The service will be priced competitively and will be built off an existing network in the U.S., most likely Sprint or Verizon. China Telecom operates on CDMA, the same wireless technology used for 3G by Sprint and Verizon. Tan said China Telecom has been in trials with different partners and expects to select a wholesaler soon. Users will get one line that works in the U.S. and one line that operates in China. Tan declined to provide more details about the upcoming service.

China Telecom’s initial bid may sound modest, but it could lead to a bigger play by China’s largest fixed-line provider and its third-largest mobile carrier. Tan said if all goes well, China Telecom may consider launching its own network in the U.S. instead of renting capacity from another operator. The company has $9.6 billion in total current assets, including about $4 billion in cash.

“If the service is growing fast, maybe we can set up our own infrastructure,” Tan told Bloomberg. “The money is no big problem for us.”

A larger infrastructure play could run into opposition in Washington, which is wary of China. The U.S. government recently blocked Chinese network equipment maker Huawei from taking part in a nationwide emergency network out of national security concerns. And foreign companies need to get an FCC waiver to own U.S. spectrum.

But first China Telecom has to prove it can make its MVNO work. Disney, ESPN and others tried and ultimately gave up after receiving little interest from consumers. SK Telecom, another Asian carrier, tried with Helio and ultimately sold to Virgin Mobile, which killed off the brand after being sold to Sprint.

The market for people who need and want phones that can operate both in China and the U.S. is specific but also limited. But Japanese telecom provider DoCoMo has also launched its own MVNO service earlier this year in the United States on T-Mobile, aiming at tourists. It will be interesting to see if these new efforts can make this model work or if it will ultimately follow in the footsteps of other MVNOs that gave up.

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• Connected world: the consumer technology revolution
• Mobile payments: forecasts, technologies and opportunities
• Growing Mobile Data Use Turned Up Heat on Carriers in Q3

In a statement today, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse focused on the positives:

Sprint’s second quarter results, including our fourteenth consecutive quarter of improved customer care satisfaction, our best ever postpaid churn, more than 1 million net wireless subscriber additions and wireless service revenue growth, validate that our focus on providing simplicity, value and an unmatched customer experience is working.

Hesse’s statement is correct and factual, but unfortunately, overlooks other facts contributing to Sprint’s current challenge. Although the company gained 1.1 million net subscribers adds, net post-paid consumers declined by 101,000. That means the bulk of the new customers would be from less profitable segments. Indeed, 519,000 of the new subscribers are wholesale or affiliate customers, while 674,000 were added through pre-paid channels. That’s a problem, because ARPU on the pre-paid side actually declined slightly to $28.

Part of the issue here for the more lucrative post-paid side could be due to Sprint’s choice of 4G technologies. Sprint initially opted for a WiMAX network it opened for business in October 2008, but the speeds are getting leapfrogged by LTE and HSPA+ networks from competitors. Sprint is now turning to LightSquared’s spectrum, and bank account, to build out an LTE network. As a result of the deal, also announced today, Sprint will receive $9 billion over the next 11 years from LightSquared, and will be able to offer competitive speeds and coverage as its grand WiMAX experiment comes to an unprofitable close.

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• Mobile Wrap-up: Q1 2009

In the coming year, Wi-Fi will become a different animal than what we currently know and love. Thanks to carriers getting more involved in using Wi-Fi for network offload — as well as more devices seeking a Wi-Fi signal — this hippie technology is about to get the layers of security, authentication and manageability once reserved for cellular networks.

“Wi-Fi is just in this second renaissance,” iPass’ CEO Evan Kaplan said in an interview. “People are building out Wi-Fi like crazy, and it [has] become a viable network for carriers and changes the industry landscape and allows them to offer service they can’t get their with licensed spectrum. There is a recognition [among carriers] that there is a role for Wi-Fi, and certain mobile services should not go through the 4G core.”

Kaplan anticipates that in the next four to five years Wi-Fi will become a carrier-dominated phenomenon. Of course, Kaplan is pitching his new service, which acts like an authentication and billing layer between Wi-Fi networks and enables carriers to track and charge those who roam onto Wi-Fi networks much the way data roaming happens today. It’s an awesome concept, but it has a downside for consumers: This level of service won’t be free.

