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Sprint's partnering with smaller carriers for coast-to-coast LTE coverage
Instead of building its own coverage infrastructure in areas where the deer and antelope play, Sprint is teaming up with smaller carriers to create a cross-country roaming network. At its conference tomorrow, the Competitive Carrier Association (CCA) is expected to announce the launch of its Data Access Hub and a partnership with Sprint, which will create a coast-to-coast 4G network that's comprised of many smaller regional networks that are all stitched together. As CNET tells it, this could give Sprint (and possibly T-Mobile, should it join) customers access to rural data networks -- areas that are typically dead zones -- and those on the rural networks would gain access to urban LTE coverage; the street would go both ways here it seems. The CCA's president, Steve Berry, says that the reasoning behind the shift is simple: it'd take billions of dollars and several years for the Now network or the magenta carrier to build their own rural coverage areas to rival the likes of AT&T and Verizon. This move could help level the playing field for the smaller carriers, he says, and possibly provide a better experience for pretty much everyone involved. [Image credit: Rennett Stowe / Flickr]
US regional iPhone carriers band together to ease unlocking rules
Smaller wireless carriers in several US regional and rural areas are backing bills in Congress that would allow consumers to unlock mobile phones and tablets without a carriers' permission, according to Bloomberg. The support is in response to a January 26 law that made it illegal to unlock phones in the United States. That law was supported by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the country's two largest phone providers. A new effort to reverse the January 26 decision is underway and it has bipartisan support. In addition to the Competitive Carriers Association, which represents smaller wireless carriers like US Cellular and Bluegrass Cellular, other supporters of overturning the law include President Barack Obama's White House, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VA) and Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA). The Competitive Carriers Association says that a consumer's ability to unlock their phone would mean greater choice and better coverage for those in specific areas of the country. However, the CTIA (the association that represents the four largest wireless carriers in the United States, including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and Sprint) says that "locking cell phones is an essential part of the wireless industry's dominant business model." Readers who want to help the Competitive Carriers Association overturn current laws making unlocking phones illegal can check out their call to action page here.
Rural Cellular Association rebrands as Competitive Carriers Association, mirrors its move to the big city
What's in a name? Quite a bit, if you ask the Rural Cellular Association. It's becoming the Competitive Carriers Association to reflect a membership shift from smaller providers that often serve the countryside to a much more urbane roster that includes Clearwire, Sprint and T-Mobile, on top of grown-up existing members. Not surprisingly given the advocacy group's recent bedfellows, the name switch also emphasizes the attempt to resist a consolidation of power in US telecom -- CCA membership is limited to carriers with under 80 million subscribers, which conveniently excludes heavyweights AT&T and Verizon. Although rebranding is a symbolic gesture first and foremost, the group is no doubt hoping the name will make its intentions clearer the next time a big spectrum swap rolls around.
Kaleidescape gets in line behind RealDVD for rough treatment
When it rains it pours -- right on the heels of the punishing blow dealt to RealDVD, the money-laden Kaleidescape crowd suffered its own setback at the hands of the law. You just know that the DVD CCA (Copy Control Association) appealed the 2007 ruling that allowed Kaleidescape owners to rip DVDs to their media servers, and yesterday a California Appeals Court overturned that ruling. Next stop -- the Santa Clara Superior Court, which could place an injunction on Kaleidescape if the appeal is upheld. It's not over yet, but we're prepping the soundboard with ominous music, boos and noisy hand-wringing. Whatever (and whenever) the outcome, we can only hope that Blu-ray's Managed Copy comes to the scene sooner rather than later and settles this issue for our beloved HD content
RealNetworks steps up its RealDVD legal case, just wants your approval
It wasn't long ago that RealNetworks and its kludgy Player software were the bane of computer users everywhere. But, a few legal accusations later, Real is now the apple in the eye of every fair use advocate, fighting for the right for users to make legal copies of DVDs -- so long as you make them through its RealDVD software, of course. The company is now escalating its legal battle against Hollywood big wigs, suing the six major movie studios and the DVD Copy Control Association for anticompetitive activity, asking for monetary damages due to the sales it has lost since the industry asked for that initial injunction against RealDVD. We're not entirely sure who's going to come up on top of this one, but if Kaleidescape can survive the CCA, maybe Real can too.
Pantech: design focus didn't turn profit, but that's cool
As we've witnessed time and time again, Pantech's been keen on turning out concepts demonstrating possible future directions of cellphone design -- and indeed, it seems like a commendable effort just as long as a hearty portion of the concepts' radical ideas eventually find their way into production handsets. Even when saddled with sagging profits, an emergency package of relief funding, and an ousted CEO, the last thing a smart company wants to do is abandon clever, forward-thinking design. That's exactly the situation Pantech has found itself in as of late, dealing with a daunting financial gauntlet on one hand while doing what it can to promote fresh thought and turn out yet more crazy industrial design through a one-semester program with the California College of the Arts. Pantech's design group manager Seung Soo Yi is insistent that the exercise was a valuable one -- both for the company and for CCA's students -- and we tend to agree. Next up, a Pantech "task force" will review the handiwork and see how it can shoehorn the goodness into its production lineup; for the sake phone enthusiasts everywhere and for the sake of Pantech's own future, we hope it's stocked with some pretty bright individuals.[Via Core77]
DVD Copy Control Association to lighten DVD restrictions
It only took them, what, 10 years? The DVD Copy Control Association is finally setting about loosening some of the restrictions they've had on DVD copying -- at least to an extent. It doesn't sound like they have any plans to expand usage rights for consumers (perish the thought!), so we're guessing burning copies of a disc for backup purposes is still going to be less than legit. What they are planning to do is license their Content Scramble System (CSS) to Online distributors and makers of in-store kiosks, to allow for the burning of full-fledged DVDs from legal downloads. They're also in talks with media manufacturers to produce CSS-compatible blank DVDs for use with the services. We're guessing this new tact will bring some improved compatibility for services like CinemaNow, who already offers DVD burning with their download service, and hopes are high for a DVD burning feature from Apple for that eternally-rumored movie download store.[Via DVD Newsroom, thanks Ann]
