LTE

Sprint savior? Japan's Softbank could bring badly needed boost

Softbank may be the shot in the arm that Sprint Nextel needs to finally be competitive with the big boys in the U.S.

Sprint and Softbank confirmed early Monday that they had agreed to a deal in which Softbank would spent $20.1 billion to take a 70 percent stake in the company. Softbank will pay shareholders $12.1 billion and invest $8 billion in the business.

But the deal underscores an increasingly evident reality for Sprint: that the growing pressures of the wireless industry are too much for the company to handle alone. It already must deal with … Read more

Sprint LTE trudges ahead to San Francisco, 21 other markets

Sprint Nextel is slowly making some progress on the 4G LTE front.

The carrier, which lags behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T with its LTE network, said today that it would expand into an additional 22 markets -- including San Francisco -- "in the coming months." This follows the company's commitment last month to roll out the service in 100 cities, although it similarly didn't give a specific time frame.

The release of the LTE-enabled iPhone 5 has put a spotlight on just how weak its 4G coverage is relative to its two larger competitors. … Read more

Amazon wins FCC approval to sell Kindle Fire HD

Amazon's new Kindle Fire HD 4G tablet has received clearance from the Federal Communications Commission, Amazon told Reuters today.

Although the device was unveiled last month, Amazon had not yet received the commission's approval to sell the device, which is required of all new wireless communications devices to assure device safety and prevent spectrum interference issues.

Amazon Web pages and e-mails promoting the high-end device included a disclaimer indicating it still required regulatory approval. "We will send you an email asking you to confirm your pre-order of Kindle Fire when it is approved for sale by the … Read more

T-Mobile: Today's 4G LTE is good, but ours will be great

T-Mobile USA may be behind its rivals when it comes to 4G LTE, but that doesn't mean it's mincing words about its ambitions.

AT&T and Verizon Wireless may be able to boast of a super-fast wireless connection now, but T-Mobile believes it can one-up both of them when it finally gets its LTE network rollout going next year.

"LTE today is good, but LTE tomorrow can be great," Ray said in an interview with CNET today. "That's the opportunity we hope to secure and differentiate ourselves with."

The key to T-Mobile'… Read more

Verizon: Our 4G LTE network will soon carry most of our data

SAN DIEGO -- The majority of Verizon Wireless's data traffic will soon be traveling over the company's new 4G LTE network, Verizon Wireless CTO Nicola Palmer said at a press conference at the CTIA's MobileCon tradeshow here Tuesday.

Palmer talked up the carrier's progress on deploying its LTE network. The company announced it would be deploying its 400th market next week and is two months ahead of schedule on its 4G LTE roll-out.

She also noted that 35 percent of Verizon's mobile data traffic traversed the 4G LTE network in September. And she said that … Read more

Verizon aims for voice over LTE in late 2013, early 2014

Verizon Wireless plans to launch voice over LTE services by late 2013 or early 2014, according to a networking executive for the carrier.

Consumer trials will begin in late 2013, with service to follow, likely in the subsequent year, Nicola Palmer, vice president of network and chief technical officer for Verizon Wireless, said in an interview with CNET. The target date is a bit more specific than previously announced, with Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo calling for a rollout in 2013. The company was originally expected to launch the service this year.

Voice over LTE, or VoLTE, moves the … Read more

Verizon to blow past year-end 4G target, covering 417 markets

Verizon Wireless said today that it would surpass its year-end goal of blanketing 400 markets with 4G LTE two months ahead of schedule.

On October 18, the company will have covered 417 U.S. markets with its super-fast wireless network, extending its overwhelming lead over the other carriers. Its 4G LTE was the focal point of the carrier's presentation at the MobileCon wireless trade show this week.

Despite the speedy work, it's sticking with its target of completing the full upgrade by the end of next year, in which its 4G LTE coverage will be comparable to its … Read more

iPhone 5 so far: One road warrior's two-week test

Two weeks in, I've got a better feel for the iPhone 5, both good and bad.

After upgrading from the iPhone 4S to the 5 two weeks ago yesterday, I've been on the road -- bouncing between the east and west coasts. That's plenty of opportunity to test the iPhone 5's mettle.

The good, the bad, the meh:

Wi-Fi: This was the first gotcha. After arriving at my destination in Philadelphia, a Wi-Fi network I needed to access didn't take -- despite working fine with a host of other devices, including an iPhone 3GS and … Read more

These LTE speeds will make you cry

If you want fast 4G, move to Australia.

After looking over recent LTE test results from San Francisco and New York where downloads speeds topped out at 23.6Mbps, I feel an uncontrollable urge to gloat. Our 4G speeds in Australia are up to four times faster, and here's why.

Signal strengths (and weaknesses) First, there are technological differences between the 4G networks in Australia and similar networks in the United States. Significantly, they operate on higher frequencies, with both Tesltra and Optus (two of our biggest carriers) repurposing (mostly) unused 1,800MHz spectrum to deliver 4G services, while … Read more