Despite his interest in carrier-dominated Wi-Fi, Kaplan isn’t alone in his views. Ronald J. de Lange, the CEO of Tekelec, a company providing carrier gear, believes that Wi-Fi is here to stay, and that carriers are looking for ways to ensure reliability and track it across their networks. He sees an opportunity for startups — such as WeFi and Skyhook, which are building Wi-Fi databases — to offer services that carriers will pay for as they seek to implement roaming and perhaps charge their end users.

It’s hard to imagine a carrier like AT&T,which operates its own Wi-Fi hot spot network, will suddenly charge users for a service it currently provides as part of its mobile broadband (and wireline) service. But once roaming is widely implemented, it could charge users a fee for access to international hot spots. Under that scenario, AT&T gets new revenue, and so do potential roaming partners AT&T could end up paying for the privilege of its subscribers roaming onto their Wi-Fi networks.

It’s also likely that other providers who aggregate services, such as Boingo or even startups such as Macheen, will gain traction as Wi-Fi becomes more integral for connectivity and thus, worth more to consumers. Even if folks don’t pay a carrier, they may pay someone be it a service like Boingo or even a retailer or device maker selling a service created by iPass or Macheen.

Even if carriers can’t find a way to milk better Wi-Fi, Kaplan is right: Wi-Fi is hot, and carriers are interested. Just last week, KDDI announced that it will build 100,000 hot spots, and earlier this year China Telecom said it would deploy 1 million. Kaplan said iPass currently authenticates users across more than 500,000 hot spots: a number Kaplan expects to rise to seven-hundred-something thousand by the end of this year.

So now that Wi-Fi is clearly hot and clearly necessary, we’ll see carriers try to monetize it. Get ready for carrier-grade Wi-Fi and a new sales pitch.

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• U.S. Wireless Data Market, Q1 2009
• Mobile Wrap-up: Q1 2009

Icera is a nine-year-old semiconductor company that makes a baseband chip with the ability to listen to many different frequencies and technological standards in one small package. That means it can work on 2G, 3G and 4G networks that use different protocols — such as HSPA, HSPA+ and LTE — all on the same chip. The Icera chip is also programmable, making it far more flexible than one hardwired for a variety of protocols. Integrating radio technologies in future Nvidia SOC (system on a chip) hardware could lead to lower power consumption for mobile devices.

Nvidia isn’t just banking on wireless computing, it’s banking on the kind of fast device design cycles that vendors such as Apple, with its typical annual refresh, have ushered into the market. With a programmable radio, Nvidia can change-up the radio for customer’s demands at a much faster rate. Nvidia also plans to keep Icera’s other customers happy by integrating Icera’s processor with whatever other application processor of the customer’s choosing. This puts Nvidia in the baseband business and if Nvidia wants to pursue it, could result in Icera gaining some real market traction, given its relatively small balance sheet has limited the company to this point.

The deal is an echo of Intel’s decision to buy Infineon’s wireless business for $1.4 billion last year, as well as a vote for the Qualcomm way of doing things, which basically offers device makers an integrated application processor with a radio on the same chip. Other leaders in the application processor market, such as Samsung, also have their own radios, with Samsung investing in developing its own LTE chips a few years ago. Other vendors in the radio world have beefed up their application processor efforts, with firms such as Broadcom and Marvell both pushing hard on the “brains” aspect of their chip businesses. This leaves me wondering where a vendor such as Texas Instruments fits in, given that TI got out of the wireless baseband business to focus on application processors.

Regardless of where individual chip firms shake out here, the deal is a clear indication that connectivity (and cellular connectivity at that) has become a must-have feature in computing today. Nvidia’s confidence in its ability to break into this market also shows how vastly different the mobile ecosystem could be, when compared to the staid Wintel architecture that dominated the PC era.

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• Report: The Future of Netbooks!
• Mobile Wrap-up: Q1 2009

You can see that Apple modified the external antenna design, something I expected them to do at some point. And due to internal changes for the CDMA radio that Verizon’s network uses, the side buttons appear to be moved slightly, which will create a market for an entire line of iPhone cases just for Verizon phones. Although Verizon hasn’t yet announced pricing details, the phone can be used to connect up to five devices through Wi-Fi or the 3G connection can be shared via Bluetooth or USB cable.

