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Verizon is reportedly forming an offer for British carrier Vodafone, in order to buy out its stake in Verizon Wireless. The rumored proposal would see Verizon taking complete control in the jointly-owned carrier, and Vodafone exchanging its 55-percent share in Verizon Wireless for $100 billion, divided evenly between cash and stock.
Vodafone is to launch its 4G services to Australian customers in June. The initial rollout will see Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Wollongong, Newcastle, and the Gold Coast covered with 4G service, according to ZDNet. Tests on the 4G signal shows it as having a download speed of 80Mbps and an upload of 20Mbps, with a claimed maximum of 150Mbps possible for some customers. Like its competitors, national carriers Telstra and Optus, Vodafone will be keeping its 4G service charges the same as its 3G access, and hopes to have 1,000 4G sites operational by the end of 2013.
Verizon and AT&T are said to be working together in order to acquire and then break apart Vodafone, according to a rumor. After purchasing the British carrier, Verizon would in theory take control of Vodafone's 45-percent share of Verizon Wireless, while AT&T would own all assets located outside of the United States, though the rumor already appears to have been dismissed.
Mirroring earlier talks between the carriers, Verizon and Vodafone are reportedly looking for ways to "resolve" their relationship in the jointly-owned carrier Verizon Wireless. It is claimed that the two companies are in discussions to either fully merge the two entities or for Verizon to partly or fully buy out Vodafone's 45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless, before the end of this year.
The HTC One has been made available to pre-order in the UK, ahead of an expected street date of March 15th. A number of carriers, including Vodafone and Three UK, have started to offer the flagship HTC device, with other retailers also offering an already-unlocked version for £510 ($780) including taxes. Another color of HTC One has also been revealed by the manufacturer.
UK regulator Ofcom has closed its 4G spectrum auction earlier than anticipated. Mainstream British carriers Vodafone, Telefonica, Everything Everywhere, and Three, as well as BT subsidiary Niche Spectrum Ventures, have won various sections of the 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum bands, though the money earned by the UK Treasury through the auction is far below what it expected.
(Updated with new iOS 6.1.1 rumors) Carriers Vodafone UK and 3 Austria have issued statements elaborating on problems with the iPhone 4S and iOS 6.1. "We’re aware of an issue caused by Apple iPhone 4S handsets that have been upgraded to iOS 6.1 which impacts performance on 3G. Some customers may occasionally experience difficulty in connecting to the network to make or receive calls or texts or to connect to the internet [sic]," Vodafone's notice begins.
Carrier Vodafone UK is warning iPhone 4S owners against upgrading to iOS 6.1, accounts say. "If you've not already downloaded iOS 6.1 for your iPhone 4s [sic], please hold off for the next version while Apple fixes 3G performance issues. Thanks," reads a text message being sent out to subscribers. Vodafone hasn't gone into any more detail on performance problems.
British carrier Vodafone has started to offer a number of Windows Phone 8 devices on it's network in the United Kingdom. The Nokia Lumia 920, Lumia 820, and Lumia 620 is joined by the HTC 8X and 8s for the carrier's WP8 launch, with only the Samsung Ativ S making a notable absence from the device roster.
Huawei has successfully tested an optical fiber transmission over a live network, achieving speeds of 2Tbps. The terabit-connection speed tests were carried out over Vodafone's existing fiber network in Germany, and could potentially offer carriers a connection backbone that is twenty times that of commercial networks currently in operation.
BlackBerry users in the UK, Europe and Africa using Vodafone are suffering from server issues. Research In Motion devices in affected regions are finding that data-related services, such as BlackBerry Messenger and e-mails, are not functioning normally, but the UK carrier assures it will be rectified by network engineers in the near future.
Samsung has confirmed it will be making Tizen-based devices, with the first of the range expected later this year. The announcement comes shortly after reports surfaced at the end of 2012, claiming the manufacturer was working with NTT DoCoMo Vodafone, and Intel to ship a handset in Japan, followed by other Asian and European regions shortly afterwards.
