RCR Wireless News articles from March 2008

RCR Wireless News archives from March 2008

MetroPCS tops 4M subscribers.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO MetroPCS Communications Inc. reported a net loss of $47 million while adding almost 299,000 customers during the fourth quarter of 2007. The company's stock dropped following release of its financial results, which fell...

Nortel plunges on Q4 loss, plans cuts.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO Nortel Networks Corp. reported a loss of $844 million during the fourth quarter of 2007 and said it would fire 2,100 employees and move another 1,000 positions to lower-cost locations. The losses compounded an already...

FEMA wants FCC to defer on mobile alert systems.(Upfront)
March 3, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Federal Emergency Management Agency urged federal regulators to defer key decisions in efforts to establish a voluntary mobile-phone emergency alert system. FEMA, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security,...

Gmystery.(Opinion)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Tracy Ford What is Google's game plan for wireless? The easy answer: I have no clue. But as we await the outcome of the FCC's 700 MHz auction, and the winner of the C-Block licenses, I'm ready to speculate on the...

Pryor consent.(Opinion)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Jeffrey Silva Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) may have opted himself out the wireless industry's good graces. I don't know whether Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, ever had a warm and fuzzy feeling...

Fight continues over white-spaces sharing; Broadcasters, hi-tech spar over test results.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The war of words continues over government testing of wireless devices that could be allowed to operate in vacant broadcast spectrum, with claims about the viability of Wi-Fi operations in white spaces as divergently...

BLUE IN THE FACE; Bluetooth evolving as mobile marketing channel.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Like it or not, Bluetooth marketing is gaining traction in the United States as an effective - if sometimes intrusive - way for advertisers to get their messages in front of mobile users. So depending on your view,...

ROK passes on Xero acquisition.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS ROK Entertainment Group Inc. said it has broken off negotiations to acquire fledgling mobile virtual network operator Xero Mobile Inc. ROK, a U.K.-based mobile media firm, provides live and on-demand video to...

Hedgehogging.(Briefs)
March 3, 2008... hedge*hog*ging v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube. So, Sprint Nextel posted a $29.5 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2007. That would be a billion with a "b.'' (And you...

It's good to be in the tower biz; In-building coverage, new uses of wireless and new spectrum point to healthy market.(Spotlight)
March 3, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO The wireless industry relies on towers like a lifeline. All those wireless calls, messaging exchanges and data downloads and uploads rely on a steadily budding array of transmission towers. Without them, nothing happens....

VZW/RCC deal bogs down in political morass; Lawmakers urge FCC to act fast on transaction.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Verizon Wireless' $2.67 billion play for Rural Cellular Corp. has turned intensely political, with Republican and Democratic lawmakers urging the Federal Communications Commission to rule soon on a deal whose review...

HESSE'S HEADACHE; Sprint Nextel posts record Q4 loss, more tough times ahead.(Financial report)
March 3, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO Sprint Nextel Corp.'s performance is likely to get worse before it gets better, the company told agitated investors last week. The company's stock plummeted to new lows after it reported a $29.5 billion loss for the...

Carriers go all in with unlimited pricing plans; Big 4 target $100 price point with new plans.(Upfront)
March 3, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO After years of only minor price plan tweaks and occasional promotional offers, the nation's four largest carriers have ignited a new pricing war centered around unlimited voice calling minutes for $100 per month. And in...

State's role in consumer protection bill pondered.
March 3, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA House lawmakers offered a preview of the debate apt to escalate in coming months over efforts to write a wireless consumer protection bill, with the role of states expected to be highly controversial and critical to...

700 MHz auction slows as bids near $20B Bidding could cease this week.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The 700 MHz auction is all but over, with the Federal Communications Commission increasing the number of bidding rounds to eight per day last Friday in an attempt to speed to a close bidding whose spectacular revenue...

21 years ago this week.(News)
March 3, 2008... BellSouth launched a plan for callers who used more than 425 minutes a month that charged $65 for access and 27 cents per peak minute.

T-Mobile USA launches Internet calling; $10-per-month plan part of No. 4 carrier's wireline push.(Upfront)
March 3, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS T-Mobile USA Inc. announced a $10-per-month unlimited calling plan for its growing fixed-line effort. The operator launched Talk Forever Home Phone, an Internet service with unlimited local and domestic...

RadioShack revenue down on lower postpaid wireless sales.(Upfront)(Financial report)
March 3, 2008... Byline: PHIL CARSON Once-beleaguered RadioShack Corp. - which sells wireless devices and services for AT&T Mobility and Sprint Nextel Corp., as well as a handful of prepaid providers - saw its stock soar more than 22% after reporting a...

