A billion wireless subscribers rely each day on a network operator who never sends them a bill or makes them an offer. Ericsson now manages networks covering a billion people, customers with whom the company has no direct relationship. The world’s top vendor of wireless network equipment now has more than 300 contracts to manage [...]

Range Networks, which makes open-source cellular systems, announced that its equipment now integrates with operators’ SS7-MAP core networks and supports 4G. The company, which targets rural and developing markets and private industrial networks with low-cost network equipment, has been collaborating with SS7Ware and said that its One Core Network now supports 2G, 3G and 4G [...]

Third-generation and “4G” wireless networks are facing a severe capacity crunch caused by massive data demand created by smart phones and tablet devices. Deployment of macrocells will not solve the problem since most of the demand is generated indoors. Service providers are moving towards heterogeneous solutions (3G/4G/Wi-Fi) consisting of a dense network of femtocells, picocells and metrocells [...]

As network operators scramble to hire tower crews to keep up with the demand for wireless service, they are learning that every minute counts at the cell site. With time and talent both in short supply, getting the most out of each work crew becomes critical. This is the reality that inspires equipment makers to [...]

A competitive assessment by ABI Research ranked Nokia Siemens Networks first in macro base station vendors, with high scores in ABI’s innovation and implementation categories. Ericsson came in second, but had the best score in the implementation category, with the most LTE deployment contracts and subscriber potential. Alcatel-Lucent ranked third overall, but was ranked the [...]

Three infrastructure giants are looking to further the reach of operating support systems through an interoperability agreement designed to simplify the deployment and management process. Nokia Siemens Networks, Ericsson and Huwaei said they have signed a memorandum of understanding to lay the framework for OSS interoperability across their respective offerings. The initiative, dubbed OSSii (interoperability [...]

Wi-Fi provider Boingo Wireless announced agreements to become the first international Wi-Fi provider at three major Chinese airports: Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN), Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA). Boingo says it now provides Wi-Fi at four of the five busiest airports in China, including Beijing Capital International. Boingo also introduced a [...]

American Tower had a strong first quarter, driven by LTE rollouts and continued network investment from the four major U.S. carriers. The company’s total revenue grew 15% year-over-year to $802.7 million for the quarter. Jim Taiclet, American Tower’s CEO, said that there is “robust demand for tower space.” “Leading the charge toward pervasive 4G services [...]

Ericsson says margins weakened during the first quarter as the company worked to win new contracts. The company says long-term trends are positive and investors seem to agree; Ericsson’s shares are up about 4% this morning. The world’s largest telecom equipment vendor earned 1.2 billion Swedish krona ($181 million) on sales of 52 billion krona [...]

Welcome to this week’s round-up of small cell, distributed antenna systems, Wi-Fi and other wireless infrastructure news.  A new report from ABI Research predicts that global LTE investment in base stations and the radio access network – including small cells – will increase by 82.4% in 2013. LTE spending helped to break out of a [...]