RCR Wireless News articles from October 2003

RCR Wireless News archives from October 2003

Court awards Motorola $4.6M in Telsim suit; But Uzan family can't be located.(Global Wireless)
October 6, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE After years of legal and public relations duels, Motorola may be edging closer to a payday. If, that is, it can locate the borrowers. A court decision rejected the appeal of the Uzan family, who owns Turkish No. 2...

World Briefs.(Briefs)
October 6, 2003... RUSSIA A Russian operator has begun a trial of CDMA2000 1X technology at 450 MHz using equipment from Nortel Networks Ltd. The trial is being conducted in Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city, by UralWestcom, a joint venture between...

Carrier Briefs.(Briefs)
October 6, 2003... Western Wireless Corp. announced the registration statement for the resale of its outstanding 4.625-percent convertible subordinated notes due 2023 and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of the notes has been declared...

Game enthusiasts prepare to meet Nokia's N-Gage.
October 6, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Roy Miniel is a video gamer. He knows his way around a joystick and is on a first-name basis with Lara. Lara Croft, that is, professional tomb raider. Indeed, it's Miniel's job to know such things-he runs a Denver-area...

Telecom vendors suffer continued declines.(Business)
October 6, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE With the onset of standardization and modular technologies, the market shares of the big infrastructure players have continued to see constant declines, according to an upcoming report from the Yankee Group. The...

Dutch study finds link between base station RF and health effects.(News)
October 6, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Dutch government said a new study finds that radiation from GSM base stations of third-generation mobile-phone systems could be a potential health problem. The research, in which individuals exposed to 3G base...

HighPointe acquires rooftop sites from Crown Castle.(Business)
October 6, 2003... Telecommunications site consulting and management company HighPointe Group L.L.C. has acquired the assets of Crown Castle International Corp.'s Site Spectrum Management Corp. rooftop management subsidiary. The value of the deal was not...

NextWave asks to test wireless broadband service in Las Vegas.(News)
October 6, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. is asking its judge to allow it to conduct a $39 million trial of wireless broadband technology in Las Vegas using spectrum to be obtained from IPWireless Inc. "Given the...

Study says customer retention is critical for operators.(News)
October 6, 2003... Customer retention is a top priority for wireless carriers, according to J.D. Power and Associates' new 2003 U.S. Wireless Regional CSI Study. Slowing penetration and upcoming wireless local number portability are making customer retention...

SBA to restate some financials for past 3 years.(Business)
October 6, 2003... SBA Communications Corp. said it will restate some financial statements from 2001, 2002 and 2003 to reflect this year's sale of towers to AAT Communications Corp. and other towers held for sale. The re-audit showed the company overstated...

Nokia to supply $117M W-CDMA network in Singapore.(News)
October 6, 2003... Nokia Corp. said it has won a five-year, $117 million contract to supply Singapore carrier StarHub with equipment for a W-CDMA network. According to the deal, Nokia will provide radio access and core network equipment and deliver management...

Kyocera Wireless drops Kurv plans, now faces lawsuit.(Business)
October 6, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Kyocera Wireless Corp. appears to have abandoned plans to build its much-hyped Kurv phone, a move that prompted the company's Kurv technology partner, Wildseed Ltd., to file suit against the handset maker alleging breach...

Celeritek to exit wireless amp biz.(News)
October 6, 2003... Celeritek Inc. said it is pulling out of the wireless amplifier business to focus its semiconductors on defense and other communications markets. The company hopes this decision will decrease its cash burn by between $14 million and $16 million...

OTA technology makes headway in wireless.(Business)
October 6, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Sometime in the future, wireless users may never again have to mail in their phones to get a software glitch repaired. If such a vision holds true, users won't even know there's a problem. "Subscribers just want to...

TeliaSonera to implement EDGE in Finland; Subscriber base drops on MNP implementation.(Global Wireless)
October 6, 2003... TeliaSonera AB said it will invest in EDGE technology to improve the speed of its Finnish mobile network. The company said it EDGE technology will be available this fall. TeliaSonera, which owns mobile subsidiaries in several Nordic and...

PictureIQ becomes first casualty of picture messaging.(Business)
October 6, 2003... It appears PictureIQ Corp. is shutting down its operations, making the company perhaps the first casualty of the picture messaging market. A message on the company's Web site said PictureIQ is shutting down. The company's telephone lines...

