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ConteXtream announced that a Tier 1 U.S. wireless operator has deployed the vendor's software-defined networking (SDN) technology to virtualize almost half of its network. The Palo Alto, Calif., startup is not specifying which carrier adopted its product but said the company is using SDN to serve nearly 40 million customers.

Broadcom said its newest 802.11ac chips for entry-level PCs, tablets and smartphones are now sampling, and volume production is slated for the second half of the year.

Steven Berry, president and CEO of the Competitive Carriers Associationrecently chatted with FierceBroadbandWireless Editor Tammy Parker about the connectivity issues faced by smaller operators. Following is an edited and condensed version of conversation.

Small mobile operators have a lot of issues to deal with as they strive to compete in the wireless broadband arena against the likes of industry giants such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Sprint Nextel is adding three tri-band LTE mobile broadband devices to its portfolio this summer, as the operator aims to leverage its FDD LTE deployments at 1.9 GHz and 800 MHz as well as partner Clearwire's upcoming TD-LTE network at 2.5GHz.

Separate announcements from major infrastructure vendors Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks highlight the growing importance of carrier-grade Wi-Fi and intelligent traffic steering connectivity between cellular and Wi-Fi networks.

The United States already accounts for nearly half of all LTE subscriptions worldwide, and LTE rollouts are trickling down from the largest U.S. mobile operators to some of the smallest.

EdgeConneX, which provides Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), said it will deploy an outdoor small cell network in Vermont for CoverageCo, a provider of carrier- and technology-neutral cellular coverage services to underserved markets.

A wireless broadband platform that works on any frequency between 100 MHz and 6 GHz provides the foundation for a new white space (TVWS) cognitive radio system rolled out this week by Toronto-based Redline Communications Group.

Per-bit total cost of ownership of Wi-Fi hotspots is about half that of small cells for LTE and 10 percent of 3G small cells, according to a new report developed by Senza Fili Consulting and commissioned by Wi-Fi Alliance^.