There’s a new technology buzzing around mobile carrier circles called License Assisted Access that promises to make our 4G networks faster by dipping…
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SK Telecom and Nokia make big cells and small cells play nice
SK Telecom has just incorporated a tongue-twister of a technology into its Nokia-built LTE network in Gwangju, South Korea. It’s called Enchanced…
Read MoreNap time: SK Telecom is putting its cellular networks to sleep
The two companies have developed a technology that idles a portion of the mobile network at night when demand is lowest. This won't just save energy costs. It will create a better performing network.…
Read MoreSteve Perlman’s new startup says it has the answer to the mobile capacity crunch
The biggest bogeyman of any cellular network is interference, but Perlman's new startup Artemis Networks claims to make interference work for a network, not against it.…
Read MoreLightSquared, the sequel? FCC weighs Globalstar’s plan to use satellite airwaves for Wi-Fi
Unlike the first installment of this series, Globalstar's sequel may have a happy ending. Globalstar's low-power Wi-Fi plans don't have the interference problems of LightSquared's LTE network. The FCC also let Dish repurpose its spectrum.…
Read MoreFalcone gets to keep LightSquared, but SEC bans him from trading
Billionaire and would-be 4G entrepreneur Philip Falcone has accepted an SEC settlement requiring him sit out the hedge fund industry for five years. In exchange he gets to keep control of LightSquared.…
Read MoreFCC signs off on AT&T’s massive 4G spectrum buy
By taking in a huge WCS spectrum haul from NextWave, Comcast and others, AT&T has nearly all the components in place to create a nationwide 4G band for its own exclusive use. Now AT&T just has to build it.…
Read MoreDish gets its 4G approval; Sprint gets its 4G auction
Dish finally has permission to become a full-fledged cellular network operator, though it remains to be seen whether it will actually become one. The FCC also set the wheels rolling for an auction next year of new 4G licenses that Sprint has been eyeing.…
Read MoreAT&T shoots for 2015 launch of new LTE network
AT&T aims in three years to have a new LTE network up in the airwaves the FCC just approved for 4G use. In the rather plodding world of telecom, three years is a quick timeline. But AT&T has political and strategic reasons for moving soon.…
Read MoreFCC chair grants AT&T’s wish for a nationwide 4G band
AT&T wants to rejigger a useless hunk of airwaves for LTE use, but to do so it needs special dispensation from the FCC. Today chairman Julius Genachowski signed off its plan and officially set the ball rolling toward opening the WCS band for 4G.…
Read MoreAT&T buys NextWave spectrum hoping to create a new 4G band
By buying NextWave, AT&T removes the biggest obstacle to its plan to convert the Wireless Communications Services band from a worthless patch of airwaves to highly valuable 4G spectrum. The deal will cost AT&T $600 million but would pay dividends in new LTE capacity.…
Read MoreAT&T wants to teach an old spectrum band new 4G tricks
A wireless band that the mobile industry has practically written off may get a new life as 4G spectrum if a new…
Read MoreLightSquared to FCC: You owe us spectrum
If the FCC won’t let LightSquared launch LTE in its satellite spectrum, then the carrier wants the commission to find its network an alternate home on the airwaves. LightSquared still claims its 4G network will leave GPS unharmed, but it's willing to consider a spectrum swap.…
Read MoreIn a suspect move, LightSquared calls for GPS design standards
LightSquared has asked the FCC n to impose future standards on GPS device design, claiming such requirements would allow GPS and its LTE network to co-exist peacefully. While LightSquared would appear to be taking the middle path, the proposal smacks of a political stunt.…
Read MoreCan Carl Icahn pick up the pieces of LightSquared?
Carl Icahn has been quietly buying up LightSquared’s debt a rock bottom prices, which would put the activist investor in position to take over the company in the increasingly likely event of bankruptcy. But would there be anything left of LightSquared to salvage?…
Read MoreMaking a T-Mobile iPhone is harder than it sounds
Adding T-Mobile support to the iPhone may sound simple, but it’s a much more difficult task than it appears. New bands don't just necessitate new antennas, but a complete phone redesign. T-Mobile's Apple moment may come with the iPhone 5, but don't hold your breath.…
Read MoreFederal agency recommends killing LightSquared LTE plans
PNT ExComm, the federal agency overseeing the national GPS satellite network, has concluded that any LTE network LightSquared would build, no matter how much it scales back its transmission power, would interfere with GPS devices nationwide. LightSquared's hopes of building its network are quickly dwindling.…
Read MoreSprint gives LightSquared a reprieve, but is it enough?
Sprint has given its partner LightSquared 30 days to get regulators to green-light the launch of its controversial 4G service, but it may not be enough. If Sprint pulls out of the network-sharing deal, LightSquared's costs multiply, almost certainly killing its rollout plans.…
Read MoreWithout FCC approval, bankruptcy looms for LightSquared
LightSquared isn’t just fighting the government and the GPS industry for the right to build its nationwide LTE network; it’s also fighting the clock. In a financial statement released to Reuters, LightSquared revealed it may run out of cash early next year.…
Read MoreLightSquared makes more concessions to save LTE plans
LightSquared is giving up more of its network ambitions in hopes of winning FCC approval to launch LTE, but if it concedes too much it may find itself with no network left to build. That would be just fine with LightSquared's critics in the GPS industry.…
Read MoreLightSquared struggles to save network after leaked GPS report
LightSquared is fighting for the life of its LTE network, as a government report emerging later this week questions if there's any way its 4G network can coexist with millions of GPS devices. If the report’s findings stand, the repercussions could be felt throughout the industry.…
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