Wireless carriers are at it again in Washington, but, this time, Verizon is at the center of the debate. Late last year, the company announced that it was entering a venture to purchase mobile spectrum licenses from several cable companies for nearly $ 4 billion.
Verizon is hoping that the additional spectrum will help it alleviate the growing demands from mobile customers. Other wireless carriers and public interest groups, however, believe that the deal would give Verizon too much power and thus harm competition.
Numerous companies including T-Mobile USA, Sprint Nextel, Public Knowledge, and the National Consumer Law Center have filed complaints with the FCC asking that it block the deal from going through. WebProNews spoke with Jodie Griffin, a staff attorney with Public Knowledge, who told us that giving Verizon this additional power would be “to the detriment of smaller wireless carriers and to the detriment of consumers.”
What’s more, she told us that the deal comes with a couple of side agreements that could result in very big issues for consumers. One of these agreements is the “Joint Operating Entity” that would allow the companies to control foundational technologies and whether or not newcomers could integrate with them.
The deal is currently pending review from both the FCC and the Department of Justice, but Griffin said that “there’s a very good chance” that the FCC could block it from going through, especially in light of its recent decision to block the AT&T/T-Mobile merger.
Do you think the Verizon deal with the cable companies should go through? If so, why? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Feb 24th, 2012. 
LinkedIn recently released its 2012 Consumer Electronics Report, which revealed some interesting insights about both the business professionals that are on LinkedIn as well as the general U.S. population. The study found that 41 percent of LinkedIn members plan to spend at least $ 1,000 on consumer electronics this year, compared to 29 percent of the general public in the U.S.
The study, which surveyed more than 1500 U.S. adults, also found that LinkedIn members depend on technology for time management, productivity, and efficiency. In addition, these business professionals are more likely to seek product recommendations on social networks, while average U.S. adults get their recommendations from TV and newspapers. However, both sides believe companies should have a social media presence.
With the Consumer Electronics Show taking place this week, this report could give the tech companies the information they need to market their new innovations.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Jan 10th, 2012.
Think social media is only for the non-affluent consumer? Think the wealthy are not affected and swayed by the court of public social media opinion? Think again…
A while ago I answered the question Why Do Luxury Consumers Engage With Brands On Social Media? In doing so I explained that luxury consumers engage with brands via social media because of an affinity they have with a given brand(s), as opposed to most people who do so to get deals. I referenced an eMarketer article which spoke to this point.
Today, however, it would appear that the luxury consumer, while showing off his or her brand affinity, is also impacted directly, just as many others are – by what transpires in the social media space.
According to a recent survey from Unity Marketing, of those individuals classified with a high-net worth, as defined by having more than $ 1 million in investible assets, indicated that comments, tweets, Facebook posts and so on directly influenced what websites they visited (59%), what retail stores they patronized (56%) and also what designer brand they purchased (57%).
As for those classified as ultra-affluent – those who earn $ 250,000 or more per year, the numbers were very similar with 54% responding social media influenced website visits, 49% saying social media influenced their retail shopping and 47% stating social media affected their choice of designer brand.
Now in terms of age breakdowns, the younger crowd, those ages 24-44 were more influenced via social media than their older counterparts with 52% saying social media impacted their website choices, 45% saying social media impacted their retail store selections and 44% stating social media affected their designer brand of choice. Compare that to the 45+ crowd where the numbers were cut in half or more with 25%, 19%, and 13%, respectively, among affluents ages 45+.
So, now we know that if you’re a luxury marketer or the keeper of a luxury brand flame, particularly in the retail world, you need to be very pro-active in the social media space; you need to get yourself some brand ambassadors who will go the social media mountaintops and sing your praises because it would appear the luxury consumer is listening and is reacting to what they are hearing, er, reading.
Source: Unity Marketing, The Star Group, Social Media Impacts The Luxury Consumer, Too
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Oct 9th, 2011.
Apple’s iPad 2 with Wi-Fi and 3G was rated the best tablet on the market by Consumer Reports. This is particularly interesting, given Consumer Reports’ recent history of not recommending Apple’s iOS products.
Last summer, Consumer Reports gave the iPhone 4 a thumbs down, citing the widely-publicized antenna issues. A similar evaluation was given earlier this year for Verizon’s version. Consumer reports had not problem recommending a variety of Android devices.
Until recently, the iPad didn’t really have much in the way of competition, in terms of tablets, but the iPad 2 has more , and has managed to come out on top. The antenna issues don’t apply to the iPad, so it makes sense.
“So far Apple is leading the tablet market in both quality and price, which is unusual for a company whose products are usually premium priced,” said Paul Reynolds, Electronics Editor at Consumer Reports. “However, it’s likely we’ll see more competitive pricing in tablets as other models begin to hit the market.”
The battery life of the iPad 2 seems to be one of the main factors in Consumer Reports’ evaluation. They tested ten tablets by playing the same video clip over and over again until they died. The iPad 2 lasted 12.2 hours. The lowest-ranked tablet (the Archos 70 Internet Tablet) only lasted 3.8 hours.
Reynolds is certainly right in that pricing will only get much more competitive. In fact, this is one of the main reasons Android has managed to gain so much smartphone market share. The platform is available on a wide range of devices of varying prices – many of them far cheaper than Apple’s iPhones.
We can expect a similar trend in the tablet market. We’re in the very early stages. Of couse there are also non-Android competitors that will become bigger parts of the equation, like offerings from RIM, HP, and Microsoft.
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Filed under Internet Marketing by on Apr 5th, 2011.
