Another month, another big acquisition to bolster Cisco’s portfolio for mobile carriers. This time it’s Ubiquisys, the highly-rated purveyor of small cells, SON technology and other operator-focused treats. Read more »
Half of the base stations now deployed by telco operators are small cells, which means telcos have to deal with the problems of scale out systems. Here’s what they can learn from IT guys who deal with the same issue in their data centers. Read more »
Mobile data will grow 18 times over the next five years. To successfully address the shift from voice-to data-centric usage models, operators need to act on multiple fronts, because no single solution will be sufficient in isolation. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Whether it’s the iPhone 5, the importance of LTE, or BYOD trends disrupting the enterprise, there are always technologies, trends, and companies changing the way we define mobile. Here are some noteworthy segments to watch in the coming months, from location-based shopping to apps to wireless networks. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
You thought it was hard to get cellular coverage in your basement — try getting it in the rain forests of the Congo. RascomStar plans to ensure that remotest communities in the Republic of the Congo get mobile service using the smallest access node imaginable: the femtocell. Read more »
ABI Research estimates there will be more LTE microcells in place than actual LTE base stations by 2014. There’s good reason to believe the forecast: For a heterogeneous network with wide coverage, the number of microcells will have to far outweigh the number of base stations. Read more »
This week AT&T floated a plan to enable app developers to pay for the data that subscribers use in their apps. The model might resonate with some developers and subscribers, but it is likely to create more problems than it ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The past year in mobile has been even more eventful than most of us would have predicted. Our appetite for mobile data grew dramatically; Google’s Android continued its march to worldwide dominance; Amazon joined the tablet bandwagon; and AT&T tried and failed to acquire T-Mobile USA, among many other things. All of that activity lays the groundwork for a very promising — and very challenging — 2012. This research note serves both as a review of the major trends and events of 2011 as well as a forecast for the coming year. Companies mentioned in this report include Millennial Media, Quattro Wireless and Samsung. For a full list of companies, and to read the full research note, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Residential femtocell sales continue to lag due to overpriced hardware and the widespread adoption of Wi-Fi in the home. But opportunities still exist for femtocells in the enterprise and as a crucial component of carriers’ overall mobile networks. Read more »
At the IEEE Technology Time Machine Symposium last week I heard the world’s leading academics, engineers, executives, and government officials project what the world will look like in 2020. The future brings technology together for everything from enhancing the human experience to improving environmental sustainability. Read more »
AT&T’s strategy for pushing through its $39-billion purchase of T-Mobile, thus consolidating further the majority of the mobile subscribers, 4G-capable spectrum and revenue in the U.S. is fantastic. Let’s take a look at the promises, the changes in strategy and the continuing issues. Read more »
By the end of 2013 almost all (97 percent) of mobile operators will deploy some type of traffic shaping technology to manage demand for mobile broadband, up from 47 percent today, according to a white paper issued today by Volubill. Read more »
Devices that boost cellular signals in areas of poor coverage can turn a useless phone into a portable powerhouse, but the CTIA is seeking greater control on the use of such signal boosters, claiming interference issues. Is that the real reason, or are femtocells to blame? Read more »
Picochip today said it has released a chip that will enable mobile operators to place small base stations known as femtocells anywhere, bringing them out of the home environment and into public areas. This is good for carriers, but it may be bad news for consumers. Read more »
Sprint has begun offering femtocells on a case-by-case basis to users who complain about in-home coverage problems. With market expectations huge, that’s a long-overdue move that will further boost carrier revenues and should be mirrored by Sprint’s competitors. Read more »
Here at GigaOM we’ve pretty much decided that the femtocell market is dead. At the very least, it’s significantly smaller than what was forecast (GigaOM Pro, subscription required) when these tiny base stations for the home first started garnering attention last year. However, analysts at Deutsche […] Read more »
Femtocells, micro-base stations placed inside the home to improve cellular coverage, are supposed to be the answer to operators’ bandwidth constraints. They’re also a new source of revenue for carriers and the startups and large equipment-makers who are building the devices. But so far, the market […] Read more »
Add AT&T to the list of operators looking to create a new revenue stream even as they move to offload network traffic. The nation’s second-largest carrier has launched a consumer trial of its 3G MicroCell, a femtocell that uses the customer’s home Internet connection to connect […] Read more »
It doesn’t matter how brilliant your mouse trap is if it doesn’t catch any mice. Same goes for technologies. Witness femtocells, those small, in-premise devices that help with spotty cell phone coverage by piggybacking on wired broadband connections. According to The Wall Street Journal, femtocells aren’t […] Read more »
The U.S. wireless data market grew 5 percent quarter over quarter and 32 percent from first quarter 2008 to reach $10 billion in mobile data service revenues. It marked the first time the U.S .market has achieved the $10 billion milestone. Given the strong growth in data revenues shown by the top carriers and the increase in service revenues overall, it appears that (at least for the time being) the worst is over for the mobile industry. In summary, the recession has been all but a tiny blip (from the service revenue perspective) in its growth trend, and the U.S. mobile market has weathered the downward spiral in the economy better than its counterparts in other developing nations. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
