AT&T’s government contract, Verizon’s small cell progress
1. AT&T signed a five-year contract with the U.S. Census Bureau, which will use the carrier’s LTE network and “Internet of Things” services to enable census data collectors to use mobile devices. As many as 20,000 people will be employed to collect census data, but AT&T said the U.S. government will pay the carrier based on data usage rather than the number of network subscribers. AT&T’s IoT platform will help the agency control and monitor its wireless network. The Census Bureau will have the ability to activate SIM cards within its network.
2. Verizon Wireless is progressing with small cell deployments in San Francisco despite scattered opposition from the community. According to San Francisco’s local CBS affiliate, 249 protests have been filed during the past two years against operators and their agents, but so far only one permit has been revoked. However, community protests like those in San Francisco may highlight a need for federal officials to re-examine radiation guidelines. Verizon Wireless is currently working to deploy roughly 400 small cells in and around downtown San Francisco, and is deploying distributed antenna systems in the western part of the city in partnership with Crown Castle.
3. American Tower said Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile US continue to be its most active customers, but that its largest customer is still AT&T Mobility. The company leases space on its towers to all four nationwide carriers as well as a number of other operators around the world. American Tower said late last week that third-quarter revenue was $1.2 billion and earnings before depreciation, interest and taxes were $779 million.
4. The oldest subway system in the United States now has a DAS that touches all stations and lines. InSite Wireless and Solid Technologies said today that they have extended their underground DAS to Boston’s Silver Line, with Sprint as the lead carrier. Solid’s DAS equipment was also used in the New York subway. While many DAS are designed to increase cellular capacity, subway DAS are designed for coverage since the macro network does not penetrate underground.
5. Huawei is reportedly getting ready to launch a user-experience design studio in the U.S., and has hired a former iPhone designer to help. According to LinkedIn, designer Abigail Sarah Brody has been with Huawei since September, but the Chinese company did not announce its plans for a design center until more recently. Last week, the company reported a 63% surge in smartphone sales, and said that roughly a third of the devices sold were mid- to high-end phones.
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