Stat farmers Deloitte are again predicting an Internet capacity apocalypse, even if every single past prediction of this type has proven to be incorrect. In their latest compilation of predictions, Deloitte insists that carriers simply aren’t going to be able to keep pace with the data demands of smartphone users. The result will be Internet capacity and performance issues becoming widespread in just the next several years, with carriers jacking prices sky high to manage [...]

Leaked documents on the entertainment and ISP industries “six strikes” anti-piracy initiative show that small businesses won’t be exempt from the program. The group behind the upcoming program, the Center for Copyright Information (CCI), tells Torrent Freak that while most alerts will go to residential users, businesses may be impacted as well. There has been worry that businesses running Wi-Fi hotspots will suddenly find their connections throttled or temporarily severed due to patron behavior. That’s [...]

While MVNOs initially flamed out spectacularly, several new wireless MVNOs have launched recently, all trying to do things slightly differently. Republic Wireless plans to lower prices by offloading most of the daily traffic to Wi-Fi. FreedomPop promises to offer users a basic free tier of service with low priced data and voice options layered on top. The third upstart is Tucows’ Ting, a company we explored back in 2011 that plans to auto-upgrade users up [...]

Originally, AT&T only allowed users to use Facetime over Wi-Fi. Then, they allowed Facetime over cellular, but only if users signed up for their new shared data plan with its $15 per gigabyte overage fees. Facing significant consumer criticism they’ve since slowly backtracked, and this week announced in a blog post that they’d kindly be allowing customers on “any tiered data plan using a compatible iOS device” to use functionality built into devices they own. [...]

Republic Wireless made headlines when it began offering a $20/month unlimited plan on the LG Optimus smartphone starting in late 2011. Using the Sprint network, RW s business model is to offload as much traffic to Wi-Fi as possible, using cellular only when necessary. The service has suffered a number of setbacks since, first with the outdated LG Optimus phone, then suffering backlash over the definition of “unlimited,” and then releasing the first version of [...]

Republic Wireless appears to have softened their previous stance on rooting phones, which they claim could result in users being disconnected from the new service. As we noted last week, Republic Wireless stated the tough stance was due to the fact that phones running custom ROMs can prohibit the company from collecting useful data during the product’s beta. The company now seems to have softened this position somewhat, posting to their website that tinkerers will [...]

Bandwidth.com recently announced a new wireless carrier named Republic Wireless promising unlimited text, data, and voice for an unheard-of $19 a month. How did they plan to reach such a price point for “unlimited” service? The company offloads most of that traffic to Wi-Fi, and initially stated they’d kick you off the network if you consumed to much (Sprint) cellular capacity. After the press and public complained that their “Cellular Usage Index” (CUI) fairness plan [...]

A company by the name of EyeTease Limited is set to begin offering Wi-Fi via London taxi cabs starting early next year. According to the company’s press release, their not-so-creatively-named “CabWifi” technology will allow users fifteen minutes of Wi-Fi use after they watch a fifteen second advertisement. The company claims drivers get their own private login to the system that allows them to “off-set the high cost of data charges incurred from using taxi apps” [...]

After years of hyping the frightening concept of a looming spectrum apocalypse, the press slowly appears to be realizing there wasn’t much of a crisis. Just a year or two ago the mainstream press was packed with stories about the spectrum crisis we’re all facing, repeating fear mongering nonsense fed to them by lobbyists and carrier spokesmen. But as it became clear that most large and deep-pocketed companies are able to get the spectrum they [...]

After previously saying they’d only back off of Facetime restrictions for some users, AT&T quietly this week started letting everyone — including grandfathered unlimited iPhone users — use the feature they paid for. Originally, AT&T only allowed users to use Facetime over Wi-Fi. Then, they allowed Facetime over cellular, but only if users signed up for their new shared data plan with its $15 per gigabyte overage fees. Earlier this month AT&T announced they’d be [...]