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Telia scraps plans to charge extra for mobile VoIP in Sweden, hikes overall rates in compensation
Telia raised hackles in March when it proposed charging Swedish subscribers extra if they wanted to use voice over IP. On top of the net neutrality issues, the proposed price premium would have been a slap in the face to Skype, the country's homegrown VoIP pioneer. While Telia's Spanish subsidiary Yoigo has no problems with such a split, Telia itself must have had a change of heart: as of now, all regular plans will continue to treat internet telephony as just another set of data packets. Only a new, ultra-basic Telia Flex Bas plan excises the option. Unfortunately, most everyone will have to pay the price for equality -- new subscriptions will have their data plans "adjusted" to compensate for increasing data use, and those paying daily will see their maximum rates jump from 9 SEK ($1.40) to 19 SEK ($2.90). As painful as the price hike might sound, however, we'd still endure it to avoid carving the mobile internet into pieces.
TeliaSonera brings LTE to Denmark
It should come as little surprise that it's TeliaSonera bringing Denmark its first LTE network -- after all, the Swedish company was the first to launch LTE service commercially anywhere in the world in mid-2009, so we already know they're moving aggressively to spiff up northern Europe's data services. Currently covering the four largest Danish cities, TeliaSonera says that it wants to cover 75 percent of the population (which is very different from 75 percent of the country's surface area, keep in mind) in 2011. Interested? Expect to pay 399 kroner monthly to hook up to the network, which works out to about $71 -- not cheap, but let's be honest, can you really put a price on downloading The Engadget Show while sitting on a park bench in mere seconds? Follow the break for the press release.
ASSA ABLOY trials remote hotel check-ins, unlocking your room with NFC cellphones (video)
Just think of it, no more hanging around your hotel's front desk like some unrefined homo erectus. The Clarion Hotel in Stockholm is starting up a new pilot program to allow visitors to check in and collect their room key without the repugnant need for speaking to an actual human being -- it can all be done with an NFC-equipped mobile phone. Provided your smartphone can do the near-field communications dance, all your information can be remotely downloaded, stored, and wiped (if need be), and you can even check out from a room using the accompanying application. Samsung handsets are being provided to selected customers during the period of this trial, though once its four-month incubation period is over, you'll have to bring your own bit of advanced telephony to avoid the queues. We're sure you'll think of something. Video and full press release after the break.
3G now available on Mount Everest
Happen to be climbing Mount Everest in the near future? Take heart -- you can probably use your iPhone there now. Provider Teliasonera has reportedly installed a 3G antenna at the base camp of Everest, connecting the remote location to a modern cell phone network for the first time. Previously, climbers had to use satellite phones to stay in touch with the rest of the world, and according to Reuters, the summit is still off limits -- the highest video call was made from an elevation of about 17,388 feet, which is where most climbers begin their journey to the summit at 29,035 feet. Unfortunately, your iPhone will still have to be roaming -- while TeliaSonera has been running iPhone-specific services in Europe and elsewhere in the world, the iPhone hasn't officially launched in Nepal yet. Even though it'll probably cost a ton in charges, you can now call in from Mount Everest's base camp. Now about the actual climb...
Mount Everest now 'wired' for Internet, ready for Starbucks
TeliaSonera subsidiary Ncell has just completed installation of a 3G base station at 5,200 meters (17,000 feet) that will reach the 8,848-meter peak of Mount Everest. Mind you, we've already seen a cellphone call made from the world's highest peak using a temporary base station in a Motorola publicity stunt. This time, however, it's permanent and faster allowing climbers to surf the internet or make 3G video calls. Why would Ncell want to build a base station in such a sparsely populated area? Because it is there.
Finnish broadband provider Elisa to sell unlocked iPhone 4 starting tomorrow
People who are anxious to get an iPhone 4 without a carrier lock-in in the land of Nokia will now have an opportunity to get an unlocked device. Finnish broadcaster YLE is reporting that broadband provider Elisa will start selling unlocked iPhone 4s on Thursday, September 30th. The iPhone 4 is currently being sold in Finland with a contract by mobile carrier TeliaSonera. The pricing for the unlocked phones is €589 for the 16GB model and €689 for the 32GB version. And in case you're wondering what those words below the iPhone 4 banner in the picture above mean? "Coming soon."
