RCR Wireless News articles from December 2004

RCR Wireless News archives from December 2004

4 protocols in hunt to be standard.
December 6, 2004... Byline: MIKE DANO The world's two most popular consumer electronics devices may soon be combined into one-the mobile TV phone. Behold. Although one is designed for sedentary, passive entertainment and the other for portable, two-way...

From cellar to stellar.(Opinion)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Jeffrey Silva Funny how things change sometimes, how fortunes can so dramatically turn around. Take the case of Democratic Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein, central actor in a now-concluded political...

Cingular divests markets as part of AWS buy.
December 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Cingular Wireless L.L.C. continued the business of integrating AT&T Wireless Services Inc. with a pair of deals to sell spectrum and wireless assets designed to comply with government divestiture requests related to the...

Cingular optimistic on AWS buy, UMTS build.
December 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Just more than a month after closing its $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Cingular Wireless L.L.C. said it expects to post a quicker return on its investment than it originally predicted. The...

Ericsson teams with Warner on mobile music offering.(Global Wireless)
December 6, 2004... Telefon AB Ericsson will team with Warner Music International to offer polyphonic ringtones, master tones and other mobile content from the label's artists, the companies announced Wednesday. Ericsson will deliver the content through M-USE,...

All good things change.(Opinion)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Tracy Ford Everything has to come to an end, whether it's Ken Jennings' winning streak on Jeopardy! or Tom Brokaw's 23-year reign on NBC Nightly News or wireline telephony. OK. That's a tad drastic. Wireline telephony isn't...

Boingo users can access Tropos networks under new pact.(Business)
December 6, 2004... In a sign of the continuing proliferation of Wi-Fi technology, Boingo Wireless and Tropos Networks have entered a partnership to allow operators of Tropos-powered metro-scale Wi-Fi networks to give Boingo Roaming System users access to their...

Graphical content emerges as big business.(Business)
December 6, 2004... Graphical content has emerged as the fastest-growing mass market for wireless data, according to a study from consultancy IDC. Although it generates less revenue than ringtones and games, the market for commercial graphical content is...

Cricket requests relief from Calif. rules.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Cricket Communications Inc. has created a storm of controversy over a request for special relief from requirements of California's bill of rights for telecom consumers. Cricket, which serves the California markets...

Nextel adjusts only pricing claims in ads following ad review.(Business)
December 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Nextel Communications Inc. was able to support marketing claims for its Nationwide Direct Connect service, but modified pricing claims following a ruling by the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better...

Letters.
December 6, 2004... Wireless ignored in rural America, despite success Dear Editor, I read Tina Eichner's opinion on Rural Connections. I continue to be amazed at the lack of interest and outright opposition to the communications interests of really rural...

InterOp makes messaging headway with eight regional carriers.(Business)
December 6, 2004... InterOp Technologies said it is providing products and services for WAP, short message service and multimedia messaging service delivery for eight U.S. mobile carriers. InterOp said it has helped the following operators go live with...

Wireless industry tops $100B, says U.S. Census Bureau.(News)
December 6, 2004... The wireless industry is a $100 billion business. The U.S. Census Bureau today said revenues for cellular and other wireless telecom firms rose to $104 billion in 2003 from $92 billion the previous year, an increase of 14 percent. The...

Nokia, Siemens sign China Mobile contracts.(News)
December 6, 2004... Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG announced GSM network contract awards in China, both with separate divisions of China Mobile Communications Corp. Nokia said it signed a $200 million contract with Henan Mobile for a phase nine expansion of its...

Rogers Wireless service allows texting to landline phones.(Global Wireless)
December 6, 2004... Canadian wireless provider Rogers Wireless Communications Inc. launched its TXT 2 Landline service, which will allow customers to send text messages to landline phones anywhere in Canada and the United States. The messages are then converted to...

Lawmakers try to get 3G bill passed as Bush orders policy changes.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA President Bush last week signed an executive order directing federal agencies to implement recommendations in two spectrum reports, while a more pressing White House initiative to earmark military frequencies for...

Carrier Briefs.(Briefs)
December 6, 2004... Verizon Wireless said it completed the purchase of Northern California wireless operator Mountain Cellular from Sierra Tel Communications Group. The deal includes Mountain Cellular's spectrum license covering 170,000 potential customers in El...

Business uptick ahead for infrastructure players.(News)
December 6, 2004... Infrastructure vendors will benefit as hundreds of thousands of base stations will be deployed globally every year through the rest of the decade, according to a new report from Visant Strategies. "Operators in developed markets will begin...

