Prepaid mobile giant TracFone had a massive quarter, adding 839,000 subscribers and even beating out Verizon Wireless. TracFone didn’t say why, but not coincidentally its Straight Talk brand and partner Walmart began selling the iPhone 5. Read more »
Verizon has never been the operator you would associate with the word cheap. After years of focusing on the high-end of the market, Verizon is going after the budget carriers with a new $35 prepaid plan. Read more »
MVNOs don’t have to put up with the big carriers’ scraps anymore. Tiny virtual operator Ting says it will get Samsung’s new flagship phone as its available to the major operators. Read more »
The year 2013 may bring real disruption to the mobile industry. Upstart carriers are embracing noncellular technologies to provide cut-rate services, third-party developers are gaining traction with cheap (or free) alternatives to SMS, and a major U.S. operator is preparing to drop handset subsidies. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Hotels, airlines and grocery stores already link everything imaginable to their loyalty card programs. Why not 4G, as well? Sprint wants to make it easy for the hospitality and retail industries to become mini-virtual operators renting and selling mobile data modems to their customers. Read more »
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 »
The switch from voice to data isn’t just affecting carriers. The new mobile data reality is driving device makers to change the way handsets are designed, Internet companies to deal with the smaller screen, and infrastructure makers to re-architect the fundamental topologies of their networks. Read more »
After showing signs of shaking the AT&T merger specter, T-Mobile is shedding customers again, posting a 205,000 subscriber loss in the second quarter. T-Mobile has shrunk by about 400,000 subscribers in the last year while all of its competitors have grown. Read more »
There are a lot of new mobile virtual network operators popping up lately, from Republic Wireless to Ting. MVNOs practically went extinct in the last decade, but recently they’ve enjoyed a big resurgence. According to Wireless Intelligence, there are now 812 of them globally. Read more »
Apple is reportedly preparing an MVNO that would provide wireless services to iPhones and iPads via multiple carrier partners. But the move would be a huge mistake for Cupertino, and it’s extremely unlikely Apple Mobile will ever come to ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
