RCR Wireless News articles from February 2006

RCR Wireless News archives from February 2006

RCRNews.com.(News)
February 6, 2006... Who will be the big winner in the 3G spectrum auction in June? Will it be top-dog Cingular? Or spectrum-deficient T-Mobile? Or maybe Craig McCaw's Clearwire? Vote now at www.RCRNews.com!

DoCoMo posts mixed results, buying stake in Philippine carrier.(News)
February 6, 2006... Japanese telecom giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. posted weaker year-over-year third-quarter fiscal 2005 results. For the nine months ended Dec. 31, the consolidated results for DoCoMo and its subsidiaries included an operating revenue decrease of 1.7...

Wireless could transform mining communications.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE It seems like hardly a week has gone by lately without a miner tragedy or a near-tragedy in the news. As the media shines its light on the mining industry, it's clear that mining communications is ripe for modernization....

MVNO competition spreading to MVNEs.
February 6, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL The hype surrounding mobile virtual network operators has created a new segment of the mobile industry with MVNO enablement, and a myriad of companies are eager to tell would-be operators the best way to plunge into the...

Wireless History; 15 years ago this month...(Wireless Metrics)
February 6, 2006... Carriers who attended CTIA's 1991 Winter Meeting and Expo expressed hopes the industry could reach 15-percent penetration in the United States by 2000. By mid-2000, the U.S. actually boasted wireless penetration of about 34 percent and led the...

Consumers can access content, but managing it can be tricky.
February 6, 2006... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Content companies are hoping that wireless users-just like George Carlin-are looking for a place for their stuff. It seems mass-market consumers are becoming comfortable with the idea of paying for things like...

Sprint Nextel fights calls to force roaming pacts at 2.5 GHz.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Sprint Nextel Corp., already on record with other national wireless carriers as opposing mandated roaming for voice services, has been forced to also fight off calls for the company to strike roaming agreements for...

Unhappy 800 MHz licensees plead their case in appeals court.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Two licensees-one site-based and one economic area-told a federal appeals court they got the short straw when the Federal Communications Commission decided to reconfigure the 800 MHz band in an attempt to...

Bush nominates McDowell to FCC.(News)
February 6, 2006... The White House said President George W. Bush intends to nominate Robert McDowell, assistant general counsel of CompTel, which represents competitive landline carriers, to the fifth and remaining open seat on the Federal Communications...

FCC rushes DE rules for June auction.
February 6, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Federal Communications Commission late last week opened a review of a program that gives bidding discounts to small businesses in wireless license auctions, a move that comes only five months before the auction of...

Motorola deploys PTT in Yemen, Sonim unveils OMA-compliant PoC server.(Global Wireless)
February 6, 2006... Motorola Inc. said it plans to supply and install its end-to-end push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) offering in partnership with a public-sector telecommunications company in Yemen. The Illinois-based manufacturer said the deal calls for it...

Infrastructure Awards.(Wireless Metrics)
February 6, 2006... Following are infrastructure contracts announced in January: L.M. Ericsson Indonesia With Natrindo Telepon Selular to build, operate and manage its 3G/W-CDMA network in Jakarta and surrounding areas. Value: Undisclosed Huawei...

Sprint Nextel names wireline spinoff Embarq.(News)
February 6, 2006... Sprint Nextel Corp.'s local communications company, which is scheduled to be spun off from the rest of the company in the second quarter, has selected its name and logo. Embarq, which will officially be known as Embarq Corp., expects to...

Despite no standard, all sides ready to move UWB forward.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE The IEEE'S recent decision to allow competing ultra-wideband standards in the marketplace has not deterred investors, but could spell trouble for the Bluetooth industry, which last year hooked its future to the UWB...

Muni Wi-Fi vendor Cohda raises $1.8M.(News)
February 6, 2006... Cohda Wireless Pty. Ltd., a public-safety and municipal wireless technology developer, said it raised $1.8 million in its first round of venture funding. Cohda said it plans to use the funds in its efforts to commercially launch its...

Handset Briefs.(Briefs)
February 6, 2006... Kyocera Wireless Corp. announced it plans to build dual-mode CDMA/Wi-Fi handsets using chips from Marvell Technology Group Ltd. "The footprint and adoption of (wireless local area networks) is increasing exponentially and we have carrier...

