The broken economy, consumer acceptance of unlimited wireless plans and a series of business decisions have positioned MetroPCS for growth, according to the company’s COO, Tom Keys. In this GigaOM interview, Keys talks about the business opportunity for MetroPCS, and its plans to transition to the LTE fourth generation wireless network. Read more »
A Nokia executive said today that the company has committed to LTE as its preferred network for devices, and plans to launch devices for those networks in 2010. James Harper, senior manager of technology marketing at Nokia, speaking at a PCCA meeting held in Grapevine, Texas, […] Read more »
[qi:083] The financial results are in, so in order to give you guys an idea of how the major U.S. carriers are doing, we’ve gathered together the relevant data from their fourth-quarter wireless results and laid them out below. It’s looking like cheap is chic and […] Read more »
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Prepaid mobile phone provider MetroPCS today reported profits of $14.6 million for the fourth quarter on sales of $723.6 million. The carrier didn’t meet Wall Street earnings expectations after writing down more than $90 million in auction rate securities, but it has added a significant number […] Read more »
Sprint today reported a loss of $1.62 billion, which looks much better than the nearly $30 billion loss it reported a year ago at this time, thanks to its writedown of Nextel. However, the carrier is still struggling with subscriber losses (it plans to cut 8,000 […] Read more »
In a twist on customer satisfaction surveys, Glassdoor, an online site that tracks employee satisfaction, has asked employees at mobile handset makers and carriers what they think of the executive they work for and the products and services their workplaces offer. The folks at Apple are […] Read more »
As the PC and communications industries converge, among the biggest impediments to true interactive mobile computing are the carriers’ business models. The current prices and plans for mobile broadband access are expensive and inflexible. If the technology and communications industries want consumers to buy (and use […] Read more »
Verizon Wireless today announced additions to its prepaid phone plans that seem a bit rich compared to prepaid plans already offered by Sprint’s Boost Mobile, Metro PCS and Leap Wireless. Those plans cost $40 to $50 a month, while Verizon’s high-end plan costs subscribers $4 a […] Read more »
When I wrote last week about Sprint giving up control of its 4G future, my post engendered a lively debate among some of our commenters about the technical merits of LTE and WiMAX. Since most of our readers aren’t planning a network buildout, they may have […] Read more »
Updated: Okay guys I screwed up big time here and combined Verizon’s Hub product with its Network Extender product. So the simple reason this doesn’t look like a femtocell is because it isn’t. Thanks for those who quickly pointed this out. I must have been thinking […] Read more »
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When Sprint signed away its WiMAX spectrum to Clearwire in exchange for 51 percent of the company, and the promise of a nationwide 4G network, it also signed away control of its future. It no longer controls its next generation network — instead it has handed […] Read more »
While the U.S. wireless industry has been ravaged by brutal price wars when it comes to plain-vanilla voice minutes, carriers big and small have managed to turn in profits and show hefty growth, thanks to growing demand for wireless data services. In the fourth quarter, Verizon and AT&T raked in about $6 billion just on wireless data. Taken together, the results were, as Stacey noted in her post last week, making wireless data looks recession-proof. But a week later, we’re not so sure. Read more »
T-Mobile said today that it had 32.8 million customers as of the end of the fourth quarter after adding 621,000 more during the three-month period. That’s a 35 percent drop in net adds from the same three-month period in 2007 and 49,000 less than T-Mobile added in […] Read more »
[qi:083] On its earnings conference call today, Verizon says it still hopes to have LTE commercially available by the first half of 2010. Verizon President and COO Denny Strigl gave the time frame, and didn’t indicate that the four-month delay in accessing the 700 MHz spectrum […] Read more »
QuickBooks is one of those key business applications that many people who are considering a switch to the Mac are worried about leaving behind. While QuickBooks 2009 for Mac might be the perfect answer for many, others do not want to give up some of the […] Read more »
Yesterday, I looked at QuickBooks 2009 for Mac and while the new version is an improvement in many areas, it does not replace the Windows version in all situations. In fact, there are a number of good reasons to continue to use the Windows version of […] Read more »
Verizon says it’s willing to provide access to its cellular network for wireless devices like the Kindle reader, according to Tony Lewis, vice president of open development at Verizon. He spoke to Reuters in the lead up to CES yesterday and said the public could expect […] Read more »
As part of a CES related briefing, I was turned on to a product Motorola is pushing that combines a CDMA femotocell with a software-based phone and a digital picture frame. The femotocell will connect with a user’s existing broadband connection and boost cellular coverage in […] Read more »
Monday Update: Over the weekend repair crews were dispatched for all three cables. Engineers arrived at the SEA-ME-WE3 and SEA-ME-WE4 cables on Sunday. India, Singapore, and about 80 percent of Egypt (according to the Egyptian government) regained internet service. Reliance said it expects the FLAG cable […] Read more »
