RCR Wireless News articles from December 2003

RCR Wireless News archives from December 2003

Stringent zoning sparks tower insurance biz.(Business)
December 1, 2003... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY Increasingly stringent zoning rules may be costing tower companies, but they also are bringing new business to other industries not necessarily yet associated with the world of wireless. Zoning laws, for example,...

Healthcare field uses wireless to ensure accuracy.(Focus)
December 1, 2003... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY Mobile computing is on the cusp of revolutionizing healthcare, according to Greg Malkary, founder and managing director of the Spyglass Consulting Group. Indeed, wireless users in many fields are recognizing the...

SBA begins offer for $153.3M in notes.(News)
December 1, 2003... SBA Communications Corp. said it began a cash tender offer for up to $153.3 million of its senior discount notes due 2008. The amount is 70 percent of the $219 million aggregate principal amount of notes outstanding, said the company.

Andrew to supply Samsung with 3G amps.(Business)
December 1, 2003... Andrew Corp. said it will supply Samsung Electronics Co.'s third-generation base stations with multi-carrier power amplifier units. Both companies say they are jointly developing an integrated radio-amplifier subsystem for CDMA2000 and W-CDMA...

Cellular One settles Pa. suit with subscriber refunds.(News)
December 1, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher said thousands of Cellular One subscribers in the state will be entitled to refunds as part of a settlement of billing lawsuit against the mobile-phone operator. Fisher...

World Briefs.(Briefs)
December 1, 2003... France Telecom said it has granted Qualcomm Inc. a worldwide license to its Turbo Code patents for both CDMA2000 and W-CDMA chipsets. The Turbo Code, which enjoy the supports of both the Third Generation Partnership Project and 3GPP2, allows...

DoCoMo to offer 3G card for PDA users.(News)
December 1, 2003... NTT DoCoMo Inc. said it will begin marketing a new flash card to enable personal digital assistant users to use its FOMA third-generation services. DoCoMo currently provides a card that is applicable only to PCs with PC card slots. The new...

Study indicates 21% consider cutting the cord.(News)
December 1, 2003... More than one in five people with a mobile phone has considered cutting the cord, the Pew Internet & American Life Project said Sunday. "For some of the most enthusiastic tech users in America, the wireline telephone may be going the way...

T-Mobile to pay $4.8M in back overtime pay.(Late News)
December 1, 2003... T-Mobile USA Inc. has reportedly agreed to pay $4.8 million in back wages to employees in 13 call centers after a Department of Labor investigation at three of the call centers found that employees were not paid for preparatory work. ...

TD-SCDMA grows ranks.(News)
December 1, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE Even while two major third-generation protocols, CDMA2000 and W-CDMA, snap up the spotlight in China, the nation's homegrown technology will not eat humble pie. The protocol was upgraded into an alliance last...

Measures taken to stop mobile spam, telemarketing.
December 1, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER With the onset of local number portability and resulting potential increase in cord cutting, wireless subscribers and their carriers need to be aware that they might experience something they are not used...

Despite corp. savings outsourcing has costs.
December 1, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Wireless and high-tech vendors are undergoing a serious re-examination of policies they advocate before Congress, regulatory agencies and the White House in light of a growing outsourcing trend that some fear could...

Vendors offer LNP products for easy switching.(Business)
December 1, 2003... As local number portability finally becomes a reality, a variety of players are looking to cash in on the opportunity. VeriSign, Telespree Communications and LetsTalk.com all announced LNP products for switching customers. First, VeriSign...

U.S. partially agrees with Europeans over navigational systems.(Global Wireless)
December 1, 2003... The European Commission and the United States said that progress was made in November talks that would allow the European Galileo navigational system to co-exist with the satellite global positioning system used in the United States. The...

HIGH-TECH BY THE NUMBERS.
December 1, 2003... High-tech employment totaled 6 million jobs in 2002, down from 6.5 million in 2001. High-tech manufacturing declined by 233,000 jobs in 2002. High-tech services employment declined by 306,500 jobs, dropping by: * 145,500 in...

Wireless moves to take music beyond ring tones.
December 1, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Although there are numerous complexities in selling music over wireless, mobile-phone maker Siemens announced a new offering designed to give the world's carriers a quick and simple way to jump into the market. European...

