March 2015

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 …

Google will partner with both T-Mobile US and Sprint as it launches its mobile virtual network operator service in the coming weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal. The software giant is reportedly planning to use both carrier networks, as …

Vodafone plan to include 16 weeks of fully paid leave Telecommunications giant Vodafone Group said by the end of this year it plans to implement a mandatory minimum global maternity policy across the organization that will include at least 16 …

Fourth-quarter financial results for most tower companies have come and gone, and now with NATE Unite wrapped up as well, there’s been a lull on the national/international tower stage. However, that doesn’t mean nothing’s going on. Mobile World Congress has been …

BARCELONA, Spain – NXP showcased its vision for the connected car of the future this week at Mobile World Congress. The topics highlighted not only addressed typical car connectivity functions, but also autonomous driving and integration via vehicle-to-x. Starting with the …

Kyocera Torque durability demonstrated at MWC 2015 BARCELONA, Spain – Kyocera may not be a company associated with handsets in Europe, but it’s looking to change that perception. With the recent announcement of Kyocera’s entry into this market with the Torque, …

Brazilian telecom operator Oi has begun a project to implement an optical transport network aimed at a 57-times increase in its backbone data transmission capacity. The OTN project covers 30,000 kilometers reaching 12 cities, including Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte …

SK Telecom announces trio of MoUs tapping into LTE network experience South Korean telecom provider SK Telecom said it has signed memorandum of understandings at this week’s Mobile World Congress event with a trio of partners in a move to …

AT&T Mobility replaces T-Mobile US for all Audi in-car cellular connections AT&T Mobility picked up the rest of Audi of America’s in-car connectivity business, announcing at this week’s Mobile World Congress event that all U.S.-based 2016 Audi models equipped with …

Carriers eyeing spectrum, IoT and 5G; devices diversifying in price BARCELONA, Spain – Jeff Wang, senior partner at IBB Consulting, attended Mobile World Congress 2015 to take a look at major trends playing out in the carrier and device spaces. …

Increasing use of mobile data service is driving wireless network service issues, according to the latest network quality survey by J.D. Power. The report also crowned Verizon Wireless as the operator with the best overall network performance. Since 2014, the occurrence of …

Changing channels: small cell vendors find new path to market Small cell vendors continue to tailor their solutions for carrier partners, but at the same time these companies are finding a new path to market through makers of Wi-Fi access …

BARCELONA, Spain — The growth in smartphone penetration and adoption of 3G services benefited logistics company Celistics. The company, which is focused on Latin America, said it managed 192 million device units last year, which was a 50% increase compared …

Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy …

Ericsson Internet of everything plans focus on public safety, transport and utilities BARCELONA, Spain – Ericsson executives laid out a grand vision for a connected future at Mobile World Congress 2015 with an emphasis on adding network intelligence to the public …

Telefónica to tap HP’s OpenNFV platform to drive NFV, SDN, cloud transformation Spain-based telecommunications giant Telefónica reported a partnership with Hewlett-Packard to act as the technology provider and systems integrator for Telefónica’s virtualization infrastructure, which is dubbed UNICA. That program …

Vodafone Netherlands will be the first operator to deploy Ericsson’s RBS 6402 launched last year at the Consumer Electronics Show. The RBS 6402 targets venues that are too small to need Ericsson’s Radio Dot small cell solution. Vodafone Netherlands will …

Samsung is down but definitely not out, Lenovo offers a clear picture of its future plans and Microsoft makes an offer that may be hard to refuse. Mobile World Congress smartphone highlights All images courtesy GSM Arena. Samsung Galaxy S6: A real …

BARCELONA, Spain – Of the “five waves” of computing, the “Internet of Things” is quickly becoming the largest factor in the ongoing evolution of telecom computing, though that push is seen as coming from new use cases and not the actual …

Cisco: connected world driving business value BARCELONA, Spain – Networking infrastructure giant Cisco Systems made numerous major announcements at Mobile World Congress 2015, all dedicated to the theme of “transformation through innovation.” John Chambers, CEO and chairman of the board, …

For the first time since 2011, Apple has taken the top spot in the global smartphone market, according to the analysts at Gartner. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models propelled Apple to a new record in the last three …

Infonetics Research report found robust SDN plans across North America The market for software-defined networking solutions is expected to blossom over the next several years, with robust SDN opportunities for both incumbent and new entrants, according to a new report …

Deutsche Telekom said it is planning to invest more than $6.68 billion in network expansion across Europe over the next three years. DT, Europe’s largest phone company, announced that it has connected the first three of 10 countries in its planned European network: …

It is shaping up to be a very interesting 2015 in the world of wireless infrastructure. As operators and investors evaluate how to play their cards this year and beyond, there are several key areas that need to be factored in to …

In the face of unstoppable corporate and consumer adoption of mobile devices, security and privacy implications of cloud and mobile are a deepening concern for many security professionals. Most organizations are just beginning to adopt and integrate “bring-your-own-device” policies, putting …