July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

You may just be getting used to the benefits of fast fourth-generation (4G) wireless networks, but it’s not too soon to start looking at what 5G could bring.

Sure, the flavor of 4G that’s now dominant — Long Term Evolution, or LTE — is plenty fast. And with T-Mobile rolling out its own 4G LTE network this week, every major U.S. carrier now uses the technology. But will LTE’s maximum speed of 100 megabits per second keep up with our rising data demands over the next decade? And with wireless spectrum already a precious commodity, will we be able to use it more efficiently as we rely on cellular data more?

There’s still plenty we don’t know about the next generation of cellular networks. All we have to go on is the IMT-Advanced specification (International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced) which lays out a theoretical vision for 5G but isn’t an official standard like LTE.

For now, though, it’s our best glimpse at what’s next.

IMT-Advanced explained

While LTE has a theoretical capacity of 100 megabits per second for downloads and 50 Mbps for uploads (speeds we’ll never actually see in real-world usage), the IMT-Advanced specification features a theoretical maximum download speed of 1 gigabit per second, or about 10 times faster. IMT-Advanced also calls for nominal speeds of 100 Mbps in moving conditions, which means it should be faster than LTE’s maximum speed (and most home broadband connections today) in even the worst scenarios.

IMT-Advanced won’t be the technology to replace LTE, instead it serves as a guidepost which the actual 5G standards are measured against (more on those below).

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the leading voice for mobile industry standards, is the organization behind IMT. It’s the same group that set the LTE standard, and it has enough clout within the industry that most carriers are likely to follow its recommendations. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that the ITU also ratified WiMax, an earlier 4G standard that never took off to the same extent LTE did.

The next-gen specification also calls for better resource management on cellular cells (allowing for more users per cell), faster connectivity to networks, and smoother transitioning between networks. For consumers, all of that means 5G networks could have fewer reception dead zones.

Here’s where things get a bit confusing: Technically IMT-Advanced describes a true 4G standard. Today’s 4G technologies, LTE and WiMax, aren’t technically fourth-generation, but as of 2010 they’re allowed to use the 4G descriptor since they represent a significant upgrade over 3G standards.

Given just how synonymous today’s technology has become with 4G, I wouldn’t be surprised if the ITU decides to officially name IMT-Advanced-derived standards “5G.”

5G won’t just be about speed (or phones)

Speed is surely the most obvious upgrade in a next-generation cellular standard, but there’s plenty more that an ideal 5G standard would need to offer. In particular, it needs to help make ubiquitous computing a reality. There’s plenty of talk about the Internet of Things, or connecting just about every single device to the web, but that dream won’t be possible with the power-hungry LTE standard.

With 5G, we’ll need low-power modes so devices can sip data without being recharged frequently. That would be similar to how Bluetooth 4.0 allows fitness gadgets to stay connected to modern smartphones without being battery hogs. We’ll undoubtedly see some sort of battery technology innovation over the next decade, but even with massive improvements, batteries will likely remain the last bottleneck for plenty of devices.

Future cellular networks will also need to use wireless spectrum as efficiently as they use power. For years we’ve been hearing about the supposed “spectrum crunch” in the U.S. from the FCC and wireless carriers — mostly, because there simply isn’t enough wireless spectrum to go around.

“What carriers really need is more overall capacity (not the same thing as speed),” said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates in an email to VentureBeat. “And more capacity requires more available frequencies, which are in short supply.”

The IMT-Advanced specification’s push to handle more users per cell is one way we could see more efficient usage of wireless spectrum, but we’ll certainly need even more innovations down the line.

Source: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

Verizon’s CES 2013 booth.

We’re already seeing some U.S. carriers take the focus off of phones and tablets. Verizon Wireless’s CES booth this year was filled with real-world applications of the company’s LTE network outside of typical devices, including a football helmet that keeps track of player impact data and a public recycling bin that alerts its managers when full.

The 5G contenders

Expect another standards battle as the road to 5G becomes clearer over the next few years. So far, it looks like the strongest 5G candidates to match the IMT-Advanced specification  are LTE Advanced and WiMax release 2 (AKA 802.16). Talk about repeating history.

Naturally, both are massively improved versions of existing 4G technologies. The latest LTE Advanced specification calls for speeds up to 300 Mbps, while WiMax release 2’s theoretical capabilities should be similarly upgraded (we’re still waiting on concrete information from IEEE, the group behind WiMax and Wi-Fi).

Looking at LTE’s overall dominance in existing 4G networks, I’d wager that LTE Advanced will end up being crowned as our next cellular standard. WiMax networks from Sprint and Clearwire were the first official 4G networks, but LTE has blown WiMax out of the water with much faster speeds. Now Sprint is desperately readying its own LTE rollout to keep subscribers from jumping ship.

Though LTE Advanced and WiMax release 2 are the main 5G candidates so far, we could see some fresh entrants over the next few years. Given just how long these standards take to draft and implement, though, I wouldn’t bet on that.

A long, bumpy road ahead

Don’t expect to see carriers rushing to prepare for 5G networks anytime soon. It’ll be years before the next-gen specifications are finalized, and right now carriers are far more concerned with making sure their investments in LTE 4G networks pay off. Until we have a better sense of how 5G networks will benefit carriers, they likely won’t be too eager to think about spending billions once again on more network upgrades.

“LTE promised both higher bandwidth and better, more efficient use of that bandwidth (hence more profitable operations for the carriers) — it hasn’t really lived up to that promise so far,” noted Gold. “What will 5G offer?”

Top photo: Rob Bouden/Flickr; Other photos: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

Vodafone UK and 3 Austria had warned their iPhone 4S subscribers to refrain from updating to the latest version of the Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 6.1, due to what Vodafone called occasional difficulties “connecting to the network to make or receive calls or texts or to connect to the Internet.”

The update is about 86.8 MB and is available over the air for iPhone 4S users. The release notes say that “this update fixes an issue that could impact cellular performance and reliability for iPhone 4S.”

My other devices, however, including an iPhone 5 and an iPad 2, show no update available.

The Next Web wonders if other devices will also get the update, and so do I.

