In Barcelona, telecom vendors, carriers and other companies are showing off devices, boxes and new industry standards. But amid the latest phones is a burgeoning class of services that show that participants understand how the connected world will play out and how they will profit from it.…
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AT&T’s mad, mad plan to charge wireless app developers
AT&T doesn't give up on trying to monetize its pipes, and thanks to a lack of network neutrality on wireless networks, limited data plans, and a hunger for bandwidth-consuming mobile apps, it may have found a way to charge developers to use its pipes.…
Read MoreShould mobile operators embrace over-the-top VoIP?
Voice-over-Wi-Fi pioneer Kineto Wireless is trying to convince operators that if they can’t beat the over-the-top VoIP challengers, they might as well join them. Kineto is selling VoIP software to operators that would allow them to bypass their own voice networks and offer cheap VoIP calling.…
Read MoreThe Internet won the mobile broadband war (but you could still lose)
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 MoreItron to acquire SmartSynch for $100M for smart grid tech
Meter giant Itron has made a rare smart grid acquisition. On Wednesday afternoon Itron announced that it plans to acquire smart grid cellular networking company SmartSynch in a deal worth around $100 million.…
Read MoreAT&T’s data traffic is actually doubling annually
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 MoreThe wireless industry swallows the Wi-Fi pill
At this year’s Mobile World Congress, you would expect LTE to hog the spotlight, but LTE might find itself overshadowed by a less sexy technology: Wi-Fi. As telecom vendors prep their new porfolios for MWC in two weeks, there is a preponderance of Wi-Fi products.…
Read MoreDespite critics, Cisco stands by its data deluge
Cisco Systems’ oft-cited Visual Networking Index of the world’s projected mobile data consumption fell under some criticism this year as some operators' rapid growth seemed to peter off, but Cisco isn’t changing its forecasts. Rather, it is revising them upward, predicting even greater traffic growth.…
Read MoreWhat to make of AT&T’s vanishing spectrum crisis
Is AT&T failing to keep its story straight about the need for more spectrum, or is it just that the popping of the spectrum bubble has taken them by surprise as well? The nation's second largest operator now sees a data drizzle rather than deluge.…
Read MoreIf 2 GB is excessive, why is AT&T selling 3-GB mobile data plans?
When AT&T first started throttling unlimited smartphone data users plans last fall, it claimed it had to limit the “extraordinary” consumption of its greediest customers. It turns out extraordinary is only 2 GB – a full gigabyte less than it sells customers under its most-common data plan.…
Read MoreApple’s iTV and the carrier question
Apple is reportedly looking to partner with TV operators for the launch of its upcoming iTV product. Why would it? Because doing so would give it more content, enable it to offer a better user interface, and give it wider distribution.…
Read MoreAT&T & Dish fight over spectrum, but will either build a network?
Report after report points to AT&T marrying Dish Network after Ma Bell’s forced break up with T-Mobile, but given the companies’ increasing belligerence, you wouldn’t think that was the case. What we’re witnessing here is some very cynical pre-nuptial gamesmanship.…
Read MoreLook out big telcos, Ting shares data across devices
Ting, a new reseller of Sprint's voice, 3G and WiMax, launched with one of the most unique mobile plans to date. Families using Ting share voice minutes and messages. But there's another twist: they also share their monthly data across all devices on the plan.…
Read MoreVerizon, Comcast double team AT&T in Bay Area battle
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 MoreAnalyst talks three possible routes for future Apple TV
A dedicated Apple TV set was a hot topic at the end of 2011. So far in 2012, news on that front has been relatively quiet, but a new note by longtime Apple TV set booster and Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is reigniting the discussion.…
Read MoreIs the spectrum crisis a myth?
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 MoreAnalyst: China could bring 57M iPhone bump by 2013
Apple's iPhone was a hot seller in the company's first fiscal quarter of 2012, but that's nothing compared to what one analyst predicts we could see in just a couple of years' time. Morgan Stanley thinks Apple's efforts in China could pay big dividends by 2013.…
Read MoreHow crowdsourcing will give Hilton Head better mobile coverage
Hilton Head is an island full of sandy beaches, manicured golf courses and lush green trees. But one thing the island community doesn’t have is good cellular coverage. By working with RootMetrics to crowdsource testing of its local cellular networks, it hopes to change that.…
Read MoreApple to buy Hollywood? Not a chance.
Could Apple spend its $100 billion in cash to create a virtual cable operator to compete with Comcast and the like? Sure. But it would have a really hard time offering a competitively priced service and building a profitable business out of it.…
Read MoreAT&T punishes its customers for T-Mo merger’s failure
Wondering why AT&T smartphone data rates just went up? Because the operator was denied its acquisition of T-Mobile – at least that’s what AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson implied Thursday. Ma Bell is still bitter about AT&T-Mo's failure and it's taking it out on its customers.…
Read MoreThe continued decline of DSL
From 1990s through 2011, DSL, a broadband technology, had a strong run at large phone companies in America. Now it is falling behind cable broadband and fiber. The latest data from Verizon, AT&T and Time Warner Cable points to its declining fortunes.…
Read MoreNokia’s Windows Phone transition shows promises kept
Nokia's smartphone sales were down 31 percent in the final quarter of 2011 as the company's switch to Microsoft's Windows Phone continues. But one million Lumia's sold to date is a good start, and Nokia is delivering on its transition plans, which gives it a chance.…
Read MoreIPhone accounts for more than 80 percent of AT&T smartphone sales
AT&T posted its fourth quarter results for 2011 on Thursday, highlighting smartphone sales in particular, which reached a record high of 9.4 million devices, beating the standing record by 50 percent. Apple should be pleased: Of those smartphones, 7.6 million were iPhones.…
Read MoreA bird’s-eye view of T-Mobile’s new spectrum trove
After its failed merger with AT&T, T-Mobile's break-up fee included some choice 4G spectrum it will use to bulk up its HSPA+ network. In a map submitted by a GigaOM reader, you can see exactly where T-Mobile gains new airwaves and how much.…
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