U.S. based mobile phone operator has reportedly bought wireless spectrum from Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks for US$ 3.6 billion. According to reports, Comcast will receive US$ 2.3 billion for the sale, while Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks will receive US$ 1.1 billion and US$ 189 million respectively.

As per sources, this agreement would enable the three companies to provide their customers with wireless services using Verizon’s network, while at the same time enabling the wireless operator to sell the products of these cable companies.

Verizon is not the only operator attempting to increase its wireless spectrum in order to meet the increasing demands by customers for faster web browsing. AT&T has been at loggerheads with the FCC and the US Justice Department to gain approval for its proposed US$ 39 billion merger with T-Mobile.

 

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Cox Communications has launched its own wireless phone network in Orange County, Calif., Omaha, Neb., and Hampton Roads, VA

According to the company, it is offering a lineup of smart phones running Google’s Android operating system, including the HTC Desire, HTC Hero, HTC Wildfire, LG Axis and Motorola Milestone.

Cox, claims that it is the first cable provider to also offer mobile phone service and is offering a feature called MoneyBack Minutes” which will refund up to $20 a month to customers for unused minutes.

The Company will also send free text alerts to subscribers warning them before they reach their monthly limits for minutes and messages.

Sprint will be handling roaming service when Cox mobile customers are out of the company’s service area in the U.S.

Cox is the nation’s third-largest cable TV provider, behind Comcast and Time Warner.

Clearwire Corporation , a leading provider of wireless broadband services and operator of the first 4G network in the country, today announced the availability of CLEAR(R) 4G, take-it-with-you internet service for businesses and consumers in Sacramento. With CLEAR, anyone can now use the internet at speeds four times faster than 3G* — whether at home, in the office, or on-the-go within CLEAR coverage.

In Sacramento, CLEAR covers nearly 1.2 million people. Regionally, service extends out to Davis to the West, to Elk Grove in the South, to Roseville/Folsom out to the East and Natomas to the North. A detailed coverage map of CLEAR 4G service is available at www.clear.com/coverage.

“Whether as a critical link for the Pony Express or for the first transcontinental railroad, Sacramento has long been at the forefront of this country’s ever-growing need to communicate. With today’s launch, Sacramento reinforces its historical position as a communications hub and becomes the anchor to Clearwire’s 4G network in the Central Valley,” said Allan Lamb, regional general manager for CLEAR. “For the first time, capital city consumers are able to access the content they normally enjoy at home or work wirelessly around Sacramento at an affordable price and without data limits.”

For a limited time, new customers can take advantage of CLEAR’s online-only mobile internet promotion to receive a 50% discount on their service plan for the first two months, with overnight shipping included and no activation fee. This promotion is available at www.clear.com/sacramento.

A CLEAR Difference

The CLEAR experience is similar to Wi-Fi but without the short-range limitations. CLEAR uses wireless 4G technology that differs from Wi-Fi because it provides service areas measured in miles, not feet. CLEAR also offers average mobile download speeds of 3 to 6 mbps with bursts over 10 mbps.* Outside the CLEAR 4G service area, dual-mode 4G/3G modems keep users continually connected by leveraging Sprint’s 3G data network.

With CLEAR, people stay better connected and more productive. For example:

A travelling business executive no longer needs to seek out Wi-Fi hotspots or be constrained by the speeds and limitations of 3G modem cards; A college student can now have affordable internet service whether at home, on campus or on-the-go; A commuter can now work on large files or stream their favorite shows while riding the bus or train; A busy parent can now keep kids occupied studying or playing games in the back of the family minivan.

Unlike service plans from traditional wireless carriers which cap data usage, CLEAR offers unlimited 4G usage plans that do not require long-term service contracts. In most markets unlimited 4G coverage from CLEAR starts at $35 for the home while unlimited mobile plans start as low as $45. Bundled service plans such as Home and Voice start at $50 per month.

Simply Plug-In and Go

Clearwire offers several ways to connect to CLEAR 4G services — via a modem, mobile device, or a 4G-embedded laptop or netbook.