Verizon offers LG phone upgrade for blind users.(News)
December 6, 2004... Verizon Wireless said it is offering a software upgrade to its VX4500 phone, built by LG Electronics Co. Ltd., that will allow users to operate the phone through verbal commands. Verizon said the move will help blind users or those with...

'The remote control of your life'; DoCoMo vision revolves around software.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: MIKE DANO "The future is in the software,'' said Nayeem Islam, vice president of NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s mobile software laboratory in San Jose, Calif. "The hardware is a commodity.'' Islam's assertion, spoken with equal measures of...

Andrew wins Hong Kong railway contract.(Global Wireless)
December 6, 2004... Andrew Corp. said it won a two-year contract to upgrade Hong Kong's mass transit railway underground communications network with third-generation wireless technology. The UMTS system will allow passengers with wireless devices to use multimedia...

ACLU says RFID in passports leaves Americans vulnerable.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The American Civil Liberties Union said it obtained State Department documents that show the Bush administration ignored security and privacy warnings by experts and foreign governments when it was promoting new...

Industry groups align on RFID certification.(News)
December 6, 2004... The Computing Technology Industry Association and The Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility plan to cooperate on developing a vendor-neutral certification program for radio-frequency identification technology in an attempt to...

Verizon to sell Telus stake.(Business)
December 6, 2004... Verizon Communications Inc. said it plans to sell its 20.5-percent stake in Canadian telecommunications provider Telus Corp. beginning early next week. Verizon noted that its current stake in the company includes 48.5 million common shares and...

Business Briefs.(Briefs)
December 6, 2004... Regional wireless provider Alltel Corp. completed its previously announced $144 million acquisition of wireless assets from fellow operator U.S. Cellular Corp. and U.S. Cellular's parent company, Telephone and Data Systems Inc. The assets...

Judge OKs Verizon Wireless buy of NextWave licenses.(News)
December 6, 2004... A New York judge said Verizon Wireless can purchase bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s remaining licenses for $3 billion. A NextWave spokesman said the transaction will be worked into the plan of reorganization the company expects to file...

Smaller operators can thrive if flexible, in touch-Addington.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Following years of leadership from the nation's bigger wireless operators, CTIA, the industry's largest trade organization, recently named First Cellular of Southern Illinois chief executive Terry Addington chairman for...

NEC to use Ericsson, Qualcomm chips for 3G phones.(Global Wireless)
December 6, 2004... NEC Corp. said it plans to use third-generation chipsets and reference designs from Ericsson Mobile Platforms and Qualcomm Inc., moves that indicate the growing importance of such teamings for 3G services. NEC said it has built a prototype...

Trailer tracking industry underserved, Driscoll says.(Wireless Metrics)
December 6, 2004... Only a small percentage of trucking fleets have invested in global positioning system-based systems to locate and track trailer locations, despite the fact that many trucking fleets have difficulty keeping track of the locations and status of...

Samsung edges Motorola, but at what price?(Business)
December 6, 2004... Byline: MIKE DANO Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. slipped past Motorola Inc. to become the world's No. 2 mobile-phone manufacturer, according to new numbers from research firm Gartner Inc. Samsung sold 22.9 million mobile phones in the...

Device management challenges businesses.(Wireless Metrics)
December 6, 2004... Mobile device management is a daunting task for any company, but it is particularly difficult for smaller businesses, according to Strategy Analytics' "Market Outlook: Strategic Perspectives on Enterprise Mobile Device Management'' report. ...

Sprint PCS to sell LG sliding phone.(News)
December 6, 2004... Sprint PCS announced it will begin selling the sliding-style PM-325 phone from LG Electronics Co. Ltd. The phone will be available for $80 with a service agreement. The phone features a sliding keypad as well as an integrated camera and...

Two execs leave Nokia, one leaves PalmSource.(Late News)
December 6, 2004... Nokia Corp. announced Simon Beresford-Wylie will head its networks division following the resignation of Sari Baldauf. Nokia said Baldauf had long planned to leave the company. Beresford-Wylie began working for Nokia in 1998 and will move...

Playboy hops into U.S. wireless market.(News)
December 6, 2004... Having spent much of the year tapping mobile markets around the globe, the bunny is coming to North America. Playboy Enterprises Inc. announced a deal Thursday to offer adult games, images, video clips and ringtones to U.S. and Canadian...

