Tag Archives: Softbank

Coverage: T vs. VZ for 4G LTE

How does

AT&T’s new local 4G LTE coverage compare to Sprint’s?


AT&T coverage map
and still rolling more out, said
Tony Adams in the Ledger-Inquirer,

Update: AT&T adds cell sites outside Columbus, launches yearly smartphone upgrade plan July 26,

AT&T has 4G in the Columbus market, but not the faster LTE. A check
of the firm’s coverage map shows virtually every other major metro
area in Georgia with LTE, while many smaller communities in the
state also have the top-of-the-line service.

Elsas, in a statement, said the company uses HSPA+ technology
locally and those 4G speeds “are incredibly fast — up to
four times faster than 3G.” But she also acknowledged there is
work to be done on adding spectrum, or capacity, to the Columbus
network.


Verizon coverage map (top)
“As far as LTE, there is currently a lack of available
spectrum in Columbus, and we are working hard to address
this,” the statement said. “In the meantime,

Verizon coverage map (bottom)
we continue
to invest in technology, strengthen our network and seek
opportunities to offer the best wireless experience possible in the
region.”

“Possible” of course includes Continue reading →

AT&T 4G LTE now in Valdosta @ VLCIA 2013-07-16

Verizon won’t be the only 4G LTE access in Valdosta anymore:
AT&T has turned theirs on.
It’s not clear how far out of town that extends (looks to me
like I still need to go stand by my west gate if I want on),
but at least it’s a start of competition, and maybe T will
get around to increasing
its coverage (see next post).
If

Softbank + Sprint + Clearwire comes here, as well,
maybe we’ll see something like a competitive market.
It’s not clear even that will be enough to get fast affordable
access everywhere in south Georgia.
For that, maybe our local elected and appointed officials
will continue with

the advocacy they started back in February.


Andrea Schruijer and the AT&T 4G LTE PR
As mentioned at the Industrial Authority yesterday evening by
Executive Director Andrea Schruijer (video to come), here’s
AT&T’s PR of 2 July 2013,

AT&T 4G LTE Available In Valdosta:
Customers to benefit from nation’s fastest 4G LTE network on the latest devices,

VALDOSTA, Ga., July 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — AT&T* has turned on
the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network** in Valdosta, bringing
customers the latest generation of wireless network technology.
Watch here to see several of the benefits AT&T 4G LTE provides,
including:

  • Faster speeds. LTE technology is capable of delivering mobile
    Internet speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G***. Customers can
    stream, download, upload and game faster than ever before.
  • Cool new
    devices. AT&T offers several LTE-compatible devices, including new
    AT&T 4G LTE smartphones and tablets.
  • Faster response time. LTE
    technology offers lower latency, or the processing time it takes to
    move data through a network, such as how long it takes to start
    downloading a webpage or file once you’ve sent the request. Lower
    latency helps to improve services like mobile gaming, two-way video
    calling and telemedicine.
  • More efficient use of spectrum. Wireless
    spectrum is a finite resource, and LTE uses spectrum more
    efficiently than other technologies, creating more space to carry
    data traffic and services and to deliver a better network
    experience.

“Wireless infrastructure investment is critical to Georgia’s future
and I am very pleased to see AT&T investing in Valdosta and Lowndes
County and bringing LTE service to our community,” said Andrea
Schruijer, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County
Industrial Authority. “Advanced technology like LTE will help
stimulate our economy and provide new tools and services that we
need to compete for business.”

“We continue Continue reading →

Softbank buying Sprint buying Clearwire for better Internet

About nine months ago

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son said he wanted to buy Sprint


because he was tired of poor U.S. Internet service.
The FCC has approved that merger.
And Clearwire shareholders have approved Sprint buying Clearwire,
which will provide more spectrum for Sprint to work with.
Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T competing in 4G LTE or faster
wireless Internet services would almost be like a real market!
Today’s the day.



Jordan Crook wrote vfor TechCrunch Monday,

After 9 Months, The Softbank-Sprint Merger Will Be A Done Deal On July 10,

“SoftBank Corp. will invest approximately USD 21.6 billion
(approximately JPY 1.8 trillion*) in Sprint Nextel Corporation and
currently anticipates consummating the transaction on July 10, 2013
(EDT).”