Clear Spots(R): Clear Spots are personal mobile hotspots that allow users to easily and securely share unlimited internet access anywhere CLEAR has coverage simultaneously with up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices. The Clear Spot 4G brings 4G to Wi-Fi devices such as laptops, smartphones, and portable gaming devices. The Clear Spot 4G+ allows power users and road warriors to stay connected across the U.S. by automatically switching from 4G and connecting to Sprint’s 3G nationwide network outside the 4G coverage area. The iSpot(TM) is made exclusively for Apple mobile devices** including the iPad(TM), iPod touch(R) and iPhone(R). The Clear Spot 4G and iSpot each cost $99 or the Clear Spot 4G can be leased for $5 a month. The Clear Spot 4G+ costs $225 or can be leased for $9 per month. Clear Spots can be purchased at www.clear.com/spot and from CLEAR stores and authorized dealers.

Clear 4G+ Mobile USB: Mobile users simply plug-in the compact Clear 4G+ Mobile USB into their laptop to get online. This dual-mode 4G/3G modem gives users access to the 4G network in the CLEAR coverage area and to 3G coverage nationwide. The Clear 4G+ Mobile USB costs $115 or can be leased monthly for $6.

Home Modems: For residential service, CLEAR offers a wireless high-speed modem. Customers simply plug the modem into a power outlet anywhere in their home or office and connect the modem to their PC or wireless router. This enables consumers and businesses to easily install high-speed internet service without scheduling an appointment, drilling holes in their walls, or otherwise disrupting their day. The Clear Home Modem can be purchased for $85 or leased for $5 monthly.

Embedded 4G WiMAX Laptops: Customers can also select from more than 45 different 4G WiMAX-ready laptops and netbooks with Intel(R) Core(TM) or Atom(TM) processors and the embedded Intel(R) wireless module Advanced-N + WiMAX from leading manufacturers including Dell, HP, Sony, Lenovo, Toshiba, Samsung, Gateway, and Asus. All of these operate on CLEAR, and more than 20 of these 4G WiMAX-ready laptops are now available at Best Buy stores and at www.bestbuy.com.

CLEAR 4G products and services are available for purchase by going online at www.clear.com/sacramento, calling 1-877-499-6681, or visiting a CLEAR retail store or other authorized CLEAR dealer. A CLEAR retail store is located at Market Square at Arden Mall in Sacramento. CLEAR service is also available from other outlets including Best Buy, RadioShack and Fry’s Electronics.

Clearwire’s 4G Network in 2010

CLEAR 4G service is currently available in 63 markets across the United States, including: Sacramento, Merced, Visalia, Modesto and Stockton, Calif.; New Haven and Hartford, Conn.; central Washington, D.C.; Wilmington, Del.; Tampa Bay, Orlando, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville, Fla.; Atlanta and Milledgeville, Ga.; Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii; Boise, Idaho; Chicago, Ill.; Boston, Mass.; Baltimore, Md.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.; St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo.; Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro, N.C.; Trenton and New Brunswick, N.J.; New York, Syracuse and Rochester, N.Y.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Salem, Portland and Eugene, Ore.; Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Reading, Lancaster and York, Pa.; Providence, R.I.; Nashville, Tenn.; Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Abilene, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Killeen/Temple, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Waco and Wichita Falls, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Richmond, Va.; Seattle, Tri-Cities, Yakima and Bellingham, Wash. By the end of 2010, CLEAR 4G will also be available in major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver, Miami, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

For more information about CLEAR, visit www.clear.com/sacramento or The CLEAR Blog www.theclearblog.com. You can also follow CLEAR information on Twitter at @Clear. Information about Clearwire is available at http://www.clearwire.com. For press and broadcast: images, video and company logos are available from the Clearwire Newsroom at www.clearwire.com/newsroom. To subscribe to Clearwire’s RSS news feed, click here.

About Clearwire

Clearwire Corporatio, through its operating subsidiaries, is a leading provider of wireless broadband services. Clearwire’s 4G network currently provides coverage in areas of the U.S. where approximately 101 million people live, and the company plans to continue to expand its 4G coverage. Clearwire’s open all-IP network, combined with significant spectrum holdings, provides an unprecedented combination of speed and mobility to deliver next generation broadband access. The company markets its 4G service through its own brand called CLEAR(R) as well as through its wholesale relationships with Sprint, Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Strategic investors include Intel Capital, Comcast, Sprint, Google, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. Clearwire is headquartered in Kirkland, Wash. Additional information is available at www.clearwire.com.

