RCR Wireless News articles from August 2003

RCR Wireless News archives from August 2003

Tennessee contingent creates state group to address zoning, legal issues.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY As more wireless issues are hotly contested at the state level, state wireless associations could become more popular. The wireless industry in Tennessee has coalesced to form the Tennessee Wireless Association, a...

3D standard for mobile devices ratified.(Business)
August 4, 2003... Wireless took another major step toward third-dimensional technology with the ratification of the OpenGL ES application development standard for wireless devices. The 3D graphics forum Khronos Group said it ratified the standard, and wireless...

Motorola licenses Hop-On technology.(News)
August 4, 2003... Motorola Inc. could have plans to build a disposable mobile phone through a new licensing deal with disposable phone company Hop-On. Officials for neither Motorola nor Hop-On were immediately available for comment. According to a short...

Orange revenue up 7 percent, capex down 35%.(News)
August 4, 2003... -European mobile operator Orange plc reported a revenue increase in the first half of the year of nearly 7 percent, to $9.86 billion, compared with the same period last year. Average revenue per user increased in the operator's major markets,...

Sharp net income rises on camera-phone sales.(News)
August 4, 2003... TOKYO-Mobile-phone maker Sharp Corp. said net income was up about 13 percent to $117 million, and sales of its camera phones helped spur sales in a down worldwide economy.

Nextel completes Direct Connect's nationwide rollout.(News)
August 4, 2003... Nextel Communications Inc. and its affiliate Nextel Partners Inc. reported full availability of their Nationwide Direct Connect service across the United States and Hawaii, which the carriers said earlier this year would be completed by...

Gent steps down from Vodafone post.(News)
August 4, 2003... Christopher Gent stepped down as the leader of the world's largest mobile-phone operator Wednesday after a six-and-a-half-year stint as chief executive. His tenure overall is viewed as one of the few long-term successes in the mobile...

Verizon tops J.D. Powers list with best network.(News)
August 4, 2003... -Verizon Wireless ranked as the highest-quality network among the seven largest wireless operators, according to the J.D. Powers and Associates 2003 Wireless Network Quality Assessment Study. The study employed a network quality index...

InterDigital acquires Tantivy Communications.(News)
August 4, 2003... InterDigital Communications Corp. said it has acquired all the assets of Tantivy Communications Inc., which develops data-enabling products. The assets cover patents, patent applications, know-how, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities...

Ericsson wins W-CDMA contract in Singapore.(News)
August 4, 2003... L.M. Ericsson said SingTel selected it as the sole supplier for its W-CDMA network in Singapore. Ericsson will expand and upgrade SingTel's current nationwide system under a $125 million contract. Under the contract, Ericsson will supply...

Sprint PCS launches camera, gaming bundle.(News)
August 4, 2003... Sprint PCS launched Samsung Telecommunications America's SPH-A600 camera-enabled handset featuring a rotating screen that allows the color display to swivel 180 degrees and face outward to serve as an external display. The $350 handset's...

Senate committee re-authorizes NTIA.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Senate Commerce Committee sent to the Senate floor a bill to reauthorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration without considering a Bush administration proposal to reorganize...

Voice to drive data uptake Lucent's AnyPath passes 8M subs.(Business)
August 4, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE The hype is data, but the reality is voice. It often comes in the language of converged services or unified platforms, but the inability of data to pick up rapid revenue has led vendors to use voice as the platform...

Less money, more wireless affects USF.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO -Federal and state telecommunications officials prodded almost every aspect of the universal-service program at a hearing here last week, focusing mainly on the major effects from wireless, in an attempt to determine...

As buildout loses steam, professional services grow.
August 4, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE In a time of coy spending, infrastructure vendors are warming to professional services as the surprise boon of the sector. In their last quarterly reports, all the vendors glowed over the new revenue stream, which...

Like war, Iraqi mobile decisions linger.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Coalition Provisional Authority may revisit a ban against government-owned telecommunications companies from winning a wireless license in Iraq, said a top military official on Friday afternoon. ...

Telus Mobility reduces churn to 1.3 percent.(News)
August 4, 2003... -Telus Corp. reported its wireless division added 102,800 subscribers during the second quarter, bringing the carrier's total customer base to 3.2 million subscribers. The carrier said customer growth was a 54-percent improvement compared...

