Sprint announced on Thursday that they have officially halted all investments in troubled startup LightSquared. The company fears that the company will encounter further difficulty in securing an operating license.

The move to halt its investment comes after Sprint gave the startup 30 days to receive FCC approval before agreeing to move forward with further collaboration.

In a separate report it’s believed LightSquared will run out of operating funds by Spring 2012 if more capital isn’t procured for the company.

During a Citigroup conference Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said he hopes LightSquared can overcome interference issues and move forward with plans to launch a 4G nationwide network.

Hesse was referring to government tests in which the LightSquared system interfered with various GPS signals, jamming navigation equipment. LightSquared purchased spectrum that sits right beside GPS spectrum.

For its part LightSquared says the problem isn’t with their system but rather a lack of signal filters found on GPS equipment, placing the blame squarely on the GPS equipment industry. In the meantime while critics agree that Lightsquared may be correct in their assessment of the situation it’s believed the FCC won’t allow the company to move forward if the technology will wreak havoc on existing GPS equipment.

Without the support of Sprint the company could still move forward with smaller regional plans but will likely forgo a national 4G system in the near future.

In the meantime the GPS industry appears to be doing very little if anything to investigate their own shortcomings based on signal filtering claims.

According to a LightSquared spokesperson the company’s continue to work together:

LightSquared and Sprint have been actively monitoring the timing of the FCC’s evaluation and authorization of our network.  As both companies remain optimistic that we will receive FCC approval early this year, we collectively agreed to a 30-day extension of certain terms of our spectrum hosting and network services agreement.  The deal between the two parties remains intact.

Do you think the FCC should quickly investigate GPS equipment and make GPS providers bring their products up to spectrum targeting standards?

Sprint Abandons LightSquared Investment, Demands FCC Approval is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sprint had a bit of a mix up earlier today at their investor conference. CEO Dan Hesse said that the company limits the data of 1 percent of it’s users. However, there seems to be a bit confusion regarding the throttling. Executive Dan White said that wasn’t the case, at least with Sprint customers.

When it comes to them providing their services to prepaid companies such as Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile, yes, they do throttle those customers. Whether this is the truth or not, it begs one to wonder if they’re truly getting unlimited data.

“Sprint has repeatedly stripped away the unlimited offer from many of its services except for its core contract smartphone data plan. Over the past year, the company has done away with unlimited plans for its prepaid business, mobile hot spots, and USB laptop cards.”

The reality is that the unlimited offering from the company is really the only differentiator they have moving forward. With the likes of Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, if they were to lose unlimited or not even lose it, but more stories about throttling were to appear, this could be a nail in the coffin for the company.

While people don’t like data caps, surely there’s a subset of consumers who would take a data cap over having their data connection throttled. With all of that said, it seems to have just been a mistake from the CEO and he should have been more specific, otherwise Sprint potentially reminds me of the unlimited web hosting plans…not truly unlimited.

Sprint Throttles Customers, Well, Sort Of is a post from: The Inquisitr

With news today of AT&T rolling out 4G LTE to 11 new markets, it seems Sprint is taking the opportunity to let people know that they plan on launching the incredibly fast service to 10 markets by the first half of this year. They originally said midsummer, though it’s looking like the carrier is pushing to get it done much faster.

Currently, Sprint has 4G thanks to a technology called WiMax which is from the company ClearWire, a wireless broadband provider. While the technology does well, it simply doesn’t stack up to the speed, efficiency, and improvement of 4G LTE, something that 2 of the biggest carriers in the USA, Verizon and AT&T, have had for quite some time.

Even with the news of it rolling out ahead of schedule (or so they say), phones that support 4G LTE won’t be available on Sprint until after the service has already rolled out. If they’re not careful and/or roll out the service too early, there could be a period of time where people could use it, but they don’t have any supported phones yet.

“Sprint plans to finish building its own 4G LTE network by 2013. In the meantime, the company said it would continue to support WiMax devices through this year. Clearwire is working to switch over to its own version of LTE as well.”

“Hesse (Sprint CEO) said that by 2014, he hopes to get Federal Communications Commission approval to use some of its current stock of spectrum for the LTE network, and is looking to increase capacity in the next two years.”

