Mobile network tester Spirent found that VoLTE 4G calling technology has made some big improvements in power efficiency since its last round of tests, but it still has far to go before it can match 2G voice. Read more »
Raco Wireless is already connecting plenty of appliances, vehicles and gadgets to the internet of things using T-Mobile’s 2G networm, but with new carrier partnerships the M2M specialist can connect those things in more places. Read more »
GigaOM has learned that pan-African operator Airtel is deploying a large-scale carrier Wi-Fi network using Ruckus and Alcatel-Lucent gear. With mainly 2G networks to its name today, Airtel will use Wi-Fi to jump start its mobile data services. Read more »
GoSmart Mobile will focus on the budget-conscious voice centric user. There are data plans, and one of them is even unlimited, but you won’t get access to T-Mobile’s full HSPA+ network speeds. Read more »
Sprint plans to shutter its old Nextel iDEN systems for good next summer, but before it can do so it needs to migrate millions of customers still using the network. In January, Sprint will start charing a $10 monthly fee to Nextel iDEN customers. Read more »
Make no mistake: T-Mobile will get the iPhone. It’s just highly unlikely that it will get it next week as Merrill Lynch is predicting. T-Mobile is still in the early stages of a network overhaul that will make it compatible with the iPhone’s 3G radios. Read more »
VoIP may be the future on mobile communications, but new findings from testing outfit Spirent show the technology needs to improve its power efficiency if it’s to become viable. Its tests found that a VoLTE call consumes twice as much battery life as a 2G call. Read more »
Verizon may be getting serious about prepaid if only as a means to find a future use for its rapidly emptying 3G networks. After years of ceding prepaid to its competitors, Verizon started actively courting contract-averse subscribers over the holidays. Read more »
M2M is huge, and power everything from point-of-sale machines and ER devices to much of the Big Data revolution. But all that is in danger, says John Horn of RACO Wireless, if we don’t patch two major holes. Read more »
Live in Washington, DC; Baltimore or Houston? If so, you have something common with folks in Kansas City and Las Vegas: Your unlocked iPhone or other AT&T smartphone can now run on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network instead of the carriers old 2G network. Read more »
T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray says MetroPCS voice-over-LTE services will definitely be supported post merger as long as customers own VoLTE phones. But, whether the new T-Metro expands VoLTE beyond the Metro footprint, however, remains an open question dictated by demand and logistics. Read more »
Sprint wants its Nextel customers to move to its CDMA network so it can hasten the inevitable retirement its old iDEN systems. To coax customers over, Sprint is offering them three times the coverage they currently get with their Nextel phones. Read more »
T-Mobile USA is shutting down 75 percent of its GSM capacity in order to clear its airwaves for mobile broadband. You would think that such a large-scale retirement of 2G would wreck havoc on its M2M communications business. But the opposite appears to be case. Read more »
In its attempts to kill Verizon’s mega-spectrum deal with the cable operators, T-Mobile has begun challenging Verizon’s claims that it is the most efficient user of mobile spectrum in the country. But T-Mo is countering Verizon’s fuzzy math with equally fuzzy math of its own. Read more »
Singapore’s StarHub has taken its 4G fate into its own hands, revealing today it will shut down part of its 2G network to make room for LTE, rather than wait around for new 4G spectrum to materialize. Its LTE network goes live this year. Read more »
MetroPCS on Tuesday became the latest operator to begin throttling mobile data, but MetroPCS isn’t eliminating its unlimited data plans entirely. It’s added a $70 price tier that preserves unlimited voice, SMS and LTE data use, but all other customers get capped. Read more »
Qualcomm and Ericsson have successfully passed a voice call from an LTE network to a 3G one, paving the way for mobile carriers to begin migrating their voice traffic onto all-IP 4G networks. Once that happens, operators can start shutting down their 2G and 3G networks. Read more »
The number of mobile subscribers is growing steadily across the globe, but each continent tells a different story about 3G and 4G penetration, market saturation and the rate of future growth. This report looks at the global mobile landscape over the next five years, forecasting the number of subscribers and the penetration of 3G and 4G services by both continent and country. In particular we look at new markets such as China and India, possibilities in developing countries in Africa and the Middle East, and saturation in the first world. Companies mentioned in this report include HTC, Motorola and Samsung. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
When you think of mobile data revenues, the countries that come to mind are those with 3G networks or better. But the increasing reliance on life improvement and mobile commerce in developing nations will shift such dollars, accounting for 36 percent of such revenues by 2014. Read more »
If you are already struggling with the decision of whether or not to go ahead and buy a first generation iPad model, then a new rumor that has sprung up regarding the device might help you make up your mind. The rumor has me leaning strongly […] Read more »
Apple just approved a new app that allows iPhones other than the 3GS to record video. That’s right, both your iPhone 3G and even the older 2G model can now shoot video, without jailbreak. Read more »