Regulators say wireless has won battle for customers.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Wireless is here to stay, and it is becoming more important. That was the take-away message from Thursday's 22nd annual Institute on Telecommunications Policy & Regulation sponsored by the Practicing Law...

Cingular, Sprint join group to fight wireless spam, viruses.(News)
December 6, 2004... The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) announced Wednesday that Cingular Wireless, Sprint PCS and France Telecom have joined its efforts to fight spam and viruses. The nonprofit coalition was founded last December by a group of...

InfoSpace buys IOMO for $15M, Sorrent picks up Macrospace.(Business)
December 6, 2004... Yet another mobile gaming acquisition was announced last week, as InfoSpace Inc. revealed it had bought IOMO Ltd., a U.K.-based publisher, for $15 million in cash. IOMO has developed more than 80 titles in its four-year history, with...

ESPN 'could go all the way' with wireless MVNO offering.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Following months of speculation, sports entertainment giant ESPN Inc. reported a deal last week with Sprint Corp. to begin offering ESPN-branded wireless services using Sprint PCS' nationwide network beginning late next...

U.S. missing from top 10 mobile multimedia countries.(Wireless Metrics)
December 6, 2004... Japan and South Korea lead the world in mobile multimedia usage, according to a report from Telecommunications Management Group Inc. titled "Superstars of the Mobile Internet,'' while the United States did not make the list. The report...

Singapore airline's Internet service includes wireless carrier tie-in.(News)
December 6, 2004... Connexion by Boeing has signed yet another airline for its high-speed, in-flight Internet service with Singapore Airlines. The deal also includes service provider agreements with two Singapore wireless carriers, SingTel and StarHub. The...

FCC cancels Western Wireless historic preservation fine.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Federal Communications Commission has rescinded a proposed $200,000 fine against Western Wireless for operating a transmitter on a historic site in North Dakota. The FCC said Western Wireless made good-faith...

Extended Systems, Innopath expand OTA business.(Business)
December 6, 2004... Byline: COLIN GIBBS The days of upgrading your phone via downloads may be closer than you think. The effort to supply over-the-air technology to the world's handsets will take a couple of steps forward this week with two scheduled...

T-Mobile execs defend Calif. employment actions.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Deutsche Telecom and T-Mobile officials in Germany assert the 100 unionized technicians fired by subsidiary T-Mobile USA Inc. are not protected because the action was an asset deal in which technical infrastructure...

Good ramps up software, distribution to compete in mobile e-mail space.(Business)
December 6, 2004... Byline: COLIN GIBBS The competition is getting fierce among developers of mobile enterprise applications. This week, Good Technologies plans to unveil GoodLink 4.0, its latest offering for on-the-go professionals. The offering allows...

Huawei impresses Clear Talk, gains foray into North America.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER An already crowded North American infrastructure market is set to welcome a new competitor. One of China's largest telecommunications vendors, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., has provided network equipment for regional...

Carriers may have to release some control in mobile TV.
December 6, 2004... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Carriers are salivating over potential revenues from high-speed, next-generation, multimedia messaging service applications. But to cash in on mobile TV and other data-rich applications, they may have to release the...

Bundling practice under attack.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The wireless industry, despite routinely giving away handsets and offering heavy subsidization of mobile phones generally, is increasingly coming under attack in courts over the long-time widespread practice of...

Stock Watch: November 26-December 2.(Wireless Metrics)
December 6, 2004... table: Stock Watch: November 26-December 2 * 3 graphics: Market Diary * Indices * RCR Index: see print copy.

Stock Watch: December 2-December 9.(Wireless Metrics)
December 13, 2004... table: Stock Watch: December 2-December 9 * 3 graphics: Market Diary * Indices * RCR Index: see print copy.

Going public?(Wireless Metrics)
December 13, 2004... Following reports that Virgin Mobile USA was considering an initial public offering worth up to $2 billion., we asked RCRNews.com readers what they thought of the notion. The MVNO business is heating up with news of ESPN Inc. entering a deal...

Fast Fact.(Wireless Metrics)
December 13, 2004... A variety of business and personal users in Europe, the United States and Asia have registered .mp domain names for Web and mobile content during open registration for dotMP, which began Dec. 1, according to Saipan DataCom Inc.

Sprint moves forward with DO deployment.(News)
December 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER While Sprint Corp. had little to say about a possible deal with Nextel Communications Inc., the carrier did report $3 billion worth of multi-year buildout contracts with Lucent Technologies Inc., Nortel Networks Ltd. and...

