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In-depth: The rapid uptake of LTE in China

LTE in China is projected to reach 1.2 billion subscribers by 2021 Almost two years after the launch, China Mobile said it has approximately 267.3 million LTE subscribers and aims to reach 300 million customers by the end of this year. The telco has recorded a nearly...

Indian operator Reliance to unload stake in tower company

Indian telecom operator Reliance Communications is set to announce the sale of its stake in telecom tower company Reliance Infratel to a private equity firm. According to local press reports, the deal is expected to be announced in the coming days. Reliance expects an enterprise value of...

Telecom Italia aims to sell new stake in Inwit

Telecom Italia plans to keep up to 20% of the infrastructure firm Telecom Italia is looking to sell a part of its Inwit holdings, with CEO Marco Patuano noting "we are ready to send tender invitations to potential bidders for the Inwit stake." Patuano said the company expects...

LTE North America: 6 key takeaways from the show

LTE continues to evolve and present new challenges and opportunities, even as the industry begins to chase "5G" dreams. At last week's LTE North America event, both the current state of LTE features as well as new evolutions within mobile networks and the trends...

Ericsson preps for live 5G trials

Ericsson said it is ready to supply the first radios designed to enable mobile operators to conduct live field trials of "5G" network technology, with Japan's NTT DoCoMo set to trial the equipment next year. The 5G radio prototypes represent phase two of the Ericsson...

Idea Cellular to buy $500M in spectrum from Videocon

Acquisition to bolster 4G network rollout In an effort to boost high-speed data rates, India’s third-largest telco, Idea Cellular, agreed to buy nearly $500 million in spectrum from smaller rival Videocon Telecommunications. The agreement gives Idea the rights to two key spectrum circles in the 1800...

Li-Fi trials hit 1 Gbps throughput

Li-Fi works like Wi-Fi, but relies on optical data transmission Velmenni, an Estonia-based tech startup, is conducting trials of Li-Fi in commercial and industrial settings, and according to reports has achieved data throughput speeds of 1 gigabit per second. Li-Fi transmits data using LED lights. University of...

Alcatel-Lucent wins contract with China Telecom

The deal stipulates deployment of LTE infrastructure in 12 Chinese provinces China Telecom awarded a contract to Alcatel-Lucent to expand the deployment of LTE infrastructure across 12 provinces of China. The Chinese telco aims to expand its LTE network and increase capacity to handle growing consumer...

Small cell demand: VoLTE motivates carriers to spend

U.S. carriers serve hundreds of locations that could get better coverage or more capacity from a small cell, but the benefits of adding the technology do not always justify the cost. One use case that often does seem to justify a small cell is...

UK town deploys public Wi-Fi underground

A big challenge to deploying telecom infrastructure is access to fiber optic cabling – sometimes cables just aren't available where infrastructure needs to be in order to provide end users the value to justify the capital expenditure. The United Kingdom town of Chesham took a novel approach...

Comcast-backed company buys 120 towers

CTI Towers, which is majority-owned by triple-pay giant Comcast, announced the purchase of 120 telecom towers from Vyve Broadband; the portfolio includes tenancy from Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile US and Sprint. In April, InSite Wireless Group bought 294 communication tower sites from CTI Towers for...

AT&T, Boingo upgrade Solider Field with outdoor DAS

A distributed antenna system is a go-to solution for bringing multicarrier cellular connectivity throughout a large venue like a stadium, but the same refined deployment also works for outdoor spaces. At Soldier Field in Chicago – home of the NFL's Chicago Bears – AT&T and...

Small cell virtualization: centralized vs. baseband at the edge

DALLAS — It is becoming widely accepted that small cell networks are essential to cost-effectively bolster network capacity. At this year’s LTE North America conference, Amit Jain, VP of business development at SpiderCloud Wireless, spoke about the role virtualization will play in the densification of...

Is the shared spectrum revolution upon us?

DALLAS—Finding a way to strike a balance between low cost, versatile unlicensed spectrum and the quality and predictability of licensed spectrum is a topic of interest at this year’s LTE North America conference, but many are unsure how to make that a reality. Hank Kafka,...

LTENA 2015: LTE still evolving, but 5G takes mindshare

LTENA 2015: LTE still reaching for global ubiquity DALLAS – For as much as the wireless industry is abuzz over "5G," a few things stood out in presentations at LTE North America: LTE is still a relatively young technology with a long life ahead of it, and...

XL Axiata launches 4G LTE services in Jakarta

The Indonesian telco aims to reach 35 additional cities with LTE by year-end Indonesian mobile operator XL Axiata commercially launched LTE services in the country’s capital city of Jakarta, The Jakarta Post reported. XL Axiata said it expects to reach 35 cities across the country...

ExteNet sale shows investor confidence in DAS, small cells

Investor Marc Ganzi has completed his company's purchase of ExteNet Systems, raising more than $1.4 billion in debt and equity. That amount represents the price paid for ExteNet as well as "dry powder" to invest in ExteNet's business and in future acquisitions. "We plan to...

LTENA 2015: Antennas evolve to meet challenges

DALLAS – Antennas took center stage on the first day of the LTE North America conference, with discussions centered around the evolving environment for these frequently overlooked contributors to the functionality of wireless networks. Ken Rehbehn, principal analyst for the mobile radio access network at 451...

How DAS and cloud automation are changing network testing

Variables such as cable performance, throughput levels, connectivity and passive intermodulation are key indicators of network functionality. Contractors must test and measure all these factors in order for carriers to sign off on a site activation. With the growth of small cells and distributed...

Ericsson bringing video service to the third world

NuVu video subscription on-demand service set to launch in Q1 2016 on Airtel Nigeria network Continuing its aggressive move into the television content delivery space, Ericsson this week announced a new streaming video on-demand service called NuVu, set to become available next year for some...

Huawei, Telefónica sign 5G development deal

Agreement includes joint evaluation and research activities Chinese information and communications technology provider Huawei and Spanish telecommunications firm Telefónica have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding to focus on the development of "5G" technologies. Based on the MoU, which was inked in Hong Kong earlier this month,...

IPass expanding Wi-Fi reach with Deutsche Telekom

Wi-Fi network provider IPass, continuing on its growth arc, this week expanded its relationship with Deutsche Telekom to allow Deutsche's enterprise customers to access the IPass network of more than 20 million Wi-Fi hot spots around the world. Deutsche Telekom VP of business Hans Panse...

Phoenix Tower buys 600 towers from T-Mobile US

Following up on an August contract announcement, Phoenix Tower International has finalized an acquisition of ownership/management of 600 tower sites from carrier T-Mobile US. Phoenix Tower owns and operates towers in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. The company is based in Boca Raton,...

Ericsson signs frame agreement with Ooredoo Group

Deal includes 2G, 3G and 4G equipment and small cells solutions Swedish vendor Ericsson and Qatar-based telecom group Ooredoo have signed a frame agreement for the supply of radio, core and transmission solutions, as well as related implementation and integration services. The agreement also covers Ericsson's...