The 11th Commandment.(Opinion)
August 4, 2003... The 11th Commandment Moses came down from the mountain with 11 commandments. Not many people know that. Most people think there were only 10. The eleventh commandment read: "Thou shalt give your customer what he wants.'' Moses was not...

Churn hurts regional carriers, helps nationwide carriers.(Business)
August 4, 2003... MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J.-Even without wireless local number portability, churn continues to increase, according to a recent study by Solomon-Wolff Associates. Annual churn is 17.7 percent, reflecting an increase of 62 percent during the past five...

Fingerprint authentication goes mobile.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE, MIKE DANO The magic is in the finger. Fingerprint technology takes advantage of personal signatures the way current devices use passwords. This saves mobile users the pressure of memory as the finger grants access...

Mobile e-mail drives data services in Western Europe.(News)
August 4, 2003... Mobile e-mail will drive the growth of mobile data services for Western European businesses during the next five years, according to advisory firm Analysys. Analysys predicts 40 percent of people in Western Europe with business mobile...

Symbol acquires Covigo in continued enterprise market activity.(News)
August 4, 2003... Rugged handheld device maker Symbol Technologies Inc. said it purchased wireless enterprise company Covigo Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The move is the latest in the wireless enterprise front, which has seen a significant amount of...

Music giants will flock to ring-tone market, firm says.(News)
August 4, 2003... The worldwide ring-tone market totals an astounding $4 billion, a number that will likely draw music companies like BMG, Sony Music, EMI, Warner Chappell and Universal into the wireless market, according to new research from consulting company...

NEC expands outsourcing agreement with Solectron.(News)
August 4, 2003... Handset maker NEC Corp. further expanded its outsourcing agreement with electronics manufacturing company Solectron Corp., under which Solectron will provide manufacturing and after-sales services for NEC's advanced Internet-enabled handsets....

Crown suggests site builds may get boost in second half.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY Second-quarter results from public tower companies reflect improved financial stability and greater optimism that cell-site additions will ramp up in the coming months. Crown Castle International Corp. released its...

Verizon, Sprint PCS cheer quality second quarter.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER The country's two largest CDMA carriers posted strong second-quarter results last week, with customer growth surging past last year's results and customer churn rates falling to unexpected lows. The results followed...

Taxes on Internet access banned.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday passed a permanent ban on Internet access taxes after committee members agreed to debate the more controversial issue of state sales and use taxes at a later time. ...

MIPI alliance aims to bring standards to device specs.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE No WinTel animosity is intended. MIPI is just another warm and fuzzy alliance. Never the friendliest of allies, Intel Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc. were quick to rebut the wide speculation that the formation of...

Briefs.
August 4, 2003... Motorola Inc. savored a victory in its fraud lawsuit against Turkish carrier Telsim as a U.S. federal judge ordered the Uzan family to pay the vendor $4.26 billion, plus post-judgement interest. Both Motorola and Nokia Corp. filed fraud and...

FCC assesses 26 cents per sub fee, wireless to pay $37M total.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The mobile-phone industry must pay 26 cents per wireless subscriber to the Federal Communications Commission as part its assessment for regulatory fees, the FCC said on July 25. The 26 cents per...

Cingular to use NextWave spectrum.
August 4, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s rumored $1.4 billion purchase of 34 PCS licenses from NextWave Telecom Inc. was semi-announced last week as NextWave's public-relations agency distributed a press release claiming the two...

Verizon, Vodafone to offer dual-branded data service.(News)
August 4, 2003... Instilling further proof of their strong partnership Verizon Wireless and minority interest parent company Vodafone Group plc reported plans to develop a dual-branded "Verizon Vodafone'' laptop data card service designed for business customers...

Pumatech makes third acquisition this year.(News)
August 4, 2003... -Synchronization company Pumatech Inc. continued its buying spree with the acquisition of wireless enterprise company Spontaneous Technology (SponTec) of Salt Lake City. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Just one day after the...

WorldCom woes continue.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of WorldCom Inc., parent of SkyTel paging, delayed by two weeks the telecom giant's confirmation hearing. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez's decision followed a decision...

Handset sales selling at 'impressive' rate.(News)
August 4, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO The mobile-phone industry took a collective deep sigh of relief as new research found phone shipments are growing at an impressive rate and sales of smart phones are jumping. The news comes at the same time a variety...

