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 those sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
An uphill battle expected for the T-Mo/Sprint merger
Executives from Sprint and T-Mobile US have been hitting the Hill hard seeking to gain consensus for a proposed merger that, if approved, would reduce the U.S. Tier 1 mobile operator market from four to three players. Speaking at the Code Conference in California last week, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, in comments reported by CNBC, said the two companies would have “a tough hill to climb” in terms of regulatory approval. AT&T is currently fighting the Department of Justice regarding its bid to acquire Time Warner and its massive video content holdings and distribution. Despite precedent to the contrary, DoJ and President Trump have long signaled opposition to the vertical merger. Speaking to the T-Mo/Sprint tie up, Stephenson said, “It’s a classic horizontal merger where they are taking a competitor out of the marketplace. Power to them if they get it done.” Asked Friday by Reuters about the deal, Makan Delrahim, of DoJ’s antitrust division, commented on the potential anti-competitive reduction in domestic wireless carriers, something the Obama administration was against. “I don’t think there’s any magical number that I’m smart enough to glean,” he said. Stephenson didn’t give an up or down answer on whether he thinks the deal with pass regulatory muster. … Read more
AT&T’s octocopter for emergency coverage
AT&T has designed an all-weather drone to keep its wireless network “flying” in a disaster. The all-weather Flying COW drone — designed by AT&T with help from manufacturers and first responders — will be one of two types of drones that AT&T will offer for its Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) system. AT&T designed the “Extreme-Weather Drone” to be able to fly through rain or snow and handle tropical wind gusts up to 50 mph. It can handle extreme temperatures (both hot and below freezing). “This is an octocopter drone – a multi-rotor. Four arms with eight rotors on it,” Art Pregler, AT&T’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) program director, told RCR Wireless News. The all-weather Flying COW drone was designed by AT&T working with manufacturers. The drone was built by AT&T in public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), which has contracted with AT&T to provide a nationwide public safety network for first responders. “Unlike a lot of drones where the drone manufacturer comes up with a drone design and then they try to weather-proof it as an afterthought, this drone was designed as an all-weather drone from the initial paper,” says Pregler. “The motors are facing down, the way the air flows through it, even inside of it — the tubes of the structure itself …. Thought was put into the temperatures that it would be operating in, the rain conditions, the snow conditions. It was optimized for that purpose.” The drones come equipped with small cells and antennas. It’s compactness makes it easy to transport and deploy, claims AT&T, adding that it can be “moved quickly to accommodate rapidly changing conditions in an emergency.” … Read more
Marcelo Claure tweets about his time at Sprint
Last month Sprint and T-Mobile US (finally) agreed to merge to better compete against Verizon and AT&T. The combined company will be called T-Mobile and John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile US, will be the CEO of the new operator. May 30 was Marcelo Claure’s last day on the job as CEO of Sprint. He is being elevated to serve as COO of SoftBank, the majority shareholder of Sprint, and executive chairman of Sprint. Former Sprint CFO Michel Combes takes Claure’s place in the top spot. Amid all this movement, Sprint reported full-year and Q4 2017 results marked by prepaid and postpaid net additions and the “best profitability in company history” with operating income of $2.7 billion and “annual net income for the first time in 11 years,” according to the operator. In a series of tweets, Claure looked back on his time at Sprint. … Read more
Ford, Qualcomm and Panasonic to launch C-V2X
Qualcomm Technologies, Ford Motor Company and Panasonic Corporation of North America announced today that they will work together to deploy a cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technologies in Colorado. This is the first U.S. deployment of C-V2X technology. 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) developed C-V2X to operate with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) — radar/lidar, cameras — which are in many cars today. C-V2X is supposed to offer low latency communication among moving vehicles and infrastructure, without involving a cellular network or subscription. C-V2X operates on designated and harmonized 5.9 GHz ITS spectrum. “Recent field test results show a significant range, reliability, and performance advantage of C-V2X direct communications, with more than twice the range and improved reliability compared to 802.11p radio technology,” says today’s press release. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Panasonic already established a relationship to integrate connected vehicle technology in the state of Colorado. The plan is all under the auspices of RoadX, Colorado’s ambitious goal to become crash-free through technology. … Read more
ZTE faces hefty fine from US government before resuming business
Chinese vendor ZTE will have to pay a penalty of up to $1.7 billion to the U.S government before the Trump administration allow the firm to resume business, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The U.S government is also negotiating unrestricted site visits to ZTE’s facilities in China to verify the use of U.S. components. The Chinese firm may also need to provide information about the amount of U.S. components being used in its smartphones and telecom equipment on a website, according to the report. Additionally, ZTE would have to replace its board and management team within the next 30 days as part of a potential deal. American firms provide approximately 25-30% of components in ZTE’s products. Some of the key U.S. suppliers are Qualcomm, Dolby, Intel, Google and Acacia Communications. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross headed to Beijing this weekend to resume trade talks with the Chinese authorities. Negotiations to lift an export ban on ZTE are part of these high-level trade talks. In April, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) banned American firms from selling telecommunications equipment and services to ZTE during a seven-year period after the vendor allegedly did not live up to the terms of an agreement that had been worked out after it illegally shipped telecom equipment to Iran and North Korea. … Read more
Drones expected to boost UK economy
Drones could increase UK GDP by £42 billion, or two per cent, by 2030, according to a new report by financial services firm PwC, with the largest productivity gains in the wholesale and retail trade sector in percentage terms (2.5 per cent) and the public sector in value terms (£11.4 billion). The new research estimates there will be more than 76,000 drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), in use across UK skies by 2030, and 628,000 people working in the drone economy. More than a third (36%) could be utilised by the public sector, it said, mostly performing routine tasks, including deliveries and infrastructure inspections, more efficiently. Transport for London (TfL) handed out its first drones licence last month, to UK civil engineering firm Lanes Rail, to carry out maintenance work on the London Underground network. Lanes Rail is responsible for maintaining and repairing a wide range of assets across the London Underground network for TfL, including track drainage, station buildings, bridges, power sites, and engineering works. The PwC report finds drone technology could help the UK achieve up to £16 billion in net cost savings by 2030 through increased productivity. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
