Pete Bell

Pete Bell is a Research Analyst for TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database and also contributes to the daily CommsUpdate newsletter. He has a particular interest in wireless broadband and was responsible for TeleGeography’s 4G Research Service until it was integrated into GlobalComms.

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Recent Posts

Aug 3, 2020

5G Slowly Makes Its Way Across U.S.

AT&T Communications is claiming “nationwide” coverage for its 5G network seven months after going live.

The firm’s 5G service is now available to 205 million consumers in 395 markets across the U.S.; notable recent additions to its network footprint include Little Rock, AR; Jacksonville, FL; Minneapolis, MN; and Houston, TX.

Jul 1, 2020

Telia and Turkcell Part Company

Sweden’s Telia Company is one step closer to concentrating operations on its core Scandinavia and Baltic units. A recent agreement cemented the plan to offload its stake in Turkcell.

May 28, 2020

Liberty vs Security: The Battle Over SIM Registration

Would you be happy to have your fingerprints taken or get a facial scan to access phone services? Or would you consider it intrusive?

Apr 23, 2020

Cellular Subscribers to Hit 9 Billion in 2026

The latest figures from TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Forecast Service show that there were 7.95 billion cellular subscriptions worldwide at the end of 2019, up from 6.97 billion five years earlier and 4.61 billion at the end of 2009.

Mar 26, 2020

ISPs React to Pandemic-Induced Internet Traffic Surges

Following our recent piece on the impact of remote work on WAN and IT infrastructure managers, TeleGeography is taking a closer look at the response of ISPs to the crisis.

Broadband internet and OTT providers across the globe are being forced to make changes to their operations as they handle the massive, pandemic-induced increase in bandwidth demand.

Mar 2, 2020

Finns Lead the Way in Mobile Data Usage

Mobile data usage continues to boom worldwide.

Here’s just one example. Following Super Bowl LIV in Miami, AT&T reported that users in the stadium consumed 10.2TB of mobile data during the game. This is enough to stream high-definition video for almost two months straight.

Jan 23, 2020

Tracking the 4G Decade

December 2019 marked the tenth anniversary of the world’s first commercial LTE network launch. Scandinavian telco Telia paved the way in Stockholm and Oslo way back in 2009.

As for the decade that followed? Let’s take a closer look.

Dec 12, 2019

To Hull and Back: KCOM Creates U.K.’s First Fiber City

Fixed-line telephone markets in many European countries were originally served by a single national operator—but not the U.K. Most of the United Kingdom became a monopoly for BT, whose origins go back to 1846 and the world’s first commercial communications operator: the Electric Telegraph Company.

Nov 12, 2019

Hong Kong Cellcos Hail 5G Spectrum Prices

The government of Hong Kong has completed a round of 5G spectrum auctions, having sold frequencies in the 3.3GHz, 3.5GHz, 4.9GHz, and 26GHz ranges this year. The sales raised a total of HK$1.91 billion ($244 million) in spectrum utilization fees (SUFs).

The territory is looking to be among the front-runners in the race to launch 5G networks in the Asia-Pacific region.

Oct 10, 2019

Termination Rates Continue Downward Trend

Mobile termination rates (MTRs) have been falling steadily over the past decade. That trajectory is set to continue through the next few years.

Under the Calling Party Pays (CPP) system, which applies to the bulk of mobile markets worldwide, incoming calls are free and the cost of the call is covered by the originating user. Termination rates are designed to allow cellcos at the receiving end of a call to recoup their costs in these markets.