UK carrier Vodafone has released a second version of its Sure Signal box. The refreshed 3G-broadcasting femtocell compacts the internals from the router-sized original into a pass-through plug design, which not only takes up as much space as a plug-in air freshener, but also allows the power socket to be completely usable by other devices.
UK mobile network Vodafone has introduced a new phone contract that offers handset leasing. Called Red Hot, customers can pay for a contract for a 12-month period with unlimited calls, unlimited texts, insurance, and 2GB of data allowance, with the option of switching the handset for a newer model after the year's rental has completed.
UK regulator Ofcom has issued rules for the upcoming 4G spectrum auction in the country. The newly-released timetable will see network operators such as Vodafone and O2 submit bids for spectrum from January onwards, with the combined reserve prices for the 800MHz and 2.6GHz ranges being auctioned totaling over £1.3 billion ($2 billion).
The UK may have a quicker overall rollout of faster mobile network services than previously thought. Mobile carriers Everything Everywhere, O2, Vodafone, and Three have stopped their legal threats, and have joined together to create a company specifically to aid in deploying LTE services in the 800MHz band by clearing it of TV signals.
Mobile carriers Vodafone UK and Telefonica UK (known as O2) are going to work together to create a shared network grid, the two companies have announced. The combined efforts of the two networks will see an increased coverage area for both companies in the short term, and a smoother national rollout of LTE services, currently aimed for the year 2015. LTE or "4G" services, currently nonexistent in the UK, could be rolled out quicker by the carriers working in concert.
Nokia launched the Lumia 610 smartphone in the UK on Wednesday. As the company's entry-level Windows Phone-powered device, it has just 256MB of RAM and is relegated to Windows Phone 7.5. Major UK carriers and retailers including Vodafone, Orange, O2, T-Mobile, Three, Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4u will sell the phone starting at just £15 (about $23) per month on a contract, with no money down.
Vodafone Portugal appears to have leaked an official image of the HTC Desire C. The May catalog for the mobile carrier shows the handset before any official announcement has been made by HTC, with published specifications showing it to be more like a Wildfire S than its namesake yet running Android Ice Cream Sandwich.
UK carrier Vodafone has gone out on a limb and committed to offering the next Galaxy-branded handset from Samsung. Interested parties can sign up to receive updates from the wireless provider on details such as shipping dates as soon as Vodafone is ready to release them. Unfortunately, the teaser doesn't offer any more insight as to the phone's capabilities or specifications.
Vodafone UK is launching the Huawei Ascend G 300 this Friday. The value Android phone will be the first Huawei branded handset sold in the UK, a milestone for the Chinese manufacturer.
Despite approving a deal for Everything Everywhere's proposed 4G network, UK regulator Ofcom has given competing networks more time to comment on the proposal. The extension was done at the request of stakeholders, and was pushed back from April 17 until May 8 of this year. Vodafone and O2 have filed complaints that suggest the new spectrum would give Everything Everywhere an unfair advantage by being the first to get to the market.
Samsung will begin shipping its Galaxy Ace Plus smartphone in the UK tomorrow, March 17. The mid-range handset, announced in January, sports a slightly larger display than its predecessor, the Galaxy Ace. The refreshed model also bumps up processor speed.
Possible slips may have revealed the first stages of a possible European Commission investigation into the continent's top five carriers. The FT heard from sources that Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile), France Telecom (Orange), Telecom Italia, Telefonica (O2), and Vodafone were under scrutiny for a series of "E5" meetings on the state of the industry. Concerns existed that they had used the discussion to possibly collude on prices and policies, hurting competition.
(Update: AT&T clarification) Apple's store page for the new iPad has confirmed expectations for US-based LTE data plans. Both AT&T and Verizon users will have the option of 2GB or 5GB of prepaid data for $30 and $50 for each month, respectively. AT&T users will still have the option of a very light $15, 250MB plan, while Verizon users can get 10GB a month if willing to pay $80.