Infrastructure Awards: November 2004.(Wireless Metrics)
December 13, 2004... Following are mobile infrastructure contracts announced in November: Alcatel Siberia. With regional Russian operator CTeK GSM for a GSM/EDGE network covering the Kuzbass region. Value: Undisclosed Ericsson Brazil. With...

Siemens buys Chantry for larger WLAN play.(News)
December 13, 2004... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE Siemens AG has acquired Chantry Networks, a step that will extend its enterprise offerings and Voice over Internet Protocol into the wireless local area network space. The deal climaxes both companies' relationship...

Spidey slings into wireless Web with Mforma deal.
December 13, 2004... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Enchantress, Deathlok, Nightcrawler and AntMan-coming soon to a cell phone near you. Those characters, as well as more familiar Marvel comics stars like Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, are going mobile....

CDMA faithful comfortable with rise of W-CDMA.(Focus)
December 13, 2004... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE Just a few years ago, players on the CDMA aisle of the technology wars believed the future belonged to them alone. The other players, huffing with GSM, could not figure out what armor to deploy. Qualcomm Inc.-which...

All fired up.(Opinion)
December 13, 2004... Byline: Jeffrey Silva Japan, which has uncanny savvy in developing and marketing mobile-phone services, has now taken wireless lobbying to a lofty level that would shame the wiliest of American influence peddlers. Softbank Corp. has...

Canadian carrier outranks U.S. rivals in wireless metrics.(Business)
December 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Our neighbors to the north may be suffering through withdrawals brought on by the ongoing National Hockey League lockout, but that did not distract Canadian wireless operators during the third quarter as they again posted...

MmO2 offers mobile greeting cards.(Business)
December 13, 2004... U.K. customers of carrier MmO2 can make animated invitations, greeting cards and other messages through a new service, the operator announced Tuesday. Users with WAP 2-enabled phones can create their own animated content through "Fun...

Three wireless firms announce new funding.(Business)
December 13, 2004... Semiconductor company Sequoia Communications led the fund raising pack last week with $15 million in its fourth round of financing, while ringtone company Improvista Interactive Music Inc. and wireless credit card processing company Way Systems...

T-Mobile USA launches first nationwide ringback service.(News)
December 13, 2004... T-Mobile USA became the first carrier to offer ringback tones nationwide last week. The carrier launched CallerTunes, enabling subscribers' phones to play music instead of the traditional ring callers hear before a mobile phone is...

Leap launches expanded calling area in Ohio.(Business)
December 13, 2004... Leap Wireless International Inc. launched its Expanded Calling Area option in Ohio, allowing its Cricket customers to use their unlimited calling minutes in both Dayton and Toledo/Sandusky for an additional $5 per month. Leap recently rolled...

T-Mobile Hungary to use Amdocs customer system.(Business)
December 13, 2004... Billing and CRM software provider Amdocs said T-Mobile Hungary, Hungary's largest mobile operator, has deployed Amdocs' ClarifyCRM solution to manage its customer contacts and provide customer support. The deployment will help link front-...

BT selects Fair Isaac network software.(Business)
December 13, 2004... BT Group plc selected Fair Isaac Corp.'s network performance and monitoring solution. Terms of the agreement call for Fair Isaac to supply a network assurance solution that builds on the neural network technology and case and workflow...

Wireless Internet device displays full-sized Web pages.(News)
December 13, 2004... DataWind Corp. released its new PocketSurfer wireless Internet device, a unique offering that allows users to view full-sized Web pages by connecting their PocketSurfer device to a wireless data-capable mobile phone. "All-in-one cellular...

T-Mobile USA puts UMTS on hold for 2 years.(Late News)
December 13, 2004... Citing spectrum constraints, T-Mobile USA Inc. said it does not expect to launch UMTS-based services for at least two years and instead will rely on its ongoing deployment of EDGE technology, which the carrier plans to begin offering...

Not-yet-released handsets fetch pretty penny on Ebay.(News)
December 13, 2004... Byline: MIKE DANO Unsatisfied with the same old phone selection from your local wireless provider? Shopping for a unique device that will amaze your friends and colleagues? Look no further than the world of online phone auctions. Ebay...

Senate squeaks through on USF E911, spectrum.
December 13, 2004... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER, JEFFREY SILVA Minutes (literally) before the Senate adjourned for the year, it managed to pass a troika of important wireless bills-spectrum relocation, enhanced 911 upgrades and universal service. "It...

