RCR Wireless News articles from April 2006

RCR Wireless News archives from April 2006

Infrastructure Awards.(Wireless Metrics)
April 3, 2006... Following are infrastructure contracts announced in March: Alcatel China With China Mobile subsidiary Shanxi Mobile Communication Co. Ltd. to expand the carrier's GSM network in Yuncheng, Luliang, Linfeng, Jincheng, Changzhi, Xinzhou...

Stock Watch: March 23-March 30.(Wireless Metrics)
April 3, 2006... table: Stock Watch: March 23-March 30 * 3 graphs: Market Diary * Indices * RCR Index: see print copy

Wireless pitches up content for baseball.(News)
April 3, 2006... With Major League Baseball's spring training winding down, two wireless players are gearing up to bring baseball content to their subscribers in time for opening day. Mobile virtual network operator Mobile ESPN L.L.C. announced a suite of...

Tecore targets MVNOs with new platform.(News)
April 3, 2006... Tecore Wireless Systems, which has developed technology to provide voice, data and multimedia services from a common platform, introduced a service for mobile virtual network operators. The T-MVNO product provides mobile subscriber...

Brightpoint to manage handset distribution for MVNO Helio.(News)
April 3, 2006... Handset distribution company Brightpoint Inc. announced it will provide soon-to-launch mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. with wireless device distribution services, including inventory procurement and management, and custom...

Amp'd extends distribution, lowers phone price.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL Amp'd Mobile Inc. is ramping up its reach, with new distribution plans and content aimed at furthering its ambition of "liberating the digital tribe,'' in the words of Doug Dobie, the mobile virtual network operator's...

MVNO XE Mobile to target students using Cingular network.(News)
April 3, 2006... Mobile virtual network operator XE Mobile said it plans to launch its pay-as-you-go cellular service targeted at students during an event in Las Vegas this week. The company said it will launch the service at a party April 6 at the Tao...

Too small, too slow, but paying off.(Opinion)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Silva It has been about two-and-a-half years since Steve Largent took over the reins at CTIA, the cellular trade group hosting this week's big bash in Las Vegas. Just how is it that Largent won the well-endowed right to be...

Industry cheers increases in Nokia's sales forecasts.(News)
April 3, 2006... Nokia Corp. sent ripples through the mobile-device industry by raising its 2006 growth estimate for global handset sales from 10 percent to 15 percent "or more'' over last year. The statement was delivered by Jorma Olilla, Nokia's outgoing...

U.S. wireless market approaching turning point.(News)
April 3, 2006... This year could mark the beginning of important changes for the U.S. wireless industry, according to research from IDC. Last year was a stellar year for the industry, with about 21.8 million new subscribers activating service, propelling...

CDMA Rev. A news met with war of words, yawns.
April 3, 2006... Byline: PHIL CARSON Sprint Nextel Corp. may have gotten a jump-at least in the rhetorical game of crafting perceptions-over its arch-rival and fellow CDMA carrier Verizon Wireless with its announced plans to implement CDMA2000 1x EV-DO...

411 directory proposal could doom Senate's phone-records bill.(News)(Directory)
April 3, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Senate Commerce Committee last week passed the Protecting Consumer Phone Records Act of 2006, but only after adding an amendment that the chairman of the committee believes will doom the bill to failure....

Nokia dominates Latin American handset sales.(Global Wireless)
April 3, 2006... A national survey of Colombian wireless users found Nokia Corp. dominating the South American country's mobile handset market, which despite its modest size-at 43 million in population, the world's 30th largest country-provides a glance at a...

Sweeping back the veil for a closer look at India's handset market.(Global Wireless)
April 3, 2006... Byline: PHIL CARSON In the wireless universe, one outstanding fact about India trumps its ancient history, heterogeneous society and complex political and economic mix: With more than 1 billion people, India is the second-most-populous...

Public-safety must address funding, turf wars to combat interoperability concerns.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER With each significant manmade or natural disaster, the problem of public-safety communications networks not being able to interact with each other is underscored. Indeed, even as the public-safety community...

Alcatel buy of Lucent would see intense scrutiny by feds.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Experts said a merger between French telecom giant Alcatel SA and U.S.-based Lucent Technologies Inc. likely would undergo intense scrutiny over national security implications, possibly delaying but not necessarily...