TeliaSonera gears up to ship first dual-mode LTE / 3G USB WWAN modem
Care about Samsung's GT-B3730? Probably not... but what if we told you that that very device is the planet's first commercially available dual-mode LTE / 3G WWAN modem? Now that we've got your attention, you may be interested in knowing that overseas operator TeliaSonera -- hailed as the first carrier on the planet to fire up an LTE network and make it available to Joe and Jane last year -- is just about ready to start shipping the aforesaid Samsung. As of now, the only way to hop onto their LTE superhighway is with a 4G-only modem, and while it had promised a two-faced stick in the second quarter of 2010, we're elated to finally put a face to a promise. The primary downside is that there's no current way for the USB modem to switch from LTE to 3G (or vice-versa) on the fly; instead, you'll need to kill the connection and start a new one when you leave / enter a 4G zone. Purportedly, the stick will play nice with both Windows and OS X, and it can hit real-world download rates as high as 80Mbps and upload rates of 16Mbps. Suddenly, a relocation to Sweden seems altogether more inviting, no?
TeliaSonera already upgrading LTE network, 'practical speeds' of up to 80Mbps promised
There's no rest for the wicked -- and perhaps nothing in the world of wireless describes "wicked" better than Nordic carrier TeliaSonera, which holds the distinction of having deployed the world's first commercial LTE network last year. Thing is, the network's been taking a little heat for being effectively no faster than some of the recent HSPA+ deployments around the globe, but no worries -- they're already working on it. It seems that central Stockholm is the first area to benefit from upgrades that will take the LTE airwaves to a theoretical max of 100Mbps with "practical" downlink throughput alleged to be down around 80Mbps, still a fine upgrade from the real-world peaks of 40Mbps that folks have been seeing so far. If you're outside Stockholm, TeliaSonera expect to upgrade the rest of the LTE network in Spring. Where's the carrier suddenly finding all this extra bandwidth? It's said to be more of a backhaul upgrade than anything else, which sounds kind of familiar.
Northstream updates LTE experiences on TeliaSonera, looking a little better
Indeed, just as we said in our last look at the topic, the old adage of "your mileage may vary" most definitely applies here. Consulting firm Northstream has updated its first look at TeliaSonera's worlds-first commercial LTE network, emphasizing that it wasn't disappointed with performance at all -- they'd gotten a scant 12Mbps down previously (we're delighted to be able to call 12Mbps "scant," by the way), but further testing reveals that it's a little more complicated than that. Like any wide-area wireless network, performance is a voodoo formula of location, speed, network utilization, moon phase, and whether you're casting evil stares at the modem, and Northstream was able to see performance of around 25Mbps regularly with a few bursts up above 40Mbps. For a first-gen 4G network, that's more like it -- it's an encouraging sign both for TeliaSonera's customers and for folks looking forward to near-term LTE deployments around the world.
Not so fast: testing finds world's first LTE network isn't very 4G-ish
In a rather disappointing example of "your mileage may vary," market research firm Northstream has put TeliaSonera's shiny new LTE network -- the world's first to go commercial -- to the test, coming away with some disappointing conclusions. The bottom line is that they never managed to go above about 12Mbps downstream, a pretty wild figure considering that Ericsson is in the process of rolling out 84 purely theoretical megabits per second right now using plain old HSPA+ for 3 Scandinavia. The bright side is that they managed a fat 5Mbps on the upstream and experienced consistently lower latency than on the area's 3G networks; in fact, the firm ended up coming away with a glowing impression of the service, assuming (probably accurately) that this is just the first baby step in finding out what LTE is really capable of. And hey, some lucky jerks are getting over 42Mbps down, so it's a crap shoot anyway.
