Competition is fierce as operators look to sign up consumers to their new superfast 4G networks and make a return on their spectrum auction investment. A reason for this is that operators aren’t offering consumers anything beyond commodity services, such as 4G roaming bundles.
Nokia has announced the Nokia Lumia 625 smartphone with a large 4.7-inch LCD screen and 4G LTE capability. 1.2GHz, Dual Core smartphone has 512MB RAM with 8GB inbuilt memory that supports extension up to 64GB SD card.
LTE subscriptions in North America has soared to 22.3 million, a increase of almost 19 million in 12 months at the end of the 3Q 2012. This represents 51 percent of all 43.7 million LTE connections worldwide, reports 4G Americas. 128 commercial LTE networks have been launched in 58 countries to date.
China's ZTE has announced two new LTE handsets running Android Ice Cream Sandwich with 1.2GHz and 1.5GHz chipsets. Company plans to showcase them at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress telecoms industry show in Barcelona.
This Qualcomm webinar was presented last month, it examines LTE Advanced and provides a high-level view into how it helps operators make the next performance leap.
GSA, the Global mobile Suppliers Association, has announced that 251 LTE networks in 93 countries are now commercially launched. The number of countries with LTE service has grown 45% this year.
According to IHS iSuppli, the new iPad is more expensive to produce than the iPad 2 at the time of product launch, even though the retail price points are the same. The 32GB LTE model’s bill of materials (BOM) is nearly 9 percent higher than an iPad 2 equipped with 32GB and 3G wireless, which carried a cost of approximately $335 at the time of product launch.
Sprint has announced the next evolution of the HTC EVO family: HTC EVO 4G LTE. It will be available in the second quarter for $199.99. The availability date will be announced later.
GSA has confirmed that 72 LTE operators have launched commercial LTE services, including 25 networks launched so far in 2012. Commercial LTE services are now available today in 37 countries.
The Small Cell Forum says that public access small cells could play a key role in providing additional mobile coverage, capacity and new services in both urban and rural areas.