[qi:046] Level 3 stock might be trading below a buck, and its future might be cloudy, but the company has to be thrilled with this news from Renesys, an Internet monitoring company, which claims it’s the largest IP network in the world, ahead of Sprint, which […] Read more »
Wall Street has been losing its enthusiasm for the four-play plans that offer voice, video, data and wireless services to consumers. The initial results of such efforts have so far been marginal; one can understand the investor skepticism. But don’t tell that to cable and phone […] Read more »
In anticipation of the growing footprint of its WiMAX (4G) service, the beleaguered mobile operator Sprint launched a 3G/4G dual-mode device, likely to go on sale on Dec. 21. The Sprint 3G/4G USB Modem U300, made by Franklin Wireless will cost $150 and will work with […] Read more »
68% of Businesses To Allow Macs Next Year – According to one survey, up to 68 percent of 700 businesses polled say they’ll allow employees to use a Mac as their work machine in the upcoming year. Apparently, the main push is coming from employees who […] Read more »
Web surfers in the Pacific Northwest will soon join the denizens of Baltimore, Md., in their ability to get WiMAX service. Although those in Baltimore are still surfing under the old Xohm brand offered by Sprint, Clearwire plans to launch the first citywide Clear branded service […] Read more »
[qi:___wimax] Next year, Verizon subscribers in a few markets may be surfing the web at warp speed as the carrier said on Tuesday that it would begin deploying LTE next year — a year ahead of schedule. Several vendors had warned me that a U.S. carrier […] Read more »
Updated: Today Sprint offered the lineup for its upcoming mobile developer’s conference on Dec. 10-12, which will include a keynote by Rich Miner, Google’s vice president of mobile technology. While we’ve known that Sprint was considering Android, this fall Sprint CEO Dan Hesse apparently told a […] Read more »
Last week, Stacey came up with five reasons to consider prepaid mobile phone calling plans, especially in these tough economic times. Some wondered why we wrote about that topic, and to them we say: look at the recent trends. There is growing body of evidence that […] Read more »
In an effort to cut costs, Viacom announced today that it will be restructuring its organization, resulting in layoffs of 7 percent, or 850 positions that will be implemented across all divisions of the company, as well as suspending pay increases for senior management in 2009. Read more »
There is something to be said for apps that are so focused, their entire function can be summed up in one word. Spin ($2.99) is just that, a game that revolves around spinning (pun intended). The premise is that you are given a silhouette and an […] Read more »
Clearwire said today that it has closed several transactions that will allow it to build out a nationwide WiMAX network, including gaining control of Sprint’s Xohm network and a $3.2 billion investment from several large companies. These deals were announced in May, and despite the downturn […] Read more »
Felicia Day, creator of web series The Guild, said during her talk at NewTeeVee Live that she had some major sponsorship on news on the way. Looks like it’s a bit more than just that: The Hollywood Reporter writes that Microsoft has nabbed the exclusive rights […] Read more »
The Wall Street Journal this morning had a short article pointing out the somewhat obvious reasons why location-based services on cell phones are still not mainstream. It also helpfully pointed out that carriers were working on it. To recap, LBS services need three main things: a […] Read more »
How can we achieve video nirvana? The answer, according to Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, is to simply put the web on the TV, and the tipping points will come from the proliferation of broadband, high-def screens, and “the pointer” interface for a remote for the […] Read more »
Pure Digital today released its new Flip Mino HD. The $229.95 camcorder retains the compact Flip design, but adds the ability to capture up to one hour of high-definition video. Read more »
Libraries Can Download Starz Content for Free; arrangement brokered by Ohio-based OverDrive, which provides public libraries with digital content. (paidContent) Orca Partners With Yuxing for Integrated IPTV Set-top Boxes; the pre-integrated IPTV box will offer HD, MPEG-4 and CPVR and is based on Orca’s SUI SDK. […] Read more »
Eli’s Dirty Jokes — an animated series that brings to life jokes told by 79-year-old Eli Buchalter, the accountant for web studio GoPotato.tv, which produces the show — will begin airing on Cinemax. Read more »
Unlike the many consumers facing unsympathetic lenders, when you’re a money-losing telecommunications firm that has a $9.39 billion market cap, you can still renegotiate your debt. Today after reporting a third quarter loss of $326 million and the defection of 1.3 million customers, Sprint said it had renegotiated its debt. Read more »
The FCC today opened up the wireless communications market with its approval of a plan to allow independent devices to operate in the spectrum between digital TV channels; it also OKd the merger of spectrum between Sprint and Clearwire as well as Verizon’s $28.1 billion deal to buy Alltel, creating two new wireless networks backed, in part, by Google. Read more »
Today the Federal Communication Commission will vote on two large wireless mergers and issue rules regarding a proposal to create an alternative wireless broadband network in the unused spectrum between digital television stations. Between the white spaces issue championed by Google and other tech titans, approving […] Read more »
Sprint and Cogent networks are back talking to each other — at least temporarily. After the two companies severed networks on October 30, there has been wide spread criticism of the severing of the networks. Read more »
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