Suppliers of technology to help offload mobile data include behemoths such as Cisco Systems Inc. and Motorola Solutions Inc. as well as smaller vendors such as Ruckus Wireless Inc. and BelAir Networks Inc., each of which manufactures devices that transmit and receive Wi-Fi signals.

Such devices, called access points, have long been a fixture in homes, coffee shops and companies. But increasingly, wireless carriers and third-party operators are buying heavy-duty variants to form larger Wi-Fi networks, intended to siphon off data traffic in places with big concentrations of smartphone users.

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Probably not, but AT&T is betting that some businesses will — if it allows the user to stay connected even in remote areas and when cellular networks are down. The telecommunications giant on Tuesday began offering something it calls Satellite Augmented Mobile Service, along with a smartphone that doubles as a satellite phone.

The phone, made by TerreStar, operates on a regular cellular network, but the user can switch it to satellite service when needed. The device is $799 plus shipping and tax, which is not unusual for a satellite phone. It does not require a contract, but a subscription that allows the phone to be used with the TerreStar satellite is $24.99 a month, on top of the usual voice and data plans from AT&T. And satellite calls themselves are expensive — 65 cents a minute in the U.S. for a call, and $5 a megabyte for data.

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The comments from Facebook are the latest criticisms leveled at the Google (GOOG)-Verizon (VZ) proposal from the technology world. Soon after the companies announced the plan on Monday, some consumer advocates derided the proposal because of its two big exemptions: mobile networks and new, as-yet-undeveloped services that weren’t specified.

Facebook has long been a proponent of what’s known as “net neutrality” — the idea that Internet providers such as phone and cable companies should not deliberately slow or block Internet sites or services such as Facebook and Google. The latest statement is consistent with earlier remarks from the Facebook camp, including a letter signed in October by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. But coming after the Google-Verizon announcement, the emphasis on wireless networks makes it clear that the proposal from the tech giants might not be an easy sell among other Internet companies.

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The San Diego-based company late Tuesday announced that a subsidiary will begin offering what it calls FLO TV Personal Television. Qualcomm said U.S. retailers are expected to offer the device over this holiday season at a suggested price of $249.99.

FLO TV is a wholly owned Qualcomm unit that operates a special network that broadcasts TV signals, rather than having users call up video programming using conventional cellular networks. So far, the service has been available on specially equipped cellphones.

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Sources say Apple has formally requested a network access license to sell the iPhone in China, but the license is for a customized model in which Wi-Fi support has been disabled. If that proves true, then Apple (AAPL) has finally bowed to the demands of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which has been insisting that the iPhone run only on cellular networks.

As Matt Mathison, an analyst at Wedge Partners, notes, that’s a hell of a concession for Apple, which had no desire to customize the iPhone for the mainland market. “Apple was hellbent on having the iPhone be wifi-enabled,” Mathison told BusinessWeek. “The Chinese government has been just as adamant that it not be.”

Mathison added that now that Apple has conceded to Beijing’s demands, the iPhone may launch in China as much as three months earlier than expected. “We now expect it to come before the Spring Festival in [January] 2010,” he said.