Sprint Will Have 4G LTE Ahead Of Schedule, Phones Coming After The Fact is a post from: The Inquisitr

Clearwire Corp. on Thursday reported better than expected growth for the third quarter of 2011, allowing the company’s stock to increase by as much as 21.5% by midday.

Investors were worried that Clearwire wouldn’t be able to hold onto their customer based as major partner Sprint Nextel Group continued to shift away from their partnership.

According to Clearwire they had acquired 9.5 million customers by the end of September, that number is 1.9 million customers more than they had attracted by the end of Q2 2011.

Clearwire also expects that their revenues increased to $332 million in Q3, a 13% increase quarter-over-quarter while beating analysts expectations by $10 million.

The company now says they are shooting for 10 million subscribers by the end of the year, mostly focused on the wholesale side of their business where nearly 80% of their customer base already exists.

The news of a boost in subscriber services and revenue couldn’t have come at a better time for Clearwire as their stock was trading down by 60% since August.  Stock prices plummeted after Sprint announced they would begin building their own fourth-generation technology to compete with Clearwire. Sprint owns half of Clearwire and the company is still locked into a $1 billion deal that runs through 2012.

Next up for Clearwire are plans to build a new 4G network based on the same technology currently being implemented by AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless.

The company’s future could be riding on their next generation network development, do you think Clearwire can continue to grow if they can’t reach a sustainable deal with Sprint Nextel Corp?

Clearwire Reports Better Than Expected Growth In Q3 2011 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Well, it looks like another rumor turned out to be true, at least partially – Apple CEO took announced at the Apple press conference that Sprint has officially signed on as a carrier of the iPhone.

Pre-orders for the Sprint version of the iPhone 4S – as well as the AT&T and Verizon versions – will kick off on October 7, with an official release following one week later on October 14.

As is often the case with Apple and their products, Sprint jumping aboard the iPhone train wasn’t a terribly well-kept secret. Last month, over one month before today’s announcement, Wall Street Journal and various other outlets outed the news, citing various high-profile, sure sources.

Sprint may have had an impressive Android smartphone lineup, but Sprint has been struggling to play catch-up with AT&T and Verizon due to the mammoth sales magnet that is the iPhone. With their existing lineup and the iPhone 4S, the future is looking quite a bit brighter for Sprint.

So if you haven’t been particularly pleased with Verizon or AT&T’s service, you now have a third alternative when the iPhone 4S launches on October 14.

Source: 9to5mac

Sprint confirmed as iPhone 4S carrier is a post from: The Inquisitr

Just in time to get ahead of the big Apple event on October 4, an image surfaced online earlier today that purports to be an internal RadioShack inventory listing for the iPhone 5. More interestingly, it suggests Sprint will be announced as a new carrier alongside the iPhone 5 announcement on October 4.

While the authenticity of the image is unconfirmed, and will likely remain that way, the listing lines up with recent reports from the Wall Street Journal. According to said report, Sprint will also be picking up on the iPhone 4 in addition to the as of yet to be officially-announced iPhone 5.

Assuming that all of the rumors are true, carrying the iPhone 5 could end up being a big win for Sprint. Currently, Sprint is struggling to keep up with AT&T and Verizon, with a 52 million subscriber base for the carrier, a relatively low amount in comparison to AT&T and Verizon’s 99 million and 106 million, respectively.

Sprint reported a decline in subscribers in their second quarter, with the company attributing most of the loss in subscribers to the top two competitors, AT&T and Verizon, carrying the iPhone. In the first half of 2011 alone, Verizon 4.5 million iPhones sold, while AT&T have reported roughly 7.2 million sold for the year so far.

Sources: 9to5mac, Wall Street Journal (via Engadget)

RadioShack inventory listing suggests iPhone 5 coming to Sprint is a post from: The Inquisitr

One of our biggest gripes about Sprint Wireless technology has always been the general lack of accessibility for international travelers and now the company has remedied that gripe with the ZTE Sprint International Mobile Hotspot, the company’s newest hotspot which features CDMA/GSM cross compatibility.