Khronos Group draws on open standards for wireless APIs.(News)
December 1, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. are missing from the membership list of Khronos Group, an open standards alliance that is pursuing open application programming interfaces for dynamic media in the wireless space. ...

A tech-savvy holiday.(Opinion)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Tina Eichner It may not be the toys for the little tykes marked "some assembly required'' that are the cause of beneath-the-Christmas-tree consternation this year. Many of the 31 percent of Americans who are "highly tech savvy,''...

Boost founder exits venture citing differences with Nextel.(News)
December 1, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Nextel Communications Inc.'s youth-oriented Boost Mobile L.L.C. subsidiary lost its top executive last week as Peter Adderton, former chief executive officer and founder, said he was leaving the venture due to...

800 MHz fight ain't over till it's over.(News)
December 1, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The 800 MHz fight is heating up again as both sides argue that public-safety communications must be the overarching concern in any negotiation. The city of Baltimore weighed in against the Consensus...

Wireless Rx benefit.(Opinion)
December 1, 2003... Byline: Jeffrey Silva "The Internet is a great tool for communication and commerce. It's changing our lives-largely for the better. But as consumers, we should have the power to stop getting commercial or pandering e-mail on our computers...

DoD begins Iraq mobile-license investigation.(News)
December 1, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Department of Defense last week said it has begun investigating allegations of wrongdoing in connection with the award of three mobile-phone licenses in Iraq in October to a group of Arab consortia that plan to...

AT&T Wireless buys South Texas operations from U.S. Cellular.(News)
December 1, 2003... U.S. Cellular Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to sell its TDMA wireless operations in South Texas to AT&T Wireless Services Inc. for $95 million in cash. The operations include 25 megahertz metropolitan statistical area and rural...

First days of LNP yield little excitement.
December 1, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Much like Al Capone's vault, the first few days of local number portability provided more hype than headlines as the feared millions of customers beating down the doors of retail outlets selling wireless services in an...

Vodafone ups Greek stake.(News)
December 1, 2003... Vodafone Group plc said it will acquire from Intracom S.A 51.25 million shares in Vodafone-Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications Co. S.A., representing 9.433 percent of the outstanding shares of the Greek operator. Vodafone will pay $7.37 per...

Stealth solutions a pricey fix for aesthetic problem.(Business)
December 1, 2003... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY To the average consumer, wireless communication towers are not pretty. Therein lies the main argument from communities opposed to new local tower builds. But many in that camp are learning there are ways to conceal...

Opera browser simplifies wireless Internet.(Business)
December 1, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Jon Tetzchner wants to kill WAP. And he's not alone. "It makes no sense to have two systems,'' said Tetzchner, chief executive officer of Internet browsing company Opera Software ASA. Tetzchner is hoping to kill...

Spectrum auctions may be replaced as industry matures.(News)
December 1, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Ten years after Congress authorized auctions to award wireless permits, the market-based licensing scheme continues be a magnet for those needing funding for pet projects, but the Federal Communications Commission's...

Good offers annual per-subscriber pricing model.(Focus)
December 1, 2003... Corporate wireless e-mail company Good Technology Inc. announced a new pricing model under which it will charge on an annual basis per subscriber with no additional fees for server licenses, network operating service, server maintenance,...

Orange enters streaming-video game with PacketVideo deal.(Global Wireless)
December 1, 2003... European carrier Orange plc announced it will offer wireless streaming-video services starting early next year through a new deal with PacketVideo Network Solutions, which was purchased by Alcatel Corp. only a few weeks ago. Orange said it...

Berry leaving CTIA.(News)
December 1, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Steven Berry, the No. 2 official at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, is leaving the organization to direct lobbying for the cable TV industry. The National Cable & Telecommunications...

Nokia aims to grow handset business 10 percent in '04.(News)
December 1, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Mobile-phone maker Nokia Corp. offered investors their first clear view into its newly reorganized business, including its new Enterprise Solutions and Multimedia divisions, but Wall Street seemed unimpressed with the...

Cingular names de la Vega COO.(Business)
December 1, 2003... Cingular Wireless L.L.C. named Ralph de la Vega, current BellSouth Corp. president of Latin America operations, its chief operating officer effective Jan. 1. As such, he will be responsible for overall operations of the company, including...