Privacy group sues AT&T as part of NSA wiretapping scandal.(News)
February 6, 2006... A San Francisco-based privacy group claims in a new class-action lawsuit that telecom giant AT&T Inc. violated the law by cooperating with the National Security Agency as part of a massive program to eavesdrop on and extract data from...

Truth-in-billing lawsuit may influence other cases.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The high-stakes legal battle over truth-in-billing regulation continued to play out last week in a federal appeals court, with a consumer group and Vermont regulators arguing the Federal Communications Commission's...

DTV hard date-Feb. 17, 2009-sails toward Bush approval.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Finally! Congress has told TV broadcasters that they must give up the spectrum they were given to transition to digital TV by Feb. 17, 2009. After an unexpected delay caused by an unrelated procedural...

Who's your sugar daddy?(Opinion)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Silva It is by no means coincidental some-if not most-major wireless legislation enacted by Congress the past decade has been tucked inside bulging budget bills aimed at balancing the nation's off-kilter checkbook. Indeed,...

Wireless e-mail space intense with patents, lawsuits, competition.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: COLIN GIBBS The flurry of legal wrangling in the wireless e-mail space continued as Visto Corp. filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against competitor Good Technology Inc. Meanwhile, Research In Motion Ltd. scored several patent...

Katrina panel: Lack of communications sparks additional problems.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Public-safety, communications and special-interest group representatives came together last month to tell the Federal Communications Commission what worked and what didn't during last year's hurricane...

Censorship at core of debate for business practices in China.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA U.S. tech firms, bedazzled by Internet, wireless and other business opportunities in China's massively underserved market, find themselves facing intensive scrutiny and criticism from Congress, human-rights groups and...

New health studies provide ammunition to both sides of debate.(News)
February 6, 2006... German researchers have detected an increased risk for certain brain tumors from long-term cell phone use, a finding that is not quite statistically significant but coincides with other recent studies suggesting a possible danger for consumer...

FCC to suggest tougher rules for call records.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Federal Communications Commission is expected to propose additional rules to protect cell-phone customer records later this month. Testifying before the House Commerce Committee, FCC Chairman Kevin...

Wal-Mart to offer German MVNO service, mum on U.S. plans.(News)
February 6, 2006... Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it plans to offer its own discount wireless service in Germany under the brand name MangoMobile. Wal-Mart Germany is partnering with telecommunications distributor Facey Retail Solutions GmbH for the mobile virtual...

Revol expanding into four new markets.(Late News)
February 6, 2006... Regional wireless operators Cleveland Unlimited Inc. and CSM Wireless L.L.C. are expanding their Revol-branded unlimited postpaid calling service into the Ohio cities of Canton, Youngstown and Columbus, as well as Indianapolis. Revol...

Lombardi to lead MediaFlo USA.(News)
February 6, 2006... Qualcomm Inc. tapped the architect of its BREW business to head the commercial launch of its new mobile TV effort, MediaFlo USA Inc. Qualcomm's Gina Lombardi was appointed president of the company's MediaFlo subsidiary. Lombardi was previously...

Alcatel, Ericsson boast strong 4Q.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE European telecom vendors reported strong earnings based largely on increasing sales of wireless equipment. L.M. Ericsson posted $1.1 billion in net income for the fourth quarter, a 52-percent increase from the $738...

Muni Wi-Fi wave continues to build as industry wrestles with standards.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE New agreements, contract details from Philadelphia and a smidge of a slowdown in product certifications kept Wi-Fi circles buzzing last week. In Philadelphia, reports surfaced early last week that the city had...

Nortel re-enters broadband space in joint venture with Huawei.(Global Wireless)
February 6, 2006... Nortel Networks Corp. announced plans to re-enter the broadband access market, unveiling a teaming with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. to develop access offerings for service providers around the world. The companies said they plan to...

Rogers launches Melodeo-powered podcast service.(Global Wireless)
February 6, 2006... Canadian operator Rogers Wireless Inc. and Melodeo Inc. have partnered to launch what the companies call North America's first mobile podcast service. The offering includes more than 1,500 news, sports, comedy and music podcasts that are...

Global Carriers.(News)
February 6, 2006... Editor's Note: The RCR Wireless News and RCR Wireless News Database research staff have compiled this list of the world's largest operators ranked by subscribers. Subscriber numbers reflect quarterly results ended Dec. 31, 2005, unless...

