T-Mobile US Inc. announced Tuesday it will be launching a new service for its Simple Choice mobile plan customers that allows free video streaming from several services without it cutting into their LTE-data limits. It said in a press release that the new service, called Binge On, will allow users unlimited access to video from services such as Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, HBO Now, Sling TV, Starz and WatchESPN. It added that Verizon Communication Inc.’s GO90 and AT&T’s DirecTV streaming services — owned by companies that operate competing wireless services — will also...
AT&T announced Thursday that its customers can now make WiFi calls from their iPhones while in the U.S. The company said in a blog post that customers’ phones, once set up, will use the WiFi calling setting where there is limited or no cell signal, such as a home or “office with dense building construction.” It said the service is available to customers who have Apple Inc.’s iPhone with iOS 9 installed, and have a postpaid wireless account with the ability for HD voice and a WiFi Internet connection. It noted that calls can only be made within the U.S. and no additional costs will be charged for domestic calls. BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. both recently announced that WiFi calling will be made available to their customers that have the latest iPhone. ...
AT&T recently announced on its website smartphone customers on unlimited data plans can now use up to 22 GB a month before throttling kicks in. Several reports indicated that the threshold was previously 5 MB before...
Google Inc. announced Thursday on its official Android blog it has launched Android Pay. The blog post said that, after downloading the app onto any NFC-enabled Android device, users can use it for payments at more than a million...
U.S. wireless carrier AT&T said Tuesday that it has partnered with ZTE Corp.’s U.S. division to offer the first plug-in vehicle WiFi hotspot device. The device, called ZTE Mobley, can...
Wireless charging creates advantages beyond not having to use cords when refuelling mobile devices with electricity, according one British researcher, though a Canadian technology expert says widespread adoption of such technology is far from certain. James Moar, a research analyst with Juniper Research Ltd. in the United Kingdom, said in a phone...
U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp. is offering free service to customers of DirecTV, the satellite-TV provider that was recently purchased by AT&T, a competitor to Sprint in the mobile market. Sprint said in a press release that between Aug. 28 and Sept. 30, DirecTV customers who opt for Sprint mobile service, or add additional services with Sprint, can receive unlimited talk and text for a year and 2 GB per month of data on up to five lines, if using a non-subsidized smartphone. “DirecTV customers love their TV service, but they shouldn’t have to settle for AT&T...
The FCC announced Friday it has approved the merger of AT&T and cable- and satellite-TV provider DirecTV. FCC said in a press release that the terms of the merger between the largest U.S. telephone and Internet service...
A movement is underway to make wireless Internet access ubiquitous and free in most urban environments, with people's home routers as the source of these public connections. The people behind...
Over the past year, there has been a key change in the Internet of Things (IoT) market, as customers have become more aware of the technology and what it can do for them, according to officials from...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said Wednesday it would fine AT&T $100 million US for slowing down traffic for customers on wireless plans touted as being "unlimited." The FCC said in a press...
The decline of BlackBerry Ltd. as a dominant player in the global smartphone market can be traced largely to its inadequate response to Apple Inc.'s iPhone, say authors of a new book on the subject. Losing the Signal: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of BlackBerry was written by Globe and Mail journalists Jacquie McNish...
New data shows that tablet shipments declined year-over-year in last year's fourth quarter — for the first time in the category’s short market history — though a Canadian trends observer says the cultural impact of tablets isn't going away any time soon. International Data Corp. said in a press...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s AWS-3 auction ended Thursday, and the regulator announced Friday that it had accepted $41.3 billion US in net bids from 31 bidders for 1,611 spectrum licences. The FCC had...
Deutsche Telekom AG CEO Tim Hoettges said in an interview published by American technology website Re/Code on Monday that T-Mobile US Inc., of which it is part-owner, needs to change its approach in order to build a sustainable business. “The question is always the economics in the long term … and earning...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s AWS-3 auction began on Thursday. The auction, which has a minimum price of a little more than $10 billion US and is scheduled for a single day, includes 1,614 licences in the 1695 to 1710 MHz, 1755 to 1780 MHz and 2155 to 2180 MHz bands. The 65 MHz of AWS-3, which can be used for wireless services such as LTE and LTE-Advanced, is available in a 5 MHz unpaired block as well as 5 and 10 MHz paired blocks. The final list of 70 qualified bidders, released by the FCC on Oct. 30, includes AT&T, T-Mobile US Inc., and Verizon Communications Inc. Sprint Corp., America’s third-largest carrier according to Bloomberg News, is not listed as a participant in the auction. Canada’s AWS-3 auction is expected to take place early next year, with Industry Canada saying the results will be...
