Cable industry prepares for open competition in IoT services

29 July 2017 by Steve Blum
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Open source and cable industry are terms seldom found in the same sentence. But that’s about to change and it might be a very big deal indeed. CableLabs is the jointly funded, common technical development organisation for the cable industry, worldwide. Its crown jewel is the twenty year old DOCSIS standard, which is the engine that drives data delivery over hybrid fiber-coax systems in the U.S., and most of the the rest of the world.… More

Verizon fires up mid-tier IoT network

1 April 2017 by Steve Blum
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Making good on a promise, Verizon says it is rolling out wireless Internet of things (IoT) service nationally. During the CTIA show in Las Vegas last year, a Verizon representative said that the LTE M1 standard would be deployed throughout its U.S. network by April. Verizon beat that deadline by a day, saying in a press release that as of yesterday, it was launching…

The first nationwide commercial 4G LTE Category M1 (or Cat M1) network, which spans 2.4 million square miles.

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New network standards fuel Verizon IoT push

7 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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U.S. mobile carriers will offer specialised Internet of things (IoT) services in a big way next year. Some of the motivation is competitive, the result of pressure from companies using unlicensed spectrum, but it seems to be mostly the result of new technology protocols for the LTE standard that support IoT applications and, critically, business cases.

Verizon announced its plans for full, nationwide deployment of a key IoT standard by April 2017 at the Telit IoT Innovation conference in Las Vegas yesterday.… More

Ready or not, T-Mobile wants to push ahead into unlicensed bands

6 August 2016 by Steve Blum
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Standard-setting groups have been trying to work out a peaceful coexistence strategy for traditional WiFi and carrier-class mobile data traffic in unlicensed bands. The mobile industry’s primary thrust is the LTE-U protocol, which would use the same basic technology as licensed 4G cell sites in the same bands as WiFi, with, it is hoped, sufficiently intelligent, active management of transmissions so as not to crowd out everyone else.

The Federal Communications Commission has to certify that the equipment being used meets its rules for operating in unlicensed spectrum, and it has held off doing so until the Wi-Fi Alliance comes to an agreement with mobile industry groups, including the LTE-U Forum, on coexistence plans.… More

Verizon's plan to blast LTE traffic over unlicensed spectrum questioned by FCC

7 August 2015 by Steve Blum
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Can you hear me now?

Plans by mobile phone companies to use unlicensed spectrum – including that currently used by WiFi devices and wireless Internet service providers – to supplement licensed frequencies are getting a harder look from the Federal Communications Commission. The head of the FCC’s office of engineering and technology – Julius Knapp – is asking the Verizon-backed LTE-U Forum, an industry group that’s working on a standard for 4G broadband service in unlicensed bands, for more information on what, exactly, it’s up to.… More

Three trends to spot at CES

2 January 2014 by Steve Blum
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CES needs Bitcoin more than Bitcoin needs CES.

The 2014 Consumer Electronics Show opens next week in Las Vegas, with preview events beginning on Sunday and the exhibit floor opening on Tuesday. The show lacks last year’s changing-of-the-guard fascination, when mobile kingpins and rising giants held prominent places in keynote and featured sessions. Instead, it’s about reviving the brands that were shouldered aside in 2013.

But there’s always something new to see at CES, with three trends looking particularly interesting…

Wearables – CES exhibit halls promise to be packed with smart watches, eyeglass mounted video displays and cameras, and various other small, wearable devices – health and fitness related in many cases – that serve as smart phone peripherals or substitutes.… More

M2M: sell the service, not the machine

10 October 2011 by Steve Blum
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Verizon’s approach to the machine-to-machine business is to stop selling hardware and just sell the service. Duncan Sensenich, from their M2M unit, was one of several mobile executives who spoke at Ovum’s M2M seminar at the CTIA Enterprise and Applications conference in San Diego today.

In this case, low expectations might have been the breeding ground for a lower cost, potentially higher profit way of doing business. The M2M segment was traditionally buried in Verizon’s financial reporting and its management structure.… More

Live from CTIA 2 April 2009: real time tweets

Checking out ISC show at Sands, lots of vendors, buyers & energy. Bull market for security these days.

WiMAX
vendors split between ISC & CTIA, focus is on 2.5 GHz for Clearwire, lots of competition at other frequencies.

Back at CTIA, LTE has the support of the big guns at this show. WiMAX US hopes are pinned on Clearwire, more happening internationally though.

Finally found disruption! Magmito.com is phone-top publishing, can do for mobile apps what Pagemaker did for newsletters.… More