RCR Wireless News articles from September 2004

RCR Wireless News archives from September 2004

Censorship, incompetence and death.(Opinion)
September 6, 2004... Byline: Jeffrey Silva Once again we are reminded that even with the marvelous multitude of communication channels in the Information Age-fax machines, cell phones and the Internet to name a few-there is no guarantee the right message gets...

McCaw's Clearwire aggressively making way in Jacksonville market.(News)
September 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Few names garner as much attention in the wireless space as Craig McCaw, who is often regarded as one the savviest investors in the industry. From the original creation of McCaw Cellular Communications Inc., which...

Details released for spectrum-leasing.(News)
September 6, 2004... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Most of the Federal Communications Commission continues to hail the leasing of spectrum rights-known as secondary markets-as a way to ensure that spectrum is fully utilized, but FCC Commissioner Michael Copps...

Smartcom offers EV-DO service in Chile.(News)
September 6, 2004... Smartcom, a wireless operator in Chile, has deployed CDMA2000 1x EV-DO technology from Nortel Networks Ltd. to boost its wireless network capacity and expand its service offerings in the greater Santiago area. The upgraded network makes it...

Study: Consumers will approve directory with privacy protections.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Five times as many wireless customers this year said they were willing to list their mobile-phone numbers in a public directory as last year without any set privacy standards, while more than half of wireless customers said they were currently...

Content company acquisition readies it for IPO.(Business)
September 6, 2004... E-Mobile Information Technologies acquired mobile entertainment provider CHL Technologies, the companies announced. The acquisition was necessary for CHL to go public, according to a company spokesman. CHL, which will take E-Mobile's name,...

Lucent could see $816M tax refund.(News)
September 6, 2004... Lucent Technologies Inc. may enjoy a tax windfall of $816 million in refunds if the IRS and the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation give their nods. Already, the IRS has offered a tentative agreement to the refund. Taking advantage...

Shark to exit AMTA.(News)
September 6, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Alan Shark is resigning as president of the American Mobile Telecommunications Association to become executive director of Public Technologies Inc., a nonprofit association that promotes technology benefits to local...

UWB camps still sparring, another deadlock expected.(News)
September 6, 2004... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE With each side of the ultra-wideband technology conflict ratcheting up rhetoric and maneuvers, the turf of war is sizzling with less love and more politics. With another voting session looming next week in Berlin,...

CPUC delays vote on Cingular fine in wake of talks.
September 6, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Cingular Wireless L.L.C., steadfast in its claim that it did not deceive California consumers, has initiated negotiations with the California Public Utilities Commission to settle a proposed record $12 million fine...

Business Briefs.(Briefs)
September 6, 2004... Mobile entertainment provider Dwango North America has raised $3 million in institutional funding from Weiss, Peck & Greer Investments. The announcement comes on the heels of an earlier round that saw Dwango secure more than $5 million from...

News Briefs.(Briefs)
September 6, 2004... Nortel Networks Ltd. said it will supply its converged multiple network offering to rural carrier Western Wireless Corp. Nortel said it will supply Passport 15000 Multiservice Switches to bring the carrier's CDMA, GSM/GPRS and TDMA/AMPS...

Telus Mobility squeaks past Verizon in analyst's ranking.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Canadian athletes may not have matched the total number of medals hauled from Athens as its southern neighbor, but the Great White North did supply the top carrier during the second quarter of this year as Telus Mobility...

U.S. down on Japan's plans to add fees to unlicensed devices.(Global Wireless)
September 6, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The Bush administration and the high-tech sector oppose Japan's proposal to add a user fee to unlicensed wireless devices, arguing it would undercut consumer demand and stifle development of wireless technologies in...

Fingerprint technology gets helping hand from wireless.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY Still sounding like something from a sci-fi flick, fingerprint-recognition technology is coming to fruition in the wireless arena, with funding from top technology firms pushing along product development and launches....

Marconi Rocks! Future of wireless is unlimited, unrestricted and (of course) untethered.(Focus)
September 6, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The future of wireless could be the future of most everything. Wireless technology has evolved in leaps and bounds since the first transmission of radio communication signals across the English Channel and then...