Alltel to stay cautious amid bright outlook.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL Alltel Corp. officials emphasized plans to continue their conservative path during a company analyst day in New York last week, even though they said they remain optimistic going forward. "We've never been `let's...

Alltel expands prepaid options with U service.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL Alltel Corp. is revamping its prepaid service to try to profit from recent trends. As the U.S. postpaid wireless market saturates, fourth-quarter results showed most carriers, including Alltel, registered a heavier...

Yahoo leads wireless Web portals.(Wireless Metrics)
February 6, 2006... Yahoo has the early lead in the race to become the wireless Web portal of choice for U.S. consumers, according to new figures from M:Metrics. An average of nearly 13 million consumers per month accessed Yahoo's services from their handset...

Phones, marvelous phones.(Opinion)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Tracy Ford One of the best things about being a journalist in the wireless industry is that we get to test new toys, er, I mean, phones. Many of the industry's best devices make it to the hallowed halls of RCR Wireless News because...

Phone cancer studies more consistent than reported in newspaper.(Letters)
February 6, 2006... To the Editor, Recent results of cell-phone tumor studies are much more consistent than your news item, "Conflicting studies muddy cell-phone health risks,'' in RCR Wireless News on Jan. 30 would have us believe. As you noted, Lennart...

Stock Watch: February 2-February 9.(Wireless Metrics)
February 13, 2006... table: Stock Watch: February 2-February 9 * 3 charts: Market Diary * Indices * RCR Index; see print copy for all

Pentagon report underscores wireless needs for successful military.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA A new Department of Defense report says the military will depend on broadband and wireless technologies in future warfare, a policy direction that could create added business opportunities for telecom and high-tech...

Bush signs DTV bill.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER, JEFFREY SILVA President George W. Bush signed into law budget deficit legislation requiring TV broadcasters to surrender analog spectrum by Feb. 18, 2009, paving the way for the redistribution of valuable...

Sony Ericsson hedges on wireless e-mail standards.(News)
February 13, 2006... Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. released a new high-end 3G device and also laid out its plans for wireless e-mail. The company apparently has decided to forgo choosing sides in the hotly contested wireless e-mail market by supporting...

5 GHz Wi-Fi pact reached for testing, guidelines.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Bush administration confirmed an agreement among military, high-tech and wireless firms on criteria for certifying new 5 GHz Wi-Fi devices capable of avoiding harmful interference to military radar. RCR...

Apertio scores Vodafone deal, $30M in funding; IPO on horizon.(Global Wireless)
February 13, 2006... Apertio announced a new deal with Vodafone Group plc that places Apertio's One Network Directory Server at the core of Vodafone's network in the United Kingdom. "By deploying a single data platform underpinning the entire core network,...

Spain's Fon gets financial backing from Google, Skype for Wi-Fi sharing strategy.(Global Wireless)(Company Profile)
February 13, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE Google Inc. and Skype Technologies SA are among the backers of Fon, a Spanish Internet software company with plans to create a global network of 1 million shared Wi-Fi hot spots by 2010. In its first round of...

3G handsets a growing chunk of US market.(Wireless Metrics)
February 13, 2006... Third-generation handsets now account for roughly 16 percent of the U.S. mobile phone landscape, according to a new study from CIBC World Markets. In the firm's January report on 3G handset sales, CIBC found that 12 out of a total of 76...

Comverse products to personalize text messages.(News)
February 13, 2006... Comverse Technology Inc. hopes to boost already booming text messaging usage with a series of new personalized services and short cuts. The company said the services include an offering that allows members to insert a predetermined...

Motorola teams with Interphase for servers.(News)
February 13, 2006... Motorola Inc. named Interphase Corp. its preferred provider for I/O Advanced Mezzanine Cards, according to an alliance announced by the companies. The first communications server products to include Interphase technology are expected to...

FBI probes bulk prepaid buys for black-market ties.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have advised state and local law enforcement officials to be alert for large purchases of prepaid cell phones, an FBI spokesman said. The advisory follows an...

Products.
February 13, 2006... Andrew Andrew Corp. launched a compact tower-mounted amplifier for third-generation networks. The company said its OneBase Compact TMA product, at 1.5 liters, is the smallest and lightest tower-mounted amplifier available in the industry....