I’m just one data point, of course, but my iPhone 5 has been extremely unreliable for the last week or two — since the iOS 6.1 update — sometimes failing to connect to my carrier’s networks, sending texts extremely slowly, and failing to connect to the internet, or connecting extremely slowly.

And the infamous cellular data bug seems to be still biting people.

Apple had released iOS 6.1 with an updated version of Siri, which now allows purchasing of movie tickets, and support for 59 new carriers. Apple’s Phil Schiller had said at the time that iOS 6 had reached nearly 300 million devices in just five months.

Perhaps taking it a bit slower might have been the better part of valor.

Question: Have you been experiencing any issues with cellular connectivity on iOS 6.1? Please let me know in the comments.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

European carriers Vodafone UK and 3 Austria are now warning iPhone 4S owners to avoid Apple’s latest iOS update due to reported issues with 3G connectivity.

On Friday Vodafone issued a forum post to warn iPhone 4S owners from updating to iOS 6.1, while 3 Austria took to Facebook for its warning, reports GigaOm.

The iOS 6.1 update was issued in late January and offered new features like the ability to buy movie tickets from within Siri. But many iPhone owners also noted that it has led to excessive battery usage, in addition to the networking issues Vodafone UK and 3 Austria pointed out. Apple will likely fix the issues in its next update, iOS 6.1.1, which is currently in beta testing with developers.

It’s not unusual for carriers to warn their customers about specific upgrades if they have issues with their cellular networks. I haven’t seen as many reports about iOS 6.1 causing issues on U.S. carriers — for the most part, iPhone owners in the U.S. have been complaining about the battery hit from the update.

We’ve contacted Apple for further comment about the carrier warnings, and will report if we hear back.

Below, check out Vodafone UK’s statement to its customers:

We’re aware of an issue caused by Apple iPhone 4S handsets that have been upgraded to iOS 6.1 which impacts performance on 3G. Some customers may occasionally experience difficulty in connecting to the network to make or receive calls or texts or to connect to the internet.

Apple is working on a solution to their software issue. These connection problems are intermittent. While Apple’s investigations continue, we would recommend that anyone who has not yet installed iOS 6.1 on their iPhone 4S should delay doing so until Apple has confirmed that the problem has been fixed.

Photo: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

AT&T’s quest to attract developers (and make you hate it less) is off to a strong start in 2013.

Today at AT&T’s Developer Summit Keynote, held alongside CES in Las Vegas, the carrier announced three new platforms to show its commitment to new technologies: Digital Life, a nationwide home security and automation service; Mobile Payments; and Connected Car. To give an idea of what’s possible with smarter cars, AT&T showed a video that featured a car with a huge touchscreen and a life-like voice.

The three platforms aren’t anything new for the tech industry, but by announcing its support, AT&T is placing a very public bet on the future. And of course, it helps that all of these platforms will be intimately tied to its mobile network.

Before diving into the above platforms, AT&T chief technology officer David Christopher discussed a few of the telecom giant’s new API solutions. AT&T is working on a new advertising API that will give 80 percent of revenue to developers, as well as a Call Management API.

Digital Life will launch in eight markets in March. The home security aspect will be monitored 24/7 by call centers in Atlanta and Dallas.

“This market is completely unpenetrated,” said Glenn Lurie, the president of emerging enterprises for AT&T. He pointed out that less than 20 percent of U.S. homes had some sort of home security, even though AT&T’s own research found that many more consumers wanted it. Mostly, AT&T found that consumers wanted more features and value out of home security.

Digital Life is more than just home security for AT&T. It also provides the capability to control just about everything in your home. You can use it to set the temperature and energy consumption in your home while you’re out. It can send you a notification if you have a water leak, and it will even be able to completely shut off the water. AT&T has built apps for every mobile platform, as well as HTML 5.

“It gives you control of your home again anyplace, anytime you want it,” Lurie said.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Following Hurricane Sandy’s onslaught on the New York City area, those affected are coming together to help rebuild their communities. In that same spirit, AT&T and T-Mobile just announced that they will temporarily share their networks in New York and New Jersey, which means there will be more cellular capacity for available to subscribers.

The companies say you’ll be able to make calls as normal, but your call will actually routed through the best network available in your area. Subscribers don’t have to worry about making any changes to their plans. This simple roaming is possible because both AT&T and T-Mobile rely on the same standards for their networks.

Hurricane Sandy hit the New York tri-state area on Monday night, knocking out power to millions and putting much of lower Manhattan underwater. Today more than 760,000 people in New York alone are still without power.

The arrangement between AT&T and T-Mobile may seem like a simple deal, but it has the potential to save lives.

Photo: David Shankbone/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Onavo, the creator of popular data compression apps for the iPhone and Android, has just launched a new app to help you track apps that are eating up your cellular data.

With the free Onavo Count app, you can view a 30-day history of how apps use cellular data, potentially allowing you to discover culprits that could kill your monthly bandwidth limit. For example, maybe you turned on Spotify’s offline synchronization feature by accident, which led it to automatically download hundreds of megabytes of music. Onavo Count should help you prevent those sorts of issues and avoid the associated overage costs with them as well.

There’s certainly no shortage of bandwidth monitoring apps for the iPhone, but Onavo claims that it’s the first to break down bandwidth reporting by app. (I haven’t seen any other bandwidth app that can do this yet either.)

Upon opening the app, you’ll see an elegant breakdown of app data usage for the past thirty days. You can click specific apps for a weekly measure of data usage as well. You can also easily share your Onavo Count results from any of the screens across Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, and text message. The app also integrates with Onavo Extend, the company’s helpful data compression app (which also won top prize at our MobileBeat 2011 startup contest), by showing you how much cellular data Extend has saved for every app.

In my brief time with the app, it’s revealed some interesting tidbits of information. Despite my obsessive Twitter usage, I was surprised to learn that general web usage accounted for more than double the amount of bandwidth (it was right under Apple Services as the top data hog). Onavo Count is also one of the most beautiful examples of data visualization that I’ve seen so far on the iPhone.

Onavo is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, and has raised a total of $13 million from Horizon Ventures and Motorola Mobility Ventures.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Verizon iPhone 5 owners can breathe a sigh of relief today.