*Speed claims based on download speeds only. Actual performance may vary and is not guaranteed. CLEAR performance claim is based on average download user speeds achieved during tests performed on the CLEAR commercial network by CLEAR. Other carrier performance based on their advertised claims.

**Apple does not endorse Clearwire products or services and is not affiliated with Clearwire.

Unlimited plans subject to CLEAR’s Acceptable Use Policy, posted at www.clear.com/legal/aup.

Clearwire, CLEAR, and the CLEAR logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Clearwire Communications LLC in the United States and/or other countries. All other company or product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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LifeSize, a part of Logitech is aiming to build a High Definition Videoconferencing platform along with industry giants Cisco and Microsoft and will soon announce products for the consumer market.

According to sources, Cisco is planning the launch of an inexpensive home tele-presence product for personal use in US market. The services will be launched in conjunction with either Comcast or Verizon’s network facilities. The subsidized prices might range from US$200-US$500.

According to ATD, the big selling point for the company is the high-definition quality which is supposed to be very good. Cisco will use this selling point to contrast it to what will be its big competitor, Internet telephony and video-calling giant Skype.

If reports are to be believed, Couch-to-couch video calls are being introduced by Cisco and Logitech as the tele-presence systems of the corporate world and will become affordable for mainstream consumers.

The two companies will not be alone in introducing family video calling to the living room this autumn, Skype’s calling service which is already available on several models of high-definition TVs sold by Panasonic and Samsung. In November, video calling will be offered by Microsoft with the launch of its Kinect motion controller for the Xbox 360 games console. The device features a camera and an array of microphones.

Sprint Rules Out Quick Clearwire Buyout

The third largest US mobile network operator, Sprint Nextel, is not concerned in trading out its partners in Clearwire, the US WiMax network operator, at this stage, but may consider such a transaction later.

According to Robert Brust, Sprint Nextel’s chief financial officer, a Clearwire buyout would be too expensive at present. In response to analysts’ speculation he alleged that Sprint Nextel might seek full ownership of Clearwire in order to increase its control of operational issues such as plans to expand into new markets and adopt other 4G technologies.

Sprint Nextel presently holds about 55% of Clearwire with the rest of Clearwire’s equity spread between a group of cable companies including Comcast and Time Warner, and technology partners including Intel and Google.

Clearwire is structuring a nationwide network based on WiMax.

Though, Sprint Nextel and Clearwire have specified that they may clinch a competitor 4G technology which has been widely adopted by mobile network operators in the US and overseas. This created a speculation that Sprint Nextel might want to reposition WiMax as a wireless alternative to fixed line broadband and has given a rise to the speculation that Sprint Nextel might look to buy its Clearwire partners.

While responding to the questions in a webcast of an investor conference, Mr Brust rejected the idea of an acquisition, at least in the near term, while acknowledging that it would help Sprint to have full control.

According to Brust, the path that’s almost certainly expected is that we’ll continue to instill some equity over the coming years and maybe some way down the road to take control of it.An imminent move on that would just be very expensive.

The third largest US mobile network operator, Sprint Nextel, is not concerned in trading out its partners in Clearwire, the US WiMax network operator, at this stage, but may consider such a transaction later.

According to Robert Brust, Sprint Nextel’s chief financial officer, a Clearwire buyout would be too expensive at present. In response to analysts’ speculation he alleged that Sprint Nextel might seek full ownership of Clearwire in order to increase its control of operational issues such as plans to expand into new markets and adopt other 4G technologies.

Sprint Nextel presently holds about 55% of Clearwire with the rest of Clearwire’s equity spread between a group of cable companies including Comcast and Time Warner, and technology partners including Intel and Google.

Clearwire is structuring a nationwide network based on WiMax.

Though, Sprint Nextel and Clearwire have specified that they may clinch a competitor 4G technology which has been widely adopted by mobile network operators in the US and overseas. This created a speculation that Sprint Nextel might want to reposition WiMax as a wireless alternative to fixed line broadband and has given a rise to the speculation that Sprint Nextel might look to buy its Clearwire partners.

