Telecom industry interesting news & developments

Introduction: Google founder Larry Page calls White Space as ‘WiFi on steroids’ and Microsoft calls it ‘White fi’. Policy makers are excited because White Space remains the best option for providing broadband connectivity to rural areas including services like remote healthcare. In a nutshell, White Space networks take advantage of the empty fragments of spectrum interspaced between frequencies in use. White Spaces are significant because regulators in UK and USA have opened up portions of spectrum originally used by analogue TV for use by White Space applications. This has the potential to bring new innovation to the market and provide new services to customers. This article explores the opportunities and challenges for White Space spectrum applications. Evolution: White Space frequencies occupy the ranges traditionally used by Analogue TV in the UHF range. In the United States, this is 698 – 806 Mhz and in the UK it is 470 – 790 Mhz. Many other European and North Ameri...

Nokia Siemens Networks has launched three new 4G devices including a plug-and-play dongle and wireless router, at PT Expo Comm in Beijing, China. These devices allow consumers broadband access of at up to 102 Mbps downlink and 51 Mbps uplink to support data-intensive services on TD-LTE networks. The devices address broadband access requirements that range from basic connectivity in under-served regions, to high-speed mobile broadband in dense metro areas. All are now available to customers. A plug-and-play USB dongle, the Nokia Siemens Networks USB-lte 7210 offers mobile broadband to laptops and compatible tablets whilst on the move. Nokia Siemens Networks CPEi-lte 7212 is a wireless router built for indoor use that provides fixed wireless connectivity to TD-LTE services via WiFi or Ethernet. A further wireless router, Nokia Siemens Networks CPEo-lte 7210, built to withstand the weather and be mounted outdoors, can also provide broadband access. The devices are commerc...

Software and service provider Telcordia announced, at recent Futurecom event, next generation OSS and mobile OSS solutions. Regional VP for Cala, Luis Castillejos, explained how carriers are addressing BSS OSS solution with their legacy systems. Company is also focusing on MVNO market.

With the iPhone 5 release date finally in sight , some of Apple’s competitors are scrambling to get their phones into customers’ pockets ahead of the iPhone’s expected October 4 release date. On Friday, Verizon released the Pantech Breakout , its cheapest smart phone ever at $99. Check out RCR TV’s exclusive video review of the Pantech Breakout . Meanwhile Best Buy is offering the Samsung Google Nexas S 4G smart phone for free to customers who take out a 2 year contract. The contract requires a Simply Everything or Everything Data plan and a $10 Premium Data add-on. Watch RCR TV’s exclusive review of the Samsung Google Nexas S 4G . And another Samsung smart phone, The Illusion, is expected in Verizon stores near the end of the month. The Illusion, formerly known as the Viper, will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

AT&T Mobility’s recently launched LTE network posted robust throughput speeds during drive tests over the past weekend, according to a report from Signals Research Group L.L.C. (Obviously, the speed tests were conducted on a extremely uncluttered network as the carrier has just begun offering the service commercially.) The firm noted that testing in the Houston area using a Sierra Wireless Inc. wireless modem showed average download speeds of 23.6 megabits per second, with peak download speed of 61.1 Mbps. The testing also showed that speeds exceeded 40 Mbps 8.6% of the time, 21 Mbps 38.2% of the time and was greater than 5 Mbps 95% of the time. Uplink speed tests showed an average throughput of 15.2 Mbps with a peak speed of 23.6 Mbps. The testing showed that uplink speeds exceeded 15 Mbps 60% of the time and exceeded 5 Mbps 98.2% of the time. Network latency tests provided an average speed of 49 milliseconds, which Signals Research said was slower than expected fol...

Wireless network providers may not be the sexiest firms in the mobile industry, but without the pipes, it is impossible to connect mobile to real human progress. Enter Irish firm AltoBridge, technically bridging the gap between mobile hearts and minds in the developing world, and bringing mobile broadband to the remotest of markets. Using its patented Data-At-The-Edge technology, AltoBridge has found a way to lower capital and operating costs for both voice and mobile broadband services, allowing operators to connect the unconnected extremely cheaply. “In the last ten years, Altobridge has developed optimization techniques in 2G in the voice market, which cut the cost of communications to, from and between wireless devices, delivering lower transmission costs, lower (and greener) power consumption and optimum returns for delivering mobile services to remote communities,” the firm's CEO and Founder Mike Fitzgerald told RCR Wireless News. Since March when mobil...

