Internet access is limited by service providers, who act as gatekeepers to the treasures of connectivity. But could crowdsourcing connectivity be the answer to the problem for mobile users? That’s the question startup Open Garden is looking to answer. Read more »
Apple may be planning to add 3G data support for FaceTime on iOS devices, based on some recently published screenshots. Many have wanted FaceTime on a mobile broadband instead of Wi-Fi networks. But I’m not sold that it’s a good idea. Here’s why. Read more »
A wireless network comprised of 50,000 free hotspots will appear in the coming months, but there’s a small catch: To use the free Wi-Fi service, you’ll need to be a subscriber to one of five cable television providers. The Wi-Fi roaming revolution is finally here. Read more »
T-Mobile is the per GB charges for its no-contract data plans.The overall price of the low-capacity one week plan is now rising to $15, but customers it provides 3x the amount of broadband. There is also a new middle-tier plan, making for three monthly plan options. Read more »
Own a Galaxy Nexus, iPhone or other GSM handset? If so and you’re tired of the cost and long-term contract, Straight Talk’s SIM card may be an option. The no-contract deal is $45 for unlimited voice minutes, messages and HSPA+ data on either AT&T or T-Mobile. Read more »
The rise of smartphones is bringing about massive changes in the mobile industry, according to data collected by researchers. Data revenues are moving on up and data usage is zooming at a time when voice and messaging sales have stalled for carriers. Read more »
Apple hasn’t confirmed an LTE version of its iPhone, but Sprint has confirmed that if such a device launches, the carrier would keep its unlimited data plans. That may be a big differentiating factor when at least 3 of 4 U.S. carriers offer LTE iPhones. Read more »
Want a new iPhone, but not sure which U.S. carrier is best suited for your needs? Enter CarrierCompare, a free iPhone app that uses real network tests in your location combined with crowdsourced data to help you choose the carrier that’s right for you. Read more »
We’re testing carrier coverage to give consumers a real-world look at mobile data performance. As part of this process, we measured performances across multiple LTE markets during the first quarter and have put together a head-to-head comparison of AT&T and Verizon’s LTE networks. Read more »
The CTIA wants you to know that Americans used 123 percent more wireless data in 2011 than 2010, but the wireless industry’s lobby apparently doesn’t want you to know exactly how that translates in any way a normal person understands. Instead it turned to song. Read more »
Ting, the innovative startup that resells Sprint’s cellular service in consumer-friendly plans, will soon be adding 4G LTE service to its lineup. If pricing is competitive on a per gigabyte basis, Ting’s shared plan component could bring a boost to Sprint’s new LTE network. 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 »
The number of new LTE devices is up 76 percent in the past three months but tablets, not smartphones, are driving more of this growth. Carriers are mistakenly feeling the strong need to fight back against lower-priced, no contract Wi-Fi slates as tablet sales rise. Read more »
When the NTIA that carriers and government agencies share a huge block of airwaves, carriers and mobile industry groups applauded. But speaking to GigaOM, the trade group representing the major U.S. operators offered up a more sobering view on why sharing frequencies won’t work. 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 »
Sprint customers holding out hope for new WiMAX smartphones can officially consider such hopes dashed: no additional WiMAX phones will be launched. The carrier’s LTE tests are wrapping up and on track for a mid-year launch; we may see Sprint LTE phones sooner than later. Read more »
The Opera Mini 7 browser for Android is here, offering users a data savings of up to 90 percent. Mobile browsers that save on data sound good, but if the experience is poor, consumers won’t likely use them. Luckily, Opera Mini works well and saves data. Read more »
The vast majority of traffic on mobile operators’ networks is now pure data, but the lion’s share of operators’ revenue comes from voice. Meanwhile even the big data-subscription fees operators are collecting aren’t making up for the decline in voice revenues. Read more »
Approximately 90 percent of all tablets in the U.S. relied on Wi-Fi over 3G mobile broadband last year, according to industry analyst Chetan Sharma. The data suggests that carriers aren’t a needed distribution chain for slates for several reasons: long-term contracts and redundant data plans. Read more »
Sprint terminated its partnership with LightSquared, depriving the would-be operator of not only its biggest 4G customer but also the means to build an LTE network. Now LightSquared faces two huge obstacles: overcoming regulatory opposition to its plans and finding cash to fund its 4G rollout. Read more »