Perhaps most interesting is the short speed test between iPhones on both Verizon’s and AT&T’s networks. Verizon won this unscientific challenge of a New York Times web page load, but it’s far too early to make any determinations based on this. AT&T service in some parts of the Big Apple has faced challenges from the large number of iPhone subscribers, for starters. And it’s a safe bet that Verizon made sure that it had top notch 3G coverage at its iPhone launch event, either through repeaters or some other means.

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Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs

Update: Qualcomm announced Wednesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Atheros in a deal valued at $3.1 billion.

Original post: Qualcomm is reportedly in talks to buy Atheros, a rival wireless chipmaker in a deal valued at $3.5 billion, according to the New York Times. The paper cites sources close to the deal saying that it could be announced as soon as tomorrow. Qualcomm and Atheros could not be reached for comment. The deal would enable Qualcomm to move beyond its cellular technology base and into myriad other wireless technologies gaining ground in the home and in other networks such as smart grids. Atheros makes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HomePlug and several other wireless networking chips used in home routers, cell phones and set-top boxes.

Qualcomm has a history of buying smaller technology firms for their IP but this would be a unique deal in that Atheros is a larger, established silicon vendor (it would also be Qualcomm’s largest at the rumored price tag). For example to boost its WiMAX IP Qualcomm purchased Flarion, for MIMO assets it bought Airgo and for some Bluetooth technology it purchased the assets of RF Micro. However, Qualcomm is trying to get ahead of the puck as it were by picking up Atheros. Qualcomm’s expertise and fortunes have been made on the cellular networking side of the tech world, as it built chips for cellular networks and the brains inside cellular phones. But its core IP is around the 3G CDMA technology that will gradually decline in use as later generation cellular networks gain ground.

Qualcomm’s WiBro UltraMobile Broadband 4G standards effort and its MediaFLO mobile television efforts were both attempts to build and own the intellectual property around future cellular-style networks. But they didn’t pan out, so Qualcomm’s relying on its Mirasol display technology, a to-be-announced personal area networking technology and other smaller efforts to fill the coming CDMA revenue gap. Atheros buys it both a new revenue stream as well as technology that expands Qualcomm’s footprint deeper into the home and gives it more silicon inside mobile devices. Theoretically, Qualcomm could take Atheros’ silicon knowledge in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, combine it with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon application processor plus cellular radio and put an entire cell phone on a chip.

For now, I’m making calls and will update the story I learn more. But for those in the wireless chip industry and smartphone business, this is a big deal. Qualcomm’s taking the Wi-Fi and mobility craze that Intel created all the way back in 2003 and seeking to own the silicon to make such an unwired lifestyle possible across phones, smart grid networks, home networks and even in sensor networks. Nice.

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Flickr user The Pug Father

The new plans are already live on Rogers’ site and seem reasonable when compared to the current and prevalent idea that every device requires its own monthly data plan. For an extra $15, Rogers customers with an eligible smartphone plan can share between 1 GB and 5GB of data among the handset and another device that has a 3G radio. Owners of 3G USB dongles or notebooks with integrated 3G can share their data connection among devices for a $20 monthly fee. The bill share option doesn’t provide any additional megabytes to use; it simply provides data for another 3G device without requiring a separate plan. Some may balk at the monthly fee — or just add a mobile hotspot device with data plan — for this reason.

What’s driving the potential for data sharing between devices? “Data sharing is important because tablets will not replace smartphones,” Rogers Chief Marketing Officer John Boynton said at a conference, held last week to discuss the impact of such secondary devices. Indeed, some are grumbling about the high price of required data plans for 3G tablets, such as Samsung’s Galaxy Tab.

Although Samsung has reportedly sold 1 million Tabs, nearly all of the U.S. sales have resulted in new data plans. A subsidized version of the device is sold through carriers who require a monthly data fee. As appealing as the Galaxy Tab is to me personally, I’ll simply wait for a Wi-Fi version because I don’t want another monthly data plan. I don’t use up the data allowance I have today on my two existing plans for a T-Mobile Android smartphone and a MiFi device on Verizon’s network.

I suspect I’m not alone in paying for more data than I use on more than one device, but one aspect that has helped are recent moves towards the offering of data buckets. In June, for example, AT&T stopped selling unlimited data plans on new contracts, instead giving customers a choice between 200 MB or 2 GB of data. Verizon and Sprint followed suit after tablets arrived: each offers limited data buckets for the Samsung Galaxy Tab, for example, and Verizon has extended such options to its mobile hotspot product as well.

