March 2015

MTN Group looks to support growing demand driven by mobile banking WASHINGTON – In an effort to support skyrocketing demand, South African telecom player MTN Group on March 20 announced …

T-Mobile US’ ‘Un-carrier 9.0’ set to disrupt enterprise market Throughout the course of telecommunications history, the pricing alchemy between business and consumer plans has been convoluted at best, and perverted …

Mobile operators expanding their voice over LTE services in 2015 want to make sure it’s not a replay of the massive LTE data outages that plagued the industry from 2011 …

NFV collaboration targeting small cell layer The European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s NFV Industry Specification Group signed a collaboration agreement with the Small Cell Forum to “explore synergies” between the two …

Vertical Bridge gains over 200 tower sites Independent wireless infrastructure company CiG Wireless announced it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by an affiliate company of Vertical Bridge …

Hannover, Germany – On the last day of CeBit15, the Automotive IT Kongress also took place in the city. Presenters included a combination of OEM, telecommunications and IT vendors, and …

The Small Cell Forum recently released numbers showing that more than 10 million small cells have shipped to date. Analyst Stefan Pongratz of Dell’Oro Group said that small cells saw …

Data pools are growing every day and, with that growth, companies are facing increased pressure to jump in head-first. Many startups are using data to gain an edge on their …

Nokia radio access equipment covered by 7-year agreement Russian carrier MegaFon will expand its LTE footprint through a 7-year deal with Nokia Networks, which will provide the mobile network operator …

Verizon Wireless scored most victories in RootMetrics’ latest airport rankings The nation’s airports have become a significant testbed for evaluating the strength of mobile networks due to the high concentration …

The market for wireless backhaul solutions is growing as operators explore LTE and small cell deployments in areas that are not served by fiber. There are several approaches to wireless …

Hackers have been featured on the news recently as credit cards and passwords have been obtained in breaches, leaving millions to worry about whether their bank accounts or e-mail addresses …

2,200 positions cut in Sweden, now 71 cuts in Ireland After announcing plans to cut 2,200 jobs in Sweden earlier this month, networking/software company Ericsson last week told staff at …

Telecom Italia modernizing network Telecom Italia has returned to profit for the first time in three years, reports the Financial Times. Net income climbed to $1.5 billion in 2014 after …

HANNOVER, Germany – I had the opportunity to attend a live interview at CeBit15 with Glen Greenwald (in person) and Edward Snowden (via video link). Their commentary on the state …

TD-LTE network build contributes in part to China Mobile profit loss China Mobile’s 2014 profit fell 10%, slightly below market expectations and marking the company’s biggest annual profit drop since …

AUSTIN, Texas – The makers of Vinli gave out free rides at South by Southwest 2015 to show off their new device that is designed to turn any car into …

NLRB ruling does not find direct T-Mobile US infringement, but carrier dinged for broad interpretation T-Mobile US had its labor practices dinged by the National Labor Relations Board, which found …

The Competitive Carriers Association’s upcoming Global Expo event, like many of CCA’s past events, will surely not lack for topics. Since CCA’s last event in September, the mobile telecom space …

Anite signed an agreement to develop advanced multiple-input/multiple-output over-the-air testing approaches with China Telecommunication Technology Labs-Terminals, which is overseen by the China Academy of Telecommunication Research. Anite’s Propsim channel emulators are …

FAA gives online retailer Amazon experimental license E-commerce giant Amazon’s ambitions to provide delivery via drone gained some traction on March 19 with federal regulators granting the company an “experimental …

Wireless infrastructure expected to continue growth track CEO of Digital Bridge Marc Ganzi, gave a state of the union of sorts for the wireless infrastructure industry in his keynote address at the South …

LAS VEGAS – The early pioneers in public safety LTE broadband shared some of their experiences in a panel discussion at IWCE 2015, and some of their pain points – probably …

South Wireless Summit discusses carrier activity, market opportunity The fourth annual South Wireless Summit took place this week in Nashville, Tenn. The event, hosted by the South Wireless Summit Association, focuses …

Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for …