The devices comes equipped with domestic support via EVDO Rev A. while international travelers will be able to use the device with GSM/GRPS/EDGE connectivity along with WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA 3G technologies.

Along with the device Sprint includes an “unlocked SIM” in the box, while an international power adapter is also included for worldwide traveling.

From a technical standpoint the ZTE hotspot includes a built-in display indicator for battery life and connectivity while providing support for up to five devices on CDMA and just one lonely device on GSM networks. The device also offers a range of 130 feet and can provide wireless internet support for up to four hours on a single charge.

Interested buyers can pick up the hotspot for $50 after a $50 mail-in-rebate with a two-year contract.

Just keep in mind that the device does not support WiMax and the cost you’ll pay for international data depends solely on the GSM network you sign up for when traveling.

Are you willing to pay $50 with a two-year contract so you can use other networks while traveling? I have a feeling this device will best be served by a very small portion of Sprint’s customer base.

In the meantime if you need WiMax Sprint offers several hotspots that are CDMA-only friendly such as the Overdrive which you can check out online or at your local Sprint Wireless store.

LTE Sprint International Mobile Hotspot Is International Traveler Friendly [GSM/CDMA Compatible] is a post from: The Inquisitr

For many on the East Coast, Hurricane Irene blew through and did very little damage save for fallen branches and intermittent loss of power.

Others experienced extensive flooding and many areas remain in the dark due to storm damage. Hurricane Irene was an interesting exercise in the impact of storms on modern communications, however, because in the past, reaching out after a loss of electricity or when inundated by floodwaters was far more challenging than it is today- as demonstrated by the use of social networks throughout the event.

Luckily for people in storm ravaged areas, cell phone service stayed mostly consistent while the storm either raged or weakened, depending on the region. More than 130,000 residents in Virginia and South Carolina were affected by disruptions to landline service, but cell phone service providers reported fewer sweeping outages as damaged towers were supported by backup service.

The New York Times spoke to service spokespersons for wireless networks, who confirmed intermittent outages in affected areas, but say that the paradigm surrounding the use of landlines versus cell phones during disasters has begun to shift:

But the evolution of the landline — which first saw cordless phones (that do not work in blackouts) and Internet-based telephony (which requires a battery backup in case of blackouts) — has led to a decrease in its reliability. That hole has been filled, to some degree, by wireless voice and data networks.

Nationwide, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said no outages of 911 service were reported in any of the areas affected by Hurricane Irene, and that no centers were without service during the potential disaster. A spokesman for AT&T confirmed remaining cell phone service disruptions in some areas, and said crews are working to assess the damage and determine when damaged equipment can safely be restored.

Cell Phone Service Stayed Mostly Steady During Irene, Landlines Affected is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Personal Localized Alerting Network, or PLAN, is a new program devised by the FCC to keep Joe Citizen abreast of imminent safety threats in his area within the US.

Although the system won’t be available nationally until next April, it is rolling out in New York City and Washington DC later this year. And while towers sometimes get jammed with traffic during catastrophic events like the September 11th attacks or recent weather outbreaks, the government assures us that the geographically-targeted, text-like messages for your mobile-enabled device won’t be impeded by higher than normal network activity.

In a statement released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate explained the genesis for the program:

“Following the devastating tornadoes in the Southeast, we are witnessing yet again the critical role the public plays as part of our nation’s emergency management team. Making sure that they get useful and life-saving information, quickly and easily, right on their mobile phones, will help more people get out of harm’s way when a threat exists,” said FEMA Administrator Fugate. “This new technology could become a lifeline for millions of Americans and is another tool that will strengthen our nation’s resilience against all hazards.”

PLAN will be free to users, and is slated to deliver three types of alerts: alerts issued by the President, alerts involving imminent threats to safety of life and Amber Alerts. Carriers have the option of allowing users to block all but Presidential alerts.

One one occasion last year, location-aware social game Foursquare alerted some New York City users to a possible bomb threat in Times Square.

FCC rolling out Emergency Broadcast System for text message is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sprint Wireless has announced plans to beat AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to the Near Field Communications (NFC) market by adapting their own form of the technology before the end of 2011.