Former Sprint execs named to Japan Telecom board.(News)
October 6, 2003... Two former Sprint Corp. executives have been named to the board of Japan Telecom Co. William Esrey, former Sprint chief executive officer, has been named chairman of the board, and Ronald LeMay, former Sprint chief operating officer, has...

Merrill Lynch increases year-end wireless subscriber forecasts.(Business)
October 6, 2003... Merrill Lynch increased its forecast for the number of U.S. wireless subscribers it expects to sign up for service by the end of the year, saying it now believes that U.S. carriers will have garnered 16 million new customers during 2003. ...

SpeechTEK event highlighted by partnerships.(Business)
October 6, 2003... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY Partnership announcements were plentiful at the ninth annual SpeechTEK International Educational Conference and Exposition, which took place last week in New York City. The unions demonstrate a trend among vendors in...

DoCoMo reaches 1M FOMA milestone.(News)
October 6, 2003... NTT DoCoMo Inc. finally hit the 1 million mark for the number of users of its FOMA third-generation W-CDMA service, two years after launching the service and much later than original estimates. After sluggish uptake for its 3G services,...

Alliance brings together Europe's small operators.(News)
October 6, 2003... In the second such European alliance aiming to gain power in numbers, nine second- and third-tier mobile operators joined forces in a new mobile alliance to provide seamless, enhanced voice and data solutions for businesses and consumers across...

U.S. EV-DO launches to trigger activity worldwide.(News)
October 6, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE By rolling out services in two U.S. markets, Verizon Wireless has triggered momentum for CDMA2000 1X EV-DO technology, barely two years since the first launch of CDMA2000 1X services in the world. The EV-DO...

Powell not leaving FCC, will 'roll up' 800 MHz.(News)
October 6, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is not resigning. To emphasize this point, which has been widely quoted amid ever-growing speculation that he would leave after some...

CPUC just a piece of consumer rights issue.(News)
October 6, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Even before the California Public Utilities Commission votes on a landmark bill of rights for telecom consumers, other states are signaling they too are ready to get tough with mobile-phone carriers. The Nebraska...

Activision, Airborne enter partnership.(News)
October 6, 2003... Activision Inc. will sell wireless versions of three of its popular desktop computer games through a new deal with wireless content company Airborne Entertainment. The companies plan to sell wireless versions of Tough Trucks, Skateboard Park...

Vanu, Mid-Tex deploy all-software base station system.(News)
October 6, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE In what they describe as the world's first all-software base station system, two companies believe they are breaking new ground in second-generation access network technology. Vanu Inc. and Mid-Tex Cellular said...

House Commerce Committee passes E911 bill despite concerns.(News)
October 6, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Bush administration last week said it opposed new grant money for the deployment of wireless enhanced 911. "The administration believes Congress should consider more efficient and more cost-effective...

TIA praises Senate committee passage of tax-break legislation.(News)
October 6, 2003... The Telecommunications Industry Association applauded Senate Finance Committee passage of legislation that includes a tax break designed to foster broadband investment. "TIA supports the use of fiscal incentives as a necessary step in...

Carriers prepare for customer service demands LNP will bring.(News)
October 6, 2003... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY Wireless local number portability will almost certainly provoke a plethora of questions and concerns from confused consumers, even if it does not trigger a flood of churning customers the day the calendar reads Nov....

Future offers good news, bad news for tower companies.(News)
October 6, 2003... Byline: TRACY FORD Wireless carriers are going to have to fortify their networks to become increasingly reliable as more people cut the cord. Does that sound like good news for tower companies, which have been victims of carriers'...

My personal Cell Hell.(Opinion)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Heather Forsgren Weaver I am the kind of customer every wireless carrier seeks. Earlier this year, I cut the cord, and I like to talk A LOT. In other words, I am a high-volume wireless-only customer. So you would think that my...

Do-not-call listlessness.(Opinion)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Jeffrey Silva As if the Iraq quagmire (mobile-phone licensing mystery aside) and the jobless recovery have not done enough to take the wind out of the administration's sails, now comes an unpatriotic pitch by Bush telemarketers...

In this issue ...(News)
October 6, 2003... RCR Wireless News this week introduces a full-page of wireless industry metrics in each issue. We have moved our half-page StockWatch listing to a new home opposite the inside back cover and added valuable industry data to the bottom half of...