Alltel taking breather following 'busiest year'.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL Alltel Corp. is on track to complete its wireline spinoff by mid-year, and the company plans to extend CDMA2000 1x EV-DO services to about 60 percent of its potential customers, Chief Financial Officer Sharilyn Gasaway...

Wireless losing ground in USF battle.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Cutting wireless out of the universal-service system seems to be gaining traction as legislation introduced in the House of Representatives that would make it much more difficult for mobile-phone carriers to...

Products.
April 3, 2006... RFS Radio Frequency Systems said it plans to demonstrate a fast bit-rate remote radio head unit that permits fiber connectivity direct to the towertop at CTIA Wireless 2006. The RHH system permits base transmitter station to antenna...

Controversial 700 MHz plan aims to solve public-safety crisis; But DTV auction would be scrapped.
April 3, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Wireless industry veterans with access to significant financial and political resources soon intend to ask policymakers to scrap plans to auction a large swath of 700 MHz spectrum being surrendered by TV broadcasters...

Cingular releases Nokia 9300 into crowded market.(News)
April 3, 2006... Being fashionably late to a party can cut two ways-it gets you noticed, but the assembled crowd inevitably registers a thumbs up or down on your appearance. So Nokia Corp., Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and market watchers will observe with...

Mobile music content could be the answer to thinning margins for wireless operators.(News)
April 3, 2006... Operators struggling with decreasing profits from basic services may want to look to mobile music, according to two new studies. The worldwide market for full-track mobile music downloads increased 2,000 percent from 2004 to last year,...

LimeLife grabs $10M in venture funding.(News)
April 3, 2006... LimeLife Inc. snared $10 million in Series B financing, the women's mobile content publisher said. U.S. Venture Partners led the round; other investors include Rustic Canyon Partners, i-Hatch Ventures and Monitor Ventures. LimeLife...

MMA to tackle wireless video guidelines.(News)
April 3, 2006... The Mobile Marketing Association has created a committee to address the operational and technical guidelines surrounding wireless video. The committee, which is open to all MMA members, seeks to establish best practices for marketing...

Network-neutrality provision ignites protests in draft telecom bill.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Network neutrality has emerged as a key sticking point in the debate regarding a scaled-backed communications draft bill-tentatively dubbed the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of...

xMAX devices expected to be available by year-end.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE XG Technology L.L.C. said its first consumer product, a Voice over Internet Protocol handset, will be available by the end of this year and that the device will work with low-cost xMAX-enabled base stations. The handsets...

Wireless History; 12 years ago this month....(Wireless Metrics)
April 3, 2006... Regulators and the wireless industry began considering the challenges of handling emergency 911 calls on wireless phones as mobile subscriber growth continued and on average more than 550,000 calls were logged to 911 dispatchers each month from...

Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel expected to lead slowing 1Q growth.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL Wireless operators largely are expected to maintain their market share in the first quarter, which is typically a weaker quarter than the holiday-fueled fourth quarter. However, the seasonality of the wireless sales...

ACE*Comm shows enterprise management app that includes flexible usage reporting.(News)
April 3, 2006... Network business intelligence and operating support systems solutions provider ACE*Comm Corp. unveiled its Enterprise Patrol application that the company said allows enterprise communications managers to control company-owned mobile phone...

Bango, Volantis ink content deals with Hearst publications.(News)
April 3, 2006... Bango is powering three new mobile content portals for properties of publishing giant Hearst Publications. The U.K.-based provider of direct-to-consumer content launched mobile sites for Cosmopolitan, CosmoGirl and Seventeen, hawking...

Disney hires ad agency, gears up for mobile launch.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL All signs point to the Walt Disney Co. gearing up to jump into the wireless space soon. The company's mobile virtual network operator's Disney Mobile Web site has been stepping up efforts to lure would-be subscribers to...

Will MSS spectrum holdings attract cellular carriers?(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: PHIL CARSON The advent of ancillary terrestrial component, or ATC, will revolutionize the mobile satellite services industry in the long run, according to a new report from Northern Sky Research, a market research firm that focuses...

Motorola to release iDEN/CDMA handset by the fall.(News)
April 3, 2006... In a move that could help it retain a core piece of business, Motorola Inc. is developing handsets for Sprint Nextel Corp. designed to work on both the carriers iDEN network that Motorola created for Nextel Communications Inc. in the 1990s as...