T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom may be looking to offload T-Mobile UK after AT&T dropped its bid for T-Mobile USA, insiders asserted Wednesday. Tips to Bloomberg had it in the early phases of considering a British "exit" now that AT&T's $39 billion proposal had been deemed anti-competitive. The choices could include anything from letting Orange UK take over the other half of the Everything Everywhere partnership to an outside company.
Vodaphone will soon launch Europe's first smartphone to support both Android and LTE in the continent's first real adoption of 4G. The carrier has confirmed that it will soon begin shipping the HTC Velocity in Germany, with other countries arriving soon afterwards. It represents a white colored variant of the HTC Vivid being sold in the US by AT&T, and elsewhere as the Raider.
Vodafone became the first Australian carrier to begin offering the Galaxy Tab 10.1 following the reversed preliminary ban. The Android tablet's 3G version comes subsidized with the device price factored into the monthly rate. It can cost as little as $39 AUD ($41 US) a month on a two-year contract with a 1.5GB monthly cap or as much as $109 AUD ($114 US) on a one-year contract with a large 16GB cap.
The LG Prada phone 3.0 will soon arrive at T-Mobile UK, the carrier revealed. The date is sometime in February, though no other details were given. Third-party vendor already offers the handset with contracts through Vodafone and Orange starting at £31 (about $48) per month without a fee for the handset, so T-Mobile UK's price should be similar.
The Lumia 800 represents more than just a radical break from the past for Nokia; in many ways, it's the company's entire future. As its first Windows Phone device, it's not just a switch to a much more modern platform but a clue as to whether or not Nokia can still stand out in an era when iPhones and Android smartphones are taking over. Our review of the Lumia 800 will answer that -- and whether or not it might just be the best Windows Phone on the market.
The Dutch competition authority, NMA, searched the offices of wireless providers KPN, Vodafone and T-Mobile on Tuesday over alleged price fixing. The three carriers are accused of sharing of market information and cartel prices, Reuters said. The three companies are cooperating with the investigation.
Carrier IQ's problems mounted dramatically on Thursday after Senator Al Franken sent a letter to the company demanding answers as to the company's extensive phone logging practices. He was concerned that Carrier IQ might be violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the pen register statute, and Stored Communications Act by recording without consent not just diagnostic information but phone numbers, text messages, web addresses, and the location. Carrier IQ's earlier denials that it wasn't tracking keystrokes or personal content were "especially concerning" given evidence showing just the the opposite, Franken said.
A survey of European carrier stores has shown potentially promising demand for Nokia's Lumia 800. Its first Windows Phone is ranked at Vodafone UK and at KPN in the Netherlands as second for popularity only to the 16GB iPhone 4S, beating out every Android phone. At Phone House in France, the Lumia 800 is the top-selling phone of any kind where the iPhone is fifth, although feature phones like the Nokia C2-02 dilute its ranks.
Early benchmarks of the Galaxy Nexus have shown it to be the first Android phone that can outperform an iPhone 4S on the web. The AnandTech tests show that Google's late addition of dual-core processor support gave the phone the edge over Apple both in the SunSpider JavaScript test and Rightware's BrowserMark. The only other Android device to get close, the Droid RAZR, slightly won in one test but lost in another.
Telefonica Czech Republic in an interview on Friday said it was open to the prospect of a future Apple deal after dropping iPhone sales. Representative Hany Farghali told Bloomberg that the carrier's current rejection "doesn’t mean that Telefonica won’t sell Apple products in the future." While not saying how amenable Telefonica might be, the representative noted it was "purely a business decision" and wasn't permanent.
(Update: not worldwide) Google has just informed The Verge that the Galaxy Nexus will be "pretty much everywhere" beginning Monday, November 21. This likely means a launch in Canada and the US among other countries, making North Americans wait an extra weekend compared to UK buyers. The UK version is LTE-less, just like the Canadian version, while the US phone will have an LTE radio onboard.
