Maybe it is just because this is President's day and the government employees of the TSA are just hacked off because they have to work so that we Capitalist Pigs can go on with making money and not paying our fare share of taxes.
So today I get into the line to start the security screening process bus showing my ID and placing my electronic boarding pass on one of those new fangled electronic boarding pass readers and do my bit to save the planet. Assuming the reader, which is powered by some fossil fuel burning power plant no doubt, actually reads your boarding pass and beeps, the TSA gate keepers ask you what your name is, which he/she just read off the reader and compared to you ID.
For the last two months once you convinced them you were you that was the end of the boarding pass, ID exam and you could put the ID and Boarding pass away, pick up the requisite number of plastic bins and start the process of taking off your shoes, your belt, emptying your pockets of all change, handkerchief, combs, business cards, pins and car keys and carefully put them in one of your carry ons while simultaneously taking out any liquids you might have in your bag, putting them in the right size baggie, then waiting for your bags to be sucked into the X-ray machine and to then be directed to either the Porno Scanner or the regular security ionization chamber.
But today if you had an electronic boarding pass, because you were serious about saving the planet as you all know I am, you were told, by the TSA agent "hold on their fellow, where is your boarding pass?" Me, "Uh sir it is on my phone that is now in my carry on, that has just been sucked into the x-ray machine and is patiently waiting on the other side of the scanner for me to pick it up!" TSA, "well you can't go through these machines (the scanners) without one of us looking at your boarding pass." Me, " the guy already checked my boarding pass and ID". TSA, "which guy?". Me, "uh (looking around and pointing), that guy right there." TSA, "uh okay, go ahead!" And Shazam I am waived through the Porno scanner, and sent over to my now very lonely bag and computer case. But boy do I now feel safer for having such a crack crew of government employees securing our airways!
Lesson learned, from now on screw the planet, I am printing the paper boarding pass, to hell with this green technology!
And because I get to the airport 2 hours before take off I am stress free and had time to do this post!
Marc
I have recently adopted the airline "green" initiative, as all of you know I am Mister Save the Planet, and it is really convenient to have the boarding pass on the iPhone and have one less thing to keep up with. Been working great for the last two months. But today in Houston things have changed again with the TSA. Maybe it is just because this is President's day and the government employees of the TSA are just hacked off because they have to work so that we Capitalist Pigs can go on with making money and not paying our fare share of taxes.
So today I get into the line to start the security screening process bus showing my ID and placing my electronic boarding pass on one of those new fangled electronic boarding pass readers and do my bit to save the planet. Assuming the reader, which is powered by some fossil fuel burning power plant no doubt, actually reads your boarding pass and beeps, the TSA gate keepers ask you what your name is, which he/she just read off the reader and compared to you ID.
For the last two months once you convinced them you were you that was the end of the boarding pass, ID exam and you could put the ID and Boarding pass away, pick up the requisite number of plastic bins and start the process of taking off your shoes, your belt, emptying your pockets of all change, handkerchief, combs, business cards, pins and car keys and carefully put them in one of your carry ons while simultaneously taking out any liquids you might have in your bag, putting them in the right size baggie, then waiting for your bags to be sucked into the X-ray machine and to then be directed to either the Porno Scanner or the regular security ionization chamber.
But today if you had an electronic boarding pass, because you were serious about saving the planet as you all know I am, you were told, by the TSA agent "hold on their fellow, where is your boarding pass?" Me, "Uh sir it is on my phone that is now in my carry on, that has just been sucked into the x-ray machine and is patiently waiting on the other side of the scanner for me to pick it up!" TSA, "well you can't go through these machines (the scanners) without one of us looking at your boarding pass." Me, " the guy already checked my boarding pass and ID". TSA, "which guy?". Me, "uh (looking around and pointing), that guy right there." TSA, "uh okay, go ahead!" And Shazam I am waived through the Porno scanner, and sent over to my now very lonely bag and computer case. But boy do I now feel safer for having such a crack crew of government employees securing our airways!
Lesson learned, from now on screw the planet, I am printing the paper boarding pass, to hell with this green technology!
And because I get to the airport 2 hours before take off I am stress free and had time to do this post!
Marc
Saturday, February 18, 2012
700 MHz Awarded to Public Safety - Now What?
Lumped into this weeks Payroll Tax Cut bill was an allocation of the long contested 10 MHz of spectrum referred to as the 700 MHz D Block. The future of the D block has been in limbo since the 2008 spectrum auctions, but this week Congress and the Obama Administration finally passed legislation that allocated the D Block to Public Safety for the construction of a nationwide LTE network. Congress also kicked in an additional $7 billion of tax payer dollars to build the network and another $300 million for R&D for the network.
But you can be sure, that much like ObamaCare, there are sill many unknowns. And public safety representatives are already saying $7 Billion isn't enough! No one has yet thought or talked about where the money will come from to operate and maintain the system (but that money has to come from only one source and that is the US Taxpayer) and nobody yet knows who is in charge of planning, designing, and managing the network buildout and operation.
However I am sure that this topic will dominate next weeks discussion at IWCE and for many months to come in the various halls of the lobbyist and equipment manufacturers who will no doubt play a major role in shaping the success of the network.
I expect the Public Safety Industry hasn't seen this much excitement since the 800 Re-banding plan was announced a few years ago. BTW, anyone know how re-banding is going? It's finished, right?
Marc
Upper 700 MHz Band Plan - The Public Safety D Block
The Public Safety D Block is actually two 5 MHz blocks of spectrum in the Upper 700 MHz band between 758 MHz to 763 MHz and 788 MHz to 793 MHz as shown below:
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