The carriers mentioned above have announced plans to align themselves with the Isis mobile payment system, however Sprint has been working with their own platform with payment networks to offer an NFC-based option of their own.

Sprint originally announced plans to launch their NFC application in 2012 but this week pushed up those plans for an earlier relase among rumors that the iPhone 5 and various other upcoming devices will feature the technology.

According to Sprint officials, customers will be able to receive bills to their regular credit card statements, rather than tacking the bill onto their credit card statements, while the system will take a percentage of each transaction just as Isis does.

Sprint has been running NFC trials since 2007, so it will be interesting to see how their technology compares to the Isis platform.

Sprint Announces Plans To Launch NFC Service In 2011 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sprint on Thursday unveiled a new design for their pocket sized 4G router the Overdrive Pro. The router, which supports both 3G and 4G technologies allows up to eight devices to connect at one time, up from just 5 devices during the devices last release.

According to developer Sierra Wireless the router also boots and shuts down 35 percent faster than the previous model.

While the new hardware is smaller, the screen size is actually 45 percent larger, making it easier to read, but also easier to lose if you’re anything like me.

The router goes on sale March 20 for $50 after a $50 mail-in-rebate with a two-year data contract.

Sprint Unveils Smaller 3G/4G Overdrive, Improves Performance is a post from: The Inquisitr

The HTC Arrive is now available for pre-order at online retailer Wirefly. Under the company’s current plan the device can be picked up for $150 with a two-year contract.

The Sprint CDMA based device offers a Windows Phone 7 setup with a tilt-slider QWERTY keyboard and a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU and a five-megapixel camera with 16GB integrated storage.

Sprint has also thrown in their own proprietary home tile and some preloaded apps including Sprint TV and NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The HTC Arrive will reach customers hands on March 20.

Are you planning on purchasing the Arrive when it hits shelves? At $150 it’s hard not to like the device, minus WP7.

Wirefly Puts Up HTC Arrive Pre-Order Page, Offers Device For $150 is a post from: The Inquisitr

The HTC EVO 4G finally has pricing and a release date for the Sprint Network. The device will go on sale June 4th for $199 with a two year contract, including a required data plan.

Sprint has announced that video calling will be available via the devices front-facing camera over 3G and 4G data connections. Unfortunately video calling and all EVO 4G data plans come with a mandatory “Premium Data add-on” on top of regular data plan options which will set the customer back an addition $10/month.

The Evo 4G is also the first device to feature YouTube high quality video that auto kicks in when a WiMax tower is being used. Sprint has also announced simultaneous voice and data usage so you can surf the web while on speakerphone with mom.

Throw in a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and the EVO 4G is worth a much closer look.

HTC EVO 4G Goes On Sale June 4th At Sprint is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Google Nexus One didn’t have a very long shelf life at Sprint (zero days). According to recent reports the CDMA version of Google’s first ever device was canned, in it’s place will be the EVO 4G.

Made by the same manufacturer the HTC EVO 4G offers a far superior design/form, the ability to sell the device outside of the Google store and 4G data (Wi-Max) connectivity on a large 4.3 inch-display.

The EVO 4G also features two cameras (backside and front facing) one of which is 8MP, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, HDMI output and the ability to shoot videos and upload them directly to the web, along with various other HTC and Google Android options.

You can pick up the new Smartphone sometime this Summer. [via Engadget]

Google Nexus One Cut From Sprint Lineup, To Be Replaced By EVO 4G is a post from: The Inquisitr

Several users on the SprintUsers forum seem to believe that the budget friendly Samsung M350 with a 2.6-inch touchscreen, full sliding QWERTY keyboard and a 1.3 megapixel camera could arrive soon to the carrier. The cost? $30.

The Seek also features a 3.5mm headphone jack, 256MB onboard storage that is easily increased via microSD card slot (up to 32GB), and a 1,000mAh 3.7v lithium ion battery with up to 5.8 hours of talk time.

The phone also features three navigational buttons below the screen and will be available (rumored] on May 9th in scarlet and blue colors and then in pink on June 6th.

A two year contract will be required for the $30 price.

