Cell on Wheels (COWs) are portable cell towers, usually deployed temporarily for sporting events, natural disasters, etc. Verizon has just announce the delivery of their first LTE COW in Florida.
Via droid-life
As a GSA contract holder, Phoenix Global Support provides training services under Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services (MOBIS) guidelines. We can be found in the GSA eLibrary with contract number GS-02F-0248X.
We have been granted a transmitting license from the FCC for the Fayetteville, NC area for the standard 2G/3G frequencies.
Callsign: WF2XSV
File #: 0145-EX-PL-2011
Expires 1 August 2016
Verizon has rolled out 4G across the country a bit faster than anticipated. With the goal of having 4G everywhere they currently have 3G service, as of 18 August Verizon’s 4G network covered over 160 million people, in 117 cities.
Of course, Verizon 4G LTE only provides up to 12 Mbps downlink speed, far short of the specified 100 Mbps.
h/t: Droid-life
Via Wireless Week: “New government tests show LightSquared’s planned LTE network interferes with GPS service.
LightSquared’s planned hybrid satellite-terrestrial LTE network sits in spectrum directly adjacent to bandwidth used by GPS, sparking concern that the high-powered signals coming from LightSquared’s network will overload sensitive GPS receivers.”
LightSquared’s Boeing-built satellite was launched in November 2010.
The two largest GSM providers in America are being grilled by US lawmakers over their proposed merger. The debate in the antitrust hearings is how this will affect jobs and competition. Critics argue against shrinking the already small national cellular provider market. Proponents of the merger point out that T-Mobile does not have the spectrum to roll out a competitive 4G network.
Along with the US congressional hearings, “[i]n related news Canadian authorities said they would be also investigating the proposed merger.”
For more information click here.
Sept 21st, 2010: MetroPCS has launched the first 4G LTE service in the United States as well as the world’s first commercially available 4G LTE enabled handset, the Samsung Craft.
Service began in Las Vegas, NV and will be spreading to other MetroPCS cities throughout the year.
While many carriers are moving in the direction of 4G, most of those networks actual parameters only fall under “3.9G” which means they are the next step towards 4G, falling just short of actually being 4G. What makes this jump in technology significant is that MetroPCS has completely skipped over 3G and opened 4G coverage to those who purchase the Samsung Craft, the only 2G/4G phone.
For more information click here.
*****Update*****
Sept 29th, 2010: MetroPCS launched its second area of full 4G coverage in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area.
AT&T has announced that they will soon be providing a “back-up” satellite coverage for select phones on select plans on their network.
The phone will cost $799 and will require a standard voice and data plan in order to use. Although users will have to purchase the ability to use the satellite system for another $25 a month as well as 65 cents per minute of phone time.
The phone itself is very close to a Blackberry, but a little thicker, however this is an improvement over the usual satellite phone which has a large external antenna.
One of the issues with the phone is that in order to use it you must have full view of the Southern sky with no obstructions (trees, buildings, cover, etc) so you must be outside.
What sets this phone apart from others is that this satellite sends data. The phone is still a fully functional Blackberry that can send and receive emails, picture and text messages, and other types of data and runs Windows Mobile.
For more information click here.