Since the release of the iPhone 5, some Verizon subscribers have complained about a potentially expensive bug that afflicts their new phones when connected to Wi-Fi. Rather than transfer data solely via a Wi-Fi connection, the phones sometimes used cellular data, potentially exposing owners to some hefty overage fees.

Thankfully, Apple today is rolling out a fix for the issue, which will prevent the iPhone from using cellular data when it’s connected to a Wi-Fi network.

While Verizon hasn’t specified what caused the problem, some iPhone 5 users speculate that it’s the result of the iPhone 5′s tendency to shut down Wi-Fi access while in sleep mode in an effort to conserve battery.

And what if the big resulted a lot of data usage? Verizon says customers have nothing to worry about.

“Verizon Wireless customers will not be charged for any unwarranted cellular data usage”, the company said in a statement to VentureBeat.

Here’s the full statement:

“Under certain circumstances, iPhone 5 may use Verizon cellular data while the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network. Apple has a fix that is being delivered to Verizon customers right on their iPhone 5. Verizon Wireless customers will not be charged for any unwarranted cellular data usage.”

Photo: VentureBeat/ Devindra Hardawar

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

AT&T may be playing hardball with Apple’s FaceTime video chat feature on its network, but Verizon Wireless is opening up all of its data plans to the feature for free, a Verizon spokesperson tells the Wall Street Journal.

This includes customers grandfathered into Verizon’s unlimited data plans (which are no longer available to new subscribers). In comparison, AT&T is bending net neutrality rules to force its subscribers into data share plans to use FaceTime over cellular.

The FaceTime over cellular capability is one of the many new features in iOS 6, which is available on September 19 for recent iPhone and iPad models. Sprint has also said that it won’t place any restrictions on FaceTime over cellular.

Ever since launching the FaceTime video chat feature with the iPhone 4, Apple has restricted FaceTime capabilities to Wi-Fi in the U.S. That wasn’t a huge inconvenience, since 3G networks aren’t really fast enough to support video chat. But with the inclusion of 4G LTE on the iPhone 5, there’s no excuse not to offer FaceTime over cellular.

I just hope AT&T and Verizon are prepared for the onslaught of data that’s going to hit their LTE networks. As AT&T can attest, you should never underestimate the data demand from iPhone owners.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

After Apple’s iPhone 5 reveal today, we’re sure many of you are figuring out just how you can get your hands on one. AT&T subscribers still holding on to an unlimited data plan can rest easy, as the carrier confirmed today that you’ll still be able to keep unlimited plans with the iPhone 5.

“We offer customers the flexibility to keep the iPhone data plans they already have or choose any of our individual or new Mobile Share plans,” wrote AT&T president and CEO Ralph de la Vega in a statement today. [Editor's note: The bold emphasis is ours]

[Check out our full coverage from today's Apple event.]

AT&T initially offered unlimited data plans for the first few generations of iPhones, but it moved toward tiered data plans two years ago (shortly before the release of the iPhone 4). Given the many network issues AT&T had were due to the influx of iPhone customers, the carrier clearly couldn’t keep up its promise of unlimited data. AT&T allowed existing unlimited data customers to keep their plans, but if they ever leave the carrier they’ll lose it for good.

It’s worth noting that AT&T throttles unlimited data plans once they pass 5 gigabytes of monthly data usage, so it’s still technically unlimited, though not a free-for-all of mobile data.

Many unlimited customers were worried that Apple wouldn’t allow unlimited data on the iPhone 5 because it offers 4G LTE connectivity. For now, at least, it looks like their unlimited plans are safe.

Photo: Dean Takahashi/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple’s decision to make its FaceTime video chat app compatible with cellular networks has been a big headache for AT&T.

And the carrier’s solution has been just as problematic: Rather than offer unrestricted access to the app, AT&T is forcing its subscribers to sign up for its Mobile Share data plans in order to use it on the AT&T cellular network. Regulators and consumers alike have been unhappy with the move, which limits the amount of control AT&T’s subscribers have over their devices.

And how does AT&T defend the decision? By playing games with the Federal Communication Commission’s net neutrality rules.

“AT&T does not have a similar preloaded video chat app that competes with FaceTime or any other preloaded video chat application,” AT&T senior vice president of regulatory affairs Bob Quinn wrote today, in an effort to convince the public that AT&T actually isn’t unfairly competing with FaceTime.

Of course, AT&T doesn’t have a video chat app — but its cellular service is effectively one big voice chat app. Quinn’s defense completely sidesteps the largest concerns that groups like Public Knowledge have had from the beginning: FaceTime is a direct competitor to AT&T’s voice services, and AT&T’s new rules cut into subscribers’ ability to use the app.

And that’s a big no-no for the FCC.

Quinn also defended the move by arguing that the FCC rules do not regulate whether cellular network operators can control apps that come pre-installed on phones they offer. The problem? The FCC rules say nothing about preloaded apps.

“There is simply nothing in the rules that distinguishes ‘preloaded’ applications from ‘downloaded’ applications,” Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner said in a statement today.

While the company has valid concerns that FaceTime could negatively impact network performance, the far more pressing reality is that if its customers are using FaceTime, they’re not chatting over AT&T’s voice network.

If network performance was truly a concern, AT&T would just ban FaceTime outright (not that this is something it would be legally able to do anyway). Instead, it’s splitting its subscriber base between those who have Mobile Share data plans and those that don’t. And it’s that division that’s drawing the attention of those who want to keep cellular networks as neutral as possible.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

As promised, AT&T has laid out its shared data plans today, which it’s calling “Mobile Share.” Just like Verizon’s “Share Everything” plans announced last month, the Mobile Share plans will allow AT&T customers to share a single pool of data across 10 mobile devices when they launch in August.

Simplicity is the key to these plans: They all come with unlimited voice minutes and messaging, and it’s not too tough to figure out how much a new device will cost you monthly. Forget about trying to juggle multiple mysterious device contracts.

The base Mobile Share plan starts at $40 a month for 1 gigabyte of data, plus $45 for each smartphone. Adding a tablet will run you $10 a month, while adding a laptop or hotspot will cost $20. And if you absolutely need a feature phone, it’ll cost just $30 a month. Overage fees are just $15 per additional gigabyte of data.

