BROWSING: Opinion

This week saw a couple of events that makes the conspiracy theorist in me go a bit bonkers, or at least a bit more bonkers than usual in what is the last year of our earthly existence. (Thanks for the heads up, Mayans.)

So, now what? AT&T’s pie-in-the-sky attempt to acquire T-Mobile USA came crashing down to earth this week in a heap that left many with at least some sort of pie filling in a place not designed to hold pie filling.

Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....

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. I’ve been having fun this week playing – and working – with my new AT&T...

So, cable giant Cox Communications finally threw in the towel on its half-hearted attempt to become a mobile operator on its own terms. The company, which prior to its launch bragged it would be able to garner 20% of the market, this week stopped selling its own branded service and said it would completely shut down operations early next year.

The latest casualty of this “can’t help but stare” phenomenon in the mobile space is Research In Motion, which this week saw its bread-and-butter server operations take a(nother) worldwide dump. Now, something bad happening to RIM is not necessarily a new-new thing as the once proud BlackBerry maker has seen its once sterling shine lose some of its luster in recent years thanks to falling market share, uninspiring devices that seem a step (or three) behind and previous bouts of service outages.

Mobile networks up to 3G were designed to deliver excellent coverage to the handset, accommodating small PCM voice channels on the order of eight kilobits to 16 kb, rather than high data speeds. 3G networks are deployed with radii typically around three to eight kilometers in diameter for the macrocell, and backhaul capacity of less than 50 megabits per second for connection to the core network. While most mobile networks today utilize 3G, operators are moving to technologies such as WiMAX 802.16e or even HSPA+ to claim “4G.” In 2011, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association counted 17 commercial LTE deployments, with 180 operators in 70 countries committing to LTE, with another 64 in service by 2012.

In the mobile handset world, there has long been a drive towards smaller more powerful devices. And even though the rise of the smartphone has seen a return to larger screen sizes, today’s handsets are still remarkably compact.

Well, I guess it was bound to happen, though I thought for sure I would never see it in my lifetime. Apple released a product that did not immediately make everything else in the same category obsolete. And maybe even more surprising, it actually seemed to anger people for not being advanced enough.

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

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.In less than 200 words, CEO Steve Jobs rocked the tech world with a sudden yet not...

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.Out of sight, out of mind. That sums up the state of cell phone antennas, which most...

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...

Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....

Despite how it may appear, I do try to avoid bringing Apple into every one of my WOTW columns, though by doing so I make this job harder than it needs to be. I mean the company is such an integral part of the decisions that many in this industry make that to not include them is really a job itself. Plus, with names like “iPad” it seems Apple products and decisions are ripe for some ribbing.

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.“Palm’s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a unique...

Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....

Wow! Now that was a crazy week for the mobile device market. First Google went all crazy in announcing plans to acquire Motorola Mobility to the chagrin of it seems just about everyone; and just yesterday Hewlett-Packard went even crazier announcing it was basically shuttering its mobile operations including the WebOS business it acquired along with Palm last year for more than $1 billion.

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.Diameter signaling routers are becoming the central point in 3G, IMS and LTE networks for connecting, translating...

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...

Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.It took a strong stomach to just get through last week. In a single trading day, stocks...

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...