Officials: ITU draft not endorsement of 2002 spectrum report.
October 6, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA U.S. officials last week tried to downplay a controversy triggered by a Bush administration document that wireless and other telecom sectors claim could be misinterpreted overseas as official endorsement of a...

Late News.
October 6, 2003... Alltel reaches $1M settlement over environmental violations U.S. officials said they reached a settlement with Alltel Corp. for environmental violations that require the Arkansas wireline-wireless carrier to pay a $1 million fine. The...

Nokia restructuring demonstrates shift toward enterprise, multimedia.(News)
October 6, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE Along with the new structure recently announced for Nokia Corp., the company is taking on a new face to reflect an industry shift towards enterprise and multimedia services. The only division that remains as it was...

FCC set to affirm Muleta letter on wireless-to-wireless porting.
October 6, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Federal Communications Commission this week is expected to confirm the guidance given almost three months ago to the wireless industry on how wireless-to-wireless local number portability is going to...

Xora announces enhanced Nextel location service.(News)
October 6, 2003... Xora Inc. announced that an enhanced version of its next-generation location-based Xora GPS TimeTrack service is now available. With the service, mobile workers can clock in and out via Nextel wireless phones and record details on projects...

Seven enters contract with KDDI.(News)
October 6, 2003... Wireless e-mail company Seven announced it scored a major deal with Japanese wireless carrier KDDI, which will offer the company's technology to its 17 million subscribers. The move marks a major step for Seven, as it already counts No. 1...

Palm adds 3 new PDAs.(Business)
October 6, 2003... Palm Inc. released three new personal digital assistants, and though none includes support for wide area wireless networks, the devices nonetheless acknowledge the growing influence and importance of the wireless industry. Indeed, one of...

Infrastructure Awards.(News)
October 6, 2003... Following are mobile infrastructure contracts announced in August and September 2003. Alcatel Afghanistan. With TDCA for a complete GSM network Value: Undisclosed France. With Orange SA to complete 3G/UMTS deployments ...

Global Carriers.(News)
October 6, 2003... Editor's Note: The RCR Wireless News, Global Wireless 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 June 30,...

Cingular's GSM customers hit with service outage.(Business)
October 6, 2003... Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s GSM network failed the last weekend of September, affecting thousands of customers nationwide. The outage affected Cingular's GSM overlay network in the southern, northeastern and midwestern United States,...

Verizon launches EV-DO in D.C., San Diego.(Business)
October 6, 2003... Verizon Wireless has introduced BroadbandAccess, a broadband wireless data service powered by its third-generation wide-area 1X EV-DO network. The service launched last week in Washington, D.C., and San Diego. The company said, working...

Globalstar files reorg plan.(Business)
October 6, 2003... Bankrupt mobile satellite service provider Globalstar L.P. and its subsidiaries have filed a joint plan of reorganization, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Under the proposed reorganization plan,...

Wireless use continues to grow at steady pace.(News)
October 13, 2003... The percentage of consumers using mobile-phone service has markedly increased during 2003, according to research from Solomon Wolff Associates. According to the firm, 77 percent of households use wireless phone service, up from 66 percent...

Verizon, Disney expand content agreement.(Business)
October 13, 2003... Verizon Wireless continues to expand its Get It Now data offerings, adding new content from Walt Disney and MapQuest. First, Walt Disney's wireless business announced an expanded deal with Verizon Wireless, with plans to add content from...

Tower sector needs one show.(Opinion)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Tracy Ford Before it becomes a rehash of PCIA vs. CTIA, PCIA and Shorecliff Communications need to merge their tower shows into one event. It's the best thing for the industry, and both groups have a vested interest in seeing the...

Sierra to sell smart phone using Microsoft OS.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Longtime wireless modem maker Sierra Wireless announced a significant new business direction with the unveiling of its Voq phone-a device that marks the arrival of a new smart-phone player and another Microsoft Corp....

Everypath scores $14.3M in funding.(Business)
October 13, 2003... Wireless enterprise company Everypath Inc. scored a significant $14.3 million in new venture funding, with Trident Capital leading the round. Everypath offers technology for mobile task automation, which the company said allows...

