AT&T will provide data service for Intel's new MICA wearable, which will retail this holiday season at Barney's and other high-end retailers. MICA, which stands for My Intelligent Communications Accessory, is a bejeweled bracelet that will retail for $495, a price that many holiday...
RCR Mobile Minute
Verizon job cuts reported
About 1,000 Verizon Communications employees will get buyout offers for the holidays, according to a report from Bloomberg. The report cites an unnamed source who said Verizon wants to complete the job cuts by the end of year, and...
Cisco adds HD voice to Wi-Fi access points
Cisco says it's ready to help mobile operators offer voice over Wi-Fi. The network equipment giant is adding HD voice to its popular Wi-Fi access points, and says that now millions of Wi-Fi devices will be able...
Mavenir Systems is looking to secure its position in the LTE network with the purchase of Stoke, a leading provider of LTE security gateways. Stoke's solutions help mobile operators prevent security breaches and mitigate signaling storms, and the company has a strong roster of...
BlackBerry thinks Chinese smartphone-makers could benefit from its security expertise, and CEO John Chen has been calling on the leaders of China's biggest handset-makers. According to Bloomberg, Chen has met with Lenovo's Yang Yuanqing and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.
Lenovo and Xiaomi are the two...
Masque Attack is the name of the newest reported malware that can attack iOS devices.
RCR Mobile Minute
The Mobile Minute is sponsored today by Juniper Networks.
Unlike WireLurker, discovered last week, Masque Attack is embedded in mobile apps, not Macintosh apps. The mobile apps are disguised...
AT&T deal to buy Iusacell for $2.5B won't preclude AMX deal (RCR Mobile Minute)
AT&T surprised the wireless industry late Friday with news that it will buy Mexican operator Iusacell for $2.5 billion. The deal includes 8.6 million wireless subscribers, as well as all of...
Wi-Fi routers are becoming standard appliances in homes throughout the developed world, but the U.S. does not top the list when it comes to router adoption.
Wi-Fi home router penetration
Wireless continues to be the world's primary gateway to the Internet, with smartphone subscriptions outnumbering fixed...
Palo Alto Networks has identified a new virus that it said can attack iPhones and iPads when they are connected to Macintosh computers via USB. 'WireLurker' is the name given to the malware, which is embedded in some apps for Macintosh computers. More than 350,000...
Some providers of wireless infrastructure services could see higher costs in 2015 due to new regulations. The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) is reminding members that as of Jan. 1, many companies will have to start reporting work-related injuries and illnesses to the...
Cisco readies the IT workforce for wireless, Oi finds a bidder from the cable space and IHS raises billions for African towers.
RCR Mobile Minute 11/3/14
Cisco creates new certifications
Cisco is adapting its certifications to help IT professionals increase their wireless skill sets. The networking giant...
Crown Castle
Crown Castle said that third quarter revenue rose 24% to $930 million, while operating profit (EBITDA) increased 21% to $533 million. The company continues to invest in new towers, but is also returning more cash to shareholders. Crown Castle will increase its annual...
American Tower said that third-quarter revenue increased 28% to $1.0 billion, and operating profit rose 26% to $666 million. The company ended the quarter with 69,519 total towers, only 28,394 of which are in the United States.
American Tower has been building and buying towers...
Insatiable demand for mobile data has prompted wireless carriers to invest heavily in distributed antenna systems (DAS) to add in-building capacity to their networks. DAS equipment vendors say they see no end in sight, but at least one analyst who follows the market thinks...
Infrastructure giants Ericsson and Nokia both said that sales of LTE equipment in China were major contributors to revenue and earnings in the most recent quarter. Ericsson's sales rose 9% year-on-year to $7.9 billion, while operating profit slipped 7% to $538 million. The company...
Alcatel-Lucent said it is “moving the goal posts” by using a new technology called G.fast to extend high-speed broadband to buildings without taking fiber all the way to the end point. G.fast is a standard that improves the speed at which data can travel...
Apple has convinced millions of iPhone users to upgrade to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and a number of Android users are also making the switch to Apple’s larger screen smartphones. The company exceeded analysts’ expectations by selling almost 39.3 million iPhones during...
3G subscribers still outnumber LTE subscribers worldwide and today Nokia Networks said it has developed a software solution that it says can significantly boost smartphone performance on 3G networks. High Speed Cell FACH is Nokia's name for three 3GPP standards that Nokia says can...
Qualcomm is buying England's CSR in an effort to expand its mobile chip business beyond smartphones and tablets. CSR makes Bluetooth and audio processing chips, and Qualcomm says it is making the purchase to add products, channels and customers in the "Internet of Everything"...
Skype has launched a new mobile video chat service to encourage users to "capture the moment" and share it with friends. The service is called "Qik" (pronounced 'quick') and videos created with Qik can be up to 42 seconds long. In comparison, Vine creates...
Samsung is trumpeting a Wi-Fi breakthrough that it says will offer Wi-Fi speeds that could rival the fastest fiber speeds available today. Using the 60 GHz spectrum band and beamforming technology, Samsung says it has achieved Wi-Fi speeds of up to 575 megabytes...
Two corporate earnings reports are indicating softer demand in the mobile and wireless sector. Juniper said late yesterday that third quarter earnings will come in below expectations, and blamed weaker orders from service providers.
"The release identified weakness from service providers, particularly in the U.S....
Apple is reportedly stretching its resources to meet demand for the new iPhones. Just one day after the company announced a media event that is expected to include a new iPad launch, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is delaying iPad production so...
Marriott will pay the government $600,000 to settle an investigation of allegations that it tried to keep hotel guests from using their mobile devices as personal Wi-Fi hotspots. The FCC started the investigation after a former guest at Nashville's Opryland Hotel alleged that Marriott...