Late last week AT&T Inc. ( T ) filed a response to the Department of Justice lawsuit looking to block AT&T’s $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. In the response, AT&T again staked its claims that the deal would be good for consumers as it would provide AT&T with the assets needed to fortify its current network as well as bolster its plans to roll out higher speed mobile broadband services. “Rather than substantially reducing competition, the combined firm will usher in more intense competition to an already vibrantly competitive market,” AT&T noted in the filing. “While acknowledging the importance of merger efficiencies in enhancing competition in its Merger Guidelines, the Department of Justice’s complaint fails to come to grips with the significant efficiencies this transaction will generate.” The company also countered DoJ claims that the deal would be bad for competition by stating that T-Mobile USA is really not that competitive ...

Global mobile giant Vodafone has opened an R&D facility called the Xone in Redwood City, right at the heart of Silicon Valley. The firm, which claims to be one of the world’s largest mobile communications companies by revenue boasting 382 million customers in over 30 countries, says it hopes the new center will give a leg up to US startups by providing “technical expertise, potential financial assistance, logistical support and facilities.” Those firms that choose to take advantage of the offer would also apparently “gain a fast track into proof-of-concept user trials across Vodafone’s global network,” an enticing offer for any company hoping to have global impact. Vodafone says its center will also collaborate with other local R&D labs, leading US universities and VCs “to promote innovative technologies.” The mobile carrier says up to 24 companies at a time will be able to use on-site office and test space at Vodafone Xone, where they’ll be able to get commer...

Sprint Nextel Corp. ( S ) is keeping the pressure on AT&T Inc. ( T ), filing a lawsuit looking to stop its proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. just days after the Department of Justice said it will file a lawsuit with similar intent. The Sprint Nextel lawsuit was filed in federal court in the District of Columbia and claims the proposed transaction violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act. The lawsuit, which was filed as a related case to the DoJ lawsuit , names AT&T, AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and its parent company Deutsche Telekom AG ( DTEGY ) as defendants. Sprint Nextel claims the deal would harm the competitive environment of the wireless industry that would result in higher prices and less innovation; strengthen the competitive position of AT&T and Verizon Wireless in their current position as the industry's dominant players with more than 75% market share and 90% of profits; and harm the competitive environment as “a combined AT...

Ofcom, the United Kingdom’s telecommunications regulatory authority, said it will introduce white-spaces technology in the country. The unlicensed technology can be used for enhanced Wi-Fi, rural broadband and machine-to-machine communications, among other things. Ofcom said it expects the amount of white-spaces spectrum available to be comparable to the amount of spectrum available for 3G services. “At an early stage Ofcom identified the potential of white spaces, which are currently lying vacant all around us,” said Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards. “Within Europe, we have been leading the way to try to harness this capacity without causing harmful interference to existing users of the spectrum. The solution we have devised creates the opportunity to maximize the efficient use of spectrum and open the door to the development of a new and exciting range of consumer and business applications.” White-space technology is similar to Wi-Fi except that its router needs to c...

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit to block AT&T Inc.’s ( T ) proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. The DoJ said the deal would “substantially lessen competition for mobile wireless telecommunications services across the United States, resulting in higher prices, poorer quality services, fewer choices and fewer innovative products for the millions of American consumers who rely on mobile wireless services in their everyday lives.” “Consumers across the country, including those in rural areas and those with lower incomes, benefit from competition among the nation’s wireless carriers, particularly the four remaining national carriers,” said Deputy Attorney General James Cole. “This lawsuit seeks to ensure that everyone can continue to receive the benefits of that competition.” “T-Mobile has been an important source of competition among the national carriers, including through innovation and quality enhancements such as the roll-ou...

Perhaps clued in to a possible hurdle in its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc., AT&T Inc. ( T ) today proudly claimed that “after closing” on the $39 billion deal, the company would bring back 5,000 wireless call center jobs to the United States. AT&T said the claim followed “detailed analysis focused specifically on identifying opportunities with the T-Mobile merger to bring good-paying wireless call center jobs back to the United States.” AT&T added that the 5,000 positions would offer “the nation’s most highly competitive wages and benefits,” and that it remains the nation’s largest employer of full-time union employees. In addition to the 5,000 call center positions, a study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute on behalf of the Communications Workers of America, which is in favor of the AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal, said that AT&T’s plans for increased network investments could produce up to 96,000 new U.S. jobs. However, the deal hit...