Carriers worldwide to enjoy PTT benefits.(Wireless Metrics)
December 1, 2003... Push-to-talk services will likely represent a major boon to wireless operators worldwide, and Nokia Corp. could benefit greatly from the introduction of such services, according to a report from Allied Business Intelligence. Nokia recently...

ETSI signs partnership pact on fixed-line MMS standard.(Global Wireless)
December 1, 2003... The European Telecommunications Standards Institute said it signed a cooperation agreement with the Fixed Line Multimedia Messaging Service Forum to cooperate on multimedia messaging for fixed-line subscribers starting next year. The...

Extreme Networks selects Agilent testing product.(Business)
December 1, 2003... Agilent Technologies Inc. said Extreme Networks Inc. selected its testing product to verify the performance of its switching solutions for service providers and enterprises. The Agilent product, known as RouterTester 900 test system, will...

STMicroelectronics sampling Java chip.(Business)
December 1, 2003... STMicroelectronics said it is sampling the Java-based smart card chip known as ST22FJ1M from NCT Group Inc.. ST believes it "opens up a host of new market opportunities in the mobile, pay TV, IT security and identification markets.'' ...

Sprint to cut 2,000 as part of reorganization.(Business)
December 1, 2003... Sprint Corp. reported the results of its previously announced reorganization plan, which includes cutting 2,000 total jobs from its wireline and wireless business. Sprint in September announced its goal of reducing total operating expenses...

Wireless Bureau reorganized.(News)
December 1, 2003... The Federal Communications Commission said the Wireless Bureau has been reorganized to more effectively support strategic goals regarding broadband, competition, spectrum, media, homeland security and agency modernization. The FCC said the...

AT&T Wireless hit with labor suit.(News)
December 8, 2003... AT&T Wireless Services Inc. has been hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging the No. 3 mobile-phone operator broke federal labor laws by denying call-center workers overtime pay, litigation that comes at a time when the carrier reportedly is...

By the numbers; U.S. Markets 21-40.(News)
December 8, 2003... Editor's Note: The cities listed below represent the 21-40 largest U.S. markets and are ranked based on the total number of subscribers in each metropolitan statistical area. Total market subscribers and penetration rates were provided by...

Atlas uses prizes to entice wireless gamers.(Business)
December 8, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Wireless entertainment companies have dreamed up all manner of enticements to encourage mobile-phone users to drop a few dollars on wireless games. There are games for kids, games for hard-core gamers, games for sports...

Calif. town to have citywide hot zone.(News)
December 8, 2003... -Citizens of the City of Cerritos, Calif., will ring in the new year in a Wi-Fi city, according to a recent announcement from Pronto Networks and Aiirnet Wireless, which plan to build and deploy a Wi-Fi hot zone to blanket the town. The...

Motorola blames slow camera-phone sales on component shortage.(Business)
December 8, 2003... -In a candid release, Motorola Inc. blamed a shortage of camera components for its inability to meet sales demands. "The Motorola V300 and V500 began shipping earlier in the quarter and are available today, and the V600 will ship...

Late News.
December 8, 2003... Alltel begins picture-messaging service Alltel Corp. jumped into the multimedia messaging business launching picture-messaging capabilities to its Axcess wireless data offering allowing customers to take, send and receive color photos with...

Wireless industry seeks hands-off approach to int'l termination fees.(News)
December 8, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Global giant Vodafone Group plc and U.S. mobile-phone operators are aggressively lobbying policy-makers to stay out of a controversy that already has rocked Europe and now is erupting in other regions over fees...

Qualcomm ups financial guidance for fiscal 1Q.(Business)
December 8, 2003... Providing an upbeat glimpse of what the year-end will bring, Qualcomm Inc. has amended its financial guidance for the first fiscal quarter ending Dec. 28. Qualcomm now expects revenues for the quarter, excluding the Qualcomm Strategic...

Opinion.
December 8, 2003... Byline: Tracy Ford RCR Wireless News' 2003 Person of the Year RCR Wireless News has been naming a "Person of the Year'' for 10 years. This year's candidates are the most diverse. In fact, one of them isn't even a person. The criterion...

Pumatech releases new software.(Business)
December 8, 2003... Synchronization company Pumatech Inc. today released its new Intellisync: goAnywhere software, which the company is selling through its Web site and retail partners for $100 per year. Pumatech said the software gives personal digital...

