March 2015

MTN Group looks to support growing demand driven by mobile banking WASHINGTON – In an effort to support skyrocketing demand, South African telecom player MTN Group on March 20 announced plans to invest $123 million in upgrading and expanding its …

T-Mobile US’ ‘Un-carrier 9.0’ set to disrupt enterprise market Throughout the course of telecommunications history, the pricing alchemy between business and consumer plans has been convoluted at best, and perverted at worst. This started with landline – voice – pricing in …

Mobile operators expanding their voice over LTE services in 2015 want to make sure it’s not a replay of the massive LTE data outages that plagued the industry from 2011 to 2014. One way they’re accomplishing that goal is by revamping …

NFV collaboration targeting small cell layer The European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s NFV Industry Specification Group signed a collaboration agreement with the Small Cell Forum to “explore synergies” between the two organizations in working on network function virtualization technology targeting the …

Vertical Bridge gains over 200 tower sites Independent wireless infrastructure company CiG Wireless announced it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by an affiliate company of Vertical Bridge Holdings. CiG Wireless’ tower portfolio, which includes more than 200 geographically …

Hannover, Germany – On the last day of CeBit15, the Automotive IT Kongress also took place in the city. Presenters included a combination of OEM, telecommunications and IT vendors, and industry experts on the topic of IT in the automotive …

The Small Cell Forum recently released numbers showing that more than 10 million small cells have shipped to date. Analyst Stefan Pongratz of Dell’Oro Group said that small cells saw a “modest ramp” at the end of last year and …

Data pools are growing every day and, with that growth, companies are facing increased pressure to jump in head-first. Many startups are using data to gain an edge on their more established competitors, and executives are taking notice, with 53% …

Nokia radio access equipment covered by 7-year agreement Russian carrier MegaFon will expand its LTE footprint through a 7-year deal with Nokia Networks, which will provide the mobile network operator with radio access equipment. Nokia and MegaFon announced the agreement …

Verizon Wireless scored most victories in RootMetrics’ latest airport rankings The nation’s airports have become a significant testbed for evaluating the strength of mobile networks due to the high concentration of people using their wireless devices while traversing such locations. …

The market for wireless backhaul solutions is growing as operators explore LTE and small cell deployments in areas that are not served by fiber. There are several approaches to wireless backhaul, and now two companies with different solutions are joining …

Hackers have been featured on the news recently as credit cards and passwords have been obtained in breaches, leaving millions to worry about whether their bank accounts or e-mail addresses are secure. However, there is another area that unethical hackers …

2,200 positions cut in Sweden, now 71 cuts in Ireland After announcing plans to cut 2,200 jobs in Sweden earlier this month, networking/software company Ericsson last week told staff at its Dublin facility that 71 more cuts would impact its …

Telecom Italia modernizing network Telecom Italia has returned to profit for the first time in three years, reports the Financial Times. Net income climbed to $1.5 billion in 2014 after a loss of $735 million the year before when results …

HANNOVER, Germany – I had the opportunity to attend a live interview at CeBit15 with Glen Greenwald (in person) and Edward Snowden (via video link). Their commentary on the state of security today and in the future continue to shed …

TD-LTE network build contributes in part to China Mobile profit loss China Mobile’s 2014 profit fell 10%, slightly below market expectations and marking the company’s biggest annual profit drop since 1999. Large expenditures on next-generation network development were the biggest …

AUSTIN, Texas – The makers of Vinli gave out free rides at South by Southwest 2015 to show off their new device that is designed to turn any car into a connected car. We rode along as they demonstrated what …

NLRB ruling does not find direct T-Mobile US infringement, but carrier dinged for broad interpretation T-Mobile US had its labor practices dinged by the National Labor Relations Board, which found that wording in an employee handbook might prevent workers from …

The Competitive Carriers Association’s upcoming Global Expo event, like many of CCA’s past events, will surely not lack for topics. Since CCA’s last event in September, the mobile telecom space has witnessed a record-breaking spectrum auction, postponement of the highly …

Anite signed an agreement to develop advanced multiple-input/multiple-output over-the-air testing approaches with China Telecommunication Technology Labs-Terminals, which is overseen by the China Academy of Telecommunication Research. Anite’s Propsim channel emulators are set to be used for developing MIMO OTA testing to …

FAA gives online retailer Amazon experimental license E-commerce giant Amazon’s ambitions to provide delivery via drone gained some traction on March 19 with federal regulators granting the company an “experimental airworthiness certificate.” The Federal Aviation Administration gave Amazon Logistics permission …

Wireless infrastructure expected to continue growth track CEO of Digital Bridge Marc Ganzi, gave a state of the union of sorts for the wireless infrastructure industry in his keynote address at the South Wireless Summit. He spoke about the robust growth expected in …

LAS VEGAS – The early pioneers in public safety LTE broadband shared some of their experiences in a panel discussion at IWCE 2015, and some of their pain points – probably unsurprisingly – sounded like those of commercial mobile operators, including opposition …

South Wireless Summit discusses carrier activity, market opportunity The fourth annual South Wireless Summit took place this week in Nashville, Tenn. The event, hosted by the South Wireless Summit Association, focuses on educating members of the wireless community. This year there …

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 …