Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks will be the infrastructure providers for T-Mobile USA’s $4 billion 4G plan, including network upgrade and deployment of LTE services in 2013, T-Mobile said. Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks will provide and install LTE equipment at 37,000 cell sites across T-Mobile’s network, a move designed to increase signal quality and improve performance beginning in 2012. As part of the network upgrade plan, the carrier plans to launch HSPA+ service in the 1900 MHz band in a large number of markets by the end of the year. Network upgrade trials have shown up to a 33 percent increase in HSPA+ data speeds as well as improved in-building coverage, T-Mobile said. Rolling out HSPA+ in the 1900 MHz band will also allow the company to carry devices like the iPhone, the company said.
Florida’s Public Service Commission approved the annual budget for the state’s telecom relay services, keeping the monthly surcharge at 11 cents, the agency said. It’s the fifth year that the monthly surcharge was kept the same, PSC Chairman Ronald Brise said. The PSC in February approved a three-year contract with AT&T starting June 1 to provide relay services to the state. The PSC noted AT&T was the only bidder opting to locate a call center in Florida.
Eighty-one percent of U.S. cellphone owners would consider paying a one-time fee of 30 cents to get radio stations’ terrestrial broadcasts, according to a poll done by Harris and paid for by the NAB. Forty-three percent of the 2,212 U.S. adults polled April 18-20 said they'd “strongly consider” paying what the association estimates a radio chip costs, up three percentage points from 2010. Another 38 percent responded they'd “probably consider” paying 30 cents, up two points from two years ago. Seventy-six percent of respondents now say they'd use a radio built into their cellphone, an increase of 10 percentage points from 2010, the NAB said (http://xrl.us/bm6qa9). “We're hopeful that as demand for this capability becomes more apparent, wireless carriers will voluntarily offer this feature or activate radio chips already in their devices,” an NAB spokesman said Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bm6qbd). “Radio-enabled cellphones are a standard feature in much of Europe and Asia.” CTIA sees “considerable marketplace evidence that many consumers prefer Pandora and other apps to the FM format, so consumer preference has to drive outcomes in this space,” responded Vice President Jot Carpenter. “For that reason, we agree with NAB’s oft-stated position that there is no need for an FM chip mandate. Consumers who want FM-enabled devices can buy them, as the market already delivers a variety of FM-enabled handsets.” CTIA is holding its convention in New Orleans. (See separate report in this issue.) “For those who wish to listen to analog over-the-air radio on their smartphones, there are dozens of models that offer that feature,” noted CEA Senior Vice President Michael Petricone. “Similarly, the vibrant mobile phone marketplace also serves the growing number who prefer listening to Pandora, Spotify or radio stations digitally streamed on the Internet. Americans are entirely capable of picking smartphones and other devices with the features and functions they prefer. We strongly object to any attempts to remove the consumer’s right to choose by mandating the inclusion of analog over-the-air radio receivers in mobile phones or other devices."
DirecTV and Verizon FiOS customers can access Speed2, an auto racing cable network. The move expands overall distribution to more than 35 million customers through multiple service providers, Speed said.
Comcast video subscribers can watch ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU on iPads, iPhones and iPod touch devices, the operator and the channels’ owner Disney said Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bm6p7y). They said the operator’s cable customers can see ESPN on an app, an ESPN website and “soon” on Comcast’s site.
Correction: Motorola Mobility was the company that recently told (http://xrl.us/bm6p7s) FCC officials that SMS isn’t a viable solution for texting to 911 (CD April 19 p17).
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., called News Corp. “kind of slimy” following recent allegations that the company hacked cellphones. His comments came in an interview Tuesday. “We are looking for any Americans either over here or over there who were hacked into,” he said of the U.S. and the U.K, which has been probing the allegations. If any are found in the U.S., this would “come under our responsibility and there is such a vast empire of effort that I can’t feel like there isn’t something there,” he said. “It’s pretty slimy, don’t you think?” Last week Rockefeller asked the head of a U.K. judicial investigation into the alleged hacking if it found new information suggesting the conduct “involved U.S. citizens or violated U.S. laws” (CD May 3 p16). On Tuesday Free Press urged the senator to hold hearings to investigate the “potential crimes committed by News Corp.” in the U.S. (http://xrl.us/bm6p47). “It is Congress’ responsibility to investigate corruption and cover-ups of this scale, especially with regard to a company that has been granted numerous licenses to use the public airwaves,” the letter said. A News Corp. spokesman declined to comment.
Iridium unveiled Iridium 9603, the world’s smallest commercial two-way satellite data transceiver. It’s a data module “designed for embedding into machine-to-machine solutions for remote asset tracking, monitoring and alarming in defense, government and consumer markets where existing larger transceivers could not fit,” the company said. It said the device is 70 percent smaller by volume than the Iridium 9602 and it breaks down design barriers and enables Iridium’s partners “to embed global connectivity in hand-held personal tracking devices and even smaller vehicles, containers, devices for field monitoring, command and control applications and unattended sensors."
The FCC Wireline Bureau is seeking comment on an application of Image Access d/b/a NewPhone to discontinue domestic telecom services (http://xrl.us/bm6nv2). The telco told the FCC that it is no longer economically feasible to offer its current service package, the public notice said. Comments are due May 22 in docket 12-118.
Two seekers of broadcast TV captioning waivers withdrew their requests, after the FCC last month asked applicants to provide updates. Mountain Licenses doesn’t want an exemption for Washington’s Most Wanted, which it had sought in 2009, it said in a letter to the commission posted Monday in docket 06-181 (http://xrl.us/bm6neq). Family Broadcasting Group yanked its petition for KSBI(TV) Oklahoma City because the station had less than $3 million in revenue in 2011, and isn’t “required to expend any money to caption its programming,” another letter filed by the same lawyer as Mountain’s said (http://xrl.us/bm6ne4).