1. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure describes Sprint as “one of the most difficult turnarounds, probably, in the world.” Claure told The Wall Street Journal he plans to fix Sprint’s “structural challenges” one by one, and he has already stemmed the tide of customer losses. One of Claure’s most visible changes to date has been to level the playing field somewhat for Sprint’s employees. Claure said he did away with reserved parking for executives and opened up office spaces so that people could communicate more easily and see what employees are actually doing in their work spaces. Separately, local media in Sprint’s hometown of Kansas City reports the company is reducing its severance packages for workers who are losing their jobs.
2. InterDigital and Radisys are demonstrating interoperability between InterDigital’s “Internet of Things” platform and an end-to-end LTE network, including Radisys’ ENodeB and evolved packet core. At IoT Korea International this week, the partners connected Radisys’ small cell integrated solution and core network emulator software to InterDigital’s OneMPower platform. InterDigital said OneMPower is the most mature commercially available machine-to-machine platform, and it will be marketed through Wot.io, a data service exchange.
3. PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein commended Congress for introducing bipartisan legislation that would lay the groundwork for future fiber deployments. The Broadband Conduit Deployment Act of 2015 would require federally funded highway projects to include conduit for fiber if they take place in an area expected to need broadband within 15 years. “Given the capital intensity of building broadband networks, taking full advantage of existing highway construction and repair will advance broadband deployment in a smart and efficient way,” said Adelstein.
4. T-Mobile US CEO John Legere commissioned a private plane to skywrite “today” in Basking Ridge, N.J., which is of course the headquarters of Verizon Communications. The company says it is writing the message on behalf of consumers who want Verizon Wireless to end overage penalties.
5. Buckets of rain made this weekend’s Formula 1 race in Austin, Texas, more challenging than usual, and pit crews used wireless data to keep tabs on some of the vehicles as they practiced. Qualcomm Technologies partnered with Mercedes AMG Petronas to download vehicle data in the pit lane via Wi-Fi using the chipmaker VIVE 802.11ac Wi-Fi chips and its Snapdragon 805 processors. “Innovation in motorsport often drives the advancements seen in the consumer auto industry, and we believe this technology, as well as other advanced wireless technologies, has the potential to shape future developments in dedicated short range communications, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications,” said Derek Aberle, president of Qualcomm.
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