People.
February 13, 2006... Motorola Motorola Inc. named Hamid Ahmadi its first chief architect, with responsibility for developing a unified architectural framework and leading strategic hardware and software architecture planning across all business units. Ahmadi...

AWS auction could spell windfall for government, though analysts differ on value.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: DAN MEYER The Federal Communications Commission's planned auction of so-called "advanced wireless services'' spectrum scheduled for June could spell a windfall for government coffers, though analysts are mixed on the amount of said...

USF reform bill unkind to rural wireless.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), often an advocate for rural America and former chairman of the Senate communications subcommittee, celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 last...

Senate panel sympathetic to large bandwidth users.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Senate Commerce Committee seemed cool to the idea that broadband-pipe owners should be able to require some bandwidth hogs-like Voice over Internet Protocol providers, Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.-to pay...

Telecom execs asked about roles in warrentless wiretaps.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Two powerful Senate Democrats asked executives of three telecom giants with major mobile-phone units to turn over information on their alleged participation in the Bush administration's warrantless domestic...

Lobbying reform shouldn't impact wireless spending on Capitol Hill.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Wireless, telecom and high-tech sectors that spend an estimated $300 million a year to change the hearts and minds of congressmen, federal regulators and White House officials are unlikely to lose prized access to...

FCC proposes rules strengthening customer call record privacy.
February 13, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Late Friday, the Federal Communications Commission announced it will examine ways to strengthen the protection of customer call records. The agency is seeking comment on five specific measures proposed by the...

RIM touts NTP workaround, aims to assuage fears.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Research In Motion Ltd. may have found some leverage in its fight against NTP Inc., unveiling a software "workaround'' it says would prevent a shutdown of its service to U.S. BlackBerry users. The Canadian developer...

Mobilitec software aids MVNOs.(News)
February 13, 2006... Mobilitec Inc. this week expects to launch an offering for operators and brands looking to publish, manage and deliver mobile content. The mobile software developer will release mPower 5.0, a single-platform solution that supports the...

Openwave, Sun to share technologies for SDK.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Openwave Systems Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. this week will unveil an agreement to share technologies in an effort to whittle time-to-market for applications from operators and software developers. The companies...

Nvidia launches mobile TV chip.(News)
February 13, 2006... Nvidia Corp. said it plans to unveil a single chip solution that supports mobile TV, music and games. applications at the 3GSM show. The graphics processor technology company said the GoForce 3D 5500 is designed to capitalize on 3G networks...

Speedy credentials crucial to telecom recovery after disasters.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Government officials should move quickly to ensure that telecommunications carriers can gain access to their sites and the necessary fuel and security to be able to restore communications service as rapidly...

Of bragging rights and Wi-Fi for favelas.(Opinion)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Silva There are two interesting discussions in progress in the United States and abroad, each legitimate, timely and blindly interrelated. In the United States, the Bush administration, industry leaders, governors and...

Bush budget sits heavy on wireless.
February 13, 2006... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Bush administration last week proposed setting user fees on un-auctioned spectrum regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, but the agency refused to disclose which wireless services would be subject to...

Presence migrating from chat rooms to board rooms.
February 13, 2006... Byline: COLIN GIBBS One of the most popular features of instant messaging is expanding off the desktop and into the mobile enterprise. It's called presence, and it allows users to determine the availability of others. An employee, for...

Fast Fact.(Wireless Metrics)
February 13, 2006... The Central and Eastern Europe mobile market surpassed the 250 million subscriber mark in late 2005, providing total revenues of more than $50 billion. While some countries have already reached saturation (seven have a penetration rate above 80...

Online Poll.(Wireless Metrics)
February 13, 2006... The mobile music space is heating up with Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless both offering full-track music downloads. Not to be outdone, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. offers two Motorola Inc. handsets compatible with Apple Computer Inc.'s...

Diversinet token-based security system ready for deployment.(News)
February 13, 2006... Mobile security company Diversinet Corp. said its newest authentication offering is ready for commercial use via cell phones and other mobile devices. The company explained that security tokens, sometimes called hardware tokens,...

Symbian cuts OS pricing due to pressure from Windows, Linux.(Global Wireless)
February 13, 2006... Byline: MIKE DANO Operating system vendor Symbian Ltd. announced it will cut its licensing fees in half in a bid to counter encroaching competition from Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile OS and Linux OS. Symbian currently charges...