Sprint launches PCS Data Link to replace CDPD network.(Business)
October 13, 2003... Sprint Corp. launched its PCS Data Link high-speed wireless connectivity solution, which the company said was designed to provide mobile employees with secure, remote access to critical corporate resources and replace current CDPD and private...

AT&T Wireless to sell stake in Far EasTone.(Global Wireless)
October 13, 2003... AT&T Wireless Services Inc. said it signed an agreement to sell its ownership stake in Taiwanese mobile carrier Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. to the carrier's majority shareholder, Far Eastern Group, for $330 million in cash. Earlier...

Secondary markets ruling could advance mobile backhaul efforts.(Focus)
October 13, 2003... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY A much-awaited ruling from the Federal Communications Commission, hailed as one of the most important spectrum-reform decisions during the past decade, could impact the wireless industry even more than anticipated. The...

Siemens creates U.S.-based broadband R&D unit.(Business)
October 13, 2003... Siemens AG said it has created a new global research and development unit called Siemens Subscriber Networks, with headquarters in Dallas. The centers will be in Dallas; San Jose, Calif.; Brussels, Belgium; and Zurich, Switzerland. ...

Unwired Australia to deploy wireless broadband in Sydney.(Global Wireless)
October 13, 2003... Unwired Australia Pty. Ltd. announced it plans to deploy a metro-area non-line-of-sight, wide-area wireless broadband network in Sydney, Australia. The network deployment, which follows Unwired's testing of a trial network in Balmain, a...

Kyocera to make PTT phones, stops selling some handsets as one explodes.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Kyocera Wireless Corp. said it will temporarily halt shipments of several handset models following reports that a Kyocera phone apparently exploded just days after a Nebraska family purchased it. According to Nebraska...

Motorola's Symbian share transfer to Nokia, Psion complete.(Global Wireless)
October 13, 2003... Nokia Corp. said it completed its deal to purchase Motorola Inc.'s Symbian shares-a 13.2-percent stake-and Psion plc purchased the remaining shares-5.8 percent. The deal was first announced in August, but was subject to a pre-emption process...

As DO launches, EDGE fans bank on future AT&T Wireless close to Dallas rollout.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE CDMA2000 1x EV-DO launches in two U.S. markets have shoved its rival protocol to the margin. But EDGE promoters say they aren't worried. Tapping into the footprint of EDGE's predecessor GSM/GPRS, which accounts...

FCC should clarify strongest-signal rules.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Wireless Consumers Alliance Oct. 3 asked the Federal Communications Commission to confirm that its 911 strongest-signal rules require an analog phone to connect to a base station within 17 seconds rather...

Youth market fertile ground for carriers, Yankee survey finds.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Wireless carriers looking to increase market share and generate interest in advanced services should continue to focus on the youth market, which according to a consumer survey released by the Yankee Group last week, has...

Global Briefs.(Global Wireless)
October 13, 2003... UNITED KINGDOM Vodafone U.K. said it and rival operator 3 have jointly secured the FA Premier League soccer mobile rights in a three-season deal. The rights begin with the 2004/2005 season and run through the 2006/2007 season and give...

Wireless celebrates 20.
October 13, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE No one contemplated picture messaging 20 years ago at Soldier's Field when the first wireless call was made Oct. 13, 1983. Before the shimmering waters of Lake Michigan, the stately music of a marching band and...

TIA says U.S. paper on spectrum report deceptive.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Changes sought by wireless firms to a U.S. document being prepared for an upcoming International Telecommunication Union meeting are insufficient, a major industry group said last week, keeping alive a controversy the...

Sprint tinkers with price plans.(Business)
October 13, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Less than a week into what is traditionally the busiest quarter of the year, Sprint PCS rolled out a handful of modest rate plan changes bolstering the carrier's low-end and mid-priced offerings and providing more...

Verizon scores high on DO speed, price.(Business)
October 13, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Independent testing of Verizon Wireless' recently launched BroadbandAccess 1x EV-DO network found that while the service fell short of the multi-megabit speeds often used as marketing hype, the service consistently...

Industry urges court to throw out headset case.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The wireless industry, pointing to legal, legislative and regulatory precedent, told a federal appeals court that U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake was correct to dismiss on federal pre-emption grounds five...

Goodbye Columbus.(Opinion)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Jeffrey Silva Was Northrop Grumman Corp. on to something? Put another way, do Federal Communications Commission rules governing 700 MHz public-safety communications effectively lock out state-of-the-art broadband wireless solutions...

