What do you get when Sprint and Clearwire strike a deal to merge their next generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company? Another company named Clearwire, plus interest from industry giants—Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks—to the tune of $3.2 billion. Insiders claim the new entity will make the first nationwide mobile WiMAX network a reality, delivering a true mobile broadband experience for consumers, business and healthcare organizations alike. Read »

Last week, I wrote about mobile data volumes being set to outpace revenue growth by 100 to 1 between now and 2015, and how the advent of mobile broadband may very well trigger a host of new business models and industry partners, including healthcare. Since then, I’ve enjoyed checking out two new health oriented mobile apps, but an article I spotted in a newsletter from a telecom consulting firm has me wondering if wireless companies are, in fact, missing the healthcare boat. Read »

The arrival of “e-care” should help broaden access to health care, generate savings for employer-sponsored health plans and help offset a growing shortage of physicians nationwide. With video-conferencing, remote patient monitoring and e-mail already standard tools for many physicians across the country—and real-time access to doctors via webcam recently launching in Hawaii—it seems mobile point-of-care technologies are well positioned going forward. But can operators keep up with demand? Read »

The FCC has ruled in favor of allowing new kinds of broadband devices to operate in unused television spectrum. The decision follows efforts by Google, Microsoft, Motorola and others to get “white spaces” in television broadcast signals converted into unlicensed spectrum for long-distance wireless broadband applications when cable converts to a digital signal in February. Read »