an unfair advantage. “SoftBank’s acquisition of Sprint and the control it gains over Clearwire will give one of Japan’s largest wireless companies control of significantly more U.S. wireless spectrum than any other company,” he said in a statement. “We expect that fact and others will be fully explored in the regulatory review process.”
Sprint, for its part, hopes to accelerate its LTE network with the expertise of SoftBank while leveraging Clearwire’s deep spectrum holdings. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said, “Our management team is excited to work with SoftBank to learn from their successful deployment of LTE in Japan as we build out our advanced LTE network, improve the customer experience and continue the turnaround of our operations.”

Newly crowned T-Mobile USA CEO John Legere commented on the importance of spectrum as it relates to the T-Mobile/MetroPCS merger. “This deal could not be more ideal in terms of the complementary spectrum that it creates. It really could not be more perfect in terms of what it will do for us with regard to our 4G LTE rollout. We will have significant LTE spectrum capacity in most major cities in the United States. I’m talking about being clearly superior to AT&T and Sprint. We are in the midst of a process and a transformation that is going to take the combined company to an incredible place.”

Legere also believes the two networks will integrate easily and overtake Sprint for third place in the U.S. market within a few years. For a network that doesn’t even have the iPhone, that would be a real coup. Will regulators give the nod of approval? Will SoftBank’s business with Huawei taint the outcome? Stay tuned to the Pipeline news center to learn more as the story develops.

Securing communications

In security there is a simple rule: the more points of entry to control, the more risk. “The fact is that, as you make more ‘doorways’ into the Internet, so the challenges of controlling access will become ever more acute,” says Alex Brisbourne, president and COO, KORE Telematics. Consider the proliferation of powerful smartphones alongside M2M on the horizon and it’s easy to understand why security stories cross the wire on a daily basis. The connected future is only as secure as its foundation.

Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trends continue to create opportunities for software companies and service providers in device security and management. Turkcell is betting on BYOD with a new turnkey BYOD app, and Infonetics predicts a big spike in mobile security spending as a result. In fact security will move further into the foreground as more and more devices are connected, like Hyundai’s new connected car and AT&T’s new embedded mHealth solutions.

Toward the end of October, Verizon released an extensive cybercrime report that examined risk and intrusion industry by industry. Across the board, small- to medium-sized businesses are most at risk, as these companies may not have a dedicated IT security professional or established security procedures. Third-party vendors that service the SMB market haven’t done much better, according to the report.

4G launches

Fourth-generation mobile networks are rapidly rolling out across the globe, as operators hitch their horse to high-speed mobile technology that’s proven to boost ARPU and improve CEM. Last month the number of deployed LTE networks continued to climb: In Norway, Telenor launched 4G in 11 cities with a Huawei-powered network, catching up with rival NetCom. South Africa got its first 4G LTE network courtesy of Vodacom, and the Telefonica imprint Vivo is going 4G LTE with Ericsson in Brazil. And in the U.S., Verizon’s 4G LTE network buildout is a full two months ahead of schedule. To further study the evolving 4G landscape, check out this thorough, dynamic 4G map, complete with spectrum and vendor-partner information.