Clubbing, SMS style; From virtual girlfriends to real ones, mobility adds social twists.
September 6, 2004... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Whether you're looking for true love or virtual love-or simply want to play hooky from work-your mobile phone can help. While handset manufacturers and carriers are scrambling to make space-age mobile devices that...

Cellular One offers Kyocera's Aktiv handset.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Kyocera Wireless Corp. and Cellular One have made the Kyocera Aktiv wireless handset available to Cellular One subscribers. The durable, rubbberized CDMA phone is targeted at users with active lifestyles. It features a color display,...

Crown completes U.K. sale, ponders Sprint buy.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY As expected, Crown Castle International Corp. completed the sale of its U.K. subsidiary, including 3,600 tower sites, to British utility company National Grid Transco plc for $2.035 billion in cash. Upon completion,...

New 3G siting technology to save E-Plus $72M.(Late News)
September 6, 2004... German wireless operator E-Plus has developed and applied for a patent for a new system to expand its UMTS network called Ultra High Sites, which the carrier said would reduce its third-generation buildout costs. The innovation will save...

Jamdat agrees to cell-phone games starring Dora, Blue.(News)
September 6, 2004... Mobile entertainment publisher Jamdat Mobile Inc. will partner with Nickelodeon to develop and distribute games based on the network's most-watched shows, the companies announced. "Dora the Explorer'' and "Blue's Clues,'' the No. 1- and...

Nortel delays financing filings to end of October.(News)
September 6, 2004... Citing the volume and the complexity of the work involved, Nortel Networks Ltd. has again put off the filing date for its financial statements until the end of October. The news brought down the company's shares by 1.79 percent to $3.83...

Flextronics agrees to buy Indian software company.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Flextronics Inc. said it has signed an agreement to buy FutureSoft, spreading the breadth of the electronic manufacturing services company's acquisitions. FutureSoft makes software products, services and solutions like Internet Protocol...

New atomic clock could benefit future devices.(News)
September 6, 2004... The National Institute of Standards and Technology demonstrated a minuscule atomic clock that could one day be incorporated into wireless devices. NIST said it believes its clock is 100 times smaller than any other atomic clock. Its inner...

Gaming company forced to liquidate.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Acclaim Entertainment, which boasted a string of console gaming successes last decade with hits including "Mortal Kombat'' and "Turok: Dinosaur Hunter,'' filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and will be forced to liquidate. One of the oldest...

Canada lifts spectrum cap.(Global Wireless)
September 6, 2004... Canada's telecom regulator has rescinded the country's mobile-spectrum cap policy, which limited the amount of radio spectrum that cellular telephone companies could hold. "Today's decision reflects the maturity of the market and clarifies...

Blu-ray to bring wireless digital to home.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE Although not yet on the front burner, wireless players are warming up to Blu-ray technology, which is tapped as the next generation of DVD. The technology-named for the blue lasers that carry it-packs more storage...

Punitive damages 'unconstitutional,' defense claims in lawsuit.(News)
September 6, 2004... The lawyer for a Mississippi car dealer accused in a $15 million lawsuit alleging cell-phone use contributed to a fatal driving accident in March said his client is innocent, and any punitive damages awarded would be unconstitutional. ...

Siemens to stay with handset biz despite recent troubles.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY Troubles in Siemens AG's handset division likely will affect future earnings, but the phone manufacturer said it is committed to its handset business. Most recently, the company warned that a flaw in its 65-series...

Ericsson lets Bluetooth 'baby' walk.
September 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Bluetooth supporters scrambled last week to repair the public-relations damage caused by a decision late last month from the technology's originator and leading supporter, L.M. Ericsson, to de-emphasize its Bluetooth...

Industry complains network outage metrics don't work for wireless.(News)
September 6, 2004... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The wireless industry was surprised but still concerned when it received details of the Federal Communications Commission's new outage reporting requirements-surprised that the FCC will keep the information...

Matrix offers 3D ROM in multimedia card.(News)
September 6, 2004... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE It eases the burden on both the networks and handsets. For end users, it facilitates the multimedia experience. With more than 200 million devices expected in the market worldwide by 2006, multimedia cards are a...

