Network Infrastructure

Amazon rainforest to join 4G LTE lineup Telecom giant Ericsson is working with Telefonica’s subsidiary in Peru to connect schools, health care centers and other rural parts of the Amazon rainforest to a LTE network. The two companies tout the …

Tech research firm Ovum is forecasting telecom capital expenditures over the next five years will top $2 trillion. In the United States, Ovum tallied some $364 billion in capex this year with mobile operators accounting for 59% of that spending …

AT&T’s Paula Doublin likes to say that she is part of the “greatest business on Earth.” As AVP of antenna solutions, DAS and small cells at AT&T, Doublin oversees in-building wireless projects throughout the United States. She says her job …

Claudia Bacco, Managing Director – EMEA for RCR Wireless News, has spent her entire career in telecom, IT and security. Having experience as an operator, software and hardware vendor and as a well-known industry analyst, she has many opinions on the …

For T-Mobile US, part of being the “Un-carrier” may include using unlicensed spectrum to offer LTE services. The company will reportedly deploy LTE in the 5 GHz spectrum band, the same band used for 802.11ac Wi-Fi. T-Mobile US CTO Ray …

Nokia’s new CEO said he hopes to grow the company through acquisitions, and now a German media report says Nokia is considering a merger with its direct competitor, Alcatel-Lucent. Germany’s Manager Magazin reports that the two companies have been in …

With the ExteNet DAS deployment at the Barclays Center earning the distinction of providing the fastest cellular speeds of any NBA arena, company officials attribute its success to a strong partnership with the venue owner along with complimentary network services. …

Claudia Bacco, Managing Director – EMEA for RCR Wireless News, has spent her entire career in telecom, IT and security. Having experience as an operator, software and hardware vendor and as a well-known industry analyst, she has many opinions on …

As the FCC’s Auction 97 apparently enters its final stages, many in the tower industry are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief. Carrier spectrum spending coupled with relentless mobile data price wars could mean higher costs and lower revenues, …

Diameter signaling controllers are like traffic cops for LTE networks, prioritizing and directing traffic to the right network elements at the right time. As more of these network elements move to software, the role of diameter signaling is set to …

4G Americas look back, ahead Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News over the next two weeks will begin to look back at 2014 and ahead to 2015. This will include retrospective columns and “best-of” lists looking back over the past 12 …

Lawsuit claims Wi-Fi service costs consumers Comcast’s attempt to spread the reach of its Internet signal by tapping into its customers’ Wi-Fi routers has run into legal interference as the beginnings of a potential class-action lawsuit has surfaced in Northern …

Vertical Bridge buys over $500M worth of towers The holiday shopping spree continues this week. Last week it was American Tower buying up towers. This week Vertical Bridge struck two large deals to increase their tower portfolio. The first is with …

Network traffic is increasing dramatically and signaling is set to grow even faster as a result of VoLTE and legacy interworking. The Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine to Machine (M2M) communications will further burden the signaling network infrastructure. As …

More than 100 companies that have partnered with CommScope on distributed antenna system projects have been notified that CommScope will offer free DAS training for its partners’ female employees. The need for DAS specialists is exploding, and many systems integrators …

AUSTIN, Texas – As connected cars fuel the next evolution in the “Internet of Things,” what was once a simple means of transportation is now ready to connect like never before. In 2015, General Motors and AT&T are teaming up …

Carrier claims VoLTE coverage across 17 states AT&T Mobility re-invigorated its voice over LTE position, updating its deployment plans that should see the carrier attain equal footing with rivals in the VoLTE race. The carrier said it’s supporting VoLTE calls …

AUSTIN, Texas – Industry panelists at the IEEE GlobeCom show pointed to 100G data capacity speeds in dense metro areas as a quickly emerging HetNet trend. Buddy Shaw of Windstream Communications said carriers are working hard to keep up with …

One of the toughest environments for cellular connectivity continues to be jam-packed sports venues where fans are increasingly looking to share their experience with those at the end of their social media channels. Wefi recently released a report showing the …

Carrier aggregation helps Nokia Networks, Ooredoo Qatar, China Mobile achieve 4.1 Gbps speed China Mobile and Nokia Networks, along with Ooredoo Qatar have announced a new LTE-A speed record with carrier aggregation. The three companies said they reached 4.1 Gbps per second …

The International Telecommunication Union has finalized approval of G.fast, the broadband standard designed to deliver 1 Gigabit per second broadband speeds over existing copper wires. G.fast is meant to be an alternative to fiber-to-the-home for service providers that want to …

UPC Business, a major Irish network services provider, announced the acquisition of operator Bitbuzz, which provides Wi-Fi hot spots to hotels, airports, pubs and other locations. Terms of the Dec. 4 deal have not been made public. Bitbuzz Managing Director …

Fiber infrastructure expansions from Zayo and Southern Telecom are poised to bring better connectivity options to three American markets. On Dec. 4, Zayo Group Holdings, a publicly traded bandwidth infrastructure provider based in Boulder, Colo., announced an acquisition of IdeaTek …

Google Fiber is now in Austin, Texas.  Austinites can now experience Gigabit Internet speed. In conjunction with the rollout of Fiber, Google opened a multimedia community meeting place they call “Fiber Space” in downtown Austin. Head of Google Fiber in …

In infrastructure news this week, Ericsson and Reliance Communications are expanding their relationship, as are several network equipment providers. Alcatel-Lucent and Hewlett-Packard are integrating one another’s products into their portfolios, while Cisco and IBM will integrate their data center solutions. Ericsson …