FCC approves Global Crossing transfer.(Focus)
October 13, 2003... Global Crossing received Federal Communications Commission approval to transfer its assets and operations to New GX, a company formed under the laws of Bermuda, with main offices in New Jersey, to carry out Global Crossing's Chapter 11...

Esat BT wins UMTS deal in Ireland with 3.(Global Wireless)
October 13, 2003... Esat BT said it signed a $166.4 million deal with 3 Ireland to build and operate its third-generation radio access network. Esat BT will be responsible for building and operating all elements of the radio access network, including radio...

Verizon, Audiovox continue settlement talks with O'Day.(News)
October 13, 2003... Settlement talks continue in a blind woman's complaint that Verizon Wireless and Audiovox Communications Corp. violated the disability provision of the 1996 telecom act, with lawyers expected to report back to the Federal Communications...

GSM wins in Iraq.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER After weeks of speculation, it appears that GSM technology has won out over CDMA systems in Iraq. The Coalition of Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Minister of Communications Oct. 6 announced the...

Sun answers complaints with server, test suite.(Business)
October 13, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Sun Microsystems Inc. is working to address many of the complaints and concerns leveled at the company's wireless Java technology with a series of new products, services and programs introduced at the ITU Telecom World...

Rural carriers forced to port to others.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Rural wireless carriers cannot refuse to port a telephone number to another wireless carrier that does not have an interconnection agreement with them, the Federal Communications Commission ruled last week....

Motorola to spin off chip business.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE True to some industry predictions, Motorola Inc. has decided to spin off its semiconductor arm and turn it into a separate publicly traded company, similar to fellow infrastructure provider Lucent Technologies Inc.,...

Late News.
October 13, 2003... American Tower's Taiclet named CEO American Tower Corp. announced Jim Taiclet, formerly president and chief operating officer, will take over the roll of chief executive officer, replacing Steve Dodge, who will continue as chairman of the...

Openwave announces 1:3 reverse stock split.(News)
October 13, 2003... Openwave Systems Inc. announced its board has approved a one-for-three reverse common stock split. The reverse stock split will be effective Oct. 21, and Openwave's common stock will begin trading under the split adjustment when the market...

Handsets should enjoy strong 3Q metrics too.
October 13, 2003... Byline: MIKE DANO Expectations are high for the world's mobile-phone makers, as Wall Street and the wireless industry hope for big third-quarter numbers before the all-important holiday shopping season. It's unclear just how the market...

US Airways to allow cell-phone use sooner after landing.(News)
October 13, 2003... US Airways has expanded its onboard wireless phone use policy to allow customers to use their phones sooner after landing. Passengers now can use wireless devices onboard US Airways while taxiing to the gate, after being advised by the...

AT&T Wireless dumps mLife for updated 'reach out' campaign.(News)
October 13, 2003... AT&T Wireless Services Inc. launched a new brand advertising campaign, which the company said would invoke the carrier's former corporate parent AT&T Corp.'s heritage and encourage people to "reach out on the wireless service America trusts.''...

Nokia, Pannon GSM demo W-CDMA call in Hungary.(News)
October 13, 2003... Nokia Corp. and Hungarian operator Pannon GSM said they demonstrated the first public W-CDMA third-generation call in Hungary. The call was made by a Pannon GSM executive using a Nokia 6650 phone. During the demonstration, streaming,...

T-Mobile, Gemplus release results from advanced SMS service.(News)
October 13, 2003... T-Mobile Netherlands and Gemplus announced results from their deployment of a short message service-based information-on-demand offering for T-Mobile's Dutch customers. After five months of the service, volumes for SMS ring-tone downloads...

Carriers likely to post strong 3Q.
October 13, 2003... Byline: DAN MEYER Riding the wave of stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, wireless industry analysts are predicting carriers will post robust third-quarter financials that will be tempered only by a slight increase in customer...

800 MHz 'Face Off' produces fireworks.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The 800 MHz band wars continued last week at the Private Wireless Summit sponsored by the Industrial Telecommunications Association as panelists hotly debated the best way to solve the public-safety...

Crunch time on California bill of rights.
October 13, 2003... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA While industry is having trouble keeping mounting consumer litigation in check, wireless firms see a glimmer of hope in the possibility that California's Republican Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger might be able to...