Google wins back Opera.(Upfront)
March 3, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Just one year after tapping Yahoo Inc. to provide search for its mobile browsers, Opera Software is going back to Google Inc. The Norwegian developer said the Internet's dominant player will be the default search...

Report: Motricity plans major job cuts.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Motricity is slashing roughly one-third of its workforce and considering moving its headquarters, according to a report last week from WRAL.com citing multiple sources. The Durham, N.C.-based mobile content company...

NYT Co. unveils mobile application; Service to further link desktop and mobile space.(News)
March 3, 2008... The New York Times Co. announced the beta launch of an application designed to help move content between computers and mobile phones. ShifD updates information to users' accounts using any Web browser, via text message or with an Adobe...

WiMAX industry waits for the other shoe to drop; Vendors keep mobile dream alive with fixed/ nomadic deployments.(Spotlight)
March 3, 2008... Byline: PHIL CARSON Here are several things you need to know this week about mobile WiMAX: First, mobile WiMAX is seen by analysts as a larger but riskier global opportunity for vendors, compared to fixed/nomadic WiMAX, which offers a...

Mobile Internet devices to top 90M in sales by 2012.(Metrics)
March 3, 2008... A new category of consumer electronics device - the Mobile Internet Device - is expected to appeal to a wide variety of consumers, according to a new study from ABI Research. The report predicts the always-connected devices will grow from...

FCC must assess environmental impact of towers.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA A divided appeals court struck down a Federal Communications Commission's decision in which the agency rejected the contention it illegally licensed 6,000 towers in the Gulf Coast by failing to first assess the...

REVIEW: Mobile gaming controller serviceable, but to what end?(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Editor's Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News' weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week we review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with...

Report: Wireless taxes, fees more than double goods, services.(Upfront)(Report)
March 3, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA A new report says that news taxes and fees are hitting wireless consumers especially hard. The study, conducted by economist Scott Mackey and commissioned by the cellular industry, found wireless consumers pay a...

Wireless smut to generate mega-bucks, study finds.(Metrics)
March 3, 2008... Video chat services will help fuel mobile adult content revenues as the worldwide market for the steamy stuff reaches $1.5 billion by 2012, according to new figures from Juniper Research. Interactive video accounts for just 8% of all adult...

Nokia, Qualcomm 'stand down' for upcoming case; Rivals seek court's expertise in contract law over expired agreement.
March 3, 2008... Byline: PHIL CARSON Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. have ended their arbitration process over the renewal of an expired cross-licensing contract and agreed to consolidate the major issues with a FRAND case in Delaware Chancery Court, to...

T-Mobile USA, Leap add customers; But Leap losses up 211% from last year.(News)(Financial report)
March 3, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO T-Mobile USA Inc. ended 2007 with 28.7 million customers after adding 951,000 customers and posting a net income of $383 million during the fourth quarter. The carrier netted more than 3.6 million new customers...

LinkedIn goes mobile.(News)
March 3, 2008... LinkedIn unveiled a Web-based mobile application that allows mobile members to search user profiles, research mutual contacts and receive updates about connections. LinkedIn is an online networking site designed for businesspeople. The...

Qwest wireless biz boon to VZW, loss to Sprint.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: PHIL CARSON Qwest Communications International Inc. could take its 824,000 wireless subscribers from Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network to CDMA rival Verizon Wireless next year when its current mobile virtual network operator agreement...

Helio's revenues increase while net loss widens.(Upfront)(Financial report)
March 3, 2008... Mobile virtual network operator Helio scored $171 million in revenue during 2007, way up from the $46 million in revenue the company reported in 2006. However, the company's net loss also continues to widen: In 2006, Helio's net loss was...

Baker to leave NTIA.(Upfront)
March 3, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Bush administration official responsible for implementing key spectrum, public-safety and digital TV transition initiatives is leaving her post, prompting concern from lawmakers. Meredith Baker, acting head of...

...ETC...(Etc.)
March 3, 2008... And if he hadn't won? Alltel gave 500 free bonus minutes to new customers and existing customers who added a line of service to celebrate race car driver Ryan Newman's victory in the No. 12 Alltel Dodge at the Daytona 500. The offer was...

Pullen named CEO at Tellabs.(News)
March 3, 2008... Mobile and fixed-line network company Tellabs Inc. has tapped Robert Pullen to step in as CEO. Pullen will replace Krish Prabhu, who announced his resignation in November following a plunge in quarterly revenue. That report was followed by...

