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#TBT: AT&T caps internet customers; iPad 2 comes to India; White hot iPhone 4 … this week in 2011

Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on those sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!

AT&T sets data caps for internet customers

Starting Monday, May 2, Dallas-based AT&T Inc. will start limiting amounts of Internet data that DSL and U-verse users are allowed before subscribers incur overage fees from the telecommunications company. If users go past 150 GB for DLS customers and 250 GB for U-verse subscribers in the course of a month, users will first receive two notifications before being charged $10 for an additional 50 GB of data. AT&T stated that 98% of users shouldn’t have a problem with the cap on bandwidth, and that the charges will only affect extremely heavy users. The company has released a website to help consumers track how much data they use by logging into their accounts. Streaming movies – especially in high definition, video chat applications such as Skype, and transferring large files swallow up most bandwidth. According to the Austin American-Statesman, an average movie downloaded in high-definition from iTunes takes approximately 1 GB of data. The increase in services such as Netflix, Skype, Hulu and cloud computing are the reasons why the company said it decided to alter unlimited data plans. AT&T expects that the average person who occasionally does high-bandwidth activities along with low-bandwidth activities such as e-mailing, downloading music or surfing the Web won’t have any problems. … Read more

Chinese-US WiMAX JV looks at LatAm market

Monday, April 18, 2011-ChinaTel – a Chinese-US joint venture focusing on WiMax investments in Latin America and Asia – expects to set up a beta market in Peru opening in July to get a better feel for the local segment before its commercial launch in August, ChinaTel VP of strategic planning Ryan Alvarez told BNamericas. Still on track to launch high-speed wireless broadband during August in all seven Peruvian cities where it holds concessions, ChinaTel will be up and running a month ahead of schedule in Trujillo, Ica and Chiclayo. The cities were selected for their diverse sizes, as Trujillo is the largest ChinaTel will enter, with Ica landing in the middle and Chiclayo being one of the smallest. The operator will use the beta markets to gauge how many prepaid dongles people are buying and what they will be buying the most. … Read more

iPad 2 launches in India

NEW DELHI: Over a month after it launched iPad 2in the US, Apple on Wednesday announced availability of its next-generation tablet in India. According to the company, Indian consumers will be able to buy iPad2 from April 29. The cheapest model with 16GB storage and without 3G has been priced at Rs 29,500. The top model with 64GB storage and 3G will be available for Rs 46,900. … Read more

Huawei sue ZTE over patents

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has filed lawsuits in Germany, France, and Hungary against ZTE Corp. for patent and trade mark infringement, alleging ZTE is infringing on Huawei’s patents for data card and LTE technologies, and using a Huawei-registered trademark on some of its data card products. “Huawei was compelled to initiate this action in order to protect our innovations and registered intellectual property in Europe. Our objective is to stop the illegal use of Huawei’s intellectual property and resolve this dispute through negotiation so that our technology is used in a lawful manner,” said Huawei’s Chief Legal Officer, Dr. Song Liuping in a prepared statement. Huawei said it has tried to sign cross-patent licensing agreements with ZTE and has written cease-and-desist letters to no avail. … Read more

Facebook tests Deals to compete with Groupon, LivingSocial

Facebook is joining the crowded marketplace of companies offering deals, by launching the appropriately named, “Deals.” The social network will attempt to break into five test markets today and will try to pull users from Groupon and LivingSocial. The five test markets include Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, San Diego and San Francisco. The spin on Facebook’s service is that it plans to offer deals for events that have a social emphasis, which a person is likely to do with others. Examples of such activities include concerts, whitewater rafting, movies, sporting events, camping, races, classes, various local gatherings and more. Facebook has more than 600 million users and is banking on the ability to target a user’s interests and capitalize on the social networking between friends to share and find deals with each other. Deals can be received via email and will show up in a user’s news feed. Deals can be purchased with a credit card or Facebook Credits, the company’s virtual currency. … Read more

White hot: The rise of the iPhone 4

Apple Inc. (AAPL) announced today that the elusive white iPhone 4 will be available for sale beginning tomorrow. The white counterpart will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model with a new two-year agreement through Apple’s online store, at Apple’s retail stores, AT&T Mobility (T) and Verizon Wireless (VZ) retail stores and select Apple authorized resellers. After a 10-month wait, whispers of the debut of the fabled white version circled the Web earlier this month. The vanilla model was a long-time coming after the launch of the iPhone 4 in June, when Apple confirmed a delay on the white model due to unspecified manufacturing problems. Sources attributed the delay to paint that peeled when heat was applied to the device and complications with a sensor. Whatever the reason, white continues as a popular color for Apple since the launch of the company’s first iPod in 2001, The iPhone 3GS is still offered in white along with its tablet counterpart, the iPad 2. “The white iPhone 4 has finally arrived and it’s beautiful,” gushed Philip Schiller, Apple’s SVP of worldwide product marketing. “We appreciate everyone who has waited patiently while we’ve worked to get every detail right.” … Read more

Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.

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