While responding to the questions in a webcast of an investor conference, Mr Brust rejected the idea of an acquisition, at least in the near term, while acknowledging that it would help Sprint to have full control.

According to Brust, the path that’s almost certainly expected is that we’ll continue to instill some equity over the coming years and maybe some way down the road to take control of it.An imminent move on that would just be very expensive.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Google, Microsoft, Intel has been joined by AT&T, Verizon and Comcast along with other technology and telecom companies to form an independent technical coalition that will develop voluntary guidelines for handling network data traffic. Under the name of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group, the coalition is being seen as a way to bypass the overheated style that has come to dominate the net neutrality debate.

Dale Hatfield, the former CTO of the FCC will lead the group which will be made up of engineers. Dale is now an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The aim of the coalition is to work to develop consensus on broadband network management practices or other technical issues that can affect users Internet experience, including the impact to and from applications, content and devices that utilize the Internet.

According to Dale, TAG will function as a neutral, expert technical forum and promote a greater consensus around technical practices within the Internet community and would consider a number of factors in looking at technical practices, including whether a practice is used by others in the industry; whether alternative technical approaches are available; the impact of a technical practice on other entities; and whether a technical practice is aimed at specific content, applications or companies.

A new legal strategy was pushed ahead last month by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski allowing the commission to implement net neutrality regulations for wireless and wired networks, following a federal court decision that forced the FCC to re-think its legal basis for broadband regulation.

Markham Erickson, the executive director of the Open Internet Coalition announced that he strongly feel as with all self-regulatory regimes, this can only be effective with a legal backstop to enforce voluntary industry rules at the FCC and Gigi Sohn, the president of public interest group Public Knowledge opined that is cautiously optimistic about the proposal but it is not a substitute for FCC rules and enforcement procedures, and it certainly should not be interpreted as such by anyone.

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Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) — T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. made the highest offers for U.S. airwaves at a government auction, driving the bidding past $10 billion. T-Mobile, the fourth-biggest
U.S. mobile-phone company, offered $3.05 billion for 77 licenses, according to preliminary results released today by the Federal Communications Commission. Verizon, owner of the second-largest
U.S. wireless provider, offered $2.8 billion for four licenses, including $1.34 billion for the biggest in the northeastern region. Through 20 rounds of the auction, telephone companies have been the most aggressive in trying to expand their coverage to offer more customers high-speed services. The bids are preliminary and the FCC will hold more rounds tomorrow, giving other companies a chance to top today’s offers. The process may last weeks before winners are announced.

“In the end it comes down to willingness to spend,” said Jeff Heynen, an analyst covering broadband and Internet television at Infonetics Research in
Raleigh, North Carolina. “Telcos are the only guys that have the funds to be able to do that.” A joint venture between EchoStar Communications Corp. and DirecTV Group Inc., the two largest
U.S. satellite-television companies, dropped out of the running. The auction of the 1,122 spectrum licenses, which reached $10.3 billion today, may raise as much as $15 billion, making it the FCC’s second-most lucrative sale, according to government projections. Widening, Deepening T-Mobile, a unit of Bonn-based Deutsche Telekom AG, is aiming to catch up with larger rivals Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless LLC in offering videos and games.

New York-based Verizon wants more users for services such as mobile video and has leading bids in the
Great Lakes and southeastern regions. “For T-Mobile it’s widening and for Verizon it’s deepening,” Heynen said. T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, is making its biggest bids in the western, northeastern and central regions. SpectrumCo LLC, a partnership that includes Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., and Sprint Nextel Corp., was the third- biggest bidder, offering $1.54 billion for 79 licenses. “Cable companies as expected are being somewhat restrained and we view their participation as experimental,” said Aryeh Bourkoff, an analyst at UBS AG in
New York. Shares of Verizon fell 16 cents to $34.23 in composite trading today on the New York Stock Exchange. Deutsche Telekom shares rose 16 cents to 11.21 euros in
Germany. EchoStar, located in
Englewood, Colorado, added 15 cents to $33.11, and El Segundo, California-based DirecTV gained 27 cents to $18.06.

Source : Bloomberg

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