Ultimately, the situation boils down to carriers balancing supply and profits against the massively increasing consumer demand for data: research firm Inform predicts monthly mobile data use to rise 700 percent over the next five years. While the recent plan changes by the U.S. carriers are a step in the right direction for all but the heaviest of mobile device users, Rogers is setting an even better precedent.

If I buy 5 GB of data in a given month, I’d like to use it as I see fit on any of my devices: my current iPad or a future Android tablet, perhaps. Maybe my tablet and I should move to Canada? Of course, if Rogers really wants me to move up north, they should consider not charging an additional fee soley for the convenience of using data on the device of my choosing. Either that, or add more data for the money!

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Ford’s Sync system, for example, doesn’t provide true mobile broadband access by itself, but can turn the entire car into a giant hotspot when a customer-provided, USB, mobile, broadband dongle is plugged into the car. By choosing to implement a less expensive Wi-Fi radio, Ford keeps connectivity costs down and allows the car to be connected on mobile broadband, or free hotspots on the road. I’ve often wanted to connect a car to my home network so I can shoot addresses to the navigation system from a computer with a full-keyboard, and Sync would work just fine for that.

On the other hand, the 2010 2011 Audi A8 includes an integrated 3G radio to supplement Wi-Fi through a Marvell mobile hotspot solution. This web-connected vehicle is a rolling MiFi device too, sharing its data connection with up to eight WiFi-capable devices, such as tablets, smartphones, and portable gaming handhelds. Mobile broadband is getting the devices to the web, but it’s Wi-Fi that’s the equivalent to a broadband “last mile,” although in this case, it’s really the last few feet.

ISuppli suggests that automotive companies embracing Wi-Fi enjoy a competitive advantage over those that forego offering a wireless option. That makes sense, because Ford is already finding potentially new revenue opportunities in connected cars by wooing developers to make car-specific applications. Audi’s integrated approach may be an even bigger gold mine. Since Audi provides the 3G connection in addition to the Wi-Fi, unlike Ford, it can capture user data from the device: websites, preferences, search terms and more. So Wi-Fi in the car might be a consumer “must have” even at the same time that very pipe is providing carmakers with information they can leverage for killer apps for the newest information highway.

There’s one road hazard with these connected cars, however: additional distractions to drivers who may find it easier to check Facebook, read email or engage in some other web-based activity. We’ve already seen studies indicating that texting while driving increases the chances of an accident by 23 times, so I can only imagine that more immersive surfing activities while driving raises the odds of an accident to even higher levels.

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Cox has chosen Hampton Roads, Va., Omaha, Neb. and Orange County, Calif. to first offer the new cellular service and will expand to other areas where it has a strong cable customer foothold in the future. Current cable customers who purchase wireless service from Cox get a free add-on service such as a premium channel group, which sweetens the deal. The company’s wireless voice and data service launch is another win for Sprint’s wholesale division as well; Cox mobile customers will be using the nationwide Sprint network for voice and 3G. But that win may be temporary, as Cox is positioned for a future with its own wireless network.

Planning ahead, Cox participated in wireless spectrum auctions, both in 2006 and 2008. The cable provider spent $550 million on AWS and 700 MHz spectrum, the latter of which, Cox has been using to test LTE service for the past year. Indeed, back in January when the traditional carriers were still semi-mysterious about 4G network plans, Cox had successfully delivered both a voice call and high-definition video over LTE on a test network.

LTE is still a future play for Cox, however. More immediate are the first steps to get wireless customers under the Cox umbrella of services, and the company has made some wise decisions that should help it gain customers. Plan pricing is competitive for a carrier without its own network: $39.99 per month buys 450 voice minutes, while $99.99 each month gains unlimited talk, text and web use, for example. Individual data plans are in the ballpark too: $30 a month adds unlimited data to smartphones while $60 each month buys 5 GB of service for a mobile broadband modem. A key differentiator is the $5 to $20 monthly credit for unused minutes on the limited plans. AT&T’s rollover minutes are the closest competition to this, but I think consumers on limited plans would rather have immediate financial value from unused minutes, not some potential future value.