Alamosa Holdings buys fellow Sprint PCS affiliate AirGate PCS.(News)
December 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Sprint PCS' largest affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc. made good on previous comments that it was interested in acquiring a fellow affiliate by signing a deal last week to purchase AirGate PCS Inc. for $630 million. The...

Next up: Sprint/Nextel?
December 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Less than two months after Cingular Wireless L.L.C. garnered governmental approval for its $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., creating the nation's largest wireless operator, the wireless industry was...

With $2.6B, NextWave reorg to repay creditors, launch broadband.(News)
December 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Following the recent sale of its remaining spectrum licenses to Verizon Wireless for $3 billion, NextWave Telecom Inc. filed its third joint plan of reorganization with the bankruptcy court overseeing the company's...

Former lawmaker agrees to settlement in driver distraction case.(News)
December 13, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Former Rep. Wes Watkins (R-Okla.) agreed to a $2 million settlement in connection with a fatal car crash in which driver cell-phone use is alleged, but the ex-lawmaker faces possible jail time over a district...

NEC to sell EDGE phone on the Web.(News)
December 13, 2004... Since it was unable to score a distribution deal with Cingular Wireless and other GSM carriers, NEC America Inc. plans to sell its new GSM/EDGE clamshell-style 232E mobile phone through its Web site. NEC made a splash last year when it...

Nextel launches nationwide wireless priority service.(News)
December 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Nextel Communications Inc. launched nationwide wireless priority service capabilities, providing authorized users with priority cellular service during times of emergency. The service moves authorized users, which...

CTIA, IEEE create working group to address issue of faulty batteries.(News)
December 13, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Wireless industry officials and engineers expect to meet in San Diego this week to continue work on a mobile-phone battery standard, an effort that comes in response to reports of injuries from exploding handsets...

Cingular creates group to focus on enterprise market.(Business)
December 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER In the wake of its acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Cingular Wireless L.L.C. created a new Business Markets Group, which the carrier said would provide business customers with access to sales and support...

Flarion reports Flash-OFDM contract with Cellular One in Texas.(Business)
December 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Flarion Technologies Inc. reported that rural wireless provider Cellular One of Amarillo plans to deploy commercial wireless broadband services using Flarion's Flash-OFDM technology in Amarillo, Texas. The Mobile...

U.K. court ruling allows Motorola to seize Uzan assets.(Global Wireless)
December 13, 2004... In another legal triumph, a High Court has given Motorola Inc. the authority to seize assets belonging to Turkey's Uzan family. The decision confirms an earlier ruling in a U.S. District Court last year, which described the Uzans' action as a...

Industry asks court to dismiss health suits.(News)
December 13, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Mobile-phone industry lawyers asked a court here to dismiss six brain-cancer suits, arguing the plaintiffs' complaints are pre-empted by federal law. "The federal government set a single, uniform, consensus...

Software vendors position for shares of mobile-phone market; PalmSource acquires China MobileSoft, LG partners with SavaJe.(Business)
December 13, 2004... Byline: MIKE DANO LG Electronics Co. Ltd., PalmSource Inc., SavaJe Technologies and China MobileSoft Ltd. all made waves on the operating-system front last week, announcements that further fractured an already complicated market. ...

Business Briefs.(Briefs)
December 13, 2004... Nortel Networks Ltd. has set Jan. 10, 2005, as the date it will file the unaudited statements for 2003 as well as the first and second quarters of 2004. The wireless vendor also said it plans to update the world on results for 2001, 2002, 2003...

Navigation systems vary by country in Asia.(Global Wireless)
December 13, 2004... The popularity of in-vehicle navigation services vs. handset-based vehicle navigation services in East Asia varies from country to country, according to a report from ABI Research titled "Handset-based Navigation and Location Based Services in...

Nokia announces new $100M venture-capital fund.(Business)
December 13, 2004... Byline: MIKE DANO Rob Trice wants to go after "the survivors.'' Trice is a general partner for Nokia Corp.'s newest venture-capital fund-Nokia Growth Partners. The $100 million fund was set up to finance the companies that managed to...

Orange launches UMTS in U.K., France.(Global Wireless)
December 13, 2004... European wireless operator Orange plc launched commercial UMTS-based services in the United Kingdom and France. The launch trails similar launches in the United Kingdom by rivals 3 and Vodafone Group plc, but is ahead of planned launches by...