AT&T’s shared data plans go all the way up to $200 a month for 20GB of data (double Verizon’s largest shared plan), and adding a smartphone gets cheaper the more base data you purchase (check out the pricing table below).

What’s clearly different about AT&T’s shared data plans is that they aren’t being forced on you, instead they’ll sit alongside AT&T’s existing plans for new customers. Verizon said that it will eventually remove its prior plans and force new customers to use its shared plans (though currently, new customers can still sign up for non-shared individual plans).

Photo: Matt Hollingsworth/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Up until now, Apple’s FaceTime video chat feature on iOS devices has been restricted to Wi-Fi only. That’s changing with iOS 6, which finally offers the ability to use FaceTime over cellular.

But, almost inevitably, it looks like AT&T isn’t prepared to give its users FaceTime over cellular for free. Instead, the carrier appears to be planning to control and charge extra for the feature, similar to how it charges extra to use the iPhone’s personal hotspot feature, 9to5Mac reports.

When trying to enable FaceTime over cellular in the latest version of the iOS 6 beta, the site received an error asking it to contact AT&T to enable the feature. Specifically, the error appears for developers who restore their network settings in iOS 6 beta 3, or restore their phone from that beta. (I’ve talked to several developers who have enabled the feature without an issue, but they simply upgraded from the previous iOS 6 beta without restoring any settings.)

In a statement, AT&T told 9to5Mac, “We’re working closely with Apple on the new developer build of iOS 6 and we’ll share more information with our customers as it becomes available.”

If the report ends up being accurate, it would be disappointing for users who were expecting to use FaceTime over AT&T’s LTE 4G network with the next iPhone or the new iPad. AT&T users on 3G likely won’t be missing much, since that network is generally too slow to support high-quality video chat, but LTE 4G users may feel cheated after already paying more for faster network speeds.

It’s currently unclear how other carriers plan to handle the FaceTime-over-cellular feature, but I wouldn’t be surprised if others follow AT&T’s plan. (Sprint will likely keep the feature free, but as is typical of Sprint’s consumer-friendly initiatives, nobody will care.)

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

It’s been a rough night for T-Mobile customers, as the carrier confirmed that it experienced a nationwide data outage across its network. (Update: T-Mobile now says data service has been restored.)

We’ve been seeing reports from T-Mobile customers experiencing data issues tonight, though not all T-Mobile customers appear to be affected. T-Mobile’s Twitter support account confirmed that something is up and that the carrier is feverishly working to restore services. (I feel for the poor soul running that Twitter account tonight.)

For now, all T-Mobile customers can do is sit tight and pray that the carrier fixes things before the morning. Or you could join the complaint party over at T-Mobile’s support forums.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen an outage on T-Mobile’s network. Verizon’s LTE network, on the other hand, has had sporadic issues over the last year (that’s the price you pay for being first to LTE).

Design is determining the winners in everything mobile. The most successful players are focusing on one thing: How to make products, services, and devices as compelling and delightful as possible – visually, and experientially. MobileBeat 2012, July 10-11 in San Francisco , is assembling the most elite minds to debate how UI/UX is transforming every aspect of the mobile economy, and where the opportunities lie. Register here.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple has changed the name of the latest generation of its cellular-connecting iPad in some countries, calling it simply “iPad WiFi + Cellular,” after a wave of complaints from people claiming that Apple’s previous branding was wrong and misleading.

The change was first reported by 9to5Mac. See image below.

Until the change, Apple was using the name “iPad WiFi + 4G,” implying that its newest iPads used fast 4G, or LTE-grade networks. However, in many countries where the newest iPad was being sold, including in Australia and the UK, there were no carriers that actually offered such quality networks. Some consumers felt misled. Australia actually sued Apple. While Apple had previously discontinued its marketing campaigns around 4G in those countries, this is the first time it is actually changing the name of the iPad itself. Apple made the change because of continued confusion in places like the UK.

Notably, Apple even changed the name in the U.S. and Canada, the two countries where 4G LTE is offered by at least five carriers. It also changed the name on its Web sites in UAE, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand, Ireland, Hong Kong and Malaysia. However, apparently it hasn’t changed the name in all countries yet — though that’s probably because the change was decided on just a couple of days ago and it probably takes a while for sites to make the change.

Top image is from Apple’s site today; bottom image from May 9th

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom apparently put all of its eggs in AT&T’s basket. Now that AT&T’s $39 billion T-Mobile purchase has been squashed, thanks to pushback from the US government, DT is scrambling once again to find additional funds for its US carrier.

“There’s no Plan B,” T-Mobile spokesman Andreas Fuchs said, according to the New York Times. “We’re back at the starting point.”

Deutsche Telekom will receive $4 billion in spectrum and assets from AT&T as compensation for the deal’s failure to close. The company will also form a “mutually beneficial roaming agreement” with AT&T. But DT still needs a longer term solution to keep its T-Mobile business afloat, which has been losing subscribers and profits over the last few years. (Notably, T-Mobile remains the only U.S. carrier without the iPhone.)

“With the spectrum we’re getting, we have a better chance of expanding the network in many markets,” Deutsche Telekom CEO René Obermann said during a conference call today. “That is not a final solution. In the long-term, we need more spectrum and network capacity. We are working on that.”

It’s unclear what lies in T-Mobile’s future. The company has invested heavily in HSPA+ technology for its “4G” network (the technology is faster than typical 3G, but technically not 4G like LTE) and it has landed a handful of interesting Android smartphones. But T-Mobile’s phone variety remains limited, and without the iPhone it won’t be able to effectively compete against AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

The Federal Communications Commission last night released a damning 157-page report (PDF) against AT&T’s proposed $39 billion T-Mobile takeover, which concludes that the merger would ultimately hurt US consumers and the wireless market.

AT&T, not surprisingly, is none too pleased. The company objected to the release of the report, calling it merely a “draft” that doesn’t have any legal standing, reports Politico. AT&T also took issue with the fact that it didn’t get to see the report before the FCC released it to the public.

