Qualcomm will be able to design around this injunction by producing new chips that don't use the same processes that were found to violate Broadcom's patents, but it will take a number of months, and leaves them out of the rising HSPA market that AT&T and T-Mobile will be pushing harder on as AT&T completes its faster 3G network and T-Mobile starts its real 3G buildout using frequency purchase at auction several months ago.
]]> ]]>That's a strategy, not an accident, or Sprint's internal customer support systems are incredibly poorly designed. The latter is more likely. While Sprint told Martin regarding the free sign up that representatives are being trained and should follow procedures, in the latter provided no real explanation for the charge and his problems in getting it removed.
Any decent support system shows account details when a customer's account is pulled up, including things like any special promotions, and when they expire. The conclusion is that Sprint has terrible back-end systems, not an unusual state of things.
]]> ]]>LTE has a rated speed of 100 Mbps downstream with 20 MHz of spectrum, but U.S. carriers are typically deploying 1.25 to 4 MHz for their 3G offerings. To achieve the best rates, more spectrum or different alignment of spectrum will be required. That's partly what the 700 MHz and some recent auctions were about.
]]> ]]>Connected with this, carriers need to band together to offer better international roaming. If you're an AT&T customer, for instance, you can roam to many other countries through partner agreements while using GPRS up to HSPA, but even with monthly subscription plans, you pay a high rate relative to domestic costs, and have low limits on throughput. Carriers like to eke out the maximum dollars from roaming, but with the potential of millions of laptop owners traveling who could use a network but avoid it due to cost, and who have Wi-Fi available at a generally lower cost, operators might need to rethink this high-margin strategy in favor of higher revenues.
]]> ]]>The router has the usual four Ethernet ports, supports Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), and can fail over to cell from broadband wired networks.
I suspect they're trying to get the leap on the competition by preannouncing something at least three months and perhaps six months before it's ready to ship.
]]> ]]>The card is free with a two-year contract until Nov. 3, and has the usual $60/mo. with commitment rate, or $80/mo. with less, for unmetered usage. The AirCard 881 works with GPRS and EDGE worldwide, too.
]]> ]]>Sprint will charge from $80 with a two-year commitment to $280 without for the device; Verizon, $150 (including a $50 rebate) for a two-year commitment. Monthly charges are, as always, $60 or $80 with each carrier, depending on voice plans and term of commitment.
]]> ]]>Broadcom is riding high on the various bits of news and legal decisions related to its ongoing patent battles with Qualcomm, including the decision by the US Trade Representative to allow a trade commission standing banning new handset models with Qualcomm 3G chips from entering the country; a judge's slapdown of Qualcomm's attorneys and standards' group practices that have led the judge to find two patents invalid; and the potential for more of the same to come.
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