Business Briefs.(Business)
December 8, 2003... Pakistan Telecom Mobile, which offers mobile service under the Ufone brand, contracted Siemens to expand its network under a $26 million deal. Siemens will set up a new GSM network for Ufone in 29 cities. Siemens said it is delivering and...

Powerwave to buy LGP Allgon.(News)
December 8, 2003... Powerwave Technologies Inc. and LGP Allgon Holding AB will combine their businesses in a strategic transaction under which Powerwave will acquire all outstanding shares of LGP Allgon's common stock. The transaction is valued at approximately...

Yes Virginia, people will watch video on handsets.
December 8, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Sprint PCS' Video Mail launch is just the latest in a series of wireless video moves in the United States, a market that is still very much in its early stages but one that is evolving quietly and rapidly. "I think...

Regulators get into LNP game; FCC asks for details from AT&T Wireless.
December 8, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Regulators in both Washington and San Francisco last Thursday began looking into problems with local number portability, with the Federal Communications Commission focusing on AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and...

Sprint zooms in on video.
December 8, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Sprint PCS expanded its visual data offering last week with the launch of its Video Mail service, which allows customers to send and receive video clips up to 15 seconds in length with full sound between handsets or to...

Adelstein: Wireless should be audited on USF use.(News)
December 8, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Wireless carriers that receive universal-service support should submit to auditing to ensure that the subsidies they receive are being used to upgrade and improve networks in rural America, FCC Commissioner...

Internet control delicate issue for U.S. at WSIS conference.(News)
December 8, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Bush administration could be headed for major embarrassment on the world stage this week as debate heats about whether the United States should surrender its control of the Internet-an American-invented technology...

Wireless wins siting on scenic highways.(News)
December 8, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau last month set down a marker as to whether towers can be placed along scenic highways and it came down on the side of the wireless industry. "Given this...

Parks optimistic on unlicensed broadband wireless.(Wireless Metrics)
December 8, 2003... Research firm Parks Associates said unlicensed broadband wireless technologies will bring recurring revenue of approximately $2 billion by 2008, with a compound growth rate of about 50 percent. Residential services will take the lead,...

Wireless group offers code of conduct for mobile spam.(News)
December 8, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO The Mobile Marketing Association trade group announced its new code of conduct for wireless advertising campaigns, a move that comes shortly after the launch of universal short codes and on the heels of a bill in...

D.C. set to join New York in restricting talking and driving, ban in place in U.K.(News)
December 8, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The District of Columbia in July is expected to join New York and a handful of other locales that require drivers to use hands-free devices when driving and talking after a bill passed the city council last...

Lucent employees to get bonuses, Russo's tops $3M.(Business)
December 8, 2003... Lucent Technologies Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Patricia Russo received a $3.24 million bonus for fiscal-year 2003, ended Sept. 30, according to recent filing the with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Russo was paid a...

Porting imperfections.
December 8, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Local number portability reality set in last week when early industry initiatives to accomplish the porting process in less than three hours quickly fell by the wayside as many customers have been forced to wait days and...

opinion.
December 8, 2003... Seasons Greetings He is permanently disabled, his medical practice long gone. He is now divorced, but can spend time with his kids. He was crushed in court. He has a few bucks left. He is dying. So what. The $80-billion mobile-phone...

XO to expand network reach to 72 markets.(News)
December 8, 2003... Broadband telecommunications services provider XO Communications Inc. announced it plans to expand its network to 12 additional markets by the end of this year. The new markets, which include Tucson, Ariz.; Fresno and Stockton, Calif.;...

TI teams with STMicroelectronics for 1x chip market.(News)
December 8, 2003... Adding to recent optimism surrounding the uptake of CDMA technology-based products, Texas Instruments and STMicroelectronics announced they have created an open solution that supports the CDMA2000 1X standard for wireless communications. The...

McCaw resigns Nextel seat.(News)
December 8, 2003... Wireless industry pioneer Craig McCaw resigned his seat on Nextel Communications Inc.'s board of directors in order to focus on pursuing new opportunities in the telecommunication arena and to make room for the addition of independent directors...

Online Poll.(Wireless Metrics)
December 8, 2003... Most respondents to an rcrnews.com poll said 1 million to 5 million customers will churn during the next three months following implementation of WLNP. Twenty-five percent of poll respondents were optimistic that less than 1 million users will...