Last week, AT&T and T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom withdrew their FCC application for the merger, a move that was expected to allow the companies to focus on getting the deal approved by the US Department of Justice. It’s possible that the companies also heard murmurs of this massive FCC report and hoped that if they dismissed their application the FCC wouldn’t release it to the public.

In August, the US Department of Justice sued to block the merger, a move that was supported by FCC chairman Julius Genachowski. It was at that point that AT&T likely realized its hopes were dashed for a smooth acquisition.

The FCC report takes issue with pretty much all of the benefits AT&T has claimed the merger would deliver. For example, the report found that the merger would cause significant job losses, even though AT&T said that it would create jobs. AT&T also claimed that it wouldn’t be able to build out its 4G LTE network without the acquisition, but the FCC found that the company would have had no issue achieving nationwide LTE coverage on its own.

And while AT&T has been saying for some time that the merger would lead to an increase in wireless innovation, the FCC reports that it would lead to anti-competitive effects in 99 of the biggest 100 markets in the country. The agency also didn’t buy AT&T’s claims that the merger would lower wireless prices and improve reception.

So where does this leave AT&T and Deutsche Telekom? The companies have said they will continue to pursue the merger, but it’s clearly going to be a tougher nut to crack now. AT&T is reportedly considering a deal with Leap Wireless to offload some of T-Mobile’s customers and spectrum, which could make the merger less anti-competitive in the eyes of the government.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Spinning the notion of what makes a wireless carrier on its head, Republic Wireless today announced its “Hybrid Calling” network, which offers no-contract talk, text, and web access for just $19 a month.

The company likens its network to hybrid cars — instead of relying entirely on expensive cellular bandwidth, Republic Wireless has built its phones to utilize Wi-Fi networks whenever possible.

Most of us are surrounded by Wi-Fi connectivity at work and home, so it makes sense to rely on those cheaper (and much faster) networks. Once you leave a Wi-Fi network, the company’s phones switch to traditional cellular access (relying on Sprint’s network).

“Wi-Fi is ubiquitous and cheap,” Republic general manager Brian Dally said in a statement today. “Cellular spectrum, by contrast, is expensive and controlled by the few. So we inverted the status quo, routing everything over Wi-Fi whenever possible and relegating cellular to its proper place – when we are outside of the home, office, or hotspots.”

The company says it won’t charge overage or roaming fees when subscribers are on the cellular network. You’ll have to pay $199 to sign up for Republic’s service, which provides you with an LG Optimus Android smartphone and a month of free service. After that, you only have to pay $19 a month, with no contract or termination fees to worry about.

As part of Republic’s fair use policy, each subscriber will need to operate at least one Wi-Fi connection of their own. That shouldn’t be a problem for anyone who already has a home internet connection though.

Hybrid Calling is an interesting solution to the industry-wide problem of scarce cellular bandwidth, but it remains to be seen if the company can stay afloat with its uber-cheap plans.

Republic Wireless is a subsidiary of the Internet phone and services company Bandwidth.com.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse

Things may be shaping up for Sprint.

The third-place US carrier reported losses of $301 million for the third quarter on $8.3 billion in revenue, but that was about half of what Wall Street expected the company to lose.

Additionally, the company confirmed that the iPhone 4S launch on October 14 (which doesn’t count towards its third quarter), was its best ever day of sales.

Sprint added 1.3 million subscribers during the quarter, consisting of 485,000 prepaid subscribers and 304,000 more lucrative postpaid (contracted) customers. The company also reported wholesale and affiliate subscriptions of 835,000. Overall, Sprint had 53 million subscribers at the end of the quarter, 32.9 million of which were postpaid.

The carrier reported $6.8 billion in wireless revenue, up 7 percent from last year. Sprint says it now has $4 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments on hand, along with $1 billion not yet drawn from its revolving bank credit facility.

Speaking about the iPhone 4S’s launch — the first iPhone launch on the carrier — CEO Dan Hesse said (as transcribed by ZDNet):

Our early results of selling the iPhone for an iPhone 4S have confirmed the iPhone’s ability to attract new customers. What one hopes to see from the device is a high percentage of gross adds, new customers and the revenue to Sprint. The time we have been selling this device is very short, the early results indicate the iPhone is breaking the previous Sprint record held by the Evo in terms of percentage of device buyers who are gross adds or new to Sprint in the weeks following the launch.

We believe two weeks in the March is not enough time to constantly estimate gross add percentages but we plan to provide you with the estimate after the full fourth-quarter results are in. But, early indications are extremely encouraging.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

There’s lots of good news for AT&T today. The carrier is reporting strong earnings with major growth in its wireless business, as well as the fact that it has sold over 1 million iPhone 4S units as of last Tuesday.

Revenues totaled $31.5 billion for the third-quarter, down $103 million (.3 percent) from last year, but that slight dip was buoyed by plenty of growth: The company finally surpassed 100 million wireless subscribers, wireless churn (or users leaving AT&T) is down, and wireless data revenues increased by $857 million, 18 percent compared to last year.

The announcement of 1 million iPhone 4S activations is just the icing on the cake — although it doesn’t come as a huge surprise, since Apple announced that it had sold 4 million units of the phone over its launch weekend. I had figured that, as the premiere iPhone carrier in the US, AT&T accounted for a big chunk of those launch sales.

The company gained 2.1 million new wireless subscribers during the quarter, reaching a total of 100.7 million. AT&T points to increased sales in several segments, including smartphones, tablets, prepaid, and other connected devices, as a reason for the growth.

AT&T also announced that its sales of non-iPhone smartphones — including Android, Windows Phone, and others — are going strong, accounting for half of its 4.8 million smartphones sold in the quarter. Additionally, “branded computing subscribers”, which includes customers with AT&T tablets, MiFi devices, tethering plans, and the like, increased by 505,000 to hit 4.5 million.

The company reported a slight drop in its wireline revenues — including those from its U-Verse TV, phone, and internet services — reaching $9.3 billion for the quarter, a 2.7 drop compared to last year. AT&T blames “economic weakness in voice and legacy data products” for the fall — in other words, landline phones and slower DSL service. But it still managed to grab 504,000 more subscribers for its U-Verse home broadband, reaching a total of 4.6 million subscribers.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Sprint is set to launch an ”aggressive roll-out” of LTE 4G technology on its network, starting in the middle of 2012, the third-largest US cellular carrier announced today.

