AT&T announced the selection of Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson as equipment suppliers for the planned deployment of its LTE mobile broadband network. The company is planning a first field trials of LTE later this year. Commercial deployment is scheduled to begin in 2011.

LTE, the next-generation mobile broadband standard, is the clear choice for the next leap in wireless technology, reports In-Stat. The analysts claim that while WiMax appeared to be a competitor for 4G early on, that battle is now largely resolved.

Cox announced the successful completion of voice calling and high definition video streaming over wireless networks using LTE technology. Cox's 4G technology and service trials utilize the AWS and 700 MHz spectrum.

As 4G network deployments gather momentum, a substantial 22% of device subscription revenues will come from suites of operator-branded premium services.

Total 4G mobile consumer service revenue – including mobile internet services - will grow rapidly to exceed $70 billion worldwide in 2014, says ABI Research.

Today, as the first operator in the world, TeliaSonera launched 4G services commercially to customers in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway.

The two pioneering 4G city networks cover the central city areas and will be used for mobile data.

The Stockholm 4G network is supplied by Ericsson and the Oslo’s by Huawei. The modems at launch come from Samsung.

Larger-scale mobile WiMAX network deployments are finally becoming a reality, according to recent ABI Research report.

The research shows Clearwire in the United States has already declared 173,000 subscribers, Yota in Russia has been growing at a decent rate reaching 100,000 subscribers in August and 200,000 in October, and PacketOne in Malaysia has reached 130,000 subscribers.

AIRCOM International, the network planning and optimisation consultancy, revealed the economic reality of LTE migration facing mobile operators around the world - as much as US$1.78 billion for a tier one US operator in the first year.

As the economic downturn puts pressure on credit markets, and mobile operators attempt to limit significant CAPEX commitments, AIRCOM says they believe that innovative approaches to LTE network roll out, network sharing for example, will be essential in ensuring the profitable delivery of future mobile services.

Alltel has launched a new entry-level clamshell in the AX310 for those customers in divested markets.

The AX310 features features voice-activated calling, speakerphone Bluetooth, speaker-independent voice control and 1.3 megapixel camera with zoom.

The LG AX310 is available for $59.99 before an additional $30 mail-in rebate with activation of a 1-year service contract on a qualifying rate plan, bringing the total to $29.99.

Samsung announced that it has developed, as it claims, the first Long Term Evolution modem that complies with the latest standards of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, which were released in March 2009.

The modem, branded the Kalmia, supports download speed up to 100Mbps and upload speed of 50Mbps within the 20MHz frequency bandwidth.

INTERVIEW: Erik Hallberg, Senior Vice President and Head of TeliaSonera Mobility Services in Sweden, tells smartphone.biz-news how this telecom is changing the face of mobile technology with its innovative 4G network.

Motorola announced successful completion of its joint Over-the-Air (OTA) trial with operators as part of the collaborative Time Division Duplex Long-Term Evolution (TD-LTE) commercialization.

Arguing that WiMAX is a better wireless 4G system than Long Term Evolution (LTE) - or vice versa - is a waste of time.
That's the view of Dr Hans-Peter Petry, head of radio access and transport at Detecon International, who is adamant that it's pointless claiming either side in the 4G debate is superior to the other.

Filed under: Alltel

Here's a refreshing shocker: the industry-standard two-year contract is effectively going away -- at least temporarily. Starting tomorrow, the 91 markets of Alltel that Verizon is required to divest are now offering one-year contracts for all new and renewing customers, but there's no increase in phone pricing -- you'll pay exactly the same amount at the register as if you were signing a two-year deal. The move almost seems like a little "screw you" to whomever ends up acquiring the markets, since those companies will effectively have to deal with the lost revenue -- but on the record, anyhow, the divested trust's main sales guy says that they're "excited about the possibility of joining AT&T." We're not so sure that AT&T feels the same way, but in the meantime, this is a nice little win for customers.

Alltel steps down to one-year contracts without changing phone prices originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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INTERVIEW: With the WiMAX Forum Global Congress about to kick off in Amsterdam, smartphone.biz-news spoke to Mike Roberts, principle analyst with Informa, about the state of the emerging wireless technology.

Telefónica today conducted its first tests on a real 4th Generation network with LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology, installed at its Demonstrations Centre in Madrid.
The initial tests consisted of a VoIP call and a videocall using an LTE mini-network installed by Ericsson, Video conference, and data and images downloads at speeds in excess of 140 Mbps.

Filed under: Handsets, LG, Alltel, CDMA

We all know by now that the Banter is essentially a Rumor 2 clone for Alltel, which immediately makes it a desirable device to a whole battalion of folks looking for a cheap, relatively stylish way to get their text on. Just how cheap are we talking? Try $19.99 on contract after rebate, which by our rough calculations works out to a full $30 less than what Sprint is asking at the moment. Indirectly, you could call this a slap in the face to Sprint by sworn rival Verizon -- but then again, Alltel's launching this, not Big Red proper. How long until those two lovebirds merge their product lines?

LG Banter gets priced on Alltel originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over 800,000 base stations will utilize alternative energy solutions such as wind or solar energy in 2009, according to ABI Research.
The forecast was made by the researchers' new Clean Telecoms Research Service, set up to meet the growing need for detailed market information about green initiatives.

