RootMetrics recent New York City tests reveal that the Bronx game out on top among the five boroughs in mobile data performance. Of the four major carriers, AT&T’s networks were the fastest. Read more »
Israeli mobile networking startups are on a hot streak right now. Sprint wants to tap into that talent pool so it’s launching a new LTE acceleration lab project in Tel Aviv. Read more »
Sierra is exiting the mobile hotspot and dongle business so it can concentrate on the growing machine-to-machine market and embedded connectivity. Read more »
After focusing its LTE rollout on small town America for months, Sprint is returning its attention to big cities. Boston and Austin join Chicago and Indianapolis as the latest cities to get the 4G upgrade. Read more »
Deutsche Telekom is considering investing in Fon, the crowdsourced Wi-Fi provider. Though the deal is far from certain, DT could benefit greatly from a close relationship with Fon’s millions-strong Wi-Fi community. Read more »
The 39 licenses will cost AT&T $1.9 billion, but it will finally be able to deploy full-capacity networks in key markets like Chicago and Los Angeles. Verizon’s wheeling is dealing in 700 MHz is now over. Read more »
Google is launching yet another mysterious wireless experiment, this time using small cells at its HQ. Taking all of Google’s wireless projects together, a new kind of mobile architecture might be taking shape: the heterogenous network. Read more »
Looking for the best network nearby? Consider downloading OpenSignal 2 for Android. Using crowdsourced information and a database of Wi-Fi hotspots, it should keep your phone’s connection running fast. Read more »
The much-delayed UK spectrum auction is underway. It remains to be seen how EE’s decision to cut its premium 4G pricing yesterday, just months after launching the service, affects the outcome. Read more »
Delivering and managing the web experience isn’t just about mobile. Companies are also faced with new challenges in the desktop environment, including browser fragmentation, network evolution, and client-side technologies. They must invest in both the desktop environment as well as to create an optimized experience for mobile. Read more »
Straight Talk, the $45 a month no-contract provider that resells wireless service from major U.S. carriers, has finally embraced the iPhone 5. Walmart is selling the phone with Straight Talk service and $25 a month no-interest financing. But there’s one major caveat to the deal. Read more »
Touring Verizon’s booth wasn’t quite what I expected, but that’s not a bad thing. Instead of focusing on new consumer devices, the company is using the venue to show off partner products from its Innovations Center, illustrating the benefits of connectivity where you’d least expect. Read more »
Verizon revealed some impressive 4G stats at CES 2013. It’s LTE network is now in 473 markets, covering 273 million people. It will complete its 4G network in mid-2013, just two-and-a-half years after it started. Read more »
T-Mobile is getting aggressive to lure new customers. The carrier is offering its 4G Unlimited Data without a contract. New laptops and tablets also come with T-Mobile service: Users get a taste with 200 MB of free monthly data and options to add more. Read more »
Signaling traffic growth is outstripping mobile data traffic by 30 percent to 50 percent and threatening the stability of mobile networks. However, the growth in signaling traffic is not only an indicator of success but also shows that mobile data has come of age. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Will 2013 see carriers eyeing their Wi-Fi offload strategies with suspicion? As consumers turn more to ubiquitous Wi-Fi networks, will that threaten carrier’s data revenue, and if so, what will carriers do about that? Expect a subtle war to control Wi-Fi in the coming year. Read more »
By taking in a huge WCS spectrum haul from NextWave, Comcast and others, AT&T has nearly all the components in place to create a nationwide 4G band for its own exclusive use. Now AT&T just has to build it. Read more »
Dish finally has permission to become a full-fledged cellular network operator, though it remains to be seen whether it will actually become one. The FCC also set the wheels rolling for an auction next year of new 4G licenses that Sprint has been eyeing. Read more »
Samsung’s Galaxy Camera with Android 4.1 debuts in Verizon’s online store on Dec. 13. If you want a 16 megapixel sensor, 21x optical zoom and integrated LTE radio, this is the camera for you. But beyond the $549 price tag, expect to pay $5 monthly.. Read more »
A private equity firm will pick up the optical business for an undisclosed amount, relieving NSN of one its last remaining ties to wireline networking. NSN’s focus on 4G appears to paying off. In the last year, it’s won key contracts and turned record profits. Read more »
In just two years, the US and Canada have spawned 15 LTE networks and 21.5 million LTE subscriptions, according to Wireless Intelligence. Verizon was the first major operator to launch LTE, and it’s used its head start well, racking up 14.9 million 4G connections. 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 »
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 »
Sprint added another new batch of small cities to its growing LTE coverage area, but there is still no new major cities on the list since its initial launch in six big metropolitan areas this summer. Read more »
The demand for mobile data continues to rise: Doubling in the past 12 months according to a new report for Ericsson. Smartphones are obviously part of the equation, but so too are tablets; particularly video consumption, which accounts for 40 percent of data use on tablets. Read more »
Samsung’s newest Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet features an LTE radio inside. That alone isn’t unique — Apple’s iPad offers an LTE option, for example — but this Samsung slate supports VoLTE, or Voice over LTE. Don’t get too excited; this model is launching in Korea for now. Read more »
According to the WSJ, Dish Network and Google have been in talks about launching an LTE network. Google would bring cash, while Dish would bring spectrum, but neither company has the infrastructure or expertise to run a mobile carrier. Maybe that’s why Google is interested. Read more »
You know what’s cool? $1.1bn. Especially when, like the Irish government, you were only expecting a fifth of that. And, with carriers finally free to roll out 4G, that won’t be the only boost to the Irish economy. Read more »
Vodafone is already trialing 1000 small cells in the UK, and starting next year it plans to expand its use of tiny base station technology into its other global networks. Vodafone is still cautious though about small cells’ immediate impact. 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 »
The EU already allows 2G spectrum to be reused for 3G and 4G services, but now member states will also have to allow 3G spectrum to be ‘refarmed’ in the same way. The effects will take years to manifest themselves, though. Read more »
Following an investor call where it reported another loss on $8.7 billion in revenues, Sprint announced a special-offer on smaller tablet plans to help retain customers. New 100 MB and 1 GB tablet plan start next month for $10 and $15 respectively, with no activation fee. Read more »
The compromise plan turns a worthless hunk of airwaves into prime cellular real estate, while protecting neighboring satellite radio from interference. AT&T now just needs to consolidate the remaining 2.3 GHz licenses out there so it can build its new LTE network. Read more »
AT&T is launching a new smartphone powerhouse on Nov. 2: The Optimus G pairs a quad-core chip with 2 GB of memory and a high-resolution IPS display sized a 4.7-inches. Of course, the new Optimus supports AT&T’s LTE network as well. Pre-orders start tomorrow. Read more »
T-Mobile Austria, Huawei and Qualcomm have announced a relatively smooth handover of a voice calls between LTE and 3G network technologies. This should clear the way for manufacturers to start building Voice over LTE into more phones. 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 »
4G isn’t the future anymore. A consortium of companies is to set up a ’5G Innovation Centre’ at the University of Surrey, with the aim of making mobile broadband communications faster and more efficient. Read more »
The demand for mobile data is increasing at an amazing rate. A challenge of this magnitude needs more resources and, more importantly, radically new ways of acquiring, deploying, managing and optimizing these resources. Qualcomm’s Prakash Sangam looks at what’s needed to keep up. Read more »
T-Mobile’s aims for merging with MetroPCS are pretty clear: to harvest the regional carrier’s spectrum to bulk up its LTE network in key cities. But T-Mo wants to hold onto as many of Metro’s 9.3 million customers as possible. Can it have it both ways? Read more »
