MuniWireless

The recent Iliad-Free press release boasting of the world’s largest community Wi-Fi network has left many of us skeptical and puzzled. I posed a few questions to Xavier Niel, CEO of Iliad-Free, about the configuration of the network and the company’s intentions. Niel confirmed the network is now in beta “just like Gmail” with thousands of users, and it should be up and running soon. Iliad-Free is building a network of Wi-Fi hotspots that will cover France by relying on…

AT&T announced that it will upgrade its existing 3G network to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2. The upgrade is expected to be completed by 2011. The company says that the network upgrade is necessary in order to keep up with increased data traffic from smartphones and netbooks. AT&T also plans to improve coverage by doubling the wireless spectrum dedicated to 3G in most metropolitan areas (to deliver stronger in-building reception and more overall network capacity) and adding thousands of…

Admob’s April 2009 report reveals interesting (but not surprising) data on the continued growth of the iPhone’s and the iPod Touch’ share of mobile web requests. Although smartphone sales around the world are estimated to be 12 percent of total phone sales, 35 percent of Admob’s worldwide requests in April 2009 come from smartphones. The iPhone and iPod Touch generated 43 percent of mobile web requests and 65 percent of HTML use even though their market share is quite small.

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Iberbanda, a Spanish telecommunications company owned by Telefonica, El Corte Ingles (a department store chain), Grupo PRISA and Omega Capital, has chosen Alvarion as its equipment provider for the WiMAX network they are deploying in the 3.5 GHz frequency band in Catalonia, Spain. Iberbanda won a public tender to provide WiMAX service to the Catalonia regional government. Catalonia covers 32,000 square kilometers (12,300 square miles) and includes the provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona. By expanding the network, Iberbanda…

An article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about the Minneapolis municipal wireless network says that the provider, US Internet, has 14,000 subscribers but the city is not using the network as intensively as they had planned. The city pays USI $1.25 million per year for its use of the network but so far, it uses only $50,000 worth of service. The unused portion rolls over to the next year. The initial muni uses for the network are public safety (police…

AT&T is going after “mobile savvy tweens, teens, and students” (as well as adults and small business owners — why not?) in its recent press release which states that the carrier will expand its portfolio of 3G netbooks to include Acer, Dell and Lenov0 – will and make them available in AT&T stores throughout the US.  I know this sounds like good news for people who are looking to acquire networks are a steep discount but what does this do…