Late News.
August 4, 2003... AT&T Wireless completes swap with U.S. Cellular AT&T Wireless Services Inc. completed a swap of wireless licenses and properties with U.S. Cellular Corp. covering 15 states and more than 18 million potential customers. The deal,...

America Movil acquires 100% of Ecuador's Conecel.(News)
August 4, 2003... Mexican operator America Movil said it acquired the 20 percent interest in Ecuadorian mobile operator Conecel that it does not already own from minority shareholders. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. America Movil now owns...

Nortel wins $90M contract with Western.(News)
August 4, 2003... Western Wireless Corp. awarded Nortel Networks Ltd. a $90 million contract to deploy networks for CDMA, GSM roaming and wireless data. Nortel will deploy cdma2000 core and radio access networking equipment, which will cover markets in Kansas,...

U.S. carrier testing multimodal directory assistance by V-Enable.(Business)
August 4, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Multimodal has long been a buzzword in wireless, but the relative dearth of wireless carrier deployments to date hasn't stymied the startup market for such technologies. Indeed, multimodal solutions have been...

SIP's role increases as IP becomes norm.
August 4, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO A small part of the unfolding push-to-talk drama involves the technology that most vendors are using to initiate each PTT call-SIP, or Session Initiation Protocol. Although SIP is just a footnote to the PTT story, it...

Andrew announces acquisition, financial results, contract win.(News)
August 4, 2003... Telecommunications infrastructure provider Andrew Corp. has been busy with announcements regarding recent acquisitions and new contracts. The company has acquired the assets of ScoreBoard Inc., which supplies radio spectrum resource...

Bundled promises.(Opinion)
August 4, 2003... Evidently, bundling is a word that holds a world of promises for large telecom carriers. Why else would carriers continually revisit an idea that has never really lived up to its potential? The concept of bundling has been around wireless...

Horizon PCS adds to Sprint PCS affiliate woes.(News)
August 4, 2003... -Sprint PCS affiliate Horizon PCS said it plans to cut 293 jobs, or nearly three-fifths of its work force, and close 19 of its 41 retail stores in an attempt to improve its balance sheet, which the company said is being skewed by its...

W-Fi another piece of wireless puzzle.(Focus)
August 4, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Competition in the public wireless local area network space continues to heat up as Sprint PCS announced plans last month to launch Wi-Fi services during the third quarter, allowing the carrier to match similar offerings...

TI will contest Qualcomm claims.(Business)
August 4, 2003... Texas Instruments Inc. has vowed to contest a lawsuit Qualcomm Inc. filed against the company, describing the allegations as without merit. "We believe this complaint may be motivated by TI's recent announcement that we will begin sampling...

Walt Disney plots foray into wireless as MVNO?(News)
August 4, 2003... -Media giant Walt Disney Co. is reportedly in discussions with several wireless carriers and handset manufacturers to begin offering wireless devices and services under the various brands the company owns, according to the. Wall Street Journal....

Good continues support for G100 on Mobitex.(Letters)
August 4, 2003... Dear Editor, In "Challengers take aim at RIM,'' Mike Dano effectively captures Good Technology's plans to make our wireless e-mail solutions available on non-proprietary, industry-standard Palm OS and Pocket PC devices. The article,...

Malaysian operator selects IPWireless technology.(News)
August 11, 2003... IPWireless said its Mobile Broadband system has been selected by AtlasOne for its national broadband wireless network in Malaysia. The agreement is part of a $180 million deal signed by AtlasOne and Thales last week, the company said. ...

LNP shoplifting.(Opinion)
August 11, 2003... If you go into someone's shop and take something without paying, it's shoplifting and is punishable by jail time and a fine. But when a customer who owes a carrier money takes his or her phone number with them to another carrier without paying...

Nokia wins W-CDMA network contract in Switzerland.(News)
August 11, 2003... Nokia Corp. said it has inked an agreement to supply Switzerland's Sunrise with its W-CDMA core network, which will be commercially available by the end of 2004. The Finnish vendor will also provide support in managing, implementing and...