Unlike some regional providers and MVNOs, Cox’s phone portfolio isn’t made up of handsets from two years ago, either. While limited in choice, Cox is offering both feature phones and smartphones, such as the Motorola Milestone and HTC Desire, two Android devices that launched within the past year. These might not be cutting-edge smartphones, but they’re capable devices that can thrive on a solid 3G network. Cox is also attempting to treat customers better than competitors too: the early termination fees for devices decrease by 1/24 each month, so customers don’t feel the carrier is making money on ETF charges in case of a phone swap. Cox will also send a free text if customers approach 95 percent of their monthly minutes or messages.

Essentially, Cox is showing the current wireless operators how voice and data service should be done: position the pricing plans as a good value, but making them even better with refunds for unused minutes while keeping customers informed about usage so they can adjust accordingly. If Cox is doing this with voice and 3G on someone else’s network, I can’t wait to see what it offers after its LTE network goes live. Maybe more importantly, it will be worth watching if the “big boys” in the wireless industry take note of Cox’s strategy in a future with more competition.

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Next-generation LTE networks are just rolling out, but already they show signs of a potential future in which wireless data demand surpasses that of wired broadband; one LTE carrier is seeing the average LTE customer use between 14 and 15 GB of wireless data per month. How dramatic is that? Last month, a Cisco report indicated the average wired broadband user consumed 14.9 GB of data per month, meaning that as faster wireless networks are implemented, they could be used more than fixed wireline connections such as cable, FiOS and DSL. That’s a serious issue, given the limited nature of wireless spectrum.

The surprising wireless consumption figures were picked up at last week’s LTE Forum by Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff, who today released an industry report on wireless equipment. Modoff noted the demand difference between slower 3G connections and LTE in the report, saying:

One of the most interesting presentations we saw last week was a video conference keynote from Teliasonera, the first operator to have a commercial LTE network. In a lot of ways, Teliasonera is not a typical carrier, but they had some interesting insight to share on their experiences to date. They have seen a healthy degree of interest in their mobile data cards. They said that the average smartphone user on their network consumed 375MB/month of data. The average broadband user on their network, largely 3G data cards, consumed 5 GB/month. But the average LTE consumer (essentially all data cards) used 14 GB – 15GB/month of data.

The difference in mobile broadband use between 3G smartphones and 3G data cards is expected: the smaller screen of a handset is more limiting than that of a notebook, so smartphone data use is tempered by display size and the apps that fit it. Move your web activities to a larger and more capable computing device, and your data needs will rise accordingly. But device size and capabilities are only part of the equation — as connection speeds increase, the more that wireless broadband connection is likely to get used.

With rising use as network speeds increase, operators will continue to tweak pricing plans to balance network infrastructure, spectrum, consumer demand, and of course, profits. As I’ve mentioned recently, we’re currently undergoing a seismic shift in mobile broadband, perhaps the biggest since the implementation of 3G networks a handful of years ago. Carriers are upgrading networks to provide faster speeds for more data-intensive activitie,s and yet, even before these networks are up and running, many operators are still trying to find the most effective pricing plans to prepare for the onslaught of higher network usage.

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Indeed, carriers weren’t prepared for the explosive growth in mobile broadband use over recent years. Jump back in time prior to the debut of Apple’s iPhone in 2007, and you’ll see an industry focused on voice and messaging revenues; data was only useful to the mobile enterprise worker and early adopters using smartphones with clunky browsers that made mobile web surfing less appealing than a root canal.

With the first iPhone and credible competitors that followed came a growing appetite for data: first in the browser, later with mobile apps and the desire to use phones as mobile hotspots. Indeed, as noted in a GigaOM Pro report on the data traffic tsunami (subscription required), iPhones were the primary driver behind the 5,000 percent increase in data usage on AT&T’s network from 2007 to 2010. With the relatively recent addition of 3G tablets and MiFi devices, demand for data will only keep growing, yet the problem remains: How can carriers predict data use and manage the service revenues against operating costs?