A feature of Apple Inc.'s new iPads could become a thorn in the side for wireless carriers, Barclays Capital telecom analyst Phillip Huang said Monday. The iPad Air 2, released last week, has a software-based SIM card, or soft-SIM, that allows users to switch between multiple carriers directly through the device as well as use different...
A new technology that is part of the next generation of LTE could help wireless carriers more than double the speed of their networks and make the most out of their limited spectrum holdings. Each spectrum band, be it PCS, AWS or...
Research firm Berg Insight says demand from automakers and the impending shutdown of older networks means the share of the global machine-to-machine communications (M2M) market using LTE and HSPA networks will more than double by...
Last summer, a conflict between the federal government and Canada’s three biggest wireless carriers, centering over rules around the 700 MHz spectrum auction and the prospect of a large U.S. carrier entering the Canadian...
On Wednesday Dish Network Corp. expressed its opposition to two major mergers in the U.S. telecom market in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission. In the letter, Dish urged the American regulator to put a stop to the deals between Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc., valued at $45.2 billion US, and AT&T and DirecTV, valued at $48.5 billion US, not including assumed debt. The first deal would reportedly create the largest cable and Internet provider in the country, and Dish said the merger creates “serious competitive concerns for the broadband and video marketplaces.” “The ability for DISH and other non-dominant players to compete in the broadband and...
Wearable technology that can connect to mobile networks on its own, without being tethered to a cellphone, will establish a presence on the market this year, an AT&T executive reportedly said. An article published Tuesday by...
Telecom companies are turning to outside help in order to manage the floods of data coming from smartphones, set-top-boxes and other consumer technology. Canada’s biggest telecoms — BCE Inc., Rogers Communications...
Sprint Corp. CEO Dan Hesse was quoted in an article published on the website CNet Wednesday as saying a merger, such as one between his company and T-Mobile US Inc., would increase wireless...
WiFi is not necessarily a friend of mobile carriers, though it could be, according to a Denmark-based industry consultant who’s hosting an international summit on WiFi in mid-June. Wireless service providers are...
Two of America’s largest wireless carriers have announced that they will be rolling out voice over LTE technology (VoLTE), with AT&T’s version of the service launching Friday and Verizon Communications Inc.’s...
AT&T announced on Sunday it has reached a deal to buy cable- and satellite-TV provider DirecTV for a total consideration of $67.1 billion US. The direct purchase price of about $48.5 billion US is about a third in cash and...
AT&T subsidiary NextWave Broadband LLC has registered to lobby the federal government, The Lobby Monitor reported (Lobby Monitor subscribers only) on Wednesday. Grant Buchanan, a consultant and...
AT&T on Tuesday said its first quarter featured its strongest year-to-year revenue growth in more than two years. The U.S. telecommunications company said in a press release that revenue in the three months ended March 31 was...
Former BlackBerry Ltd. CEO Thorsten Heins was the third-highest paid executive in 2013 among wireless companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges, according to the website FierceWireless. Based on filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the website said Heins received total compensation of $22 million US in 2013. That included a base salary of $3 million US, plus bonuses, stocks and other supplemental pay of $19 million US, the website said. It more than doubled his previous year’s compensation of $10.3 million US, the article said. BlackBerry announced on Nov. 4 that...
It will go down in history as the great telecom lobby of 2013. BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. lobbied Industry Canada to change the spectrum auction rules favouring a foreign entrant, while Industry Canada...
T-Mobile US Inc.’s vice-president of federal regulatory affairs is holding up Canada’s auction of 700 MHz spectrum as an example of how limiting bidding by bigger wireless players can still result in successful financial results for government. In a Feb. 28 blog, Kathleen Ham praised a rule in the Canadian spectrum auction —...
Rogers Communications Inc. shelled out billions in this year’s 700 MHz spectrum auction for what was once “second-class” spectrum and what could now be the most coveted wireless real...
U.S. telecommunications provider AT&T Inc. said Monday it has launched LTE roaming in Canada through a partnership with Rogers Communications Inc. AT&T said the deal makes it the first U.S. carrier to offer international...