It was an absolutely huge week in the Mobility TechZone, with news coming out from all sides and in a wide array of fields. The gray market for mobile cell phones and its impact on flash memory prices, the lag between mobile providers and mobile phones in terms of 4G LTE access, LTE roaming and more all staked their claims on the mobile tech sector, so let's wade right into the thick of it and run down the news.
The Telecommunication Industry Association came out in favor of the FCC's plan for the potentially lucrative 2 GHz band, in the face of more new technologies emerging in recent years. With a variety of bandwidth types available, like 3G, a variety of 4G subclasses, and now LTE coming on to the scene, bandwidth in general was running slim until the FCC came out with a plan to offer parts of the 2 GHz band to help alleviate some of the strain on networks.
The city of Manila found itself on the receiving end of a multi-million dollar project to bring high-speed Wi-Fi hotspots, along with several other cities throughout the Philippines. Sponsored by the Philippines' largest telecommunications firm, PLDT, the project, to bring more bandwidth at higher speeds to the cities, will provide unlimited access for P150 a month (about $3.42 US) throughout a variety of public areas. The project has already begun work, and is expected to complete by the end of 2014.
Wireless companies looked to not only decrease the amount of subsidy they provide to decrease costs to users, but also increase profits in what they believe is a "more disciplined and more profitable future" in the face of increased optimism. While this may sound counter-intuitive, the end results so far suggest that revenue from contract customers is up 6.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012.
A market study of the mobile phone industry showed contraction in the market, with a nine percent decline in comparison to the same time the previous year. The study also brought in information about mobile devices like the Apple iPad, which was on top of the media table market and also resulted in a decline in Android tablet shipments.
SmithMicro made an appearance at the Interop 2012 conference, trying to take the focus off mobile devices and instead putting it on what they called "mobile command centers", in that there was a lot more going on than just devices. They looked at Wi-Fi bandwidth controls, mobile hotspots, connection policies and more.
Speaking of mobile hotspots, GCT Semiconductor and Sierra Wireless next announced a bid to bring Sierra's LTE single-chip solution, also known as the 4G LTE Tri-Fi Hotspot, to market. GCT brought along some of the technology used in their GDM7240 to help Sierra's hot spot get off the ground.
There was plenty more news from there, including an essay on whether or not it even made sense to talk about Apple rumors, CEVA's joining of the Wi-Fi Alliance, and Qualcomm's Killer Wireless-N technology becoming part of Dell's popular line of Alienware gaming PCs. Our global online community is constantly keeping watch for all the best news in the sector, so stick around right here for all the biggest news, and our Saturday week in reviews!
