Roughly half a dozen new mobile operating systems will come to market over the next 6 to 12 months. Many of these look to be more sophisticated than the older ones controlled by Apple and Google, for whom serious competition could be just around the corner. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Path is announcing a partnership with Sprint that will make it easier for users to download the app on certain Android phones, potentially giving the social network a needed boost in adding new members. Read more »
T-Mobile’s deal to join with MetroPCs closed and on Wednesday morning, the newly combined company started trading on the NYSE under the ticker TMUS. Read more »
AT&T might be trying to one-up Sprint’s current $100 promotion in the form of a smartphone trade-in program. With it, AT&T will take any relatively new smartphone and offer customers at least a $100 instant credit. Read more »
Folks waiting for the new Samsung Galaxy S 4 may be waiting a few days longer. Sprint and T-Mobile announced inventory challenges, pushing back availability while AT&T’s site says phones will ship on April 30. Read more »
DISH Network’s bid for Sprint could result in a revolutionary combination of video and mobile delivery and wireless broadband. But DISH needs Clearwire’s spectrum more than it needs Sprint’s network. Read more »
Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 is nearly ready to launch in the U.S. as three carriers updated details about pricing and availability. At the turn of the month, you could have a Galaxy S 4 on your choice of T-Mobile, AT&T or Sprint. Read more »
The mobile platform wars escalated once again in the first quarter of 2012 as BlackBerry finally took the wraps off its much-anticipated new operating system. Meanwhile Android continued to build on its dominance both worldwide and in the U.S., cementing a two-horse race with Apple. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
No U.S. carriers have officially announced their BlackBerry launch plans yet, but reports indicate that AT&T will kick off sales on March 22. Once sales begin, how many subscribers will switch from iPhone or Android? Read more »
In the slicing-up of the mobile content pie, carriers have been left out over the last few years. But, according to a new analyst report, that situation’s starting to change. Read more »
Raco Wireless is already connecting plenty of appliances, vehicles and gadgets to the internet of things using T-Mobile’s 2G networm, but with new carrier partnerships the M2M specialist can connect those things in more places. Read more »
Want LTE service in the U.S.? You’ll likely need a contract with your smartphone. Unless you want to use Sprint’s LTE network through Boost Mobile that is. Here’s why it’s a smart play from Sprint’s prepaid brand. Read more »
Instead of spending $100,000 on advertising that may or may not get new customers, Ting is spending that money to get people to switch to its cellular service. The company will pay your ETF to make the move. Read more »
The mobile platform wars heated up in a big way as 2012 came to a close. Among other trends, Microsoft launched Windows Phone 8, Android’s dominant market share grew, and mobile commerce reached record highs during the holidays. Read more »
Although other barriers to success exist, Research In Motion has one less obstacle for its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones: All four major U.S. carriers plan to sell the devices. The world is bigger than the U.S. but here the carriers are still the kingmakers. Read more »
It’s been a decade since MVNOs first challenged major wireless carriers, and now they account for more than 10 percent of mobile users. Telecom veteran Whitey Bluestein says the latest crop of MVNOs are poised to trigger a whole new round of disruption. 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 »
Sprint has bought up the half of Clearwire it doesn’t own, paying $2.2 billion for the 4G provider. The deal gives Sprint some much needed spectrum as it competes against Verizon and AT&T. Read more »
Sprint needs spectrum and Clearwire has it. Here’s what’s behind Spint’s $2.1 billion offer for the remainder of the shares it doesn’t own in Clearwire. The deal, which values Clearwire at $4 billion, would close out a year of spectrum-related acquisitions in the mobile space. Read more »
In about 18 months, over 90 percent of wireless subscribers will be able to text 9-1-1 to get the help they need, bringing one more element of our telecommunications infrastructure out of the landline era. It’s a project that’s over two years in the making. Read more »
Big data can make lives better, but it can also ensure bigger profits. That’s the pitch that Guavus, a real-time data analysis platform is sharing with mobile operators. If they show Guavus the data, the software can help them optimize pricing and capacity spending. Read more »
With the transition to an all-VoIP world phone numbers are a bit of an anachronism but even the die-hard VoIP lovers at Bandwidth.com think the 10-digit number is here to stay at least for another decade. Here’s how your digits will transition to the digital. 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 »
Verizon, AT&T and Sprint are all advertising the new iPad and iPad mini with LTE for sale starting Friday, but it appears the quantities they have on hand may be limited for now. Some are selling them online only, others in stores only. Read more »
Consumers are gravitating to an ever expanding array of OTT services – much to the chagrin of telecom operators. Andreas Bernström, CEO of Rebtel, argues that not partnering up means missing out on big revenues and the control of their market. Read more »
AT&T will invest $14 billion in its networks as it tries to maximize the use of LTE in combination with small cells. By the end of 2014, the carrier expects to blanket 300 million people with this approach, which includes more than 1,000 distributed antenna systems. Read more »
Sprint, which is in the process of getting majority owned by Softbank, has reached a deal with U.S. Cellular to buy up customers and spectrum in the midwest for $480 million. 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 »
AT&T and Verizon are sold out of the iPhone 5 and have weeks of backorders to fill. But Sprint, according to analysts, has plenty of 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 units on hand. 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 »
Sprint’s narrowly missed analysts expectations for its third-quarter sales, but announced a wider loss thanks to costs associated with shutting down its Nextel business and building out its 4G network. Maybe Japan’s Softbank will help save the nation’s third-largest carrier. Read more »
Apple stole the spotlight in the third quarter with the release of its iPhone 5, Amazon pursued the tablet market aggressively with a new line of tablets, and Microsoft prepped to launch Windows 8 and the highly anticipated Surface tablet. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Samsung’s 5.5-inch Galaxy Note 2 smartphone arrives on the Sprint network Oct. 25 for $299 with contract. The phone supports unlimited data on Sprint’s LTE network and will ship with Android 4.1.1 plus Samsung’s own software that takes advantage of the included digital S-Pen. Read more »
Japanese mobile operator SoftBank plans to acquire a 70 percent stake in Sprint for $20.1 billion. The deal would give the cash-strapped U.S. carrier an $8 billion cash infusion and gives the Japanese carrier a foothold and spectrum in the valuable U.S. mobile market. Read more »
Japanese carrier Softbank is reportedly in talks to buy a controlling stake of Sprint in a deal that could be worth more than $12.8 billion, according to several reports. After watching T-Mobile and MetroPCS announce their intention to merge, this might help Sprint compete. Read more »
U.S. carriers like working out exclusive handset deals with hardware makers – such as the Lumia 920 with AT&T — but who benefits? Consumers really don’t, hardware makers might, but it’s the network operators that benefit most. Here I thought competition in the U.S. was good! 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 »
Sprint CTO Stephen Bye didn’t want to say what he had to promise Apple in exchange for getting the iPhone 5 with LTE when quizzed about it at GigaOM’s Mobilize 2012 conference. Instead, he said that Sprint isn’t all that concerned about the spectrum crisis. 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 »
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: the best use case for major U.S. 4G operators selling the iPhone 5, Sprint won’t have “wideband audio,” crunching the iPhone 5 rollout numbers, and more. Read more »