Samsung Seek Could Hit Sprint For $30 [Rumor] is a post from: The Inquisitr

The HTC EVO 4G is once again circulating the rumor mill, this time with word that it will arrive at Sprint Wireless on either June 6th of June 13th and that it will feature an additional cost for 4G service.

The cost? Somewhere between $10-$20 according to Gizmodo, which is a fair price to pay for higher speed mobile data browsing, downloading and uploading.

The additional cost is also rumored to provide EVO’s 8-device WiFi hotspot option with 4G capable services. 

HTC EVO 4G Will Arrive At Sprint In June, 4G Will Cost Up To $20 is a post from: The Inquisitr

The newest version of WebOS (1.3.5) is going to be released today according to Sprint and the new firmware promises to deliver some bug fixes, while removing a big hassle WebOS users have faced up until this point.

According to CEO Jon Rubinstein, the upgrade will remove that annoying app storage limit, while providing better “overall” performance abilities, a better battery output, especially when users are in weak cell coverage areas, and a bunch of other bugfixes.

We don’t know if the OTA upgrade has hit Palm devices at this time, but feel free to leave us a comment if you’ve upgraded and let us know what you think about the new firmware.

WebOS 1.3.5 Arrives Today For Sprint Phones is a post from: The Inquisitr

While still only a blip on the internet rumor mill, there’s talk that the LG Prada 3 may ditch its current OS and go all Android on us. SlashGear is also reporting that the device may be headed to Sprint Wireless in 2010.

If the rumor is in fact true, it would also mark the first LG Prada device to use CDMA technologies instead of the more popular worldwide GSM option. It would also mark the first time a carrier attached their name to the designer line of cell phones.

Very little else is known about the phone at this time, however if rumors are correct it may debut at CES 2010 with the Sprint name attached, if that’s the case we’ll provide more info live from the event.

LG Prada 3 May Head To Sprint With Google Android In 2010 is a post from: The Inquisitr

These days I’d normally let out a big yawn when it comes to the Blackberry Curve 8530, however at just $50 on the Sprint Network the phone actually proves to be a great “budget friendly” device for business users looking to replace older devices.

The unit, priced at $49.99 comes with a two year contract with voice and data services and a mail-in-rebate, while featuring a full Qwerty keyboard that’s setup superbly as most of us have come to expect from Blackberry, while also providing a yawn inspiring 2MP camera.

Sprint users will also appreciate the devices connectivity options including 3G (EVDO Rev. A), WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.1. While navigation via a built-in GPS option will also please many road warriors.

Throw in external multimedia controls, a MicroSDHC card slot that can support up to 32GB and a 3.5mm headphone jack and you’ll be talking and listing to music for hours thanks to the 8530′s 5.4 hour talktime on a 1,150mAh battery.

Verizon charges 50% more for the same device, then again Sprint doesn’t have a fancy map with a bunch of red dots. While I wouldn’t suggest jumping over to Sprint to get your hands on the Blackberry Curve 8530, it’s a great upgrade option if you have no choice. [SlashGear]

Sprint Gets The Blackberry Curve 8530 For Just $50 is a post from: The Inquisitr

A recent report says Sprint Wireless handed over 8 million customer GPS data records to authorities in 2008 alone. While that number may be inflated, it’s a scary amount of personal data.

There are always legitimate reasons for providing this type of data to law enforcement such as tracking missing people, attempting to find fugitives, etc. However, I highly doubt they needed to track eight million records for missing people and criminals last year, which begs the question, what in the hell were they requesting and why did they get it? Luckily we can sort of explain:

[At the Intelligence Support Systems for Lawful Interception, Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Gathering conference] Sprint Nextel’s electronic surveillance manager Paul Taylor described an automated system that law enforcement could use to easily look up subscriber whereabouts.

According to SlipperyBrick it works in the following manner:

Law Enforcement can submit a request for a user’s location up to every three minutes, for a period of 60 days. That’s how you get the 8 million number.

I’d really like to know what requirements must be met in order to obtain this info, I’m assuming they just run in screaming like crazed monkeys and shout “Patriot Act, Patriot Act.”

Sprint Gave Authorities 8 Million Customer Records Last Year is a post from: The Inquisitr