Filed under: Nokia, Verizon Wireless, LTE

Given Nokia Siemens' commitment to getting the technology rolled out with carrier partners on the double and the fact that Nokia's tie-up with Qualcomm for S60-optimized HSPA and LTE chipsets will bear fruit in 2010 -- not to mention the fact that multiple carriers will be deploying LTE over the next two years -- it only stands to reason that Espoo would have LTE devices in the pipe sooner rather than later. Indeed, the company has now gone on record saying that it'll have "data intensive" LTE gadgets launched next year, though they've failed to go into the nitty gritty details of what kind of devices those might be. That could very well be where this new rumor comes into play, though: TheStreet.com is claiming that there's chatter of a Verizon / Nokia partnership that would see a serious full touchscreen multimedia phone launched to help inaugurate Big Red's LTE airwaves -- and considering that Nokia has ramped up its Verizon-branded product portfolio over the past year and publicly cheered on the carrier for choosing LTE over WiMAX or UMB, it's not all that difficult to believe. If the rumored device comes in a brown pleather wallet, count us in.

[Via Phone Scoop, thanks papari]

Read - Nokia bringing LTE in 2010
Read - Verizon partnership?

Nokia says it'll have LTE devices by 2010, Verizon partnership in the works? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Palm, Alltel, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA

Alltel rolls out Palm Treo Pro originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: LTE

Running through our cheat sheet of American carriers hoping to roll out LTE, regional MetroPCS definitely would not have been on our short list to scrap with Verizon in the race to launch the first commercial network stateside -- but sure enough, they're on there. Recent comments by the COO indicate that they're on track to launch 4G service some time in 2010 -- "probably the latter half" -- which raises the obvious question of why they're in such a hurry. Historically, MetroPCS has been a value brand, concentrating on non-data-centric handsets (in fact, they don't have a single data card or smartphone in their current lineup), but it's been revealed that they'll be deploying a BlackBerry later this year, so it seems they're looking to move up the food chain and capture some of that data revenue the top-tier carriers have been enjoying for the past couple of years.

[Via Phone Scoop]

MetroPCS hoping to roll out LTE in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An alliance between Vodafone, Verizon and China Mobile could provide sufficient stimulus to drive the adoption of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard on a global basis.
That's the expectation of Vodafone's chief executive, Vittorio Colao, who has suggested that closer ties between the three companies could be forged.

Worldwide mobile WiMAX infrastructure revenues nearly quadrupled in the third quarter of 2008 over the third quarter of 2007, according to the latest figures.
Scott Siegler, senior analyst of Mobile Infrastructure research at Dell’Oro Group, said that with LTE still a couple of years away, WiMAX has become the first next generation technology with commercial service.

When it comes to cameras - and that includes camera phones - many consumers are fixated by the megapixel count.
Yet John Turner, product manager for multi-media at Symbian, said higher resolution was definitely no guarantee of quality.
He said this was especially true since the majority of camera phone photos are taken in the darkened environs of bars and nightclubs.

Filed under: Software, Alltel

Lil' Verizon Alltel has launched its Alltel Perks service, an free app downloadable from the carrier's deck that will automatically deliver "offers and content" to a phone's home screen while the phone is not in use. Real-time, localized coupons appear to be a big push for the system, using the subscriber's zip code, age, gender, and the time of day and day of week to determine what sorts of V1@GR@ deals users will receive. Once a deal hits the handset, it's stored for a little while in a "Recent Offer" menu to make sure you have accessed to the stuff you missed while your phone was tucked away in your pocket. And yes -- fortunately, the service is free.

Alltel Perks delivers spam straight to your home screen originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, Alltel, EV-DO, CDMA

There's not a dry eye in the house now as the junior Hue goes out into the world, ready to pick up where its colorful parent left off. Like its predecessor, the Hue II has five interchangeable faceplates available -- blue, gray, purple, green, and white -- with blue and gray bundled in the box. It ups the Hue's ante by moving from a 1.3- to a 2-megapixel cam and offers stereo Bluetooth, microSD expansion to 8GB, navigation, and a price that's just $10 higher on contract -- $39.99 when purchased online. It's available now.

Samsung Hue II carries on Hue's time-honored tradition on Alltel originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE

Not that Motorola's Q11 comes as any big surprise, but it's nice to see the Windows Mobile 6.1-packin' smartphone get all official on us. Now boasting its very own dedicated page on Moto's website, the Q11 comes to us with quad-band GPRS / EDGE (no 3G, for whatever reason), a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash, 64MB of RAM, microSD card slot, Bluetooth 2.1, a 320 x 240 resolution display, integrated GPS and a multimedia player with support for all sorts of file formats. You can also expect up to 450 minutes of talk time and up to 195 hours in standby, but you won't be able to wrap your paws around it until December. As for carriers and pricing? Patience, friends, patience.

[Via UnwiredView]

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Alltel today announced that eleven of its handsets will now support the nuTsie iTunes companion application, with more coming in the near future.  NuTsie works in unison with iTunes, bringing a user’s collection of music to their mobile device in a unique way.

Instead of your music and playlists being stored on the device itself, nuTsie works by taking the song metadata from your playlists in iTunes, matching the information to it’s central music database, and then loading the songs directly from its servers to your device.  

The app makes your entire iTunes library easily accessable from your mobile device via the client without loading the device down with files.  In addition to access to your own library and playlists, you can also access friends’ playlists and those composed by nuTsie’s “experts” to go above and beyond the capabilities of iTunes.

The service is available now, with a cost of $4.99 per month or $19.99 annually.