Motorola Q to debut this month.(News)
April 3, 2006... The Moto Q, Motorola Inc.'s flagship smart phone, will be available in April, missing by a hair the company's initial forecast for a first-quarter release. A Motorola spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on the timing of...

Hotxt's SMS service could ruffle feathers.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: COLIN GIBBS British wireless subscribers can send and receive text messages at bargain-basement rates thanks to an IP-based messaging service released last week. But-unlike Voice over IP-analysts say the new offering poses little...

Alcatel/Lucent deal could be first of many for vendors.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE As Alcatel Corp.'s board of directors met last Thursday to review its "merger of equals'' with long-time rival telecom equipment vendor Lucent Technologies Inc., analysts were pounding out reports and talking up a storm,...

Powerwave deploys system for CTA.(News)
April 3, 2006... Powerwave Technologies Inc. said it deployed a multitechnology, multicarrier wireless coverage system for the Chicago Transit Authority. In cooperation with Aldrige Electric, Powerwave installed its fiber-based indoor distributed antenna...

Tier 2 handset makers scramble for shrinking market share.
April 3, 2006... Byline: PHIL CARSON The squeeze is on, the stakes are high and the options few. Second-tier handset makers-their exact numbers globally are unclear, but there may be more than 100 players-are scrambling to survive, let alone thrive, as...

Groove Mobile drums up $8.5 million in financing.(News)
April 3, 2006... Mobile music company Groove Mobile announced it closed $8.5 million in new venture funding. Egan-Managed Capital led the round, while Charles River Ventures, Kodiak Venture Partners and Star Ventures also participated. Groove has so far raised...

Wireless: Tomorrow's emergency-alert system.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Jeff Silva The global war on terrorism and natural disasters here and abroad are forcing policymakers to rethink-and redesign-public warning systems that take advantage of wireless and other technologies used by billions of people...

Handmark giving away content for two weeks.(News)
April 3, 2006... Handmark Inc. is hoping to raise its profile by giving away service. The Kansas City, Mo.-based company mobile media company this week will begin offering free content in an effort to raise consumer awareness of its Pocket Express...

AOL service makes Web pages better for mobile use.(News)
April 3, 2006... AOL will join the crowded mobile browser playing field this week, unveiling a service that automatically adapts Web pages for mobile-phone use. The Internet service provider introduced technology from InfoGin Ltd. that transcodes Web...

Mercora offers music 'placeshifting' with streaming broadcast service.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Mercora Inc. plans to bring more attention to the hot topic of placeshifting this week with the launch of a second version of its Radio 2.0. The offering, billed as "MySpace for music lovers,'' allows members to...

Wireless services making progress in Iraq despite myriad of internal issues.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Siyamend Zaid Othman is helping lay the foundation for a new Iraq where information flows freer than it did under the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein and where ordinary people can chat on cell phones like billions...

Congress wades into digital copyrights fray.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Technology may be the only way to solve the centuries-old battle between copyright owners and consumers who want authorization to make copies of protected works. "We don't have a political solution, but...

People.
April 3, 2006... Versent Versent Mobile appointed Chris Rechtsteiner executive director of market development and Richard Gaski director of product management to help the company's private-label wireless efforts in the mobile virtual network operator...

Networks In Motion locates $10 million in VC funds.(News)
April 3, 2006... Location-services company Networks In Motion announced it scored $10 million in its latest round of venture funding. Sutter Hill led the round, while the company's existing investors Redpoint Ventures and Mission Ventures also participated. ...

Prepaid vs. family plan debate hinges on ARPU.
April 3, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL Sprint Nextel Corp. has been trying the past several months to convince Wall Street that it needs to shift its perception on the value of prepaid vs. postpaid subscribers, arguing that the carrier's youth-oriented Boost...

Alltel offers kid-friendly Web filter.(News)
April 3, 2006... Alltel Corp. has made a free mobile Web content filter available to parents to help them keep their children from accessing inappropriate content through wireless phones. The content filter can be added to any Alltel wireless account by...

Smart SMS acquires film library from Omni Film Distribution.(News)
April 3, 2006... Smart SMS Corp. is looking to expand its mobile marketing offerings, acquiring a film library of more than 100 feature films, short clips, animated videos and documentaries. The company bought the portfolio of Omni Film Distribution for an...