As part of the upgrade, Sprint will simplify its cellular site hardware, optimize its use of wireless spectrum, and kill off its iDEN network (which is used for push-to-talk features).

For Sprint, the announcement couldn’t come soon enough, as its WiMax 4G network is beginning to show its age, and both Verizon and AT&T have already launched their faster LTE 4G networks. Even T-Mobile, the smallest of the big four US carriers, has been more aggressive about its 4G plans with its HSPA+ network, which can achieve speeds close to LTE.

News that Sprint is going all-in with LTE was first reported last week.

The carrier describes its LTE rollout as “rapid.” It will launch its first LTE markets in mid-2012 and expects to be mostly complete by the end of 2013. Verizon, by comparison, expects to achieve nationwide LTE availability by 2013. Sprint says it’s still committed to WiMax for now, and it will be selling those devices until 2012. (But you can expect WiMax to be killed off within the next few years.)

Sprint’s new multimode hardware will allow it to combine 3G and 4G hardware, instead of running them as separate units. New integrated chipsets in mobile devices will allow them to take better advantage of multiple wireless spectrums and multimode technology. Sprint’s multimode antennas will be able to broadcast both CDMA and LTE across 800 and 1900 MHz spectrums.

Pending federal approval, the carrier will also offer LTE wholesale to Lightsquared in a deal worth $9 billion, which also gives Sprint access to the 1600 MHz spectrum.

The streamlined approach is a stark contrast to how Sprint has been running its network so far, which involves juggling multiple incompatible technologies.

To take over the push-to-talk capabilities of its iDEN network, Sprint recently launched its CDMA PTT Direct Connect Network. The transition from iDEN is expected to be completed by mid-2013, but it’ll be worth it, since the move means push-to-talk will be available more widely throughout the US. Customers will also be able to roam onto other CDMA networks and use push-to-talk.

All of Sprint’s upgrades will also improve the overall experience for its 3G customers. The carrier says its 3G network will offer faster data speeds and better in-building performance, and it’s also looking into using additional spectrum for voice calls.

Sprint is working with Samsung, Alcatel-Lucent, and Ericsson on the infrastructure side to deploy its new LTE network.

Via Boy Genius Report

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

While it’s not quite the LTE 4G iPhone many were hoping for, the iPhone 5 will apparently support HSPA+ technology, which many carriers bill as 4G.

Speaking at Macworld Asia this week, a China Unicom executive showed off the above slide, which lists the iPhone 5 as supporting HSPA+ technology up to 21Mbps. In comparison, the iPhone 4 supports the slower HSPA standard with maximum speeds up to 7.2Mbps. The news could mean faster speeds for AT&T users, but Verizon and Sprint users, whose networks don’t support HSPA+, will be left out.

The news was first reported by Japanese IT news site PC Watch and was then picked up by Japanese blog Macotakara, which is where it spread to US tech blogs.

While the slide isn’t firm proof that this is where Apple is headed with its upcoming iPhone, past rumors have pointed to Apple including HSPA+ technology in the iPhone 5. It wouldn’t be too difficult to do since, unlike LTE chipsets, HSPA+ chips are easy to integrate into thin smartphone designs.

Apple is holding an event on Tuesday, October 4, where it will officially announce the iPhone 5.

If those rumors are true, the iPhone 5 would be able to take advantage of AT&T’s faster HSPA+ network, which AT&T has been marketing as 4G with smartphones like the Motorola Atrix and the HTC Inspire 4G. HSPA+ is a stop-gap technology for AT&T as it rolls out its LTE 4G network. T-Mobile, on the other hand, has banked its entire 4G strategy on HSPA+ with speeds up to 42Mbs.

But if the iPhone 5 does include the faster technology, users on CDMA networks like Verizon and Sprint will miss out, since HSPA+ is based on 3G GSM technology, which is only supported by AT&T and T-Mobile in the US. If this happens, many Verizon iPhone users who were glad to abandon AT&T may end up cursing their purchase.

Via MacRumors

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Catching up with Verizon Wireless and AT&T, Sprint is gearing up to launch its own 4G LTE network early next year.

The LTE network is expected to arrive during the first or second quarter of 2012, CNet reports, citing people familiar with the carrier’s plans. It will be a part of Sprint’s previously announced  Network Vision plan, which will cost the carrier somewhere between $4 billion and $5 billion over the next three to five years to revamp its network with new equipment.

The new network would give Sprint a more competitive offering against Verizon and AT&T’s LTE 4G networks. Sprint currently relies on Clearwire’s 4G network, which uses the slower WiMax standard. By relying on Clearwire (which Sprint also has a majority share in), the carrier was able to launch its 4G network long before its competitors. Now, LTE technology is trouncing WiMax in network speeds, leaving Sprint with the task of modernizing its network quickly.

As CNet’s Roger Cheng explains:

Sprint is opting to use its D-block spectrum, which it got from its acquisition of Nextel. Sprint plans to also use spectrum that will be freed up once it shuts down its Nextel network, which runs on a 2G technology called iDEN, best known for its walkie-talkie-like feature. The company previously said it expects to shut down the iDEN network by 2013.

Cheng says that Sprint will use the same FD-LTE standard as Verizon and Lightsquared, which recently signed an agreement to pay Sprint $9 billion to use its network infrastructure. Lightsquared is still having trouble getting its network off the ground, due to concerns from the FCC that it may interfere with GPS equipment.

Sprint will also maintain its relationship with Clearwire, which recently announced plans to build its own LTE network, though with the differing TD-LTE standard. Cheng says that Sprint will use equipment that runs both LTE standards, allowing Clearwire devices to run on its future network.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile carrier by revenue, is making its presence known in the U.S. today with the launch of its Xone research and development center in Silicon Valley.

The company isn’t gearing up to expand its network to the U.S. (it already owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless). Vodafone is instead aiming to assist U.S. companies that want to launch products on its global network, which covers more than 382 million customers in over 30 countries.

