T-Mobile is trying to work with the Federal Communications Commission to cut in half the number of days a land-line carrier has to transfer a phone number to a cell phone, according to the New York Times. This cracks me up as number portability was once […] Read more »
Qwest Communications, the regional telephone provider, is looking to sell its long-haul network, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal. The company, which has $14 billion in debt, wants to continue its consumer last-mile business, which serves 11.6 million customers. However, without a wireless […] Read more »
Qualcomm today trumpeted that its MediaFLO mobile over-the-air television service has launched in three new markets; Atlantic City, N.J.; Greensboro, N.C. and Wilmington, Del., now have access to MediaFLO and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show on certain AT&T or Verizon phones! But the trumpeting falls flat […] Read more »
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Updated: Holy price cuts, Ma Bell! AT&T is rolling out a trial of subsidized netbooks in its Atlanta retail stores, where it will have some netbooks (or “mini laptops,” in AT&T speak) for $49.95 (on the high end you’re gonna pay $250). Buyers will need to […] Read more »
Verizon may soon join AT&T in selling subsidized netbooks, Bloomberg reported this morning. Under such a plan, Verizon would sign partnerships with netbook makers to subsidize the devices for consumers who sign data contracts. (The majority of cell phones in the U.S. are sold this way.) […] Read more »
We’ve noted that Verizon plans to use its fiber network for backhaul for its future Long Term Evolution network, and today it says that it will also rent out capacity on that fiber network to other wireless carriers as well. As our readers are quick to […] Read more »
The BBC Trust, which watches over the broadcaster’s budget on behalf of UK citizens who pay the license fee that funds operations, has agreed to a £30.7 million ($44.3 million) budget increase for the BBC’s web ventures. That brings the total to more than £145 million […] Read more »
The tiny West Texas towns of Muleshoe, Sudan and Olton are all close to having something cities like Houston, Austin and dozens of other big cities don’t: fiber to the home. Telecommunications Online has a story today about West Plains Telecommunications, a small incumbent local exchange carrier […] Read more »
App Quick Stats Watchmen: Justice is Coming $0.99 iTunes Link With Watchmen arriving at movie houses around the globe, the iPhone game attempts to brings the grim world of the costumed hero to you. There’s a whole heap of Marvel in my comic collection but, I’m […] Read more »
It emerged over the weekend that Verizon Wireless was trying to share your cell phone data with “affiliates, agents and parent companies.” David Weinberger read the fine print on a recent 45-page Verizon mailing to discover that tidbit, and posted a really clear set of instructions […] Read more »
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[qi:090] An alert reader sent me a link to a patent filed published yesterday by Embarq, the wireline carrier currently trying to merge with CenturyTel. The patent is for a “universal femto cell,” and the gist of the patent is to create a femtocell that will […] Read more »
Prepaid phone company MetroPCS says it hopes to deploy LTE, the next-generation wireless standard, beginning in 2010, according to Tom Keys, chief operating officer of the company. Keys spoke with me at the MetroPCS headquarters today in Richardson, Texas. While he couldn’t lay out a definite […] 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 »
As more of us hop on our 3G-connected smartphones or netbooks, and future 4G connections offer the promise of wired-like speeds via wireless networks, Ars Technica has posted a great article on how regulators in Canada are weighing the issue of network neutrality over wireless networks. […] Read more »
Today, Saul Hansell of the New York Times used two surveys — the Nokia Siemens Connectivity Report and a Pew survey — to write a post titled “Surprise: America is No. 1 in Broadband,” which not only argues that we’re No. 1, but also tries to […] Read more »
At the Mobile World Congress trade show that wrapped up yesterday in Barcelona, the mobile and the PC world may have collided, but carriers still have the upper hand. Nvidia, for example, said it will use its Tegra chipset and Windows CE to create a mobile […] Read more »
Comcast said this morning it plans to roll out its super-fast DOCSIS 3.0 network to 65 percent of its footprint by the end of 2009, and upgrade subscribers in those markets to a minimum speed of 12 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up at no charge […] Read more »
At the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona today, the next-generation 4G wireless service finally got some respect, with AT&T saying it will likely deploy the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard in 2011 rather than in 2012 and Verizon choosing vendors for its upcoming LTE […] Read more »
