Energy Solutions

Wireless Economic Impact: Nearly 4 Million Jobs, $146B in GDP

Posted by: | May 4th, 2012 | No Comments »

It should come as no surprise that the wireless industry is an engine of U.S. economic growth. Just how much so? Well, conducting an in-depth, independent study, Recon Analytics found that the wireless industry supported some 3.8 million jobs and added some $146 billion to U.S. GDP in 2011.

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4G Beginning to Take Hold, 87 Million Devices Scheduled to Ship in 2012

Posted by: | April 20th, 2012 | No Comments »

4G subscribership is poised for take-off in 2012, as vendors ship a range of new 4G mobile devices, including USB dongles, smartphones, tablets, portable 4G hotspots and wireless broadband CPE (customer premises equipment), according to a new report from ABI Research.

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Wi-SUN Alliance is Born for Wireless Smart Utility Devices

Posted by: | April 13th, 2012 | No Comments »

A group of eight organizations involved the development, manufacturing and sale of smart utility network products announced the formation of the Wi-SUN (Wireless Smart Utility Network) Alliance in Tokyo recently. Supporting the emerging IEEE 802.15.4g standard for wireless communications of battery-powered equipment, Alliance members are “committed to establishing common standards for the global smart grid roll-out,” according to a press release.

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White Space Alliance Looks to Promote Super Wi-Fi

Posted by: | December 28th, 2011 | No Comments »

A founding group of five telecoms technology organizations have launched The WhiteSpace Alliance, an international trade association that aims to promote and foster use of unused TV band ‘White Space’ frequencies to deliver wireless broadband Internet services at reasonable cost to rural, under- and unserved areas.

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Verizon Wireless, Cablecos Partner on Spectrum, Services

Posted by: | December 5th, 2011 | No Comments »

Verizon Wireless is picking up additional wireless broadband spectrum from SpectrumCo, LLC, a cable industry joint venture consisting of Comcast (63.6%), Time Warner Cable (31.2%) and Bright House Networks (5.3%). Verizon Wireless is paying $3.6 billion for SpectrumCo’s 122 Advanced Wireless Services spectrum licenses, which cover 259 million Points of Presence (POPs).

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China Passes U.S. as World’s Largest Smartphone Market

Posted by: | November 28th, 2011 | No Comments »

China smartphone shipments surged 58% quarter-to-quarter in 3Q to reach a record 24 million units, vaulting over the US to become the world’s largest smartphone market, according to research from Strategy Analytics’ analyst Linda Sui. (LINK: http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=reportabstractviewer&a0=6871) Multinational and local brands’ bolstering smartphone models, heavy subsidization driving down retail prices and carriers’ aggressive 3G data plan promotions drove growth in 3Q, according to Sui.
Nokia, in handsets, and Symbian, in mobile operating systems, are market leaders in China, while Samsung, Apple, ZTE, Huawei and HTC “are upping their game with high-end and low-end models,” Sui wrote in a research note.
Nokia shipped 6.8 million smartphones in 3Q. Samsung ranked second, having shipped 4.2 million units. Taken together, the two accounted for 46.1% of the China market.
Mobile connections in China are forecast to exceed 1 billion come May next year, while mobile penetration will reach 74%, according to a GigaOm report. (LINK: http://gigaom.com/broadband/china-mobile-phone-subscriptions/?utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_source=cnn&utm_content=more-smartphones-now-sold-in-china-than-in-u-s_443823) That compares to some 303 million in the US.
China and India were already the world’s largest mobile markets when measured by mobile connections, according to Wireless Intelligence. The market research firm forecasts that ongoing growth in the two countries’ mobile telecoms markets will drive mobile connections to a “landmark 3 billion” in 1Q 2012 and 4.1 billion by 2015.

The U.S. can no longer claim the throne of smartphone supremacy. That honor now belongs to China, where smartphone shipments surged 58% quarter-to-quarter in 3Q11 to reach a record 24 million units, vaulting over the U.S. to become the world’s largest smartphone market, according to research from Strategy Analytics.

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Colleges and Universities Accelerating Wi-Fi Deployments

Posted by: | October 19th, 2011 | No Comments »

U.S. colleges and universities are expanding their wireless networks and scaling back their wired LANs (local area networks), according to an Aruba Networks‘ annual survey of 298 IT professionals that focused on defining networking priorities at U.S. higher educational institutions.

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Kansas City Board Chooses Tropos for Smart Grid, Wireless Broadband Network

Posted by: | August 1st, 2011 | No Comments »

The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities has chosen Tropos GridCom to provide the communications infrastructure aggregating smart grid applications across its 127-square mile territory. The publicly-owned utility is building out a smart grid for both water and electricity, according to a press release.

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TXU Energy Adds Mobile Bill Pay to Growing Customer Smart Grid Suite

Posted by: | May 27th, 2011 | No Comments »

Dallas’s TXU Energy continues to innovate it when it comes to demand-side smart grid development. The electric utility has launched a customer Web site designed specifically for mobile phone users. The new site enables customers to access their accounts and pay bills through Web-enabled wireless devices, according to a TXU press release.

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IEEE Approves New WiMAX2 Standard

Posted by: | April 6th, 2011 | No Comments »

TheĀ  Standards Board of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has approved IEEE 802.16m, a standard designed to support future advanced services and applications for next generation broadband mobile communications, also known as WiMAX2.

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