Tiered data plans are one answer when compared to the old model. Until this year, consumers generally chose one of two data plans: a low-capacity option at roughly $25 to $30 (200 – 250 MB) or a $50 to $60 “unlimited” plan that typically provided 5 GB of data. The latter plan appears to be a better value on a cost-per-MB basis, but it also introduces a problem for network providers, because the capacity variance between the two plans is very wide and gives little room for operators to predict demand accurately. As a result, AT&T began the shift away from unlimited plans earlier this summer, and others are following.

Industry analyst Chetan Sharma sums up the problem best in his report, Managing Growth and Profits in the Yottabyte Era:

Operators typically have great intelligence on voice usage but for data, the infrastructure and efforts are generally not on par. There is little understanding of what consumers are doing, which applications and services they are tuned to at any given instant, forecasting traffic spikes, etc. As cost of supporting data services exceeds the cost of managing voice services and as the revenues from data services become more prominent than those from voice services, operators will have to pay much more attention to the specifics at a very granular level and design business models and pricing plans per the trends and forecasts.

Consumers may want unlimited plans, but carriers can’t provide them due to limited infrastructure. Increasing demand will outpace fixed supply as carriers invest more to keep up with the growing wave of data demand. The investments to try to do so aren’t outpacing revenues from demand; if you can get past the jumbled look of the iSuppli chart below, it shows a declining trend of network operating margins over the past year. Consumer demand is the one variable that unlimited plans can’t account for.

A “pay for what you use” model might be the second-most desirable data offering on a consumer’s wish list, but like the unlimited model, it does little to help the operators predict demand in advance. Only by looking at prior usage habits can the carrier even try to predict how much data a consumer may use in the future. And all it takes is a new, hit social networking service or popular, must-have bit of software to throw that predictor model out of whack.

This topic of managing network capacity and data demand is particularly timely given that T-Mobile is the latest U.S. carrier to offer tiered data plans. Om recently spoke with Neville Ray, T-Mobile’s CTO, about the plans and Om’s vision of the Gigabyte phone. Ray agreed that it’s just a matter of time, saying, “You’re seeing some of these very capable smart phones emerge, and in several cases, we’re seeing devices where data consumption will be greater than a gigabyte per month.”

It’s good to hear that carriers are thinking forward, both in terms of demand and the best plans to offer and predict usage, so a migration to tiered data could fit the bill for all parties involved with both 3G and 4G networks. (Related: see our mobile broadband guide to understand how data networks are currently migrating to 4G). The only remaining variable is how will consumers take to such limits? Yes, the plans will be marketed as potential cost savers for some, but the heaviest of users will balk at having to refill their data bucket several times a month. Of course, as that happens, we should see a very different margin chart in as little as six months from now, much to the carrier’s delight.

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With such real-time information, operators gain a vital tool in creating networks that can adjust to traffic loads automatically in real time. While operators can already optimize their network with centralized, in-house measurement, Nokia Siemens Networks, which makes gear for telcos, could potentially embed similar quality measurement software in its LTE equipment to get such data at the point of network use. Verizon Wireless has already indicated it’s looking for such a solution on the LTE network it’s about to deploy.

If the approach of getting network data from a large audience of mobile broadband users sounds familiar, it should be. Earlier this year, I spent time chatting with the Root Metrics team about their Root Wireless application for Android and BlackBerry smartphones. The software measures key metrics in real-time: dropped calls, signal strength, and 3G data speeds for example. The user data is gathered in the background and shot off to Root Metrics, where the information from all users is aggregated to create detailed coverage and signal maps.

Although both tools are similar, a key difference between the two approaches is the audience: Nokia Siemens Networks is targeting its service at the network provider to better manage 3G network performance, while Root Metrics is meant to help consumers understand what level of data service to expect in particular locations today. Both services could play a factor in the future of mobile broadband, although the company that builds network hardware for operators may have an advantage. That means a company like Root Metrics will either be on the outside looking in or continuing to shop its useful service to consumers.

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The $30 pricetag of the Optimus T is less than 20 percent of what a typical top-tier smartphone costs these days, but the handset offers about 80 percent of the same features, with a few notable compromises. Web browsing without zooming can be difficult due to the low resolution display. (Note: in the video I inadvertently stated the resolution at 320×240; the correct resolution is 320×480.) Opening or switching apps isn’t instant because of the limited processor. Camera images and videos aren’t of superb quality: don’t expect high-definition videos at this price.

