EE, the UK’s largest mobile network, has released a new study showing that pop-up retail contributes more than £2 billion to the UK economy. To help pop-up businesses overcome ongoing challenges, the company has launched a targeted initiative aimed at supporting temporary retailers across Britain. The report, “Pop-Up UK,” was commissioned by EE and produced … Read more

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reports that in 19 of the world’s poorest countries the cost of acquiring broadband access exceeds typical monthly incomes. The 100-page publication, titled “The State of Broadband 2012: Achieving Digital Inclusion for All,” presents a country-by-country assessment of global broadband deployment and highlights where progress has stalled. The report emphasizes … Read more

O2, the UK division of European telecoms giant Telefónica, has launched the first 4G LTE trial in London, offering mobile broadband speeds of up to 150 Mbps to a select group of around 100 participants. More than 25 4G sites will be activated across London this month, covering a combined area of approximately 40 square … Read more

A widespread cellular outage has affected large areas of the United States, disrupting services from major carriers including AT&T, Verizon, and T‑Mobile. Data from outage tracker Downdetector showed more than 32,000 AT&T incident reports around 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The outage impacted multiple metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, Houston, and Chicago, according to the … Read more

Citizens across the European Union have long supported the removal of roaming charges. Many travellers have come home from vacations or business trips surprised by modest usage that resulted in shockingly high bills. Thanks to the efforts of Neelie Kroes, former Vice President of the European Commission, mobile operators’ excessive roaming fees are scheduled to … Read more

To maintain its position as a global leader in key technology sectors, the European Union will invest €22 billion in research and innovation. This funding aims not only to advance critical industries but also to create and secure jobs for the future. The investment will concentrate primarily on five public-private partnerships in the areas of … Read more

The days of the digital SLR are far from over, but the landscape around them is changing rapidly. Some manufacturers are already exploring hybrid devices that combine traditional camera hardware with smartphone-style software, and it’s impossible to ignore how much mobile phone cameras have improved in recent years. As a recent buyer of a DSLR—a … Read more

It has not been a good week for Chinese telecoms giant ZTE. Alongside a significant drop in profits, reports suggest that as many as 12,000 employees could be laid off as part of a major cost-cutting program. A report from Marbridge Consulting, citing an internal source, states that ZTE has already conducted three rounds of … Read more

Liberty Global has completed the acquisition of Swiss operator Sunrise Communications. The telecoms group purchased Sunrise for 6.8 billion Swiss francs (approximately $7.4 billion), a move that positions Sunrise as a significantly stronger competitor to Swisscom in the Swiss market. Swisscom currently holds roughly 60% of Switzerland’s mobile market share, making this acquisition a strategic … Read more

After public outcry over many of America’s major tech companies being tied to the National Security Agency’s controversial PRISM program, several firms vowed to increase transparency about government data requests. Microsoft, in particular, committed to doing everything within the law to protect customers from intrusive government demands. In a TechNet blog post published today, Microsoft … Read more