T-Mobile gives users unlimited video from select services

Media | 11/11/2015 3:29 pm EST

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...

AT&T supports WiFi calling

telecom | 10/08/2015 7:49 pm EDT

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...

AT&T increases throttling threshold to 22GB

telecom | 09/16/2015 4:03 pm EDT

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 rolls out Android Pay

telecom | 09/11/2015 2:14 pm EDT

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...

AT&T announces first plug-in WiFi hotspot device for vehicles

Media | 09/08/2015 5:11 pm EDT

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 be plugged into a car’s on-board diagnostics II port and once the vehicle is turned on it will power the device and create a WiFi connection, AT&T said in a press release. It also noted that ZTE Mobley is compatible with most vehicles 1996 and newer, and will allow up to five devices to...

‘Wireless’ concept extends to charging

Media | 08/28/2015 6:49 pm EDT

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...

Sprint offers free service to DirecTV customers

telecom | 08/27/2015 7:21 pm EDT

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...

FCC approves AT&T, DirecTV merger

telecom | 07/24/2015 7:11 pm EDT

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...

Digital activists push for free wireless Internet for all

telecom | 07/10/2015 6:50 pm EDT

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...

Telecom leaders sell IoT services to increasingly savvy market

telecom | 06/29/2015 8:14 pm EDT

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...

AT&T to be fined $100M US for throttling

telecom | 06/17/2015 8:09 pm EDT

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...

Fumbled response to iPhone sealed BlackBerry’s fate: book authors

telecom | 05/25/2015 5:15 pm EDT

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...

Tablet’s social impact remains despite sales slowdown: expert

Media | 02/02/2015 9:04 pm EST

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...

U.S. AWS-3 auction raises more than $41B US

Media | 01/30/2015 3:00 pm EST

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 previously said the auction had seen $44.9 billion US in gross bidding, and in Friday’s release the regulator said the difference was due to auction rules surrounding withdrawn bids and interim payments. The auction parcelled out 65 MHz of spectrum in different slices in hundreds of regions across the country and was the highest-earning spectrum sale the FCC has...

T-Mobile ‘un-carrier’ approach unsustainable: owner

telecom | 01/19/2015 7:40 pm EST

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...

FCC begins AWS-3 auction

telecom | 11/13/2014 3:27 pm EST

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...

Apple’s soft-SIM could hurt carriers: Huang

telecom | 10/20/2014 8:24 pm EDT

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...

New technology promises to do more with less spectrum

telecom | 08/27/2014 8:28 pm EDT

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...

LTE, HSPA use for M2M to double by 2018: report

telecom | 08/25/2014 3:06 pm EDT

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 2018. The consumer market has embraced LTE since its worldwide rollout in late 2010 and 2011, with its faster speeds and more efficient use of power and network bandwidth, making it a boon for both users and wireless providers. Despite its advantages, only 20 per cent of M2M devices use LTE or HSPA connectivity, according to a Friday release from Berg Insight, and...

One year later, could the wireless wars re-ignite?

telecom | 07/30/2014 9:03 pm EDT

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...

Dish tells FCC to block mergers on ‘serious competitive concerns’

telecom | 07/10/2014 4:14 pm EDT

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...

Standalone wearables on the way this year: AT&T

telecom | 07/09/2014 3:22 pm EDT

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...

Telecoms looking for help to manage flood of big data

telecom | 07/02/2014 7:11 pm EDT

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 CEO says merger would increase competition: report

telecom | 06/25/2014 4:51 pm EDT

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 could help wireless industry, consultant says

telecom | 05/30/2014 5:29 pm EDT

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...

AT&T, Verizon launch VoLTE services

telecom | 05/22/2014 8:17 pm EDT

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 reaches deal to buy DirecTV

telecom | 05/19/2014 7:54 pm EDT

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 division registers to lobby Canadian government

telecom | 05/08/2014 2:55 pm EDT

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 lawyer with McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Toronto, registered to lobby on May 5 on behalf of NextWave Broadband LLC, which is part NextWave Wireless Inc., a developer of wireless broadband products and technologies for mobile devices and network operators. AT&T completed an acquisition of NextWave Wireless last year for about $600 million US. Buchanan registered to talk to the government on...

AT&T reports fastest revenue growth in years

telecom | 04/23/2014 8:25 pm EDT

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 boss ranked third-highest paid wireless exec

telecom | 04/16/2014 7:44 pm EDT

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...

Industry Canada lobbied AT&T, too

telecom | 03/17/2014 2:50 pm EDT

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 exec praises Canadian spectrum auction

telecom | 03/06/2014 7:00 pm EST

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 —...

‘Undesirable’ spectrum now key to Rogers mobile-video plans

Media | 03/05/2014 5:09 pm EST

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 estate in the country, according to Nordicity analyst Stephan Meyer. Rogers spent $3.2 billion in the auction, the majority of which went to snapping up 20-year licences for contiguous A and B paired blocks of 700 MHz spectrum in every major wireless market in the country. The A block was previously “undesirable,” Meyer said in a phone interview, because carriers in the United...

AT&T launches LTE roaming in Canada with Rogers

Media | 12/09/2013 8:27 pm EST

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...