ALL EYES ON MOTO'S CEO; Brown set to give 'fireside chat' today.(Upfront)
March 3, 2008... Byline: PHIL CARSON Greg Brown, CEO of Motorola Inc. since Jan. 1, was set to participate today in a "fireside chat Q&A session'' at Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in Dana Point, Calif. The session will be Web cast live beginning...

Shenandoah stock up on Q4 results.(Upfront)(Financial report)
March 3, 2008... Shenandoah Telecommunications reported $3.7 million in net income for the fourth quarter, representing a 14.5% increase from the year-ago period. The wireless arm of the company, which operates as an affiliate of Sprint Nextel Corp., brought in...

RCR Wireless News names David Kaye interactive media manager.(News)
March 3, 2008... David Kaye has joined RCR Wireless News as an interactive media manager. In this role, Kaye will be involved in all daily operations as well as enhance RCRWirelessNews.com with new multimedia offerings. Previously, Kaye was as an operations...

We want your CTIA Wireless 2008 News.(Upfront)
March 3, 2008... RCR Wireless News is the exclusive publisher of the official CTIA print Show Daily. To get your show announcements included in the only print Official CTIA Show Daily, send your information to Managing Editor Dan Meyer at dmeyer@crain.com,...

Content aggregators navigate through market turbulence.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS The field of mobile content aggregators has seen more casualties than a "Terminator'' movie. For the few remaining players, though, there's still plenty of money to be made in going directly to consumers with goodies...

Content kings urged to share the wealth; Report encourages Hollywood to give content away in order to goose market.(News)
March 3, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Hollywood content producers looking to cash in on mobile should take a cue from The Red Hot Chili Peppers and give it away - now. That's the message of a white paper released last week from Parks Associates and the...

Stockwatch: February 21 - February 28.(Metrics)
March 3, 2008... 3 tables: Stockwatch: February 21 - February 28 * Top Gainers * Top Losers * 3 graphs: Market Diary * Indices * 90-day RCR Index: see print copy

Online ? of the week.(Opinion)
March 3, 2008... MOBILE TV Will AT&T's MediaFlo service be successful? 60% No 40% Yes Visit RCRWirelessNews.com to answer this week's question.

Handset price changes.(Upfront)
March 3, 2008... Handset pricing changes are from carrier Web sites and include changes between Feb. 10 and Feb. 24. Prices include all applicable rebates. All prices are for Denver ZIP code if required. table: see print copy

2 years ago this week.(News)
March 17, 2008... Fresh off its buy of competitor BellSouth, SBC Communications announced the two wireline companies, and their wireless JV, Cingular, would all start to use the same brand, AT&T.

online ? of the week.(News)
March 17, 2008... What is the most important smartphone feature? 66%: E-Mail 28%: OPEN OS 5%: Shared Calendar 2%: MUSIC Visit RCRWirelessNews.com to answer this week's question.

Stockwatch: March 6 - March 13.(Metrics)
March 17, 2008... 3 tables: Stockwatch: March 6 - March 13 * Top Gainers * Top Losers * 3 graphs: Market Diary * Indices * 90-day RCR Index: see print copy.

ROK picks up 51% of Geniem.(News)
March 17, 2008... ROK Entertainment Group said it acquired a 51% stake in the Finnish mobile software developer Geniem for an undisclosed sum. Geniem develops on-device portals, white-label social networking applications and Bluetooth marketing services for...

FunMobility buys social startup.(News)
March 17, 2008... FunMobility Inc. said it acquired fellow mobile social startup Moblastic Corp. for an undisclosed amount in an effort to expand its off-deck business. Moblastic's site encourages users to "Flirt and trade cell phone pics with hotties,...

NextWave inks deal with Alcatel-Lucent; Contract to provide NextWave with WiMAX TV solution.(Upfront)
March 17, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO NextWave Wireless Inc. tapped Alcatel-Lucent to develop WiMAX broadcast solutions that the company plans to integrate with its recently announced MXtv technology. NextWave plans to use the technology to give WiMAX...

T-Mobile USA, Leap ready to roll out AWS markets.(Upfront)
March 17, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO Almost 18 months after the advanced wireless services spectrum auction wrapped, carriers are on the verge of commercially launching networks and devices that make use of the recently cleared 1.7/2.1 GHz spectrum bands....