Tektronix UMTS tester chosen by Beijing co.(News)
August 11, 2003... Tektronix Inc. said its UMTS protocol tester has been chosen by the Beijing Northern Fiberhome Technologies Co. Ltd. "UMTS release 4 is the next step in the migration toward full implementation of 3G UMTS networks,'' said Tektronix. "In...

Leap reorg progresses, carrier to quit N.C. town; Ntelos Chapter 11 plan approved.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Leap Wireless International Inc. continued its climb back to financial solvency. The San Diego-based company said its bankruptcy court approved a disclosure statement Leap filed in connection with its reorganization plan....

RealNetworks embraces Java with Sprint PCS content deal.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Streaming-video company RealNetworks Inc. today announced a deal with Sprint PCS to offer an Internet-style media player to Sprint's Vision customers-an offering that marks a significant change in RealNetworks' wireless...

Cingular makes it official, carrier to buy some NextWave spectrum.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER, HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Following a hastily retracted announcement earlier this month, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. officially announced last week it would purchase 34 PCS licenses covering 83 million potential customers from...

Corrections.(Correction)
August 11, 2003... The headline in the July 28 issue on page 12 about American Tower earnings should have read "American Tower to shed tall tower construction service subsidiary.'' In the "Cingular to use NextWave spectrum'' story in the Aug. 4 issue of RCR...

Radiation protection firms settle FTC charges.(News)
August 11, 2003... Safety Cell Inc. and Rhino International Inc., which marketed and sold fake cell-phone radiation protection patches, have settled Federal Trade Commission charges that they made false and misleading claims about their products. According...

I3 Mobile to link up with ACE*COMM.(News)
August 11, 2003... One day after a surprising surge in its stock price, wireless data company I3 Mobile Inc. announced it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with ACE*COMM Corp. to be acquired via a merger with ACE*COMM or a wholly owned subsidiary of...

Swiss court rules in Motorola's favor.(News)
August 11, 2003... Motorola Inc. won another legal victory over Turkey's wireless carrier Telsim in a Swiss court ruling to freeze the $800 million of assets controlled by the Uzan family, which owns the carrier. Motorola had sued the carrier under the U.S....

Vodafone signs Sony Pictures for content, purchases U.K. reseller.(News)
August 11, 2003... -Vodafone Group plc signed a deal with Sony Pictures Mobile for new entertainment products based on Sony Pictures Entertainment, as well as original and third-party content for Vodafone's Live! multimedia service. Vodafone announced...

3G, the Chinese way.(opinion)
August 11, 2003... Byline: Sandra Wendelken Most people agree China offers a lucrative wireless landscape. It is already the world's largest market with one of the lowest mobile penetration rates. The opportunities for vendors and operators alike are...

American Tower closes stock, notes offerings.(News)
August 11, 2003... American Tower Corp. has closed its previously announced offerings of Class A common stock and 3.25-percent convertible notes due 2010. With the closing of the Class A common stock offering, American Tower issued 12.4 million shares for...

MoviStar Puerto Rico selects TCS E911 technology.(News)
August 11, 2003... TeleCommunication Systems will provide MoviStar Puerto Rico, a Puerto Rican wireless operator managed by Telefonica Moviles, with enhanced 911 Phase II services. TCS' Xypoint Location Platform and Hosted Position Determining Entity will...

Management shake-up at Kyocera.(News)
August 11, 2003... A delayed initial public offering and the resulting moves toward integration with the company's parent in Japan compelled top executives at mobile-phone maker Kyocera Wireless Corp. to resign, the company said. Howard Speaks resigned as...

RIM can continue to sell BlackBerrys amid NTP legal battle.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Research In Motion Ltd. entered the appeals phase of its patent battle with NTP Inc. following a U.S. district court order that essentially stalls a potential ban on sales of RIM's products. The U.S. District Court...

ITU partners with TM Forum on OSS standards.(News)
August 11, 2003... The International Telecommunication Union partnered with TeleManagement Forum to allow TM Forum standards to be published by ITU as ITU-T Recommendations. ITU-T is ITU's standards-setting body. The partnership aims to leverage both...

Acterna files for reorganization, hires CEO.(News)
August 11, 2003... -Bankrupt communications test and measurement company Acterna Corp. has filed reorganization plans with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and has hired a new chief financial officer. The company said its plan...

