BROWSING: LTE

#TBT: Verizon Wireless ditches CDMA; Leap nixes MetroPCS … 7 years ago this week

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 the sepia-tinted shades and enjoy the memories! Verizon Wireless to join Vodafone in upgrade to...

CTIA 2014: Cricket Wireless bolsters distribution channels, adds data

LAS VEGAS — Cricket Wireless has been busy since relaunching the brand earlier this year under the scope of new parent company AT&T Mobility. At this week's CTIA event, the carrier announced a number of new initiatives, including a new distribution partnership, its first...

CCA: Monetization next step in LTE revolution

LAS VEGAS — Now that LTE deployments have become nearly ubiquitous among the nation’s larger operators, the next challenge for operators is how to drive more revenues from those deployments. Having spent billions of dollars in acquiring the necessary wireless spectrum and costs associated with...

iPhone 6, 6 Plus launch set to boost, burst carrier, technology fortunes

In announcing its latest iPhone iterations, Apple has yet again shown its unique influence over the competitive landscape for wireless carriers. Apple said the iPhone 6 (4.7-inch screen) and 6 Plus (5.5-inch screen) would be available beginning Sept. 19, and supported by all carriers that...

Reality Check: Apple’s second big 2014 announcement

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column where C-level executives and advisory firms from across the mobile industry share unique insights and experiences. Apple’s latest products announcement occurs just as CTIA kicks off. The timing couldn’t be better. Samsung reminded the world at...

CCA: Wheeler, Berry debate spectrum auction, device requirements

LAS VEGAS — Like the pair of telecom policy veterans that they are, Competitive Carriers Association CEO and President Steve Berry and current Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler had a good-natured debate during a “fireside” chat that included a good amount of insider...

EMEA: Russian crisis threatens the E-Estonia experiment

When President Obama visited Estonia last week to deliver a warning to Russia, he also drew the spotlight to one of the most connected countries in the world. Estonia was freed from Soviet rule in 1991 and the tiny Baltic country of 1.3 million immediately...

Radisys increases processor support for virtualization

Support continues to roll in for the mobile telecommunications industry’s move toward virtualization, with the latest coming from Radisys. The company said it will begin offering support for Intel’s fourth-generation Core processor technology across its x86 product portfolio to meet growing processor demands from...

EMEA: Africa’s LTE niche

Despite significant regulatory and economic challenges in Africa, several carriers are pushing ahead with LTE deployments and finding ways to reach customers eager for the high-speed mobile technology. In Africa, only 26 operators have commercially launched LTE in just 12 of Africa's 54 countries. The...

Sprint signs LTE roaming deals with 15 rural operators

Sprint’s LTE roaming initiative continues to gather steam as the carrier today announced new agreements with 15 rural and regional carriers as part of its Rural Roaming Preferred Provider program. The deals provide Sprint with access to LTE coverage in rural areas outside of...

Wireless IP move putting pressure on service assurance models

As wireless carriers increasingly move their network operations toward an all-IP model, the need to ensure service quality has evolved. In place of a circuit-switch world where “drops and blocks” were the currency of network quality, the deployment of LTE has ushered in new...

Rinne set to retire from AT&T

Kris Rinne, SVP of network technology at AT&T Labs, is reportedly set to retire at the end of November, and will be replaced by Tom Keathley, who was recently appointed SVP of network and product planning. The news was first reported by Fierce Wireless and...

Analyst Angle: Dark fiber’s role in the mobile backhaul ecosystem

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We’ve collected a group of the industry’s leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. Dark fiber — the dirty word of early-2000s telecom — is back en vogue in...

Nokia Liquid Radio expands capacity and performance

Nokia Networks announced a wide-reaching set of portfolio enhancements today in support of their Liquid Radio portfolio. As these announcements are touching on many different aspects of the portfolio, I will try to group them into sub-classifications. Carrier Aggregation In order to increase density in metro...

Reality Check: Four keys to monetizing M2M efforts (hint: it’s not just about technology)

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column where C-level executives and advisory firms from across the mobile industry share unique insights and experiences. Successful monetization of the machine-to-machine market will take more than just connected devices working in harmony. It will require carriers...

EMEA Perspectives: Africa innovation

The last couple of weeks I’ve focused primarily on Europe news, so in fairness, it’s time to focus on other parts of EMEA. Today we will focus on Africa. Highlights from last week’s news for the region show new offers and new challenges being...

Reader Forum: Is your infrastructure in for a VoLTE of shock?

Editor’s Note: In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this Reader Forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but we maintain some editorial control...

Reader Forum: VoLTE — mobile operator apathy turns to action

Editor’s Note: In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this Reader Forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but we maintain some editorial control...

Carrier Wrap: Verizon Wireless set for VoLTE launch; T-Mobile US continues tweaking

Verizon Wireless is set to launch its voice over LTE service in the coming weeks, according to multiple reports. The offering will take advantage of the carrier’s IP-based data network to transmit both voice calls and video calls. The carrier showed off the service to...

Reality Check: The future of telecom (Pt. 2) – Sprint on sale (SoS)

In last week’s note on capital spending, there was a slight to the table shown due to a spreadsheet error. This change raised the capex/average retail customer for T-Mobile US in earliest quarters shown. Apologies for the change – story stays the same. A...

Price war continues to rage: T-Mobile US updates Simple Starter

T-Mobile US offers $5, 2 GB premium T-Mobile US continued to add fuel to the ongoing pricing war among domestic wireless operators, announcing updates to its Simple Starter plan. The carrier said the offering will now include the option to increase capped data from 500 megabytes...

EMEA: Europe takes the long road to LTE

European carriers seem to be emphasizing the “Long” in "Long Term Evolution" technology. While the region is home to some of the world's biggest economies, it continues to trail other developed markets in adopting LTE-based high-speed mobile technology, often referred to as 4G. In South...

Reality Check: Defining the minimally viable network

Will Sprint and T-Mobile US invest enough to have a minimally viable network (MVN?) Several newcomers to my columns have pointedly asked me over the past week “What’s your angle? Why are you out to get ?” There is a thin line drawn at times between...

VoLTE shows its mettle in initial commercial tests

With voice-over-LTE networks slowly coming to market, focus is now turning to just how those networks perform compared with legacy circuit switched-based voice offerings. And, according to a new report, it appears that the performance benefit is clearly in the lap of VoLTE services. In...