However, this $30 handset does just about everything that my more expensive phone can do. You can install mobile apps from the Android Market (yay Angry Birds!), share pics on Facebook (taken with a decent, but not high-end camera), browse the web over 3G or Wi-Fi, manage email on the go, check-in on Foursquare, use Google’s Navigation and use Google Voice services. The Optimus T even works as a mobile hotspot to connect other devices to the web for $15 a month in addition to the $30 data plan, thanks to new T-Mobile pricing announced today.

The phone uses the latest version of Android, which helps boost performance. Plus, the 1500 mAh battery paired with a slower processor makes for an all-day device. At this price point, the Optimus T will attract many first-time smartphone owners, particularly those wanting to experience smartphone apps.

This isn’t likely a one-off, cheap Android smartphone. I expect many more subsidized Android phones available for under $50 in the coming year as hardware makers find ways to marry lower priced components with Android for a “slightly watered down, but great value” type of experience. This phenomenon has already started in countries such as India, where local handset makers are planning to offer Android smartphones for $150, then further drop into the sub-$100 range.

That’s a potential issue for companies that have traditionally owned the feature phone market in countries around the globe. Google’s Android platform is making the move down into lower-priced devices, and if it can offer the smartphone experience at a feature phone price, its rising dominance as a platform will simply accelerate even faster.

So are these low-end, inexpensive smartphones geared for a power user like myself? No, but I could easily use one in a pinch, provided I was willing to sacrifice a few features and some performance. For the multitude of current feature phone owners around the globe, however, the Optimus T and coming phones like it, will enable the mobile broadband revolution for the cost a basic handset and a data plan.

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Yes, we want the mobile web on every gadget, and we want it to work everywhere we go, but the U.S. mobile broadband market is in the midst of a big change, with faster 3G networks arriving and the end of unlimited data plans. It gets worse in the coming months with competing 4G networks, giving consumers much to think about when choosing a mobile broadband plan. (Related: 4G Plan Update: Who’s Doing What With Mobile Broadband Through 2013)

Indeed, had someone asked me just six months ago about what data plan to buy, my answer would have been very different from what it is today. At that point, all four major carriers had mature 3G networks; there were fewer prepaid options available; and only one 4G network was available. From then to the end of this year, just look at the changes:

• T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network implementation will be completed this year, covering 185 million people with theoretical 21 Mbps speeds currently as fast, or faster than Clearwire’s 4G network.
• Clearwire’s WiMAX rollout continues with service coming to three major cities in the next two months – San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City — adding another 13 million people covered by the network.
• AT&T still offers a 5 GB data plan for USB dongles, but began limiting data on new plans for smartphones and iPads to buckets of 200 MB and 2 GB in June, which can save consumers money over the old, higher-priced plans.
• Before the end of the year, Verizon Wireless will cover 38 cities and roughly one-third of the U.S. population with a new 4G data network using LTE technology.
• Value-player Cricket now offers nationwide 3G roaming – increasing its potential customer base to 280 million people from 92 million — and is now able to offer mobile broadband pretty much everywhere.
• Sprint-owned Virgin Mobile is undercutting the competition for 3G with prepaid service: $40 nets you a month of truly unlimited 3G data with either a mobile hotspot for multiple devices or a USB dongle for one computer.
• Also in the prepaid market, Clearwire’s new Rover brand offers inexpensive unlimited 4G service for the commitment-shy looking for fast speeds. Use as much 4G data as you can at $5 per day, $20 a week or $50 for a month.
• Tethering options that allow you to use your 3G or 4G smartphone as a mobile hotspot are becoming prevalent, with all four major carriers offering or planning to offer the ability for $15 to $20 per month. (Note that you may not be getting any additional data to use; you’re just getting to share the data plan that comes with your handset.)

Even with a myriad of new choices currently available and coming soon, the same decision points hold true for any mobile broadband purchase. First and foremost, consider the locations you plan to use the service. If a carrier doesn’t offer wireless data coverage where you work or live, you’ll simply be paying for service you can’t use. I made that fatal mistake once before and the error cost me $175 to get out of my contract.