Nortel execs barred from stock trading, troubles may affect merger landscape.(Global Wireless)
April 3, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE Current and former directors, officers and employees of Nortel Networks Ltd. have been forbidden by the Ontario Securities Commission to trade shares of the company's stock, Nortel said in a statement. Nortel said...

Bluetooth SIG chooses WiMedia Alliance for next-gen evolution.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE The Bluetooth Special Interest Group picked the WiMedia Alliance version of an ultra-wideband standard to integrate with Bluetooth technology, thus taking the next step in its plan to create a high-speed data rate...

Content vendor ZIM to acquire AIS in $1.1M deal.(Global Wireless)
April 3, 2006... Canadian mobile data company ZIM said it will pay $1.1 million in cash and stock to acquire U.S.-based content provider Advanced Internet Services Inc. ZIM hopes to use the acquisition as an "immediate entry'' point to the mobile content...

MBlox goes off-deck with music download offering.(Global Wireless)
April 3, 2006... Mobile transaction provider mBlox Inc. is trying to spur full-track mobile music download sales with an off-deck service that allows users to download songs without paying operator data charges. MBlox has teamed with New-Visions, a mobile...

Clickatell moving to U.S. following MultiMode merger.(News)
April 3, 2006... Clickatell Inc. said it plans to move its corporate headquarters to the United States following its merger with application service provider MultiMode Inc. The South Africa-based mobile messaging company said it hopes to address the...

BeVocal lines up partners for self-service provision.(News)
April 3, 2006... BeVocal, which provides hosted customer self-service solutions, announced that it integrated its solution with several telecom solution providers to create a multichannel self-service solution for wireless carriers. The company said its...

T-Mobile, iPass ink roaming deal throughout Europe.(News)
April 3, 2006... iPass Inc. said it has partnered with T-Mobile International to incorporate the carrier's European hot-spot network into its global broadband roaming network. The partnership gives iPass users access to more than 8,000 T-Mobile and T-Com...

Alcatel expands microwave portfolio.(News)
April 3, 2006... Alcatel said it expanded its microwave product portfolio to include its new 9500 Microwave Cross Connect solution. The company said the product requires no external peripherals and provides an architecture to transport Internet Protocol and...

Opportunities and threats.(Opinion)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Tracy Ford Even as wireless celebrates another illustrious year of record customer additions and handset sales, the industry, perhaps more than ever, faces serious internal and external threats to its continued success. Didn't...

Obopay unveils wireless fund transfer service.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Obopay officially came out of stealth mode, unveiling a mobile service that allows users to make purchases and send and receive funds from their handsets. The startup outlined a downloadable application that offers...

Cingular, Verizon Wireless duel on laptop access pricing options.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and Verizon Wireless announced developments in their respective offerings of wireless data service via laptop computers. Verizon Wireless unveiled a pay-as-you-go pricing option for its...

European regulators attempting to control EU roaming rates.(Global Wireless)
April 3, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL European Union telecom regulators announced plans to force wireless operators to lower their international roaming rates within EU countries, with the goal that subscribers would be charged for calls made while traveling...

Cool Mobile minus Motorola, a CEO.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL Mobile virtual network operator Cool Mobile has had a volatile couple of weeks, apparently running into troubles with Motorola Inc. and subsequently announcing several major leadership changes. The Illinois-based handset...

Qualcomm fires another IPR lawsuit at Broadcom.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: PHIL CARSON Qualcomm Inc. announced it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against chipmaker Broadcom Corp., the third in a running dispute over what Qualcomm alleges is misuse of its intellectual property. The latest...

Oasys Mobile sinks farther into the red.(News)
April 3, 2006... Oasys Mobile Inc.'s makeover has been expensive. The company formerly known as Summus Inc. reported a net loss of $1.82 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, up more than threefold from its net loss during the final quarter of 2004. The...

GeoVector GPS points, searches, connects.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: PHIL CARSON Thinking outside the box is all well and good, but try doing it for 12 years before you see the fruits of your labors. Inventors need brains, intestinal fortitude and, not incidentally, believers with a lot of cash...

BatteryCorp launches single source audit for back-up battery solutions.(News)
April 3, 2006... BatteryCorp Inc. launched an end-to-end, single source site audit for the back-up battery systems that power mobile communications infrastructure in the event of a power failure. The Sensible and Sound Emergency Power Audit program is designed...

