Network access

Sprint expands LTE footprint by 22 markets

Sprint confirmed on Monday that another 22 markets have officially started seeing the network's 4G LTE data speeds.

With the addition of nearly two dozen new areas, Sprint's LTE footprint now reaches 110 markets across the United States.

The new markets are: 

Baton Rouge, La. Centralia, Wash. Clarksville, Tenn. Corsicana, Texas Dalton, Ga. Dunn, N.C. Fond du Lac, Wis. Gainesville, Fla. Henderson, N.C. Kingsport, Tenn. Lansing/East Lansing, Mich. Longview, Wash. Miami Napa, Calif. New Orleans Palatka, Fla. Raleigh, N.C. Sebring, Fla. St. Cloud, Minn. St. Joseph/Benton Harbor, Mich. Tampa, Fla. Warsaw, Ind. … Read more

Verizon Wireless eyes entry into Canada -- report

Verizon Wireless could be making its way to Canada, a new report claims.

The U.S.-based carrier is considering a plan that would see it acquire a smaller carrier in Canada and then compete to buy wireless spectrum that Canada is auctioning off this year, The Globe and Mail is reporting on Monday, citing people who claim to have knowledge of its plans. If Verizon's plan works out, the company would establish itself among the top four carriers in the country.

Canada's wireless regulation has been notoriously tight, limiting foreign company involvement. However, the country last year … Read more

Kroes: Unify the mobile market or Europe will fall farther behind

Neelie Kroes, the European Commission vice president in charge of the digital agenda, sketched out several steps toward the unified mobile-network market she believes is necessary to keep Europe's economy from falling behind.

In a speech Tuesday, she called for several steps to lower barriers that today make it hard for carriers to expand from one country to another and for customers to use mobile devices outside their home countries. Among the steps she suggested:

A "passport" that let a carrier, once certified to operate a mobile network permission in one country, operate in other countries, too. … Read more

Verizon, T-Mobile foreign stakes make data collection harder

Verizon and T-Mobile USA have been a tad bit of a headache for the National Security Agency when it wants to collect data, according to a new report.

Because both Verizon and T-Mobile USA have owners that are based outside of the U.S., the U.S. government is not allowed to collect data directly from the carriers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the collection.

But before you get too excited, be aware that this doesn't really mean much. According to the sources, while the NSA is not able … Read more

Apple said to limit wireless speeds on some U.S. carriers

Editor's note: See update at the bottom of this post.

A developer who provides iPhone hacks claims to have discovered code in iOS that suggests Apple is helping the top three U.S. wireless carriers throttle data speeds for all iPhone and iPad customers.

Joseph Brown, operator of the Web site iTweakiOS, claimed -- in a post that has since been taken down -- to have discovered code on iPhones and iPads operating on Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint that effectively caps the data speeds that can be achieved on the carriers' networks. Brown took snapshots of the … Read more

Intel's biggest issue in the mobile arena: 'Lack of LTE'

So why is Intel having so much trouble competing in the smartphone market? Blame it on LTE.

Intel Executive Vice President of Sales Tom Kilroy said this week at the Computex trade show in Taiwan that his company's troubles in the U.S. have everything to do with its processors' lack of LTE support.

"Absence of LTE is the reason," Kilroy said, according to Engadget, which attended the event. "We can't get ranged by U.S. carriers without LTE, so once we have multi-mode LTE coming to market later this year, we have an opportunity … Read more

Sprint: Dish's offer to buy Clearwire violates state law

Sprint is firing off some legal salvos in its effort to stop Dish Network from acquiring Clearwire.

In a letter sent today to Clearwire's board of directors, Sprint said that Dish's acquisition proposal lacks sufficient legal grounds as certain provisions run afoul of the Clearwire Equityholders' Agreement (EHA) or of Delaware state law.

Specifically, Dish's demand for an agreement to choose at least three of Clearwire's board members and have the authority to veto certain Clearwire actions violates the EHA or Delaware law. Further, Dish's proposal asks Sprint, which already owns half of Clearwire and … Read more

Mobile carriers snap back at European roaming reform

A consortium representing mobile network operators didn't like what it heard last week when a top European Commission official called for an end to the roaming fees consumers must pay to use their mobile phones outside their home countries.

Neelie Kroes, the vice president of the EC leading the digital agenda, said she wanted an end to roaming fees by Easter 2014. "I want you to be able to go back to your constituents and say that you were able to end mobile roaming costs," Kroes told members of a European Parliament committee in a speech on … Read more

Textspresso brews your cup of Joe via SMS (hands-on)

You will probably never buy Zipwhip's Textspresso coffee machine in any store -- a fact baldly posted on the company's Web site -- but that won't stop other appliance-makers from using the company's cloud-based texting platform to one day churn out cup after cup of custom-texted brews.

In fact, Zipwhip encourages such exploration by making the code it used open-source.

With that in mind, Zipwhip hand-delivered its Textspresso machine -- really a hacked De'Longhi espresso-maker -- to CNET headquarters to demonstrate the future of communicating with your caffeine. Here's how it works.

Very simply, … Read more