ABI: 2Q handset sales up 12.(News)
August 11, 2003... Total wireless handsets shipped reached 107 million units in the second quarter, demonstrating 12-percent year-on-year growth and 2-percent sequential growth, according to research from ABI. New features including color screens and camera...

CPA allows 10% gov't stakes for Iraq bidders.(News)
August 11, 2003... The Coalition Provisional Authority loosened rules regarding government ownership of telecommunications companies wanting to offer mobile-phone service in Iraq from 5 percent to 10 percent. "No government shall directly or indirectly own...

Hollings to retire in '05.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Sen. Ernest "Fritz'' Hollings (D-S.C.), ranking member on both the Senate Commerce Committee and the appropriations subcommittee with control over the Federal Communications Commission's budget, said he...

Late News.
August 11, 2003... Dobson to offer pics with LogicaCMG services Regional wireless carrier Dobson Communications Corp. today announced it will jump into the picture messaging business later this year through a new deal with messaging infrastructure provider...

As carriers look at Wi-Fi, Wayport wins.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO The massive hype surrounding Wi-Fi has forced the rest of the nation's wireless carriers to follow T-Mobile USA Inc.'s lead or risk being left behind. But in the dust cloud blown up by such haste, it's hard to distinguish...

Standards struggles riddle enabling technologies.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE One of the big riddles with open standards is that not all of those who swear by the principle believe in it. Unless, of course, it works in their favor. With a myriad of technologies in the market, vendors and...

FCC expects to finish 5 GHz unlicensed rules by end of year.(News)
August 11, 2003... The Federal Communications Commission committed on Thursday to complete rules for unlicensed use of the 5 GHz band by the end of the year. The commitment was included in a World Radiocommunication Conference implementation plan agreed to...

Wireless directory assistance more than dialing 411.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY Wireless directory assistance, one of the more complicated issues in wireless, is gaining steam following recent analyst predictions the market holds an ample $3.3 billion revenue potential. But swirling around the...

IEEE increases speeds for WPAN networks.(News)
August 11, 2003... The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has increased the speed of wireless personal area networks to 55 megabytes per second from 1 Mbps for broad use of multimedia, digital imaging, high-quality audio and other high-bandwidth...

Home-networking concept embraced, but execution needs work.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO In the networked home of the future, wireless likely will play a major role, connecting family members to their loved ones, music collections and even microwaves. But the long-held vision of a connected home has faced...

EU urges Microsoft to untie Media Player from Windows.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The European Commission gave Microsoft Corp. one more chance to remedy what it terms as monopolistic behavior. "The commission has gathered additional evidence from a wide variety of consumers, suppliers...

DoCoMo reports profit on cautious outlook.(News)
August 11, 2003... -NTT DoCoMo Inc. reported a net income of $1.65 billion in the first quarter ended June 30 in its first quarterly financial report. DoCoMo said it had 600,000 FOMA subscribers in July, based on additional coverage and the release of...

Mobile triggers bomb in terrorist attack.(News)
August 11, 2003... The Department of Homeland Security last week said mobile phones and other small electronic devices could be used by terrorists in government buildings and other areas with security checkpoints, including airports. "Most portable...

Rural carriers less dependent on roaming revenues.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Of the handful of rural carriers that reported second-quarter results last week, including Western Wireless Corp., Dobson Communications Corp., Rural Cellular Corp., Triton PCS Holdings Inc., Alamosa Holdings Inc. and US...

Sprint to gain 1M Qwest customers.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER More than a year after announcing plans to sell off or find a partner for its wireless division, Qwest Communications International Inc. last week reported a deal with Sprint PCS that calls for Qwest to transition its...

Report says U.S. hot-spot market to garner $800M by 2007.(News)
August 11, 2003... The hot-spot service market in the United States will garner revenues in excess of $800 million by 2007, according to a new report from Parks Associates. The research firm estimates service revenues for hot spots will reach $105 million...

Chip sector signals expanding demand for flash memory.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE Chips continue to provide cheer in an otherwise gloomy wireless environment. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, strong demand of chips in the mobile market played a significant part in worldwide...

Hughes targets RV parks with satellite/Wi-Fi.(News)
August 11, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE Satellite technology will bring Wi-Fi service to recreational-vehicle parks and resorts across the continental United States, using a solution from Hughes Networks Systems. The technology renders terrestrial...