Given that LightSquared won’t be launching an LTE network any time soon, its customers are looking for alternatives – and they’re landing at Clearwire. Leap Wireless signed up with Clearwire Wednesday, marking the second in what will likely be many defections to the wholesale 4G carrier. Read more »
Western Europe may be behind when it comes to rolling out LTE, but Italian operators are doing their best to catch up. 3 Italia unveiled an aggressive LTE plan on Monday in which it would construct and commercially launch its 4G network this year. Read more »
Apple finally gave the wireless industry the 4G device it’s so long been craving. Even more importantly, LTE connectivity in the new iPad virtually assures similar treatment in the next iPhone. Apple has stepped up; now it’s the operators’ turn to lower mobile data prices. Read more »
Shooting and sharing movie footage all over New Zealand makes for connectivity challenges, but the crew of The Hobbit is making do. But not with magic; heck, even a powerful wizard such as Gandalf has limitations. Portable satellites and six kilometers of cable bring them broadband. Read more »
Microsoft debuted its Windows 8 Consumer Preview on Wednesday at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. Although people think “desktop” when they hear Windows, there are several mobile features to be found in Windows 8 that will get Microsoft back in the tablet game. Read more »
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE tablet on Verizon will cost $499 with a two-year data contract at a minimum $30 per month. Plans for each device have to go, and it’s time for carriers to adopt a pay-per-use plan for all tablets, not just the iPad. Read more »
What will 2012 bring to our mobile world where tablets are trying to take the place of PCs and we’re carrying small computers in our pockets? ComScore helps predict 2012 by looking at 2011 in its Mobile Future in Focus report, published on Thursday. Read more »
Several companies and nonprofit organizations filed their opposition to Verizon’s planned $4 billion buy of spectrum owned by the cable companies on Wednesday. But this isn’t an industry fight. This is a fight that should involve everyone from consumers to Internet companies. Read more »
Ericsson is showing off a new network technology at Mobile World Congress that will boost uplink capacity on HSPA systems by three times, to a theoretical 12 Mbps. That’s ideally suited for the changing ways we’re consuming mobile broadband. Read more »
Mobile operators might as well give in and work with web companies. But if they are smart they will adapt their pricing before consumers start dumping texting and voice services, so they can still maintain the same wallet share (and maybe higher margins). Read more »
We’ll have to wait another year for the LTE network Clearwire has long been promising. At its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, Clearwire CEO Erik Prusch said the WiMAX carrier’s first batch of 5,000 LTE cell sites will be switched by June of 2013. Read more »
FreedomPop plans to give away mobile data access to most of its customers for free, charging only premium users a monthly fee. If can it can make the math work, it could potentially shake up the wireless market, extending mobile data to broad swathes of the population. Read more »
AT&T is now claiming that its mobile data traffic is doubling every year, rather than increasing at a more modest 40 percent annual rate. The distinction is important because the faster AT&T’s networks become overloaded the more pressure it faces to find more spectrum. Read more »
Telus will launch Canada’s third LTE network on Friday, rolling out the mobile broadband technology in 14 cities from Vancouver to Halifax. It plans to expand the network throughout 2012 to cover 25 million Canadians, 71 percent of the country’s population, by year end. Read more »
The FCC is trying to get rural Americans online, and to help, later this year carriers can apply for part of a $300 million fund to bring wireless broadband to the heartlands. Only it’s not the heartlands, as the nifty interactive map shows. Read more »
Next month, consumers in smaller towns and cities across the U.S. will have access to their first LTE network as U.S. Cellular ramps ups its commercial 4G service. The regional CDMA operator will start selling a tablet in March and a Galaxy smartphone in April. Read more »
The country’s largest mobile operator and largest cable provider bringing their “quadruple play” service to San Francisco and the Bay Area, jointly marketing Comcast residential TV and broadband and Verizon mobile service. In the process, they’re poking a needle in the eye of mutual enemy AT&T. Read more »
Japan’s eAccess isn’t deploying any old LTE network. It’s going for broke, pushing the upper limits of the technology to launch a network that can support speeds of 300 Mbps. That makes Verizon’s LTE network, which can breach 25 Mbps on a good day, seem pokey. Read more »
Mobile operators insist we are fast approaching a mobile datapocalypse where their networks will no longer be able to meet mobile broadband demands. But are these claims of a spectrum crisis red herrings? A couple of telecom industry commentators think so, and they’re calling the carriers out. Read more »
