FierceWireless

IDC: Russian tablets market falls 8.5% in Q1 2016

Mon, 30 May 2016 11:10:58 +0000

IDC Russia said tablet shipments in the country fell by 8.5 per cent year-on-year to 919,000 units in the first quarter of 2016, while in terms of value in U.S. dollars the market shrank by 12.9 per cent.

Berg Insight reveals European smart home penetration lags North America

Mon, 30 May 2016 09:55:31 +0000

Berg Insight said Europe's smart home market lagged North America by two to three years in terms of penetration and market maturity at the end of 2015, with an installed base of 5.3 million smart homes compared to 12.7 million in North America.

Report: Telefónica favours keeping O2 UK after failed Hutchison sale

Mon, 30 May 2016 09:35:20 +0000

Telefónica could now decide to keep O2 UK rather than seek a new buyer or list the unit on the stock market according to Bloomberg.

Report: Orange considers buying more Millicom assets in Africa

Mon, 30 May 2016 08:55:58 +0000

Orange is mulling the acquisition of further operations owned by Millicom International Cellular in Africa and has started informal talks with the company, Bloomberg reported.

Jolla Sailfish OS community expansion program sells out within a day

Mon, 30 May 2016 08:42:46 +0000

Jolla, the Finnish mobile company that created the Sailfish OS, said demand for a new initiative designed to boost the operating system's community of fans and developers was so high it sold out within a day of being announced.

Gartner: Spending on in-app transactions exceeds upfront app payments by 24%

Mon, 30 May 2016 08:19:58 +0000

Mobile app users are spending $7.40 (€6.65) on paid-for apps every three months and $9.20 on in-app transactions.

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend

Fri, 27 May 2016 17:34:05 +0000

Support for encryption legislation wanes following Apple's standoff with authorities

Fri, 27 May 2016 17:10:55 +0000

An effort to propose a law creating a "back door" enabling law-enforcement agencies to access data on encrypted devices is dead, according to Reuters.

Google wins Java copyright case over Oracle on fair use grounds

Fri, 27 May 2016 16:56:55 +0000

A federal jury found that Google's use of Oracle's Java programming language in Android didn't violate copyright law, claiming the fair use doctrine enabled Google to build compatible software without obtaining a license. But the case is likely far from over.

National Institutes of Health study finds link between mobile phones and cancer

Fri, 27 May 2016 16:10:36 +0000

A $25 million study by federal scientists uncovered a link between cellphones and cancer in rats, reigniting a longstanding debate over the health effects of the use of mobile devices.

Jolla's Sailfish stays afloat with new Jolla C phone, 'community device' developer program

Fri, 27 May 2016 15:29:09 +0000

Jolla introduced a new handset and announced a new "community device program" in an effort to boost developer support for its Sailfish OS. But whether the Finnish company can actually gain a foothold in the mobile world is still far from clear.

CTIA: Proposed privacy rules would harm competition, violate the First Amendment

Fri, 27 May 2016 14:16:57 +0000

CTIA struck back against the FCC's proposed privacy rules for Internet service providers -- including mobile network operators -- saying the Commission is overstepping its bounds and considering regulations that are "overbroad and harmful."

SFR launches LTE at 337 Mbps using tri-band CA

Fri, 27 May 2016 11:33:41 +0000

SFR launched 4G or LTE Advanced services at maximum download speeds of 337.5 Mbps following the implementation of tri-band carrier aggregation (CA) technology into the company's network.

Deutsche Telekom CEO details the key role of 5G in digital future

Fri, 27 May 2016 10:54:17 +0000

Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges declared that 5G is the industry's answer to future demands for network connectivity, and hit out at rivals' criticism regarding the operator's domestic broadband business.

Three UK to trial ad-blocking technology in June

Fri, 27 May 2016 10:39:54 +0000

Three UK said it would trial ad-blocking technology on its network next month, marking the next step in the mobile operator's strategy to deal with what it deems to be increasingly intrusive advertising on mobile phones.

EU sets 2020 deadline for freeing up 700 MHz band for mobile broadband

Fri, 27 May 2016 10:01:02 +0000

The European Council said the 700 MHz band should be made available for mobile broadband services across the European Union by 2020 as part of a harmonised approach to freeing up this spectrum band.

UBS: 'A potential storm is brewing' as AT&T, Verizon and others gear up for heated Q4

Thu, 26 May 2016 21:32:30 +0000

The first quarter saw more of the same mixed results in the U.S. wireless industry as handset upgrade rates reached an all-time low and subscriber growth slowed while profitability and margins topped records set just two quarters ago, UBS said in a research note.