Think too about how often you’ll be using mobile broadband and for what activities. A person who travels once a month for a week at a time may not need to purchase a higher priced monthly plan when a short-term prepaid option could do the trick. Or if you have a 2 GB plan for your smartphone and see you’re only using a small portion of it, a tethering plan might be your best bet. Just bear in mind that using a phone as a MiFi-like device can drain the battery faster, leaving you with no web connection and no phone. Of course, if you’re expecting to do heavy video streaming or use a mobile broadband plan for a full-time Internet connection, seeking out an unlimited service is the way to go.

Now might not be the time for a data plan commitment, either. Often a carrier will subsidize the hardware needed for a data plan, provided you sign up for a two-year contract. With Verizon’s new LTE network soon launching, Sprint’s continued WiMAX expansion, and both T-Mobile and AT&T planning to further increase speeds next year, being a data “short timer” might be beneficial now. In light of that, a prepaid plan or some other no-contract offering might be the best way to hedge bets against the coming mobile broadband tsunami of 2011 and beyond.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

• 4G State of the Union
• Mobile Broadband: Pricing for Profit
• Metered Mobile Data Is Coming and Here’s How

Even with a screen shows such a small number of pixels, I’m intrigued by how the 3-D mode looks on the M-67 3D, and more importantly, wondering if the technology be used by other manufacturers of mobile phones.

Spice Mobility doesn’t specify the method used for the 3-D technology, but my suspicion is that it uses a parallax barrier, just as Nintendo’s upcoming 3-D handheld system reportedly will use. With this method, a film with slits is placed over an LCD screen, and alters the pixels seen between the left and right eyes, producing a visual 3-D effect.

Aside from the 3-D visuals with no glasses required, the dual-SIM handset sports a 2 megapixel camera, support for a 16 MB memory card, music player, FM radio, and remote wipe feature. Hardware specifications aside, it’s actually amazing that India has a phone with a relatively unique feature missing in handsets around the world, and yet the country is just now getting private 3G networks up and running.

Bharti today announced it would launch 3G before the end of 2010 while Tata Docomo is expected to launch nine 3G markets next month. If Indian service providers plan to beam highly detailed 3-D movies to future phones, they’re going to need those faster mobile broadband networks. And if nothing else, the new 3-D handset shows the pace off innovation coming from local handset makers in India, who are ready to bring the next 500 million users to the mobile web.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

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A few other key highlights from the survey, which showcase usage activities and needs for data networks:

• A little more than 86 percent of respondents want to share user-created content — such as photos and videos –within one week, and 55.9 percent wish to share such media immediately after creation. Thank the improved camera sensors and software in mobile phones, plus the rise of social networks for this use case.
• On a related note, Wi-Fi integration is becoming an increasingly important factor when deciding which digital camera to buy: 57.5 percent of the survey participants say this is driving their decision-making. Cameras that don’t include Wi-Fi for photo transfers can use a solution like the Eye-Fi storage card; Eye-Fi expanded hotpsot access with a Devicescape partnership earlier this year.
• Laptops and cell phones are the obvious leaders when it comes to devices that consumers expect to offer connectivity, but web-enabled gaming devices are gaining favor; 43.2 percent of those surveyed want such functionality.
• Traveling consumers don’t want to leave their connectivity behind, and 88.2 percent of those surveyed expect hotels to offer Wi-Fi access, although it isn’t clear if expectation is for free wireless service.

Although Devicescape only surveyed 160 people, I suspect many consumers crave unlimited data plans because of the growth of media sharing, digital content creation and social networking, just to name a few activities. Although cell phone overage penalties can be as scary as unexpected hospital bills, few folks are willing to pay a premium for unfettered mobile broadband; the survey shows that only 38.8 percent will do so. But many expect unlimited data plans to be cheaper than current offers. Sixty percent would pay less than $25 a month for unlimited plans, while 33.1 percent are willing to pay up to $50.

Unfortunately, most carriers are headed in the complete opposite direction with tiered data plans being just one way to combat the growing demand for wireless data. AT&T reduced plan sizes and costs back in June, and Verizon is poised to follow shortly, for example. If all carriers eliminate unlimited data plans, it would present an interesting situation because customers who say they’d switch providers to avoid such data caps would have no place to defect to. With all of those photos, emails, tweets and videos people enjoy sharing or watching, I doubt consumers would turn their backs on the wireless web.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

• 4G State of the Union
• Mobile Broadband: Pricing for Profit
• Metered Mobile Data Is Coming and Here’s How