Linux OS loved, still faces murky future.
December 15, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO There are plenty of contentious questions in the operating system business. Will Microsoft Corp. dominate the mobile-phone field as it has done in the desktop computer business? Will Symbian manage to escape Nokia Corp.'s...

Top News Events of 2003.(News)
December 15, 2003... Editor's note: At the end of each year, the RCR Wireless News editorial staff looks back on the news events that made headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting stories during the past 12 months. Here are our...

Great expectations.(Opinion)
December 15, 2003... Byline: Tracy Ford Could we, dare we get optimistic? There are signs. The Dow topped 10,000. People are beginning to believe the economy is rebounding. Wireless carriers continue to dodge one bullet after another. While...

Semiconductor biz pushes ahead, while Intel overhauls wireless unit.(News)
December 15, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE While Intel Corp. was reorganizing its operations to adjust for disappointments in its chip business, Texas Instruments Inc. was presenting an upbeat picture for the fourth quarter last week. Looking forward,...

Business Briefs.(Briefs)
December 15, 2003... LGP Allgon has been awarded a contract to provide an indoor distributed antenna system to improve wireless phone and data coverage at Moscone West, the expansion of San Francisco's Moscone Center conference facility. The contract was awarded by...

Historic council objects to FCC ruling that towers can go up on scenic highway.(News)
December 15, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation rejected the government's argument that towers along scenic highways are the same as large signs and other improvements to increase traffic flow and safety. ...

Wireless2Web founder receives patent for LinkPush technology.(News)
December 15, 2003... Richard Helferich, Wireless2Web founder, has been awarded a patent from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for its LinkPush technology included in Wireless2Web's multi-modal TalkBack feature that enables cell-phone users to verbally respond to...

AT&T Wireless answers LNP inquiry.(News)
December 15, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Following on a Federal Communications Commission inquiry into its local number portability implementation, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. filed a report with the agency outlining the troubles the carrier has encountered with...

Cingular selects Racal test solution for GSM/EDGE.(News)
December 15, 2003... Cingular Wireless has chosen wireless test systems from Racal Instruments Wireless Solutions (RIWS) to ensure a high level of service quality while it deploys its 2.5-generation network and network optimization technologies. Cingular will...

Infrastructure Contracts.(Wireless Metrics)
December 15, 2003... Following are mobile infrastructure contracts announced in November: Alcatel Philippines. With Digital Telecommunications Philippines (Digitel) for GSM/GPRS and EDGE equipment, including radio base stations and mobile switching...

Cingular argues CPUC fine is flawed.(News)
December 15, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Cingular Wireless L.L.C. told the five California Public Utility Commission members that findings leading to a record $12 million fine against the mobile-phone carrier are flawed, claiming on appeal that its network...

U.N. panel to study U.S. management of the Internet.(News)
December 15, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Bush administration sidestepped a confrontation with poor nations at the World Summit on Information Society in Geneva after officials from around the world agreed to ask U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan to create...

Telcordia acquires DAX intellectual property.(News)
December 15, 2003... Telcordia Technologies Inc. has acquired intellectual property from DAX Technologies Corp. related to the DAX Optima Performance platform. With the acquisition, Telcordia will create Telcordia Network Vision and Telcordia Performance...

Scanbuy service turns camera phones into bar code scanners.(News)
December 15, 2003... Software company Scanbuy announced a new service that allows camera-phone users to scan bar codes. The company said the technology could allow users to scan the bar codes on retail goods and then search for lower prices from competing...

Xingtone expands ring tone service to desktop files.(Business)
December 15, 2003... Ring tone company Xingtone announced it expanded its innovative ring tone service, which allows users to turn their MP3 or WAV music files on their desktop computers into 30-second ring tones. "This is an explosive opportunity to marry the...

SmartServ Online to purchase Mobile Airwaves.(News)
December 15, 2003... Wireless content and technology company SmartServ Online Inc. announced it plans to purchase wireless e-mail company Mobile Airwaves Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. "The acquisition of Mobile Airwaves and its Aqivo e-mail...

LogicaCMG says merger on positive track.(News)
December 15, 2003... LogicaCMG said its merger so far has gone according to plan. "Trading overall during the second half of the year has developed in line with our expectations,'' said Martin Read, LogicaCMG's group chief executive officer. "The benefits of...