At the end of 2016 there were 923 million fixed broadband subscribers globally.
While facing competition from high speed mobile data services, growth rates have fallen from almost 40 percent in 2005 to 8 percent in 2016. However, there's room for expansion in the fixed sector.
Verizon Communications has succeeded with its $3.1 billion takeover move for Straight Path Communications, giving it access to the potentially crucial 5G-suitable millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum, including 28GHz and 39GHz licenses. Straight Path had been a target of AT&T, but Verizon came up with a much bigger offer.
What does this mean for the future of 5G mobile services in the U.S.?
Vietnamese mobile operator Viettel announced the commercial launch of its 4G LTE network, which boasts coverage for 95 percent of the population.
U.S. cableco Comcast has announced that it’s entering the country’s MVNO sector with the launch of its Xfinity Mobile service, which piggybacks on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network and uses Xfinity’s 16 million Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide.
The recent move by the European Union to cap international mobile roaming charges is good news for end users across the EU. But will customers in the UK face higher bills when traveling after Brexit in 2019?
Here’s how the move will impact mobile users.
Chinese equipment supplier ZTE Corporation has agreed to pay a $892.4 million fine after pleading guilty to breaking U.S. trade sanctions against Iran and North Korea.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently announced that they are set to launch the latest Virgin Mobile MVNO operation.
The UK-based BT Group has been hit hard by an accounting scandal at its Italian business services subsidiary BT Italia.
The announcement by AT&T that it switched off its GSM network on January 1, 2017, means it is the latest in a line of operators who have moved away from 2G services.
But don’t wave goodbye just yet – there are a few 2G holdouts in the mix.
