T-Mobile USA to Become a Bigger "Number 4" Mobile Provider

The boards of Deutsche Telekom and MetroPCS Communications have approved a deal to merge MetroPCS with the German operator's U.S. subsidiary, T-Mobile USA, WSJ.com reports.

The deal would not change T-Mobile USA's installed base, compared to AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, but would narrow the gap with Sprint. The new entity would have about 42 million customers, up from 33 million.

Somewhat oddly, there have not been an immediate raft of objections that such a merger will be problematic becasue T-Mobile USA uses the GSM air interface, and MetroPCS uses CDMA.

In the past, every time rumors have arisen about Sprint buying T-Mobile USA, or merging the two companies, there have been immediate objections that the task of integrating the two companies would be technologically complex.

In the future, of course, all the U.S. mobile service providers will be using Long Term Evolution, so incompatible air interfaces will be a lesser problem over time, and then at some point, not much of a problem at all.

As a long term matter, many observers would say a stable mobile market in the United States would feature no more than three leading providers. That, if correct, suggests further consolidation will happen, even if the U.S. Justice Department already believes the market is too concentrated.

Carrier, Not Just Enterprise Hardware Changes with Cloud

Enterprise hardware platforms change with a switch to cloud computing, namely removing the need to tie applications and functions to discrete bits of dedicated hardware. In a cloud computing scenario, all those applications are computing "instances" run on virtual machines.

Metaswitch Networks Chief Technology Officer Martin Taylor says that means about a 30-percent performance hit, compared with running an app on a dedicated piece of hardware.  But the cost of computing drops every 18 months, so that isn't much of a financial issue. You just throw more processors at the problem.

Of course, technology changes often underpin potential changes of business model or operations. In a cloud environment, users extrapolate apps and execution of processes from physical devices and, potentially, locations.

Computing and app delivery itself becomes an "over the top" process. And that could have lots of implications for business models. Notably, communications access providers traditionally have operated on a territorial basis. Cloud computing makes that unnecessary, or simply a business model choice.

Did British Telecom Inflate Rural Broadband Costs to Win Higher Subsidies?

The U.K. government is going to subsidize the national broadband network in rural areas by giving £1billion to BT to connect about 12 million households in the countryside. Half of the money is coming from the U.K. government, and half from local taxes.

However according to a leaked document purportedly from a briefing for officials at the Culture, Media and Sport department, one expert at least charges that BT is overcharging, using a mark up of up to 80 percent.

BT denies the charge, of course.

18% to 25% of U.S. Adults Now Own Tablets

Over the last year, tablet ownership has steadily increased from 11 percent of U.S. adults in July of 2011 to 18 percent in January of 2012, according to the Pew Research Center Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Currently, 22 percent own a tablet and another three percent regularly use a tablet owned by someone else in the home. A separate survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found 25 percent of all U.S. adults have a tablet computer.


The growth in tablet adoption is likely related to the advent of the lower-priced tablets in late 2011, Pew researchers believe. Overall, 68 percent of respondents got their tablet in the last year.

About 52 percent of tablet owners report owning an iPad, compared with 81 percent in the survey a year ago.

Android-based devices make up the bulk of the remaining tablet ownership, 48 percent overall, dominated largely by the Kindle Fire.

Some 21 percent own a Kindle Fire, eight percent own the Samsung Galaxy,

GoDaddy Exits SMB Cloud Computing Business

Web-hosting firm GoDaddy has been marketing cloud computing services to small and mid-sized businesses for a year or so, but has concluded that not enough SMBs are interested in the offer, at least the way GoDaddy had been offering the services.

As with other apparent market failures, it isn't always easy to conclude that "something cannot be done" because one particular supplier cannot do it. GoDaddy appears to have been offering simple data storage services. 

Some would say that will not work with SMB customers, who really need software as a service offers, not simple cloud storage. 

Service Provider Access Networks Will be Distributed Denial of Service Victims

Metaswitch Networks CEO John Lazar warns that service provider IP networks increasingly will be the target of distributed denial of service attacks. It looks like they already are such victims.

Millions of Internet users in Brazil have fallen victim to a sustained attack that exploited vulnerabilities in DSL modems, forcing people visiting sites such as Google or Facebook to reach imposter sites that installed malicious software and stole online banking credentials, a security researcher said.

U.K. to Hold 4G Spectrum Auction Sooner than Expected

Ofcom, the U.K., communications regulator, seems to have persuaded TV broadcasters, Digital UK and the transmission company Arqiva to release 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum for auction sooner than had originally been expected.

This agreements mean that the 4G auction process is on track to begin at the end of 2012, potentially enabling the licensing process for 4G services across the United Kingdom to begin during the first half of 2013, Ofcom says.

In August 2012 Ofcom gave approval to an application by Everything Everywhere (now EE) to use some of its existing spectrum to offer a 4G service. This is expected to launch this year.

Ofcom plans to start the auction process to release spectrum at the end of the year, with bidding starting early in 2013.