World Briefs.(Global Wireless)
February 13, 2006... SOUTH KOREA Motorola Inc. introduced a super-slim sliding-style phone in South Korea, dubbed the Z, which is the latest wafer-thin handset from the maker of the wildly popular Razr. However, the company said the CDMA phone is only intended...

Cincinnati Bell adds subs while earnings falter.(Late News)
February 13, 2006... Cincinnati Bell Inc. reported that it added 15,000 postpaid wireless customers in the fourth quarter of 2005-the company's best wireless performance since the fourth quarter of 2001. However, the company's overall earnings slipped from $18.3...

Auto industry driving Bluetooth adoption.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE Bluetoothing in cars is on the rise and the technology shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, says a new report by ABI Research. While Bluetooth automotive markets have been stalled in the past, ABI stated...

TDtv support turning mobile TV into a three-horse race.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE The mobile TV ecosystem was filled with TDtv news last week as IPWireless Inc. announced two new partnerships and upcoming trials. The network technology company says it's teaming up with mobile streaming providers...

Alcatel picks Netrake gateway.(News)
February 13, 2006... Alcatel Corp. picked Netrake's nCite Security Gateway technology to support the launch of its Unlicensed Mobile Access-based wireless local area network solution. Netrake said its gateway gives UMA providers secure access to GSM and GPRS mobile...

Dobson to sell through RadioShack.(News)
February 13, 2006... RadioShack Corp. customers in seven states will be able to purchase cellular phones and services from Dobson Communications Corp.'s wireless subsidiary, Dobson Cellular Systems, under the Cellular One brand. The new distribution agreement,...

Sprint Nextel to offer scanners at NASCAR events.(News)
February 13, 2006... Sprint Nextel Corp. is continuing the former Nextel Communications Corp.'s support of NASCAR, as it introduces a new handheld scanner that is expected to be available for rent at all NASCAR Nextel Cup Series events this year. The scanner,...

McAfee looking after handsets with anti-virus platform.(Focus)
February 13, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL Imagine this: a company's chief financial officer uses his smart phone to download a game while waiting at an airport-but the game contains a virus that sends all the data on the phone to a Web site, and the company's...

iPCS posts robust customer growth, but affiliation issues cloud future.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: KELLY HILL Regional wireless carrier and Sprint Nextel Corp. CDMA affiliate iPCS Inc. reported a net loss of $17.2 million, or $1.03 per share, although the operator's churn rate was down and it had solid net customer additions of...

3G networks propelling multimedia usage in Europe, M:Metrics finds.(News)
February 13, 2006... Next-generation wireless networks are driving multimedia offerings in the United Kingdom and Germany, according to the latest figures from M:Metrics. The Seattle-based mobile measurement firm found that while 3G users remain a small...

Handsets as fashion statement.(Focus)
February 13, 2006... Byline: MIKE DANO At this year's 3GSM World Congress, the world's handset makers will have an important line to toe. On one side, vendors must keep pace with the market's technological advancements. HSDPA, MP3, DVB-H, Bluetooth,...

Navigating spectrum fees.(Opinion)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Tracy Ford President Bush's 2007 budget released last week proposes a tax on un-auctioned spectrum licenses, which immediately caused an uproar in the telecom industry with news that Wi-Fi devices could be taxed. Later, the Office...

Brightpoint stock up on strong 4Q sales, maintains rating.(News)
February 13, 2006... Investors sent shares of Brightpoint Inc. skyward after the company reported a 33-percent increase in fourth-quarter sales. The mobile-phone distributor reported quarterly net income of $8.9 million, or 21 cents per share, up from $7.5...

Nortel to settle accounting-related lawsuits.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: JONI MORSE Nortel Networks Ltd. said it may pay more than $2.4 billion in cash and stock to settle a pair of shareholder lawsuits filed as a result of the company's accounting fraud scandal. The company said it agreed in...

Tracfone high on 4Q growth, ends 2005 with 6.1 million customers.(News)
February 13, 2006... Leading wireless prepaid provider Tracfone Wireless Inc., which is a subsidiary of America Movil, said it gained 1 million new subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2005, bringing its net additions for the year to 1.7 million customers The...