TRUST US; MMA, MEF guides aim to gain viewer's trust.
March 17, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO The explosive success networks are having with text voting on TV shows comes with a level of responsibility that they and others in the value chain are trying to bear. "Now the viewer or participant has to be able to...

Alltel: We're also unlimited voice for $100.(News)
March 17, 2008... Alltel Wireless, the nation's No. 5 operator, is the latest to join the unlimited-calling bandwagon, quietly launching an all-you-can-talk plan for $100 per month. The Little Rock, Ark.-based network operator followed its bigger rivals,...

RSS: Made simple for mobile; Once the choice of smartphone users, mobile RSS feeds now target mainstream users.
March 17, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Once the domain of early adopters on high-tech smartphones, mobile RSS is quietly moving into the mainstream. RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, first came to the Internet in 1999, and the format has become a...

What's next for Sprint Nextel? With plenty of issues on its plate, No. 3 carrier has work cut out.
March 17, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO Sprint Nextel Corp. just can't get itself out of the spotlight. And if any of the tier-one carriers needs a time out right now, Sprint Nextel is certainly the most likely candidate. The company's stock continued...

Apple cracks open the iPhone; Move expected to entice enterprise and app developers.(Upfront)
March 17, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO Four days after Apple Inc. released its iPhone software development kit (SDK), the company announced that more than 100,000 developers had already downloaded the set of application programming interfaces (APIs) and tools...

Qualcomm pays $32M to buy behavior recognition tech firm.(Upfront)
March 17, 2008... Qualcomm Inc. has acquired Xiam Technologies Ltd. for around $32 million. Xiam said its technology recognizes a mobile device user's behavior and usage patterns. Qualcomm said there is a recognized need in the industry to help consumers...

O2 tunes in to Napster Mobile.(News)
March 17, 2008... Napster bagged yet another carrier customer for its mobile offering, inking a deal to bring its catalog to the U.K. carrier O2. The deal gives O2 subscribers access to more than 5 million full tracks through a dual-download service for $2...

4G numbers could jump to 90M by 2013, ABI says.(Metrics)
March 17, 2008... Fourth-generation subscribers, including LTE and WiMAX users, could exceed 90 million in 2013 if a number of milestones are met, according to a report by ABI Research. The study said there were 3.4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide at...

Carriers push E-911 lawsuit in court despite winning deadline extension.(Upfront)
March 17, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Wireless carriers have turned up the heat on the Federal Communications Commission, arguing in a lawsuit that new enhanced 911 location accuracy guidelines grossly miss the mark and that the agency's extension of a...

As auction wanes, public safety weighs its options; Former NTIA Chief says it's OK that D-Block bidding languishes, other disagree.(News)
March 17, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA As the 700 MHz auction winds to a close - apparently without a winning bidder for the commercial/public-safety license or a clear roadmap for meeting first responders' communications needs - progress is nonetheless...

Reed out at listing Motorola.(Upfront)
March 17, 2008... Byline: PHIL CARSON In the bruising business of turning Motorola Inc. around, Stu Reed - former president of mobile devices and, previously, the company's global supply chain - has hit the mat. Reed's departure, "effective...

TracFone racks up another win against cellphone hackers.(News)
March 17, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA A federal judge in Dallas issued a $1 million judgment for TracFone Wireless Inc. in connection with the hacking and resale of bulk amounts of prepaid phones, an illegal practice whose scope appears larger and more...

AT&T Mobility sees class action on overtime pay.(News)
March 17, 2008... A class-action lawsuit filed against AT&T Mobility in Pennsylvania federal court alleges the carrier violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by refusing overtime pay to a former corporate recruiter and possibly others with similar job...

Wireless broadband requirements scrutinized.(News)
March 17, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The mobile-phone industry urged the Federal Communications Commission not to impose burdensome wireless broadband reporting requirements on cellular carriers. Congress is considering legislation to improve data...

FCC chief asked to produce extensive docs in agency probe.
March 17, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The House Commerce Committee's probe of the Federal Communications Commission moved to a new level, with key lawmakers asking FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to produce extensive documentation on a wide array of agency...

Congress targets carriers' ETF plans.(News)
March 17, 2008... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) asked chief executives of AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. to explain whether they will pro-rate early termination fees as previously promised. Her letter comes...

There will be blunders ... and bluster.(Opinion)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Jeffrey Silva The juxtaposition of the Spitzer sex scandal and the debate over whether telecom companies should have retroactive immunity for participating in the Bush administration's post-9/11 warrantless wiretap program is rich...