Gallagher: Biggest policy challenge is to keep pace with innovation.(News)
April 3, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Michael Gallagher, until recently the Bush administration's top telecom adviser, says spectrum reform and other wireless initiatives he helped launch as head of the National Telecommunications and Information...

Calendar.
April 3, 2006... Smartphone Enterprise Solutions April 4 Smart Phone Summit. Las Vegas Convention Center. www.SmartPhoneSummit.com CTIA Wireless 2006 April 5-7 Las Vegas Convention Center. www.ctiawireless.com Tower Technology Summit...

Show Scene.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... ***** Correction: A photo was incorrectly identified on page 66 in Wednesday's Show Daily. The correct caption should have identified the speaker as Tom Buehrer, vice president for customer insights at Telephia. ***** Clockwise...

Chuck D going mobile.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Colin Gibbs When it comes to mobile, at least, Chuck D believes the hype. The driving force behind the iconic hip-hop group Public Enemy is going wireless as a mobile music aggregator, launching a distribution company to hawk...

Verizon Wireless partners with Navteq, Adobe.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Phil Carson Verizon Wireless celebrated its sixth anniversary this week with a blizzard of announcements, from devices and alliances to location-based services. Billed as a "lifestyle tool," the LG Electronics Co. Ltd. Style-i...

Just For Fun.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... WEDNESDAY * 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Third Annual Mobile Entertainment Awards Show (aka the 2005 Mobies) Hall C4, MEX Stage, LVCC. * 3:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. Club Lucent party Room C-205, Central Hall, 2nd Level, LVCC. *...

Thanks.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... RCR Wireless News would like to thank Junxion and Wilson Cellular for installing the wireless network in the RCR Wireless News press room.

Interoperability gains ground as Voice over Wi-Fi plods toward acceptance.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Joni Morse As Voice over Internet Protocol calling over Wi-Fi networks picks up speed, interoperability issues between voice and Wi-Fi platforms, networks and applications are emerging. But almost as quickly as technical worms...

3G hype will give way to faster speeds in '07.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Kelly Hill The wireless industry has seen some major changes in the past few months, from Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s launch of the world's first HSDPA high-speed mobile data network to Sprint Nextel Corp.'s announcement to form a...

Evil twins, malware ready to cause handset havoc.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Kelly Hill As networks get faster and phones get smarter, wireless services also become more attractive targets for hackers seeking to make money or simply make trouble. Earlier this year, anti-virus experts at McAfee Inc.'s...

Wireless gaming coming to a pool near you.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Colin Gibbs If you're reading this in your hotel room at the show, go take a peak outside your window. See those tourists and vacationers lounging poolside? A few months from now, they could be gambling as they catch some...

Mobile marketing matches exuberance over potential with caution on conduct.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Phil Carson Evangelize the opportunity in mobile marketing-why the dearth of advertisements on your handset as you checked the scores in the NCAA finals Monday night? But when you take the plunge, adhere to established codes of...

Las Vegas Scene Cheat Sheet.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Poker Basics If you find yourself needing a break from the loud din on the exhibit floor, you may want to try your hand gambling. Keep in mind, Las Vegas was built on the fact that most people lose money gambling, and the constant...

The powerhouse that Wiley built.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Silva Even under ordinary political circumstances, Wiley Rein & Fielding's towering telecom law practice packs a mighty punch. With Republicans controlling the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives,...

Largent speaks frankly about MVNOs, filters and convergence.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Heather Forsgren Weaver Each year as CTIA and RCR Wireless News prepare for the U.S. wireless industry's annual trade show, we sit down with the CTIA president for a frank discussion about the state of the industry. What follows is...

VCs find wireless 'hot' space.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Kelly Hill Nothing ventured, nothing gained, the old saying goes-and those with the money to make ventures are looking to wireless companies for gains. According to a recent report by visiongain, wireless companies accounted...

'Razzing' dollars to get to market.(CTIA WIRELESS 2006)
April 5, 2006... Byline: Kelly Hill Jeff Malkin has been known to Razz his employees. If he has his way, people all around the world soon will be using their wireless phones to Razz each other, using technology that Malkin's startup company, Phonebites,...