The new smart home service, O2 Home, will be expanded to the rest of the U.K. soon
U.K. telecommunications company O2 has launched a new service dubbed ‘O2 Home’, which lets people control their heating, lighting, locks and more from their mobile phone.
The mobile operator...
Ronan Dunne starts next month as group president of Verizon Wireless; he's the former CEO of O2
Ronan Dunne, the former CEO of O2, doesn't start his job as the new group president of Verizon Wireless until September, but, on Twitter at least, he's already...
Oi bankruptcy will leave three primary operators in Brazil
1. The Brexit vote has wiped out billions of dollars of market value for British companies, including wireless carriers. Shares of Vodafone, BT Group, which owns EE, and CKH Holdings, (which owns Three), all sold off...
HetNet densification requires robust fiber infrastructure
LONDON – At the Small Cells World Summit, Telefonica O2 CTO Brendan O’Reilly risked offending delegates when he claimed the technology “isn’t that important.” But, O’Reilly was addressing the topic of commercializing the heterogeneous network from the consumer standpoint.
It...
Goal is to commercially launch LTE-Advanced Pro in 2017
Swiss mobile telephony operator Swisscom has successfully tested LTE-Advanced Pro, reaching a peak connection speed of 1 Gbps. The trial was carried out on its live mobile broadband network in partnership with Swedish vendor Ericsson.
The European operator said...
The telco aims to cover 98% of indoor population by end-2017
U.K. operator O2 said that its 4G LTE services now cover 6,000 towns across the country, providing 87% coverage to the outdoor population. The telco said that its 4G network had been launched in...
The company boosted managed services contracts in 2015
Chinese telecom and technology vendor ZTE expects revenues from its service business to grow approximately 20% in 2016. Chen Huachun, VP at ZTE and head of the company's service unit, told RCR Wireless News growth will be...
Cisco buys software platform behind AT&T Drive and other IoT solutions
Cisco Systems said it's acquiring "the industry’s leading IoT service platform" with its purchase of Silicon Valley's Jasper Technologies for $1.4 billion. Jasper's "Internet of Things" platform is designed to automate the management of...
UK telecom provider O2 taps AT&T Digital Life for home automation services
LAS VEGAS – AT&T’s Digital Life home automation platform is set for an international expansion as U.K.-based O2 said it plans to commercially launch services from the offer later this year.
Speaking at this...
The UK regulator said spectrum auction will wait for the implications of the Three-O2 merger
U.K. telecommunications regulator Ofcom decided to postpone its planned spectrum auction for licenses in the 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz bands until the European Commission reaches a final decision on the merger...
The process will integrate GSM and UMTS infrastructure
German telecom operator Telefónica Deutschland expects to start the integration of its mobile unit O2 and mobile operator E-Plus in January 2016, the telco said in a statement.
Telefónica Deutschland, which is fully owned by Spanish telecom group...
ARCEP said the auction process will start Nov. 16
France telecom regulator ARCEP confirmed the process to award 30 megahertz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band to support LTE services will kick off Nov. 16.
The regulator previously confirmed the firms submitting applications for the spectrum auction...
Officials: Carrier claims that network voice service is "unbeatable" are not substantiated
A recent print and Web advertising campaign by Vodafone makes claims about the carrier's U.K. voice service that the Advertisement Standards Authority this week banned.
Specifically, Vodafone marketing materials boasted that, "Our network is...
If approved, O2 U.K. acquisition will create country's top mobile operator
It's official. Confirming recent reports, Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, owner of U.K. operator Three, announced an agreement with the Spanish group Telefónica to buy its O2 U.K. business for $15.28 billion.
The deal includes $13.79 billion...
Mobile subscribers in the U.K. may soon be served by three major carriers instead of four. Billionaire Li-Kashing of Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa, which owns Three, has reached a deal to buy O2 U.K. from Telefónica. Last summer, Li-Kashing's Hutchison Whampoa bought O2 in Ireland, which...
Telefónica SA considers using O2 proceeds to pay for GVT
Telefónica SA is reportedly considering using proceeds from the sale of O2 UK to pay for Brazilian broadband operator GVT. Bloomberg reports that the $8.7 billion deal to purchase GVT from Vivendi SA was agreed...
NTT DoCoMo promotes LTE speeds with shrimp cannon
Japan's NTT DoCoMo is promoting the speed of its LTE network by frying shrimp. The video advertisement shows shrimp flying through cannons and open flames. The shrimp is "cooked" in 3 seconds. The cooking demonstration and advertisement...
Spirent Communications released the latest results from its ongoing analysis of customer experience on LTE networks in the United Kingdom, including new data from a dozen cities. They ranked O2 as the top U.K. operator for customer experience.
This is the second round of the...
There is a new order in Ireland's wireless market, with 3 now No. 2. The operator, which is owned by the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, this week completed its $1.15 billion buyout of Telefónica's O2. The deal gives 3 nearly 40% of the market share...
RootMetrics took its road show to the United Kingdom during the second half of last year, returning with network quality data claiming a solid win for operator EE, and excuses from last-place finisher Vodafone.
RootMetrics said that it tested wireless networks for U.K. operators EE,...
Three recently added the U.S. to its “Feel at Home” roaming plan, allowing its U.K. customers to use their normal calling and data plans when traveling to the United States. In doing so, the relatively small carrier—it's the fourth largest behind EE, O2 and...
Editor’s Note: Wireless operators are a busy bunch, and as such RCR Wireless News will attempt to gather some of the important announcements that may slip through the cracks from the world’s largest carriers in a weekly wrap-up. Enjoy!
--J.D. Power came out with its...
--Swedish telecom operator TeliaSonera said it has become the first carrier in Europe to begin offering LTE roaming to Danish customers visiting Sweden. The carrier, which was the first operator to launch LTE services in 2009, said the move is the first step towards...
U.K.-based joint venture Everything Everywhere, a combination of France Telecom’s Orange and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile operations, turned on LTE services in a handful of markets this week for testing purposes on its way to launching commercial services later this year.
The carrier said initial...