Continue reading →

How to get fast Internet service —Susan Crawford

Susan Crawford has a plan

for getting us fast Internet access for jobs, community, education,
and health care.



Susan Crawford wrote for Wired 2 October 2012,

We Can’t All Be in Google’s Kansas: A Plan for Winning the Bandwidth
Race,
about how the incumbent telephone and cable companies that provide
our Internet access aren’t going to help:

They have no incentive to do so. Because they never enter one
another’s territories, they don’t face the competition that might
spur such expansion.

Instead, incumbent internet access providers such as Comcast and
Time Warner (for wired access) and AT&T and Verizon (for
complementary wireless access) are in “harvesting” mode.
They’re raising average revenue per user through special pricing for
planned “specialized services” and usage-based billing,
which allows the incumbents to constrain demand. The ecosystem these
companies have built is never under stress, because consumers do
their best to avoid heavy charges for using more data than they’re
supposed to. Where users have no expectation of abundance, there’s
no need to build fiber on the wired side of the business or build
small cells fed by fiber on the wireless side.

If the current internet access providers that dominate the American
telecommunications landscape could get away with it, they’d sell
nothing but specialized services and turn internet access into a
dirt road.

So what is her plan?

Continue reading →

Softbank’s Son to install solar in Japan: watch out, Georgia Power!

The same Masayoshi Son who shook up Japan’s Internet market

and is about to do the same in the U.S.
is moving to modify Japan’s power market from nuclear to solar.
Watch out, Georgia Power and Southern Company!
If you don’t get a move on, Son-san will eat your lunch, too.

Mariko Yasu wrote for Bloomberg Businessweek 23 June 2011,

Softbank’s CEO Wants a Solar-Powered Japan,


Masayoshi Son
Billionaire Masayoshi Son made a fortune taking on Japan’s phone
monopoly. Now he aims to shake up its power utilities after the
worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. The 53-year-old chief executive
officer of Softbank says he will build solar farms to generate
electricity, with support from at least 33 of Japan’s 47
prefectures. He’s asking for access to transmission networks owned
by the 10 regional utilities and an agreement that they buy his
electricity. No other company has secured unlimited access to the
those transmission networks. The utilities would not comment.
Japan’s main business organization, the Keidanren, called for
“careful analysis” before any drastic change in the power system
took place.

If Japan ever felt ready to back Son’s ambitious plan, this is the
moment. Radiation has spread across at least 600 square kilometers
(230 square miles) in the northeast since the Mar. 11 earthquake and
tsunami led to meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant.
Outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in May he will rethink a plan
to increase atomic power to 50 percent of the nation’s energy output
from 30 percent. Renewable energy already accounts for 10 percent,
according to Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. Son
wants to see that tripled by 2020. “The question is how this nation
is going to survive after cutting nuclear power,” he said at a
government panel meeting on June 12.


Complacent Georgia Power and SO, you maybe don’t think he can do it?
NTT probably thought that, too:

Continue reading →

Japan’s Softbank buys Sprint because CEO Son says U.S. networks too slow

U.S. car manufacturers decades ago milked profits out of poor technology
and got outcompeted by Japan on both quality and price.
The same thing is happening right now with fast Internet service.
We may not have to wait for Verizon and AT&T to get around
to offering

affordable fast 4G LTE Internet service:
Sprint may do it first, now that Japan’s Softbank is stepping in.

Roger Chang wrote for CNET News 15 October 2012,

Japan’s Softbank poised to supercharge Sprint network:
Softbank CEO complains that U.S. networks are too slow, and with his $20 billion bid for Sprint, he aims to do something about that.



Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son isn’t impressed with the high-speed
wireless networks in the United States.

“Everytime I come to the U.S., I say ‘Oh my God, the mobile phone
network is so slow,'” Son said during a conference call with
analysts today.

Now, Son is in a position to change things to his liking after
Softbank and Sprint Nextel agreed on a deal in which Softbank would
take a 70 percent stake in the U.S. carrier.

Sprint, which has struggled as a distant No. 3 carrier behind AT&T
and Verizon Wireless, could get a boost from the deal, in which
Softbank spends $12.1 billion to buy the controlling stake and
another $8 billion in investment into the company.

What’s he aiming at improving?

Continue reading →