nextel

Clearwire enlisted some big help in its effort to switch to another flavor of 4G technology.

The upstart high-speed wireless provider said today that it had formed a partnership with China Mobile to work together to develop products and equipment using a standard of 4G technology called TD-LTE, which is incompatible with what the other major U.S. carriers are using.

By partnering with China Mobile, Clearwire takes advantage of the breadth and scale of the Chinese company, which is the world's largest carrier with more than 700 million subscribers. The goal is to set common standards and product … Read more

Verizon Wireless plans to launch a cheaper contract-free plan nationally this week, allowing it to better compete for bargain-seeking consumers.

The nation's largest wireless carrier will offer the plan, which includes unlimited calling, text messages and Internet use for $50 a month and is known as "Unleashed," on Thursday, according to the Dow Jones Newswires. The offer will be available in Verizon stores, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Target.

Verizon's move underscores the growing allure of the prepaid business as one of the last areas of growth in the wireless industry. Verizon has long held a lackluster … Read more

It's not a good time to be a Clearwire investor, according to Morgan Stanley.

The 4G wireless provider faces several problems, the investment firm says, including the need to obtain further funding, a rapidly vanishing lead in the 4G race, and the potential of a Sprint iPhone. Such a device would run on a competing network and cut into sales of other smartphones at Sprint--Clearwire's largest source of wholesale customers.

With all of these issues, Morgan Stanley says, the base case value of the company is $1 a share--or less than a third of its current stock price … Read more

AT&T may not have to pay T-Mobile USA's parent, Deutsche Telekom, the $6 billion break-up fee even if the mega-merger between wireless carriers falls apart, according to Reuters.

AT&T may not be on the hook for the fee under certain conditions, a source told Reuters in a story that ran today.

Spokesmen for AT&T, T-Mobile, and Deutsche Telekom didn't immediately respond to CNET's requests for a comment.

AT&T and T-Mobile were thrown for a loop last week when the Department of Justice sued to block AT&T's planned acquisition … Read more

Consumers love their applications. Carriers do too, unless the applications are bandwidth hogs.

With carriers trying to clamp down on excessive data consumption, it's more important than ever for developers to make sure they aren't creating apps that hog the data highway.

"Bandwidth is not infinite and it's not free," said Larry Rau, director of technology for the application ecosystem for Verizon Wireless. "It's something developers have to be aware of."

Consumers are starting to grow aware of the issue. Last year, AT&T opted to offer tiered data plans, introducing … Read more

Rumor has it that Apple is planning to sell its latest crop of iPhones not just to AT&T and Verizon Wireless customers, but also to Sprint Nextel and possibly T-Mobile USA customers.

This is great news for millions of customers who have remained loyal to these smaller operators. But some consumers are wary about buying a new iPhone from T-Mobile when the company is expected to be purchased by AT&T early next year. Will a T-Mobile iPhone even work on the AT&T network? I answer this very question in the column below.

Also in … Read more

Verizon Wireless is once again the most reliable carrier throughout the U.S., according to a study out yesterday from J.D. Power and Associates.

Based on a customer survey, J.D. Power's "U.S. 2011 Wireless Network Quality Performance Study--Volume 2" ranked Verizon as the top carrier in the Northeast for the 14th time in a row. Compared with other carriers, Verizon saw the least number of customers complaining of dropped calls, transmission failures, initial connection issues, and delayed text messages.

Beyond the Northeast, Verizon grabbed the lead in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest, and Western regions … Read more

Sprint Nextel said today that it has scrapped plans for a 4G version of RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, though the carrier will continue to offer a Wi-Fi version of the 7-inch tablet.

"We apologize for any inconvenience, but the BlackBerry 4G PlayBook Tablet that was announced in January for summer availability will no longer be coming to the Sprint network," the company said in a statement today.

"This was a mutual decision between Sprint and RIM," Sprint said.

RIM, for its part, said it is focusing on LTE technology for 4G. Sprint's 4G technology is … Read more

AT&T is getting serious about security.

The Dallas telecommunications giant said today it is partnering with Juniper Mobile to offer a new security platform and additional services designed to protect its mobile customers. AT&T will begin selling the platform to businesses later this year, and says it plans a consumer-grade version next year.

Recent security breaches at companies such as Monsanto and Sony and its PlayStation network, as well as at law enforcement and other government agencies, have raised red flags on the need for better protection. While PCs have long enjoyed an array of security … Read more