The Xone R&D Center was created for the purpose of “expediting innovation, productizing it and pushing it to market,” Rick Rasmussen, head of Vodafone US R&D Operations & Logistics, told VentureBeat in an interview yesterday.

The company’s R&D group will single out innovative tech from startups, R&D labs, venture capital portfolios and universities. The group will be provided with resources including commercial feedback, a direct connection to Vodafone’s global network and support from staff with expertise in network architecture, business development, content delivery and more. The space will be able to fit up to 24 companies at once.

Vodafone R&D’s head of U.S. and China Fay Arjomandi told VentureBeat that companies will have access to a full replica of its global network. “Capabilities include 2G/3G/LTE radio and an Internet Protocol (IP) network together with access to the IP service framework IP Multimedia Subsystem,” the company said in its press release today. Additionally, companies will also have access to Vodafone’s network via Verizon Wireless R&D Centers across the country.

The Xone Center will ultimately allow companies to test their apps and services on Vodafone’s network much more easily, not to mention at lower cost, than they could in the past.

The space will also be used as a community center of sorts to familiarize the Valley with Vodafone. The company plans to host conferences, events, meetups, hackathons and the like to connect with the community.

Vodafone Ventures, the company’s investment arm, is co-located at the Xone Center as well, and will use the opportunity to invest in interesting companies that come through. A dozen companies will be demoing at a launch event today for the Xone Center, which is a good sign for Vodafone’s future startup events.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

AT&T will soon present a plan to the Justice Department to save its proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile, which is said to involve some major concessions on AT&T’s part, Reuters reports.

The carrier has to make clear to the U.S. government why the merger is necessary, and the concessions should help to allay antitrust fears. If the deal falls through, AT&T will owe T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom some $7 billion in cash, spectrum and services as a breakup fee.

While actual details of the solution remain a mystery, the carrier is expected to promise that it will continue offering T-Mobile’s inexpensive subscription plans and devices. It may also have to sell up to 25 percent of T-Mobile’s business, including customers and airwaves, to make the merger seem like less of an antitrust concern, two anonymous sources told Reuters.

“AT&T is pretty determined that they can find a solution, and they are pretty confident,” one of the sources said.

The U.S. government threw a major wrench into AT&T’s plans on Wednesday by suing to block the merger on antitrust grounds. “AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low-priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market,” the DOJ wrote in its filing.

Reuters notes that the judge randomly selected for the hearing, U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in Washington D.C., is known for her speedy rulings. AT&T has asked for an expedited hearing, and a source says the case will head to court within two months.

AT&T and Deutsche Telekom have plenty of legal muscle in their corner to argue for the deal. AT&T’s lead attorney is Richard Rosen of Arnold & Porter LLP, who spearheaded Cingular’s $41 billion purchase of AT&T Wireless and was at one point head of communications at the DOJ’s antitrust division. DT has hired George Cary, an antitrust star who helped the FTC fight against Staples’ merger with Office Depot in 1997.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

FCC chairman Julius Genachowski is throwing his agency’s weight behind the Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit against AT&T over its proposed merger with T-Mobile.

“By filing suit today, the Department of Justice has concluded that AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile would substantially lessen competition in violation of the antitrust laws,” Genachowski wrote. This marks the first time that the FCC has actively spoken against the $39 billion merger.

Genachowski continues:

Competition is an essential component of the FCC’s statutory public interest analysis, and although our process is not complete, the record before this agency also raises serious concerns about the impact of the proposed transaction on competition. Vibrant competition in wireless services is vital to innovation, investment, economic growth and job creation, and to drive our global leadership in mobile. Competition fosters consumer benefits, including more choices, better service and lower prices.

Many have argued that AT&T would wield too much power in the US mobile industry if it buys T-Mobile, since it would only leave three major US carriers together with Verizon and Sprint. Now it appears that the FCC is taking those complaints seriously.

Sprint, one of the biggest critics of the deal, sounded unsurprisingly elated in its response to the antitrust suit. Senior vice president of government affairs Vonya B. McCann issued the following statement on behalf of Sprint:

The DOJ today delivered a decisive victory for consumers, competition and our country. By filing suit to block AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile, the DOJ has put consumers’ interests first. Sprint applauds the DOJ for conducting a careful and thorough review and for reaching a just decision – one which will ensure that consumers continue to reap the benefits of a competitive U.S. wireless industry. Contrary to AT&T’s assertions, today’s action will preserve American jobs, strengthen the American economy, and encourage innovation.

Other devices in the category include mobile broadband-equipped netbooks and laptops, but it appears that tablets will continue to be the driving force. Tablet shipments are expected to hit around 59 million units this year, up 239 percent from last year’s 17.4 million figure, according to IHS.

“[Tablets are] affecting everything from supply ecosystems to chipset design, to services, applications and business models. [They] are spurring innovation not just in the wireless sector but also across multiple industries,” Francis Sideco, principal analyst for wireless research at IHS said.

Overall shipments of mobile broadband devices are expected to hit around 158 million units this year, up from 100.1 million last year. IHS predicts that mobile broadband devices shipments will reach 350 million units by 2015 (see chart below), using a compounded growth rate of 28.5 percent.

Apple’s iPad is the undisputed tablet leader at the moment, but the next few years could see some Android tablets gaining a decent following of their own.

IHS notes that among the various methods to connect devices to mobile broadband networks, mobile hotspots and integrated chipsets are the fastest growing, increasing 25 to 50 percent more than other options like USB dongles. Eventually, I suspect, mobile broadband will become more of a standard feature for new computers, in particular ultraportable laptops. Google is already spearheading that idea with its Chromebooks.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Radio Shack announced this morning that it’s ending its relationship with T-Mobile and will start going steady with Verizon in September.

The company said that it will stop offering T-Mobile phones and services in its stores and on its website on September 14. On September 15, the company will be a Verizon Wireless shop. Radio Shack currently has more than 4,300 stores in the US.

