3G femtocells to be launched commercially

There's been a lot of talk recently about femtocells: tiny base stations that boost your mobile phone coverage at home by connecting to your broadband service. Well, Japanese network SoftBank is about to be the first service provider to launch 3G femtocells commercially. It's launching in January next year, although pricing hasn't been confirmed. And yes, it really is the world's first 3G femtocell service. American network Sprint announced femtocells for some customers a few months ago but only for voice calls. [Source: Telecoms.com]

US senator asks for explanation of rising text costs

Senator Herb Kohl, who chairs the Antitrust Subcommittee in the US Senate Judiciary Committee, has written to AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile asking why the cost of sending a text has doubled in the last three years from 10 to 20 cents. He's particularly concerned because these networks - responsible for 90% of mobile customers in the USA - all appear to have increased their charges at roughly the same rate - whilst consolidation has reduced competition. [Sources: Press release; The Register.co.uk; eWeek.com; InformationWeek.com]

Third-biggest US network to cut jobs

Sprint Nextel, the third-largest mobile network in the USA, says it needs to lose around 4,000 members of staff in 2008 and will close around 125 of its retail shops plus around 4,000 third-party distribution points in a bid to save up to $800 million a year. [Press release]