T- Mobile expands HSPA+ network (USA)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Plans to carry out the up gradation work of 3G networks to HSPA+ standard has been outlined by T- Mobile USA. T-Mobile expects to deploy HSPA across the breadth of its 3G footprint by the end of 2010, covering more than 100 metropolitan areas and 185 million people.
According to Neville Ray, senior vice president of engineering and operations for T-Mobile USA, consumers want a mobile broadband experience that’s easy and as good as their connection at home on the best wireless devices available and this year T-Mobile will upgrade its national 3G network to HSPA+ which will support faster speeds and give customers a superior wireless data experience when they access their mobile social network, stream videos or share content.
A successful launch of HSPA+ network was completed by T-Mobile in Philadelphia last autumn. HSPA+ has been made commercially available by the telco in new markets including major areas of New York City, New Jersey, Long Island and suburban Washington, D.C. Los Angeles is going to be the latest entry in the list.
Hutchison plans to delist from HKSE on May 25 (Hong Kong)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Delisting from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been planned by Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd. on May 25. The company is also planning to delist itself from the New York Stock Exchange on June 4.
The moves will be implemented if parent company Hutchison Whampoa Ltd gets approval from a local court and shareholders to take the telecom services provider private for US$545 million.
Hutchison Whampoa and Hutchison Telecom will hold an extraordinary general meeting on the plan May 12, after a court meeting.
According to Hutchison Whampoa, a conglomerate controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, in January it had offered to take 60.4%-owned unit Hutchison Telecom private for HK$2.20 a share, to gain more control over how to restructure unprofitable telecom assets.
Barnes & Noble to launch iPad app
In a recent development Barnes & Noble, the largest book retailer in the United States confirmed that the firm will soon be adding an eReader application for Apple’s iPad to its book sales strategy.
The move will be a part of the company’s ongoing strategy to provide customers with a book at any time of the day and anywhere.
The application will be released around the time of iPad’s expected availability and will soon join the company’s growing list of free eReader software for most computing and mobile devices including PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and Blackberry.
According to the Director of corporate communications at Barnes & Noble, New York, Carolyn J Brown, the company strives to deliver consumers any book, anytime, anywhere, so they will continue to expand their eReader offering to help consumers enjoy their content across a multitude of devices.
The application is specifically designed for iPad and is bound to provide its customers access to more than one million eBooks, magazines and newspapers. This application will enable its users to snap a picture of a book and receive information right on their phones
Though Apple stated taking orders for iPad on March 12, the device won’t be available in the stores before April.
Hearst’s announces entry into iPhone apps with LMK
Heart’s LMK launched various categories of iPhone applications covering a variety of topics including Lady Ganga, cupcakes and baseball players. These category specific applications known as LMK (Let Me Knowâ€) are priced starting at $0.99.
These applications can be easily downloaded from Apple’s App Store as well as through LMK.com and can be used on the iPhone and iPod Touch. LMK expects to expand its offering on a monthly basis.
The company has set up huge goals for itself which include expanding the aggregate service to other mobile platforms such as Google’s Android phones, or hand-held devices including the various e-Readers or Apple’s iPad. All these service are expected to reach the customers in April.
According to President of LMK, New York, Michael Gutowski, the company saw an interesting market opportunity to break through the clutter of Internet search results and build mobile products that curate, package and deliver the most authoritative content on subjects that matter to consumers.
This resulted into the introduction of LMK, a dynamic delivery platform now powering topic-specific iPhones applications, aggregating and presenting the most current and relevant facts, stories , photos related to each topic.
This platform is currently supporting over 70 iPhones apps and the company is all set to leverage it to support thousand of digital products.
Sprint to launch its first 4G smartphone this year (USA)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The current 4G leader, Sprint has announced to introduce its first smartphone before mid-year with an aim to make the greater speed a reality for many businesses over the coming year.
Sprint’s 4G networks reaches about 30 million people in 27 markets and with the addition of Houston, New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Washington by the end of the year; it will expand the footprint to include 120 million people.
Sprint’s 4G WiMAX network has already been launched in 2008 but there have been no handsets to use on it. Apart from Sprint, several other USA carriers has also announced their entry into 4G services with Verizon announcing the introduction of its 4G network later this year using a competing technology called LTE.
AT&T is expected to launch its own LTE network sometime in 2011. Undoubtedly, Sprint’s rush to deliver 4G ahead of its competitors explains its choice of network technology.
Vodafone Ghana & Afric Xpress to launch txtnpay services
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The subscribers of Vodafone Ghana will now be able to buy air time and top up their credit, with a simple click on the phone. This innovatively new service will be rolled out by the telecom operator in partnership with Afric Xpress.
Airtime for transactions such as pay utility bills at SMS charges could also be used by the subscribers through this service by registering at a txtnpay centre dotted across the country.
According to Chief Executive of Afric Xpress Mr Nvalaye Kourouma, the service offers a secured platform that brings innovation in customer service and the first of series of innovations that would be introduced onto the market.
A New York based electronic payment solution provider Afric Xpress focuses on mobile payments and it is currently looking at fostering electronic based markets in Africa by turning mobile phones into commercial platform, empowering customers with security, speed and convenience.
Class action suit lost by Vivendi
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: French telecommunications and entertainment group Vivendi has been found guilty by a New York court guilty on all 57 counts of misleading shareholders on its financial health between October 2000 and August 2002.
A statement has already been issued by Vivendi citing its disagreement with the decision and its plan to appeal on the grounds of court’s decision to allow French shareholders to join the US class action, its rulings on jurisdiction, and the plaintiff’s method of proving and calculating damages.
A maximum damages at EUR 6.6 billion, down from EUR 8 billion has been estimated by attorneys for the plaintiffs.
According to Vivendi, damages will be calculated at a later stage, on a per-share and per-day basis, and that it is impossible to know at this time the total number of shares traded by class members, the dates of the sales and the number of class members who will submit a valid claim.
AT&T to invest billions in network overhaul
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Billions will be invested by AT&T this year for the overhauling of its 3G network. The iPhone-related mobile data traffic explosion has resulted in dropped calls and painfully slow throughput in some congested markets and this move is aimed at keeping up with this congestion.
$18 billion to $19 billion is the expected capital expenditures investment by AT&T in 2010 which is about $2 billion more than last year on wireless network and backhaul. iPhone zones like New York and San Francisco are the main targets of this overhaul and the operator will increase its capacity, with 2,000 additional cell sites and 400,000 more square miles of 3G coverage.
The move has become even more imperative for AT&T because of the introduction of Apple iPad which has increased the data traffic even further.
Wi-LAN sued by Telus over patent ownership
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Wi-LAN Inc’s relation with patent-litigation suit is not vey new but this time it is at a receiving end as Telus Corp. and Telus Communications Inc. have filed a suit in Calgary alleging ownership of some of its patents. The suit was filed on filed on April 23, 2009; however, Wi-LAN hasn’t yet been formally served with the claim.
.S. Patent Nos. 5,369,670 and 5,570,305 and Canadian Patent Nos. 2,067,436-9 and 2,108,103 collectively, known as the “Channel Estimation patents are the four patents over which Telus also claims an ownership interest.
Even patent Nos. RE37802 (the “802 patent”) and 5,282,222 (the “222 patent”), for which Wi-LAN filed a suit in 2007 alleging infringement by 22 major companies, has been claimed by Telus.
Earlier, litigations were initiated by Wi-LAN in New York against LG Electronics Inc. and LG Electronics U.S.A. Inc., claiming fraud, breach of contract, and infringement of Wi-LAN’s V-chip technology as disclosed in U.S. Patent No 5,828,402.