Break down.(Opinion)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Dan Meyer As I've noted in previous columns, I go coco for spectrum auctions. Love 'em. Can't get enough of 'em. Want more of 'em. Or so I thought until the last week or so of the Federal Communications Commission's 700 MHz...

Infonetics report focuses on WiMAX growth.(Metrics)
March 17, 2008... The WiMAX market is expected to grow to $7.7 billion by 2011, predicts research firm Infonetics Research in a new WiMAX and Mesh Network Equipment and Devices report. Infonetics said the WiMAX market grew 11% during the fourth quarter and...

Hedgehogging.(Briefs)
March 17, 2008... hedge*hog*ging v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube. So let us get this straight. 100,000 developers paid $100 a piece to download Apple's new SDK for the iPhone. We are no math...

Virgin Mobile USA's stock plunges; Quarterly loss digs into full-year gains, but posts records profit.(Upfront)(Financial report)
March 17, 2008... Byline: MATT KAPKO Virgin Mobile USA Inc. stock dropped more than 53% from its closing price after it reported a $14.7 million loss in the fourth quarter. The mobile virtual network operator did, however, report net income of $4.2 million...

AOL to pay $850M to advance social networking plans.(Upfront)
March 17, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS AOL is the latest Internet giant to buy its way onto the online and mobile social networking field. The Time Warner Inc. subsidiary said it will shell out $850 million to acquire Bebo, a U.K.-based outfit that...

Search for the mobile masses; Mobile search set to explode as platform evolves.(Spotlight)
March 17, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS It's no secret that trying to find content or information on a mobile phone is a daunting task for most consumers. Carrier deck layers can seem like concentric circles of hell, wireless Web searches are often...

...ETC...(Briefs)
March 17, 2008... Hell hath no fury... A Chinese woman, angry that her husband left her, retaliated by burning more than 400 cellphones they owned. The couple owned a retail phone business in Weifang, the eastern province of Shandong, according to news...

InfoGin finding success in crowded mobile browser market.(News)
March 17, 2008... Byline: COLIN GIBBS While Opera Software ASA continues to attract attention with its mobile browsers and a host of startups go directly to consumers with their transcoding technology, InfoGin is quietly making headway by cozying up to...

Bluetooth headsets: Room to grow for players large and small.(Spotlight)
March 17, 2008... Byline: PHIL CARSON If you think you're seeing Bluetooth headset advertisements everywhere, offering a bewildering array of styles and functionality from innumerable companies, you're spot on. The growth of mobile multimedia - driven...

Analysts watch chip sales, European 3G market.(Upfront)(Industry overview)
March 17, 2008... Byline: PHIL CARSON When Texas Instruments Inc. lowered its revenue guidance last week for the quarter about to end, citing weakness in 3G sales to a large customer, analysts were quick to speculate on forecasts for global handset sales...

iPhone arrives in Austria, Ireland.(News)
March 17, 2008... Add Austria and Ireland to the list of countries in which the Apple Inc. iPhone is legitimately available. The iPhone retail price at T-Mobile Austria, and in Ireland, at O2 will be $623 for the 8 GB version and $779 for the 16 GB version,...

A touch of Glimmer at Alltel; Carrier lands LG's latest touchscreen device.(Upfront)
March 17, 2008... Byline: PHIL CARSON If you add up a number of factors, the new LG Glimmer at Alltel Corp. makes a lot of sense for the two companies. Touchscreens are hot. The Glimmer offers a 2.8-inch touchscreen with slide-out numeric keypad....

GOING GREEN; And what that may mean to telecom.(News)
March 17, 2008... Byline: PHIL CARSON When "going green'' sometimes means having large polluters pay for lavish advertisements focused on how much they care about the earth, it helps to look beyond platitudes to tangible specifics. Right now, the...

13 years ago this week.(News)
March 24, 2008... A trio of nationwide wireless carriers were born from the PCS auction: AT&T Corp., WirelessCo L.P. (a partnership between Sprint PCS and three cable providers) and PCS PrimeCo L.P. (made up of what eventually became Verizon Wireless.)

online ? of the week.(News)
March 24, 2008... berry beats apple Will the iPhone trump BlackBerrys for business users? 83%: no 17%: yes Visit RCRWirelessNews.com to answer this week's question.

Stockwatch: March 13 - March 20.(Metrics)
March 24, 2008... 3 tables: Stockwatch: March 13 - March 20 * Top Gainers * Top Losers * 3 graphs: Market Diary * Indices * 90-day RCR Index: see print copy.