BROWSING: Opinion

Reader Forum: Wi-Fi holds the key to mobile operator strategy

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...

Worst of the Week: Priced to move … or not

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....

Reader Forum: Hackers and new forms to maliciously explore DNS

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, but...

Reader Forum: The future of the carrier

What the wireline Internet has taught the world is that eventually power shifts from the ones providing the pipes to the ones providing value-added service. Unless net neutrality goes away, I expect this same phenomenon will take place in the wireless domain.

Worst of the Week: I know you are, but what am I?

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....

Reader Forum: Permission-based mobile marketing a win-win for consumers and brands

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,...

Reader Forum: 5 key steps to leveraging buying power among wireless telecom carrier partners

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,...

Analyst Angle: Mobile broadband hits home

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...

Reality Check: More features, more components, more innovative solutions

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. Mobile consumers are being promised -- and want -- 3G and 4G smartphones and other wireless devices...

Reader Forum: Dealing with density: the big move to smaller cells

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,...

Reader Forum: Affording the upgrade: the new world of network intelligence

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,...

Worst of the Week: My way or the highway

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.

Analyst Angle: No consensus on which patents are essential to LTE

Mobile phone intellectual property rights (IPR) licensing significantly includes patents that are “essential” to implement various standards including GSM, CDMA, HSPA and LTE. Purported IPR valuations including those derived from essential patent ownership “determinations” are subject to great uncertainties, inaccuracies and biases.

Reality Check: Why 95% of applications are quickly abandoned – and how to avoid becoming a statistic

Many apps are quickly abandoned, especially free ones. For example, less than 5% of smartphone owners are still using free apps 30 days after downloading them. Understanding why the vast majority of apps are quickly abandoned is key for developing ones that are the exception to the rule.

Reality Check: regulatory challenges for Brazilian MVNOs

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. Recently authorized by Anatel, the Brazilian Telecommunications Government Agency, the two pioneer mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), Porto Seguro Telecomunicações...

Reader Forum: Farewell to the “out of office” era

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, but...

Reader Forum: No shock over ‘bill shock’

The FCC has announced that wireless customers will begin receiving real-time alerts next year if they are about to go over their monthly voice, data or text-message limits. While this is a typical practice for some operators, making it mandatory is a favorable development for both U.S. carriers and their consumers – and, based on carriers’ widespread acceptance of the new standards, they are well aware of this fact.

Reader Forum: Moving from data access to data experience

As data consumption continues to skyrocket, service providers are coming to terms with the fact that a once voice-centric market is rapidly turning into a data-centric one. Consumption of data on mobile networks is being driven by a perfect storm of ubiquitous mobile broadband, smart connected devices and new data services. While the growth in data consumption may be exponential, the growth in data revenues is somewhat less stellar. Service providers around the globe are tackling the very real issues of how to best monetize data services while ensuring the best quality of experience.

Worst of the Week: Choke job

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....

Analyst Angle: Thoughts on the Caribbean DTH Market

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. Over the past two decades, I’ve seen many telecom companies define their geographic reach as encompassing the...

Reader Forum: Harvesting the benefits of refarmed spectrum

Operators are desperate for spectrum that will facilitate LTE migration. By 2020, Morgan Stanley predicts that there will be more than 10 billion connected devices globally. Consumers increasingly expect access to data anywhere and on any device, placing increasing pressure on mobile networks. LTE offers operators the chance to relieve some of this pressure and deliver data at a low cost per bit and low latency.

Reader Forum: What does the future hold for fulfillment?

Service fulfillment is one of the twin pillars of the traditional OSS/BSS architecture, turning customer orders into active communication services and mirroring a parallel flow of chargeable records from network to bill. But these straightforward days are fast disappearing – are we now witnessing fulfillment’s final finale?

Reality Check: Is Sprint a comeback kid?

Sprint is, with a quiet resolve, becoming the market leader in premium prepaid services (more about that below). They are growing, due to both a price hike on data (in the footsteps of their peers) as well as subscribers.

Reality Check: M-commerce in Latin America

Contrary to what we might have once believed, the mobile phone is the vehicle that will become the basis of all convergent channels. Before, it was thought that this main vehicle would be the TV or even the computer, but the mobile phone has won this battle -- not only with its incredible growth in units but also because these small devices incorporate more tech features every day.