Verizon gets OK for 28 GHz tests in Texas, New Jersey

Thu, 26 May 2016 20:56:09 +0000

The FCC has granted Verizon's request for Special Temporary Authority (STA) to conduct tests near its office locations in Euless, Texas, and South Plainfield, New Jersey.

Indoor deployments to be key as 5G bridges wireless and wireline

Thu, 26 May 2016 17:42:11 +0000

Just as the term "mobile" generally refers to on-the-go connectivity, discussions about 5G often focus on faster and more reliable services for users as they move from place to place. But speakers at the Wireless Infrastructure Show this week reminded me not to dismiss the importance of indoor usage as carriers prepare to enter the 5G era.

Cellular gears up to take on proprietary tech in the IoT: Explaining LTE Cat M, Cat 1 and Cat 0

Thu, 26 May 2016 16:13:30 +0000

Players such as Sigfox, Ingenu and the LoRa Alliance are rushing to meet those demands with low power wide area network (LPWAN) technologies, taking advantage of a head start as standards for cellular-based IoT offerings are finalized. As those cellular technologies begin to come to market, though, the two sides will battle to provide connectivity for everything from autonomous cars to industrial components to sensors in agricultural fields.

Cellular wraps its arms around the Internet of Things

Thu, 26 May 2016 16:06:42 +0000

Given all the attention on the Internet of Things (IoT), we decided to take a closer look at what wireless operators are looking to deploy when it comes to low power wide area networking (LPWAN) technologies.

Moody's: U.S. carriers could rack up $55B in outstanding EIP loans

Thu, 26 May 2016 15:56:07 +0000

The move toward equipment installment plans (EIPs) could generate a total net outstanding balance of consumer loans of $55 billion across the four major U.S. carriers, Moody's analysts wrote this week. And while carriers who adopted EIPs early "have already addressed the majority of their shortfall," the loans don't incur interest and could actually end up costing operating money.

LTE gets ready to fight against proprietary tech for the IoT

Thu, 26 May 2016 13:51:26 +0000

While cellular-based Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are still being finalized in the standards process, non-cellular solutions like those promoted by Ingenu, Sigfox and members of the LoRa Alliance are catching a bit of a break.

How wireless carriers can get in on the VR action

Wed, 25 May 2016 22:42:18 +0000

Google's not the only one making a splash in the virtual reality (VR) waters. Virtually every major tech company, including big device makers, are making a VR play as well.

DoCoMo CTO tries to debunk myths about 5G

Wed, 25 May 2016 22:26:33 +0000

With all the talk about 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT), things can get pretty confusing. Seeking to dispel some of the most pervasive myths about 5G, NTT DoCoMo CTO Seizo Onoe presented a keynote at the IEEE International Conference on Communications in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday.

AT&T's 5G trials could deliver speeds around 5 Gbps this year

Wed, 25 May 2016 19:56:16 +0000

AT&T will start a 5G trial with "friendly" customers by the end of this year, delivering a multi-gigabit, fixed type of service, according to a keynote at the Big Communications Event (BCE) 2016 in Austin, Texas.

German researchers claim record with 6 Gbit/s data rate at 71-76 GHz

Wed, 25 May 2016 19:44:33 +0000

Researchers from the University of Stuttgart and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF are boasting a big achievement: Transmitting the contents of a conventional DVD in under 10 seconds by radio transmission, setting a new world record in wireless data transmission. The team used transmitters and receivers at 71-76 GHz E band.

Vasona Networks expands RAN deal with Telefonica UK in London

Tue, 24 May 2016 08:00:00 +0000

A pilot that Vasona Networks started with Telefonica UK just over a year ago has led to a full commercial deployment.

Microsoft gets OK from FCC to conduct tests related to Globalstar's TLPS

Mon, 23 May 2016 22:03:25 +0000

Perhaps to settle questions once and for all – if that's possible – Microsoft can proceed with plans to test terrestrial use of the 2483.5-2500 MHz Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) band currently assigned for use by Globalstar.

Hologram wants to build cellular platform just for Internet of Things

Mon, 23 May 2016 16:27:06 +0000

Chicago-based Hologram last week launched its cellular platform for the Internet of Things (IoT), a platform that it says, unlike legacy cellular solutions, is built specifically for developing and deploying IoT products.