May 2015

This was a very active week in telecom, with AT&T extending its termination date on its DirecTV merger to the end of June; Charlie Ergen making headlines defending the designated entity structure …

“Messaging services are killing SMS” – Beta News “There are more WhatsApps than texts sent each day. A lot more” – TechRadar “Texting is in decline” – Business Insider “How …

Secrets are pervasive in the high-tech industry. For many years, members of the industry have been wary about sharing their intellectual property with others. They believed doing so would jeopardize …

Analyst thinks Shentel lacks funds, does not need Ntelos deal Recent reports about a potential Shenandoah Telecommunications acquisition of fellow regional telecom operator Ntelos may have impacted stock prices, but …

AT&T SDN plans include academia, research challenge AT&T’s software-defined networking plans continue to gain momentum, with company CEO Randall Stephenson recently reiterating that SDN is operating in 100 markets and …

Some tower crews are idle now, but the FCC is looking ahead The timing of the next spectrum auction may partially depend on the availability of tower crews, according to …

AT&T, Comcast and Google compete on metro-fiber Internet connectivity Today AT&T began offering its GigaPower high-speed home and business Internet service package, continuing its competition with Comcast and Google. AT&T …

Consumers stream content, whenever, wherever and on whatever device they choose Dish Network has acquired quite a bit of wireless spectrum. What will CEO Charlie Ergen do with this valuable …

LTE Direct being trialed by Qualcomm; allows smartphones to directly communicate An emerging technology being trialed by Qualcomm and carrier partners could ultimately undercut the need for new cell towers …

An Indian parliamentary panel is asking the country’s Environment Ministry to comprehensively look into the effects of cell tower radiation on humans and animals, saying it is of “great concern.” …

Operator will continue 4G rollout through a combination of LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD Indian mobile telephony operator Bharti Airtel has launched 4G LTE-FDD trials for its existing customers in Chennai and …

Report: Record-setting sales represents an 8% year-over-year increase Market analytics firm GfK reports record-setting smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2015; consumers spent some $96 billion on smartphones, an …

Telensa, a Plextek company, focuses on “Internet of Things” connected via ultra narrowband technology. Eighteen years ago, this technology was developed to track stolen vehicles and used by companies such as LoJack …

Comcast could be the next cable operator to experiment with a new wireless service. Cablevision has pioneered the concept on the East Coast with its Freewheel service, offering unlimited voice, …

Could a nationwide stock of connected umbrellas (see here for a $43 prototype) replace the National Weather Service? Is a weather forecast by crowdsourcing more accurate than a room of …

When it comes to today’s marketplaces, there’s no doubt we’re operating in a buyers’ market. Consumers can buy anything almost instantly, from computer software through to the latest movies. We …

AT&T remains confident of midyear close Despite countless delays, AT&T’s pending $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV looks to remain on track as the companies filed extensions on the “termination date” …

Sprint changes exclusive to Wal-Mart distribution Sprint over the weekend updated pricing for its Virgin Mobile USA brand, cutting prices and adding data exclusively for service activated through Wal-Mart locations. …

HetNet Happenings is brought to you by CommScope. Listen to the HetNet Happenings podcast: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/205643026″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] This week on HetNet Happenings, RCR Wireless News Managing Editor …

Spectrum sharing hot topic at ISART Test and measurement was a major focus of the International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technologies this week, with federal agencies, industry representatives and academic …

Shares of Alcatel-Lucent have continued to decline in response to recent weakness in shares of proposed merger partner Nokia. But overall, analysts remain bullish on the companies’ future with several …

Carrier fixed problem after being tipped off by BuzzFeed In response to input from a news outlet, Verizon this week fixed a security gap that left some 9 million home …

T-Mobile US has never been shy about calling out its competitors. In the latest attempt to gain ground on its bigger rival, T-Mobile US spent $200,000 on a campaign that changed Verizon …

BOULDER, Colo. – Spectrum sharing were the buzzwords of the week as a bevy of federal agencies came together at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to discuss the topic …