March 2015

On my first day at Aviat Networks 6 years ago, I met one of the company’s most insightful and interesting employees – a certain sales director of Irish descent for those who think they can figure it out – which turned …

They say “communications is a close-knit industry” and I think that’s a pretty accurate description after taking the 08.40 FGC train from Plaça d’Espanya to the Fira Gran Via – temporary home to the massive Mobile World Congress conference. Fortunately …

NFV demo through partnership with Intel, OpenStack Oracle Communications claims that through a partnership with Intel and parts of the OpenStack platform is has produced the first successful demonstration of carrier-grade network performance using network function virtualization. Oracle said the …

The consumer obsession with Apple products is hurting American regional carriers, even though Apple is not the best device on the market. That was a major thrust of discussion at the Competitive Carrier Association’s 2015 Global Expo this week in …

Several federal agencies have agreed to explore collaborative testing to develop better methods of spectrum sharing, and are establishing a new joint testing network. The Department of Commerce and Department of Defense have established the National Advanced Spectrum and Communications Test …

Contract impacts more than 100,000 phone numbers each day The Federal Communications Commission has conditionally approved Ericsson’s Telcordia to administer the number portability service that allows customers to keep their phone numbers when switching carriers. The commissioners voted 5-0 in …

Tasteless Apple image comes ahead of rumored smartphone release Leshi TV (LeTV) CEO Jia Yeuting this week posted a photo to his Weibo blog page that depicts Nazi leader Adolf Hitler wearing a red arm band feature the Apple logo. The image …

Wi-Fi shared by AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile US and Verizon By 2017, Transit Wireless expects to have a robust Wi-Fi network deployed in some 279 New York City subway stations. The company, which heads up the deployments, has already wired more …

A look inside the life of a tower climber RCR Wireless News reporter Joey Jackson attended South Wireless Summit last week and had the opportunity to talk to some tower climbers. They provided insight into the life of a tower …

Those affected by the Sprint service outage across portions of the Midwest have had their service restored after the carrier’s network went down for about three hours Wednesday night. The outage affected many major metropolitan areas including Indianapolis, Chicago and …

A team recently set a new world record by driving from the northernmost point of Europe – Nordkapp, Norway – to the southernmost point of Africa – Cape Agulhas – 19,000 kilometers in nine days as part of the Cape …

This week I spoke with Gareth Ragg, strategic director for TU Automotive about big data and the connected car. Everyone across the telecommunications and IT industry is talking about big data. This isn’t a new topic, so it shouldn’t be …

Sprint device offer targeted at its lease program; taps Telefonica for international roaming Samsung devices may still lack the cache of Apple’s iPhone lineup, but that’s not stopping mobile operators from taking the impending launch of the latest Samsung Galaxy …

Ericsson notes NFV, cloud conversations beginning, biz models set for fundamental change ATLANTA – The virtualization revolution that is hitting the mobile industry’s largest operators is not lost on smaller players, who will need to keep pace with technology evolutions …

Big data analytics lets carriers identify and solve network issues ATLANTA — In the crowded and competitive carrier space, network operators are looking for the best ways to leverage big data analytics to keep up with consumer demand. According to …

T-Mobile US is betting that the combination of unlimited data, Samsung’s newest smartphone and free Netflix will be too good to resist. The “un-carrier” said that 179 million Americans are “stuck” in contracts or device payment plans with “old school” …

Sprint network outages in heartland, restored but not without frustration Major Sprint network outages left large Midwestern cities such as Indianapolis, Chicago and Cincinnati without cell coverage. In a message to customers, Sprint said, “Customers are unable to access voice services …

AT&T Wi-Fi—Small Site can be installed by customer Targeting the consumer expectation of free Wi-Fi, AT&T on March 26 announced its Small Site solution, which is designed to provide easy deployment and cost-effective connectivity to small businesses. The new product …

ATLANTA – Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure added a bit of “big carrier” luster to the CEO panel at this week’s Competitive Carriers Association Global Expo event, as well as taking the stage for the first time in front of mobile …

AT&T set a record for data usage on their network at this year’s South by Southwest music, film and interactive festival in Austin, Texas. The carrier giant reports more than 37 Terabytes of data traffic on their network during the event. That is …

Telehealth has been a goal of healthcare providers and network operators for more than 20 years, and now advances in mobile technology are finally making remote access to healthcare affordable and scalable. Tablets and smartphones are facilitating doctor-patient communication and …

Spectrum auction winners haven’t been revealed Although the winners haven’t been disclosed, an Indian government spectrum auction ended on March 25 after 19 days and 115 rounds of bidding. The spectrum auction raised more than $17.5 billion, which is 36% …

Spectrum auctions, net neutrality and show expansion ATLANTA – RCR Wireless News caught up with Competitive Carriers Association President and CEO Steve Berry on the show floor of this week’s Global Expo event in Atlanta. Berry touched on a number …

Verizon, AT&T, CenturyLink and other members want net neutrality review The US Telecom Association, which counts carriers Verizon Communications, AT&T, Alaska Communications and many others as members, on March 23 asked a federal appeals court for a review of the …

Brazil’s antitrust agency, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, gave Telefónica the green light to acquire GVT on March 25. Following the approval, the local unit of the Spanish group announced changes in executive leadership. GVT CEO Amos Genish will take the …