AT&T to double data speeds

AT&T will double its wireless data network speeds as part of an upgrade that it aims to kick off later this year and complete in 2011, reports Interactive Investor.

The second biggest US mobile service said its plan, which includes the expansion of its existing wireless data network from 350 metropolitan areas to 370 this year, would be covered by its previously announced capital spending budget of $17 billion to $18 billion for 2009.

The increase to its mobile Web surfing speeds involves an upgrade of a network technology known as high speed packet access that AT&T already uses. The upgrade is expected to increase AT&T's theoretical network speed to 7.2Mbps per second from current levels of 3Mbps, the company said.

Alcatel-Lucent and 1020 Placecast are offering wireless service providers and advertisers such as consumer brand manufacturers and retailers a location-based service that delivers relevant messaging and advertising to mobile consumers who opt in to the service, states Internet Retailer.

1020 Placecast leverages its advertising engine to weave location information into relevant messages, helping brands and advertising agencies create scalable, proximity-based marketing campaigns pushed to consumers' mobile devices in text message formats.

Alcatel-Lucent is leveraging its geographic messaging services platform as a hosted service, tracking opt-in subscribers' locations on behalf of the wireless service provider and pushing mobile content to subscribers when and where appropriate based on the advertising campaign managed by the 1020 Placecast platform.

As service providers begin to build out next-generation networks, the SIM card lies at the heart of long term evolution and other sophisticated deployments, says Marketwire.

Because smartphones and other wireless devices operating on 4G and other systems will require SIMs, wireless operators, many who previously didn't deploy handsets which supported such cards, have been blessed with a tremendous opportunity.

As mobile devices and the networks that support them become more complex and diverse, it is increasingly important for operators to accurately manage and control device settings. SmartTrust, a developer of mobile device management and SIM management software for mobile operators, has helped its customers succeed through the ability to see the points of convergence between the SIM and MDM.