Next week, while most Americans are lounging about in honor of President’s Day, the people responsible for your mobile phones, netbooks and cellular networks will converge on Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress trade show. Check back on Monday for clues as to what type of […] 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 »
This morning, Qwest reported earnings of $185 million on sales of $3.32 billion for the fourth quarter of 2008 — an almost 50 percent drop in profits from the same period last year. The carrier was hurt by land line defections (it lost about 9.6 percent […] 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 »
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 »
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 »
Today is Data Privacy Day, but instead of reading about privacy violations and pledges to make good by various corporations, pick a Congressman (or woman) and explain to them that when it comes to protecting our privacy online, our laws need a rewrite. Tell him (or […] Read more »
After taking a look at the earnings of the largest U.S. wireless carriers, it’s clear that growth in wireless data at the top carriers is still going strong, despite a recession. There are concerns that some of this is the result of holiday sales (all those […] Read more »
A group of seven investment bodies, including the New York City Pension Fund, have teamed up in an effort to get major U.S. Internet service providers to detail their privacy practices through the power of the shareholder resolution. As powers go, shareholder resolutions are far more about […] 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 »
Verizon Communications reported fourth-quarter earnings this morning (see here for all the details), and it looks like FiOS is gaining momentum. The company added 303,000 FiOS TV subscribers in the fourth quarter and almost 1 million in 2008, bringing the total to 1.9 million out of 9.2 million […] Read more »
Today Verizon Wireless is expected to launch its first femtocell product, which will boost cell phone reception inside a person’s home and cost $249.99. Despite the fact that there are no monthly fees, Om’s right, the femtocell is a ripoff. But while the press release may […] Read more »
The nation’s largest cable provider is taking a page from Verizon and offering an online backup drive and limited file-sharing, according to DSL Reports. According to the report, the Comcast backup service will offer several storage options: 10GB worth for $4.99 a month, or $49.99 per […] Read more »
Qualcomm, mindful of how much it stands to lose if the transition to DTV is delayed, yesterday sent a letter to several legislators begging them to force nine TV stations in Boston, Miami, San Francisco and Houston to stop transmitting their broadcasts on the analog channels […] Read more »
When President-elect Barack Obama asked Congress to delay the transition that will force broadcasters to switch from analog TV signals to digital ones last week, we noted that the move could cause trouble for companies planning to use the newly available spectrum for new technologies. I’ve […] Read more »
[qi:090] Two consumer organizations have filed an amended complaint to the Federal Trade Commission seeking around mobile advertising. The Center for Digital Democracy and The U.S. Public Interest Research Group filed their joint complaint with the FTC today. The 52-page complaint amends a 2006 filing from […] Read more »
[qi:032] President-elect Barack Obama is asking Congress to delay the transition that will force the nation’s TV broadcasts to switch from analog to digital signals. Depending on how long the delay is, it could affect the deployment of several services destined for the spectrum currently occupied […] Read more »
Updated: Verizon is following the herd with an improved broadband backup and sharing product for home PCs announced today. Just drag and drop your files into a folder on your PC, and Verizon will store them online for you — no matter who provides your broadband. […] Read more »
After spectrum is freed up by the transition to digital television in mid-February, mobile TV based on Qualcomm’s MediaFLO technology will be available in 100 new markets, a dramatic expansion from the 63 available today. Sure, some of the markets are second-tier, but major ones getting […] 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 »
A new report from Pike & Fisher should strike fear in the hearts of telecommunications companies. First, it posits that broadband growth will decline by 12 percent in the U.S. (although subscriptions themselves will grow by 8 percent), and that of the 5.7 million new broadband […] 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 »
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