The GSMA have announced that 45 of the world’s major carriers have committed to supporting SIM-based Near Field Communications (NFC). Among the carriers to pledge their support of the new standard are AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, China Mobile and China Unicom, Vodafone, and Telefonica. In making the announcement, the GSMA have now published (PDF) a new set of industry specifications to further accelerate adoption of the technology.
Australia as is often case has had the distinction of being the first for an Apple launch in carrying the iPhone 4S. Apple's flagship Sydney store showed that demand hadn't tapered for the new model, with hundreds of buyers queued up in line. Both official and unofficial reports have pointed to "tens of thousands" of pre-orders at Optus and Telstra each, selling out of 64GB pre-orders.
Vodafone Germany may have supported talk of an iPhone 4S as this year's model after putting it in a device compatibility listing. Versions with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB of space have shown up in both black (schwarz) and white (weiß) alongside the regular version. The carrier doesn't have listings for the phones themselves.
Vodafone will begin selling non-Apple branded Micro SIM cards. The wireless carrier has confirmed to Pocket-lint that it will begin offering the miniature SIM cards in the "not too distant future." Currently the only devices using these cards, which are functionally equivalent to a regular SIM card in a smaller form factor, are Apple iPhones and iPads.
Intel and Samsung partly confirmed rumors by unveiling Tizen. The effective successor to MeeGo still uses Linux as an open-source foundation for a mobile OS but is focused on a much broader coalition of LiMo supporters that includes Japanese phone makers NEC Casio and Panasonic Mobile, OS developer Access, and carriers NTT DoCoMo, SK Telecom, Telefonica (O2), and Vodafone. The group will focus more on HTML5- and Wholesale Applications Community-based apps that can run on MeeGo and can share much of their code for other platforms and devices.
Vodafone Australia has posted a not particularly subtle sign-up page for the iPhone 5 to get customers involved. Calling it only "this year's biggest smartphone release," the carrier asks users to sign up for notifications. Simultaneously, it invites customers to get a SIM-only smartphone plan so they can switch phones without having to pick a plan at the same time.
Spanish site Xataka Android has come across a Google-branded SIM card bundled with the Nexus S. The bundle is apparently being distributed to Google engineers. Little is known about the purpose of these, though the screen shows that Google_Es is the carrier once the handset is powered up.
Twitter has upgraded the direct messaging capabilities for its texting service. Now, in addition to tweets, users whose service providers support MMS can attach and share videos. To send, all a user need do is enter the text of a tweet as normal, attach a photo to the message, and send it to the relevant Twitter code.
The largest wireless spectrum auction in the UK may be pushed back to the spring of 2012, according to a Tuesday report. The country's regulator, Ofcom, blamed the delay on many technical and legal issues. The potential delay is at least three months later than originally planned, though Ofcom added it has always said the original timescale was ambitious.
Vodafone has added a white Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone to its portfolio to sell alongside its black version. The phone is available at no cost with a two-year £36 ($58 USD) monthly contract.
Last week, HTC unexpectedly announced a two month delay in shipping the GSM version of its Evo 3D smartphone until September. Vodafone subsequently backed away from carrying the phone. Digitimes reports that HTC denies this, contending that Vodafone will still carry the phone.
UK regulator Ofcom proposed on Friday that paid smartphone content bought through a carrier's site should be regulated by carriers and not PhonepayPlus, as it is currently. The content on an industry-owned Payforit gateway should be overseen by PhonepayPlus, it continued. Wireless providers asked Ofcom to look into the matter, but they didn't want Payforit content to be regulated.
HTC will delay the European version of the Evo 3D smartphone, and it will now arrive in September in the UK, SlashGear learned. This represents a two-month delay, and no reason was revealed. Vodafone UK this week backed away from the Evo 3D entirely and said it will no longer bring the glasses-free 3D handset to its lineup.
Microsoft on Tuesday announced the launch of its cloud-based Office 365. Available in 40 markets, it includes Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Lync Online. All apps are always up to date and accessing them costs $6 per month, though service plans range from $2 to $27 per user per month. This full-blown launch follows a beta release launched last fall.
