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Sprint mulling outsourcing network maintenance, transferring staff to Ericsson?

by Chris Ziegler posted May 4th 2009 @ 6:42AM

Word on the street is that Sprint is currently in heated discussions with Ericsson -- the world's largest network infrastructure company -- to take over management and maintenance of its vast back end along with somewhere between 5,000 to 7,000 of the carrier's employees in an effort to lower costs by about 20 percent as its subscriber counts and tends both stay soft. Interestingly, Sprint already sold some of its towers to TowerCo last year for over half a billion dollars, so it's not clear exactly how Ericsson fits into the puzzle yet -- but at any rate, Sprint would apparently be paying something on the order of $2 billion over the next several years for Ericsson to do its thing. In light of this, it's kind of ironic that Sprint doesn't sell a single Sony Ericsson handset, isn't it?

Cellphones are dangerous/not dangerous, cell division edition

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 2nd 2007 @ 6:42PM

So apparently, virtually all existing official limits for radiation emitted by mobiles (FCC, we're looking at you) are based on the assumption that the dangerous effects of that radiation are caused by heating of the brain. Pretty big assumption, eh? A new study by Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science suggest that some "non-thermal" forces are at play, though, noting that chemicals involved in brain cell division were affected in tests on rats after just 10 minutes of exposure to cellphone radiation. Improper cell division goes hand in hand with cancer, so the finding is a rather alarming one. Of course, you know the drill: for every study that suggests phones are dangerous, we can certainly dredge up one that says they aren't -- just be forewarned that a cool brain isn't necessarily a healthy one.

[Via CNET]

Despite warnings, more UK drivers caught using cellphones

by Marc Perton posted Apr 4th 2006 @ 4:48PM

While a number of studies have concluded that driving while using a cellphone can be dangerous, and many governments impose fines for driving-while-talking, the number of DWT cases prosecuted in the UK has actually risen by 75% in the past year. However, indications are that the rise may have less to do with chattier motorists than with stepped-up enforcement by police, including the use of tag-reading cameras. UK DWT fines are due to double, from £30 to £60 this year, so prosecutions may actually start to decline -- unless the chattering class of drivers is also price-insensitive.