FreedomPop jumping from WiMAX to LTE by year’s end, iPhone sleeves intact

FreedomPop

Followers of FreedomPop’s saga have seen the fledgling data-only provider make a few audacious claims: providing free bandwidth, for one, and basing its 4G device lineup as much on iPhone sleeve cases as on traditional access points. Add another one to the list — the MVNO is planning to switch from Clearwire’s WiMAX network to Sprint’s LTE before 2012 is over. While FreedomPop is still planning to go forward with WiMAX for the initial deployment, it’s now looking to use tri-mode EV-DO, LTE and WiMAX modems and phone cases just months later. We’ll see if that leads to existing iPhone 4 and 4S owners getting an LTE fix without having to spring for a new phone; marketing VP Tony Miller wouldn’t tell GigaOM more. Either way, it’s a mixed blessing for data addicts that might find themselves crashing that much faster through the 500MB regular cap on free data.

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FreedomPop jumping from WiMAX to LTE by year’s end, iPhone sleeves intact originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rogers details 28-city LTE upgrade for rest of 2012, RIM’s hometown included

Rogers details 28city LTE upgrade for rest of 2012, RIM's hometown included

Rogers’ LTE network is old enough to mark its first birthday. Unless you happened to live in one of the seven largest cities in Canada during that time, however, you’ve largely been left out — that status indicator on the Rogers version of the One X may as well have been a subtle form of mockery. To the delight of our friends up North, the carrier has detailed a much more aggressive LTE rollout for the rest of the year: a total of 28 more cities will get that sweet 4G nectar in the next few months. Most of these expansions will blanket the southern half of Ontario, but major cities in the Prairies, Quebec and the Maritimes will all get their fair share. Arguably, the most important upgrade is coming to RIM’s home base of Waterloo; when the company is virtually betting its future on likely LTE-ready BlackBerry 10 devices, having widescale LTE to test against is a slightly important prerequisite. The full city list is available after the break.

Continue reading Rogers details 28-city LTE upgrade for rest of 2012, RIM’s hometown included

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Rogers details 28-city LTE upgrade for rest of 2012, RIM’s hometown included originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 22:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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