AT&T Inc. wireless subscribers who have poor reception at home will soon be able fix that, for $150.
The carrier said Wednesday that it is rolling out “femtocells,” little boxes that work much like Wi-Fi routers, except that they relay cellular signals. When connected to the home’s broadband modem, they pick up signals from the cell phones in the home and send them through the Internet connection. In essence, they’re small cell towers for the home.
Dallas-based AT&T is introducing the 3G MicroCell in mid-April in some markets, as yet unnamed. The rest of the country will follow over the next several months.
Sprint Nextel Corp. started selling femtocells for calls in 2008, and Verizon Wireless followed in early 2009. AT&T’s femtocell, developed with Cisco Systems Inc., is more advanced than those, because it relays both calls and broadband data.
However, many of AT&T’s most popular phones, such as the iPhone, don’t need a femtocell for data access in the home, because they can use Wi-Fi.
While femtocells can help consumers, they also benefit carriers by offloading traffic from local cell towers. AT&T is adding $2 billion to its capital budget this year to address problems with congestion on its network, apparently caused by heavy iPhone use.
MetroPCS rolling out its 4G service
MetroPCS Communications Inc. plans to be the first wireless carrier to introduce a phone using a new network technology that provides faster data access. It’s beating Verizon Wireless, the country’s largest carrier.
Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday that it’s supplying a phone for MetroPCS’ rollout of a wireless technology known as Long Term Evolution, or LTE, starting with cities including Las Vegas in the second half of this year.
Both MetroPCS and Verizon are planning to use LTE, a so-called fourth-generation, or “4G,” wireless technology. Verizon estimates that it will provide data speeds roughly 10 times faster than today’s “3G” networks, and that figure will rise as the technology matures.
Verizon is planning to launch LTE in 25 to 30 cities before the end of the year, but the first devices available for it will be laptop modems, with phones coming next year.
Samsung provided no details on its phone for MetroPCS, so it’s unclear if the LTE capability will yield benefits beyond faster Web surfing and movie downloads.
MetroPCS, a Dallas-based carrier that targets customers of modest means, had 6.6 million subscribers at the end of last year, making it the fifth-largest carrier in the country. By contrast, Verizon has 91.2 million subscribers and nationwide coverage.
MetroPCS may have an easier time than Verizon experimenting with LTE because of its smaller size and limited coverage.
Clearwire expands into more markets
Clearwire Corp. will expand its wireless broadband network to cover Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City this year.
Clearwire had already said that it would expand to cover New York, Houston, Boston, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Denver, Minneapolis and San Francisco this year. Right now, Clearwire covers 27 cities with its service, which provides speeds close to DSL for about $30 per month.
This week’s announcement doesn’t represent an acceleration of the company’s plan. Clearwire had previously said it plans to cover areas with 120 million people by the end of 2010, and it is sticking to that figure.
Clearwire is using WiMax technology. It’s faster than cellular broadband offered by wireless carriers, but it doesn’t yet work with cell phones. Instead, Clearwire sells WiMax modems for laptops, and some laptops now come with built-in modems. However, Sprint Nextel Corp. announced Tuesday that it will launch a phone this summer that complements its regular functions with access to Clearwire’s network for faster downloads and video calling.
Sprint owns a majority of Clearwire and resells service under the Clear brand. Other investors include cable companies, which are looking to sell wireless service to compete with phone companies. Clearwire had 688,000 subscribers at the end of last year.
New life for Polaroid cameras?
A group of engineers and enthusiasts who leased an old Polaroid film factory in the Netherlands say they have successfully reinvented instant film and will start selling packs soon.
The news gives new life to some old Polaroid cameras. The company, called The Impossible Project, will sell film for SX-70 cameras made in the ’70s as well as more recent cameras that take 600-series film.
Each film pack will cost $21 and produce eight black-and-white images. The company plans to introduce color film this summer, and expects to make 1 million packs in the first year. The film will be sold online initially, but the company expects to make it available in some stores as well.
Associated Press
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