The news isn’t a huge shock: Back in April Radio Shack profits took a major hit due to slow T-Mobile phone sales. “RadioShack gave up a lot of compensation from AT&T and Sprint to carry T-Mobile, and this partnership doesn’t appear to be panning out the way management expected,” Scot Ciccarelli, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, told Reuters at the time.

T-Mobile released a short statement regarding the news:

After careful consideration, we decided that in order to increase the effectiveness of our retail network and in line with our sales strategy, T-Mobile will exit RadioShack retail locations, effective September 15, 2011. We are currently focused on higher return national retailer opportunities and we expect to announce new channel growth in the coming weeks, which will more than double the number of RadioShack doors currently offering T-Mobile products and services.

While losing Radio Shack is yet another blow for T-Mobile, the addition of Verizon Wireless means that the retailer will be able to offer a wider selection of smartphones, as well as 4G LTE service, to its customers. The news could also potentially be used by AT&T to push federal regulators to approve its pending $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile. AT&T could, for example, argue that T-Mobile’s struggling sales at Radio Shack are a sign that it will start to struggle more in retail if left independent.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Verizon Wireless customers on the carrier’s ultra-fast 4G LTE network can give up the faint glimmer of hope they may have of being able to roam onto competing LTE networks, PC Mag reports.

Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney confirmed yesterday that the company’s LTE phones aren’t compatible with other LTE networks in the US (from AT&T and MetroPCS) because they run on different network frequencies. The news means consumers will face the same confusing incompatibilities with next-generation cellular networks that they have with current 3G networks.

LTE phones rely on SIM cards, just like current GSM phones from AT&T and T-Mobile. “But Verizon may be designing its phones to only run on Verizon’s very specific wireless frequency, locking out all other possible carriers,” PC Mag’s Sascha Segan writes. “Verizon and AT&T both run their LTE networks in the 700-MHz band. But Verizon’s network is mostly in 746-787MHz, while AT&T’s will be primarily in 704-746MHz.”

So it seems we’ll have to give up any hope LTE will be a magically universal standard that will simplify life for consumers. AT&T, which hasn’t announced any LTE phones yet, could very well lock down its devices just the same as Verizon. And other LTE networks, including MetroPCS’s existing one, as well as LightSquared and Cricket’s future setups, run on completely different frequencies from Verizon.

Segan also points out that the international LTE situation is even worse, with a multitude of potential frequencies that may be impossible to support with current LTE antennas. As for the US, someone could conceivably build a device that roams across all the competing networks, but that seems unlikely given that carriers seem so uninterested in cross-compatibility.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

AT&T had an eight-month head start with the iPhone 4, but Verizon has still ended up with a healthy 32 percent of the U.S. iPhone 4 market, according to a study by the mobile analytics company Localytics.

The study, if accurate, proves that there was indeed considerable pent-up demand for an iPhone on Verizon’s network. The carrier only sells the iPhone 4 on its network, and it announced in April that it had sold 2.2 million iPhones in its first quarter.

AT&T, which sold 3.6 million iPhones in its first quarter, also offers cheaper models like the bargain-priced $50 iPhone 3GS. AT&T hasn’t offered up any recent details on the amount of iPhone 4s on its network.

Verizon’s iPhone 4 market share jumped from 20 percent during the device’s launch week in February to 26 percent in May, according to Localytics’ study (see chart below). As of July, the carrier housed a third of all iPhone 4s in the country.

Judging from the study, there seems to have been a big jump in Verizon iPhone 4 sales between May and June. Localytics believes many consumers jumped to Verizon to take advantage of its unlimited data plan, which the company is scheduled to stop supporting today for new customers. AT&T dumped its unlimited data plan last year, although it’s still offering unlimited service to previous iPhone users.

Here’s how Localytics explains its research methodology: “Each month’s market share number is based on the seven-day period leading up to the 1st of the month – therefore, numbers should be taken as market share on the first day of the stated month. Data is based on app usage as seen by Localytics.”

We’ll be exploring the most disruptive mobile trends at our fourth annual MobileBeat 2011 conference, on July 12-13 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. It will focus on the rise of 4G and how it delivers the promise of true mobile computing. We’re also accepting entries for our mobile startup competition at the show. MobileBeat is co-located with our GamesBeat 2011 conference this year. To register, click on this link. Sponsors include Verizon Wireless, Qualcomm, Flurry, Greystripe, Box, Moolah Media, Tapjoy, AT&T Interactive, YuMe, Zong, Kontagent, Papaya Mobile, Acaltel-Lucent, Spil Games, BluePoint Security, PayPal, Xyologic, VSC, and Vantage Communications.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

A cool $265 million is being banked today by LightSquared, the first wholesale-only integrated 4G-LTE wireless broadband and satellite network in the United States. Over the last 12 months LightSquared has raised more than $2.3 billion.

Today’s capital comes from both existing investors as well as new investors in the company. LightSquared, based in Reston, VA, says it will use these funds for general corporate purposes.

In June 2011 LightSquared filed a proposal with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to move its network to a lower block of the wireless spectrum after tests showed its network plans interfered with GPS-enabled devices. The company said the new block does not interfere with 99.5 percent of all commercial GPS devices nor any GPS-enabled cell phone. LightSquared expects its wireless service to be available to consumers in the first half of 2012.

“Today wireless communications in the U.S. are dominated by a handful of cellular telephone companies,” the company wrote in today’s press release. “With the creation of LightSquared and its wholesale-only business model, America will finally see greater competition in the wireless marketplace.”

Current LightSquared partners include Best Buy Connect, Cellular South, Leap Wireless, SI Wireless and netTALK.

With AT&T’s impending $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile on the horizon, LightSquared’s 4G network will certainly add a bit of variety to the wireless market. In the FCC’s fifteenth report on wireless competition released this June, the agency still hasn’t released a formal finding as to whether there is, or is not, effective competition in the wireless industry.

We’ll be exploring the most disruptive mobile trends at our fourth annual MobileBeat 2011 conference, on July 12-13 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. It will focus on the rise of 4G and how it delivers the promise of true mobile computing. We’re also accepting entries for our mobile startup competition at the show. MobileBeat is co-located with our GamesBeat 2011 conference this year. To register, click on this link. Sponsors can message us at sponsors@venturebeat.com.