TeliaSonera's new LTE network astounds with 43Mbps downloads
Egads, you see that? 42.78Mbps over a wireless data card! Not just any card, mind you, it's presumably the new Samsung 4G card running on TeliaSonera in Sweden and Norway, the world's first commercial LTE network launched on Monday. TeliaSonera bundles the 4G service with 30GB of data for just 599kr (85$) per month. That 5.3Mbps upload and 37ms ping aren't too shabby either. Not exactly the theoretical 100Mbps down / 50Mbps up provided by the LTE spec, but not AT&T either.
TeliaSonera prices LTE service, offers free modem upgrade next year
It's pretty easy to fall far enough into the 4G mania trap that you lose sight of the important stuff -- like, say, how much cash you're going to be shedding every month for the delightful privilege of delivering 10Mbps-plus speeds straight to your lappie. Sweden's TeliaSonera -- which just launched service in Oslo and its home turf in Stockholm -- has revealed that users will be paying ridiculously low fees to get 'em to sign up before bumping rates mid-contract, a tactic stolen right out of Comcast's playbook. To start, Stockholm residents will be paying SEK4 a month until July 2010, which works out to just 56 cents, while Oslo folks pay a NOK1 (17 cent) pittance until April 2010. After those rates expire, though, watch out: Stockholm goes up to SEK599 ($83) for 30GB of usage and Oslo bumps to NOK699 ($120). That's a hell of an increase -- but then again, 30GB of service at torrent-friendly speeds is a tempting proposition. Anyhow, the other interesting tidbit of this story is the fact that early adopters (read: anyone lining up at the store to sign up today) will get a free upgrade to Samsung's HSPA / LTE dual-mode modem next year once it's available; the current model is LTE-only, which makes roaming a bit tricky. Kind of them, no?
TeliaSonera launches world's first LTE network, awaits phones eagerly
TeliaSonera has today flicked on the green light for its LTE networks in Stockholm and Oslo, officially starting the countdown for LTE-enabled phones. For the moment, keen mobile webstronauts will only be able to hook up their laptop or other USB-equipped device via the Samsung-provided 4G modem, but 100Mbps download speeds on the world's first commercial LTE network are still nothing to sniff at. This rollout is in fact slightly ahead of schedule, and the other major cities in Sweden and Norway are likely to soon get treated similarly well, while TeliaSonera makes a point to mention it has a license to do similar damage to Finland's 3G operators. The US might not be too far behind, either, given that the modem in use in Scandinavia recently cleared the FCC. Now if only we had phones that could ride these massive waves we'd be all set.
Samsung and TeliaSonera bringing LTE to vikings in 2010
Scandinavian folks tend to be a pretty cheerful bunch during the summer, and now Swedes and Norwegians will have reason to smile through the cold dark winters as well, with Samsung announcing an agreement to provide TeliaSonera with "mobile broadband devices for commercial service next year." This agreement relates to Sammy's Kalmia 4G USB modem and adds to the Swedish operator's LTE push, which already counts Ericsson and Huawei among the contracted hardware providers. So that's 100Mbps mobile broadband, coming to a snow-covered nation near you within the next dozen months or so. All we would ask of our viking friends now is that they remember their world-conquering ways of the past and start spreading that goodness globally. Come on, it's our right! Full press release after the break.
Ericsson and TeliaSonera reveals world's first commercial LTE site in Stockholm
Mmm, the sweet smell of mobile data burning up the pipes in the morning. Gets us every time. Evidently, the same aroma does something to the brains of Ericsson and TeliaSonera, who have taken their January agreement to the next level by introducing the planet's first commercial Long-Term Evolution (LTE) site in Stockholm, Sweden. Mind you, we've seen lots of trial runs over the past year and change, but this one's no test. Rather, this site will become part of a commercial network scheduled to go live in 2010, bringing wicked fast mobile transfers to Stockholmers everywhere. Now, let's hope these American carriers get jealous, and fast.
