Editor’s Note: Wireless operators are a busy bunch, and as such RCR Wireless News will attempt to gather some of the important announcements that may slip through the cracks from the world’s largest carriers in a weekly wrap-up. Enjoy!
—Sprint this week announced the expansion of its LTE and Spark-enabled wireless network. The LTE expansion included 20 new markets, pushing the network’s total reach to 402 cities; while its Spark network, which relies on a combination of its various spectrum bands, into a pair of new markets.
Some of the new markets where Sprint’s LTE network is now available include Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, Conn.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Omaha, Neb.; Peoria, Ill.; and Sarasota/Bradenton, Fla. The carrier said it remains on track to hit 250 million potential customers covered with LTE services by mid-year.
The new Spark markets include Provo, Utah; and Trenton, N.J., pushing that update to 18 total markets. Sprint has said it expects to cover 100 million pops with its Spark service by the end of the year. That network is expected to provide network speeds in excess of 60 megabits per second to customers with compatible handsets.
—China Mobile, which is the world’s largest mobile operator, said it ended February with 775.6 million total customers on its network, an increase of 3.7 million for the month and 8.4 million net customer additions over the past year. The carrier noted that 215.4 million of those customers were using its 3G network, with 1.3 million using its recently launched LTE service.
Financially, China Mobile posted an 8.3% increase in full-year revenues for 2013, hitting $101.2 billion. That growth was on the back of data services, which posted a 24% year-over-year increase, while voice revenues dropped more than 3%. However a 15% increase in expenses hit the carrier’s bottom line, with full-year profits dipping nearly 6% to $19.6 billion.
—Taiwan Mobile selected Nokia Solutions and Networks as the sole supplier of LTE-Advanced network equipment. The network will tap into Taiwan Mobile’s current 700 MHz LTE network and 1.8 GHz spectrum holdings using carrier aggregation technology.
Under the contract, NSN will provide its Flexi Multiradio 10 base stations, evolved packet core technology, NetAct network management system, and network planning and optimization services. Financial terms of the deal were not released.
–Smile Communications said it recently added LTE coverage in Lagos, Nigeria, using its 800 MHz spectrum holdings and Ericsson as its primary equipment vendor. The carrier had previously launched LTE services in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Smile and Ericsson have a three-year agreement for the equipment giant to develop more than 1,100 LTE sites across the country. The deal calls for Ericsson to handle project management, system integration, interoperability testing, network design and implementation.
—Glocall Telecoms and Tazca Connects announced plans to launch LTE services in Mogadishu, Somalia, using a LTE-as-a-service platform.
Tazca, which is providing the platform, said it will leverage software from Lemko that provides fixed-wireless broadband capability on a software platform that sits on a server at each cell site and connects directly to the cloud. Tezca added that the software works with its “pay-as-you-grow LTE models” to provide a lower cost for deployment.
“A new paradigm in commoditizing the LTE core to the network edge, was found to provide the efficiencies required to build next generation networks within the African context, with due consideration for affordability and end-user adoption on a cost basis,” explained Glocall CEO Mobeen Bhamjee.
–U.K.-based operator EE said it has signed outbound roaming agreements in France and Spain allowing its customers to access LTE services when traveling in those two countries. The carriers involved in the roaming agreements were not announced.
EE, which is controlled by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and France’s Orange, said it will extend its LTE coverage across major roaming destination including the United States, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands by the summer. The carrier in December announced an inbound roaming agreement with AT&T Mobility.
Additional carrier news can be found on the RCR Wireless News “Carriers” page.
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