telecom

iPhone 5 comes one step closer to China release

A number of hurdles must be overcome for Apple to be able to sell the iPhone 5 in China. Today, one of those barriers has been conquered and it's looking more likely that Chinese users will soon be able to get their hands on the device.

A Chinese regulatory agency named State Radio Management announced that two models of the iPhone 5 -- the A1429 and the A1442 -- have been approved to run on China's mobile networks, according to Chinese blog Sina Tech. Reportedly, the A1429 supports China Unicom's 3G network and China Mobile's 2G … Read more

Huawei caught up in legal mess over cell equipment sales to Iran

Huawei, the embattled Chinese telecommunications equipment maker, has been caught in a convoluted tale over Iranian cellular sales.

Earlier this year, Huawei purchased cellular antenna equipment from a U.S.-based company, called Andrew LLC, and then through a partner in Iran, attempted to sell those products to a carrier in the Middle Eastern country, Reuters is reporting today, citing documents it obtained from unidentified sources. The carrier apparently cancelled the sale for fear of violating U.S. sanctions.

CNET has contacted Huawei for comment on the Reuters report. We will of course update this story when we have more … Read more

Wikipedia now totally free to mobile users in the Middle East

A full 25 million mobile users in the Middle East can now use Wikipedia without worrying about data charges.

The Wikimedia Foundation and Saudi Telecom (STC) have teamed up to offer the free access through a program known as Wikipedia Zero. The goal behind this initiative is to help people in developing countries more easily get information through Wikipedia. Many users in these countries surf the Internet via mobile devices, so the Wikimedia Foundation tries to work with local carriers to eliminate data charges and other obstacles.

The foundation has given high priority to Arabic-language countries but has reached out … Read more

Phone company to woman: You owe us $15 quadrillion

Wow, suddenly that $1 billion cell phone bill I received last month doesn't seem so bad. I could have gotten a multi-quadrillion dollar bill, like poor Solenne San Jose recently did.

Yes, you read that right. San Jose, who lives in the Bordeaux region of France, received a cell phone bill late last month for 11,721,000,000,000,000 euros, or about $15 quadrillion. Lady likes to talk!

In all fairness, San Jose had been warned she would be charged a fee for terminating her contract with Bouygues Telecom early. She was not, however, told that fee would greatly exceed the GDP of France. (Or the entire world's economic output -- by a factor of 214, no less.)… Read more

Supreme Court closes door on warrantless eavesdropping suit

The long-standing warrantless spying case ended at the hands of the Supreme Court today. After six years of working its way up through the courts, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's lawsuit against the National Security Agency -- which aimed to hold telecom companies liable for allowing government eavesdropping on U.S. residents -- was terminated.

The Supreme Court declined to review a lower court ruling on the case today, closing the door on further appeals. Its decision did not address the merits of the case.

Hepting v. AT&T was a class-action suit filed by the American Civil Liberties … Read more

iPhone 5 wins regulatory approval in China

The iPhone 5 is now officially certified for China.

Two models of Apple's flagship phone passed 3C (China Compulsory Certificate) certification on Monday, according to Sina Tech.

One goes by the model number A1429, which would be geared for China Unicom's WCDMA network and match up with the Hong Kong version of the iPhone 5, Sina Tech said. The other is model A1442, which would work on China Telecom's CDMA2000 network.

The 3C certification is a mandatory certificate system that inspects and approves various products to be sold in the Chinese market. The iPhone 5 faces two more challenges before it can reach China, … Read more

Apple reportedly talks iPhone 5 LTE support with Korean carriers

Will the iPhone 5 support 4G LTE? It seems almost a given at this point, but here's yet another potential sign.

Apple has been negotiating with two Korean mobile carriers to provide the iPhone 5 through their LTE networks, says the Korea Times. Officials from both SK Telecom and KT, who asked not to be identified, reportedly revealed the information.

"KT is in negotiation with Apple to persuade the latter to support KT's 1.8-gigahertz frequency in Korea for the upcoming iPhone,'' one senior KT executive said, according to Korea Times. A KT spokesperson declined to comment, … Read more

Hackers claim breach of China Telecom, Warner Bros. networks

An Internet hacking group claimed today to have broken into the networks of Warner Bros. and China Telecom, publishing documents and login credentials purportedly stolen in the breaches.

SwaggSec, also known as Swagg Security, announced the hack on its Twitter feed and published a statement on Pastebin, along with links to the purloined files posted to Pirate Bay.

Just in Warner Bros and China Telecom Hacked(Biggest ISP in the world)! pastebin.com/u9n2SBUX

— Swagg Security (@SwaggSec) June 3, 2012

The group leaped to prominence in February when it took credit for a breach of Foxconn network security, resulting in … Read more

AT&T: Telecom consolidation 'logical,' inevitable

The wireless industry is likely to shrink down to two or three players, roughly half the roster across the U.S. today, according to an AT&T executive.

John Stephens, CFO of AT&T, spoke at a Nomura investment conference on Wednesday. Stephens was asked about consolidation in light of AT&T's failure to acquire T-Mobile. Regulators panned AT&T's T-Mobile acquisition over competitive worries.

Stephens said:

I think it is just logical that the industry is going to consolidate in some form or fashion. I think the marketplace has spoken to that with … Read more