Blizzard renews TeliaSonera agreement
Blizzard has renewed their agreement with a company called TeliaSonera to provide bandwidth for them in Europe. They just made a very similar deal with AT&T for the US -- it's the bandwidth that connects their servers to the millions of connections that lead back to your computer as you play World of Warcraft. Paul Sams, Blizzard COO, says they've been pleased with the service, and that the contract renewal was for two years.It's interesting that we've seen Blizzard keep both of these agreements intact, but we already know that they'll cancel relationships they don't see as working (with the notable example of Netease's takeover in China). Of course, there are tons of factors that go into players' connections (including this server connection as well as your own ISP, your router and computer, and a number of other facilities and stops in between), but it would seem that Blizzard is happy with the way things are going in both the EU and the US with these providers. Of course everyone's personal experiences are different, and we've certainly seen our share of connection issues, but in general, the infrastructure on the networks is in a pretty good place.[via WorldofWar]
Finland ready to rock LTE at "lower cost" 1800MHz
2.6GHz is fast emerging as a favored slot for LTE spectrum in Europe, but Finland's bucking the trend with an auction of some space in the 1800MHz band -- space that carriers TeliaSonera, Elisa, and DNA have snapped up. The frequency is touted as effectively being a lower-cost option for 4G deployment because it's better suited for range and penetration, meaning fewer base stations need to be deployed. Theoretically, the net effect should be that LTE networks get deployed faster in the country, but as we know all too well from 3G deployments, spectrum diversity always leads to fractured hardware availability; of course, with Nokia right in the backyard, we bet 1800 ends up getting all the support it needs to be successful.
Online gaming is driving internet growth
Online games, be they MMOGs like World of Warcraft or co-op/multiplayers like Team Fortress 2, are driving internet growth according to Vlad Ihora, head of gaming at TeliaSonera. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, he explains how the attitudes of internet service providors (ISPs) are changing toward online gamers and why he believes digital distribution of games will eventually become mainstream.TeliaSonera, who look after Blizzard Europe's networking solutions for WoW, have noticed an increase in companies not even related to gaming wishing to hook up to their network. Also, internet usage has shot up by 52% in the last 12-18 months and ISPs are paying much more attention these days than ever before to issues that affect gamers such as connection lag, packet loss, etc..In reference to digital distribution, Ihora states that from his side of things, it would be as simple as flipping a switch because there is so much more bandwidth available and he believes the networks that support the internet can handle the strain. He also believes the conversion from boxed to digital distribution will happen gradually rather than all-at-once, comparing it to the CD and MP3 music formats.
Huawei and Ericsson land LTE contracts with TeliaSonera
LTE just got officially legitimized under a month ago, and already Nordic-based TeliaSonera is lining up contracts in an effort to showcase its forward-thinking nature to the world. Both Huawei and Ericsson have been chosen to provide 4G LTE equipment for high-speed networks in Stockholm and Oslo, with SE proclaiming that the Swedish network will be ready for commercial launch in 2010. It's expected that the first devices to tap into these newfangled waves will be of the USB / external variety, with 4G handsets following six to twelve months later. Did our 3G just get slower, or are our brains already messing with us?[Via Network World, image courtesy of BusinessWeek]Read - Huawei dealRead - Ericsson deal
Laptop makers and GSM Association team on Mobile Broadband branding plan
Laptops with built-in WWAN modems aren't anything new, but there's a hodgepodge of hardware and services available -- a situation the GSM Association is trying to simplify with the new Mobile Broadband standardization initiative. Sure, it's mostly an excuse to get another sticker on your gear, but companies like Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, Toshiba, Qualcomm and a bunch of carriers are on board to ensure that Mobile Broadband-certified machines will be ready and able to connect in some 91 countries around the world -- and what's more, they're committed to spending a cool billion dollars in the next year promoting MB as a "compelling alternative" to WiFi and WiMAX. That should be an interesting dilemma for the carriers that also run hotspot networks, but we've got a feeling everyone's happy as long as the sub fees keep rolling in.
