If you have a slow Sony Xperia Arc, then probably you have Timescape and carrier bloatware that makes your phone slow (e.g. Rogers in Canada). In this tutorial, I will explain the steps that I did to make the phone considerably faster.

Install PC Companion and Update Service

In order to flash a new ROM on your phone, you will need first to install Sony Ericsson's PC Companion as well as Update Service on your Windows computer. This is needed so that the required USB drivers are installed and configured.

Install Flashtool

You can root a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc from Rogers (Canadian mobile phone network), using the zergRush method.

The method works for Xperia Play and other models as well.

For this, I used an Arc running Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread.

Using Windows

Follow the instructions on the above page.

Using Ubuntu

1. Download the package.

wget http://ubuntuone.com/7mD63kpsKzGmaou5hcftBV

2. Rename the package.

mv 7mD63kpsKzGmaou5hcftBV zergrush.zip

As the CBC is reporting, Mobilicity, a relative newcomer to the mobile market, is decrying the government auctioning off Long Term Evolution (LTE) "spectrum" to the bigger players (Rogers, Bell, and Telus).

This is the continuation of the industry lobbying for more balkanization.

The Canadian mobile phone provider Rogers has many plans, but many choose the Pay As You Go, since it is suitable for their needs.

The bad part is that the plan does not include any data usage on Smartphones.

But there is a way to get this working on Android phones.

The mobile market in North America is badly fragmented, due to
different carriers using different technologies (CDMA vs. GSM), different frequencies for different companies (AWS, 2100), and locking of phones to the carrier.

This fragmentation strengthens the stranglehold of the carrier on the customer, who has a higher barrier switching from one company to the other.

Industry lobbyists still call for more balkanization of the market, by adding more frequencies, against standardization.