Clearwire to Conduct LTE Trials
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, August 5, 2010 · 
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Clearwire, champion of WiMAX, announced yesterday that it plans to conduct trials of rival 4G technology LTE, including multiple coexistence scenarios between LTE and WiMAX radio technologies. Chief Executive Bill Morrow said in an interview that he will decide by year’s end on the direction it will take with its national network.
The trials will take place in Phoenix in the fall of this year and early next year, the company said in a news release. Clearwire plans to utilize equipment from Chinese vendor Huawei, and the base station platform from Samsung that it currently uses for its mobile WiMAX deployments. The trials will utilize Clearwire’s 2.5 GHz – 2.6 GHz spectrum band.
Clearwire is preparing for three test scenarios: Read more
Best Buy Offers 3G and 4G Mobile Broadband
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, August 2, 2010 · ·
Best Buy is joining forces with Clearwire. Beginning in 2011, Best Buy will offer a new 4G tier for its recently introduced Best Buy Connect mobile Internet service.
Launched just a few weeks ago, Best Buy Connect currently rides on Sprint’s 3G network, and offers plans with and without contracts, starting at $29.99 for 250 megabytes. The service is available for Gobi-embedded laptops or netbooks. The company has set up separate Best Buy Mobile stores and has carved out prominent parts of its store devoted to selling service plans. Read more
AT&T Launches New Hotzones, Advances WiFi Strategy
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, July 26, 2010 · ·
AT&T announced today that it is expanding its WiFi hotspot initiative, launching another free “hotzone” in Charlotte, N.C., with another hotzone to be deployed in Chicago in the coming weeks.
AT&T initially launched its hotzone concept back in May with a massive network in New York City’s Times Square.
The free (if you are an AT&T customer) WiFi hotspots are intended to supplement AT&T’s mobile broadband coverage in areas with consistently high 3G traffic and mobile data use. Read more
Rumor: Verizon to Launch Usage-Based 3G Pricing
Posted by Jesse Ward on Friday, July 23, 2010 · ·
Update: John Killian, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Verizon, reported on the carrier’s annual earnings conf call that VZW has no no immediate plans to migrate to usage-based data pricing plans. However, Killian said Verizon is studying the possibility of adding such plans for 3G.
Verizon Wireless is planning to introduce new usage-based mobile data pricing plans on July 29, according to a post at Engadget. The tech blog cited an unnamed source which offered few details except that Verizon is preparing to announce the pricing changes at the end of this month.
Numerous media outlets have repeated the 3G usage-based pricing rumor, but Verzion has declined to comment. However, just yesterday, Verizon business development executive director Jennifer Byrne was quoted in media reports stating that new Droid X users are consuming 5X the amount of data as compared to other device users, perhaps laying the groundwork for the yet-to-be confirmed pricing changes. Further, Verizon executives have repeatedly noted that the carrier likely will release 4G usage-based data pricing when it launches its LTE network in the fourth quarter.
AT&T paved the way back in June when it switched from a flat-rate pricing scheme to a usage-based model for mobile data. Analysts have speculated that other carriers might follow suit. Of note, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA have indicated they have no plans to change their current pricing structures.
For more, view the Engadget post.
LightSquared to Build Nationwide, Wholesale 4G Network
Posted by Jesse Ward on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 · ·
LightSquared, backed by Harbinger Capital Partners, is investing billions to create a nationwide, wholesale, 4G wireless network, using satellite and terrestrial technology. The new company, which was launched just yesterday, has received $2.9 billion in assets from Harbinger, and raised a portion of $1.75 billion in debt and equity from unnamed sources.
LightSquared does not plan to compete directly with retail providers, but rather offer wholesale access to a variety of other mobile broadband providers. ”As the nation’s first wholesale-only integrated wireless broadband and satellite network, LightSquared will provide wireless broadband capacity to a diverse group of customers, including retailers; wireline and wireless communication service providers; cable operators; device manufacturers; web players; content providers; and many others,” LightSquared said in a release. LightSquared plans to offer its partners three coverage options: satellite-only, terrestrial-only or a combination of the two.
The company has selected Nokia Siemens Network to build, operate and maintain the wireless network in an eight-year deal valued at $7 billion. The network will consist of approximately 40,000 cellular base stations, and the company plans to cover 92% of the U.S. population by 2015. LightSquared controls 59 MHz of nationwide spectrum. Read more
Engadget: Verizon’s LTE Rollout is Imminent
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, July 19, 2010 · ·
Tech blog Engadget got its hands on some (alleged) internal Verizon documents late last week which detail the carrier’s 4G network plans.
The documents confirm what Verizon, and the New Edge, have already reported — Verizon’s LTE network will offer 5-12 Mbps downstream, aircards will be available before smartphones, and the carrier is still on track to serve 100 million connections and 30 cities by year-end.
But the docs also claim that the planned LTE isn’t just fast, it offers a minimal 30 ms latency too. The docs also note that we can expect 4G tablets in 2011 as well.
A pair of loyal Engadget readers and tipsters supplied the blog with (real?) shots of Verizon LTE SIM cards.
If the documents and devices are indeed legit, it suggests that Verizon is in the final preparation stages for its LTE network launch.
See the documents for yourself at Engadget.
Windows Phone 7 Preview
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Monday, July 19, 2010 · ·
While I would love to say we have a review of the developer’s version of Windows Phone 7 , unfortunately we do not. However, we have found several reviews out there if you are interested:
Overall it is getting pretty decent reviews. While most bloggers have suggestions for improvements, it’s not likely it will come out before the fourth quarter, so they still have time to polish it up. I just wonder if MSFT is too late in the game to get any traction.