Circuit City ousts T-Mobile USA for Verizon Wireless.(News)
September 6, 2004... Verizon Wireless will launch Verizon Wireless stores inside more than 570 Circuit City Superstores around the country via a new store-within-a-store concept meant to bolster its retail presence. Circuit City also noted that it will stop...

Ex-Monet execs launch Junxion, enabling Wi-Fi (almost) anywhere.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Wireless networking is set to receive a jolt of mobility from start-up Junxion Inc., which is about to launch its mobile connection gateway device combining a Wi-Fi access point with wireless wide area network backhaul...

Nokia ships 1M N-Gage devices.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Nokia Corp. announced it has shipped 1 million N-Gage and N-Gage QD game decks since the platform was introduced 11 months ago. "We're proud to have reached the 1-million milestone. Thanks to the enthusiastic consumer response to the N-Gage...

Infrastructure Awards.(Wireless Metrics)
September 6, 2004... The following infrastructure contracts were announced during August: Alcatel Belgium. With BASE for operation and maintenance of its network Value: "Several tens of million euros'' Brazil. With Brasil Telecom for a complete...

Avocent buys Sonic Mobility for $8M.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Avocent Corp., maker of keyboard, video and mouse switching systems, has acquired software developer Sonic Mobility Inc. for $8 million cash. The deal adds software products for secure wireless systems administration and mobile device...

PRE Solutions acquires GTS Prepaid.(News)
September 6, 2004... PRE Solutions has purchased the assets of GTS Prepaid, strengthening PRE Solutions' position as a provider of prepaid transaction-processing solutions, the company said. "Acquisitions such as this enable PRE Solutions to continue providing...

Simplewire campaign ties mobile texting to Guinness Beer drinkers.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Simplewire, an SMS aggregator, said it is working with Guinness Beer to launch its first short message service cross-carrier short-code advertising campaign. The campaign uses television, radio and print ads to drive user interaction on...

Wireless services allow football fans to get in the game.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Football fans can help choose NCAA All-America players and create NFL fantasy football teams via text messaging with two new wireless services. Cingular Wireless L.L.C. has teamed with ESPN and ABC Sports in encouraging mobile users to use...

Verizon Wireless offers content targeting Hispanic demographic.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Verizon Wireless is offering Univision Movil, a Hispanic-focused mobile content offering that was quietly deployed during the past couple of weeks. American Greetings Corp.'s AG Interactive publicly launched Univision Movil at last week's...

AWS launches UMTS in two more markets; San Diego becomes first market with competing 3G services.(Business)
September 6, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER AT&T Wireless Services Inc. made good on its commitment to launch UMTS-based services in Dallas and San Diego following the carrier's previous network launches in July, which included Detroit, Phoenix, San Francisco and...

Wireless time.(Opinion)
September 6, 2004... Byline: Tracy Ford Wireless has contributed to America becoming an instant society. We have instant messaging; SMS and texting; caller ID, which instantly informs you who is calling before you even pick up the phone (or don't); voice mail;...

U.S. lithium battery market to see continued growth.(Wireless Metrics)
September 6, 2004... The U.S. lithium battery market is expected to reach $2.7 billion in 2009, according to a forthcoming report from Business Communications Co. Inc. The lithium battery market is estimated at $2.1 billion this year, said the report. Lithium...

Comverse, Tecnomen announce MMSC wins in Spain, Pakistan.(News)
September 6, 2004... WOODBURY, N.Y.-Messaging suppliers Comverse and Tecnomen both announced multimedia messaging service center contracts last week. Comverse said Telefonica Moviles Espana selected its MMSC to be deployed with a third-party MMSC to support...

World Briefs.(Briefs)
September 6, 2004... FRANCE The French government said it will sell a 9.6-percent stake in France Telecom to institutional investors, lowering its holding to below 50 percent for the first time. France Telecom owns Orange, a European wireless carrier....

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

Merger complete?(Wireless Metrics)
September 6, 2004... More than half of the respondents to an rcrnews.com poll said they believe the pending merger between Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless will never be completed. Nineteen percent think the merger will close next year and 22 percent believe it...

Mobile porn lucrative, troublesome.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Wireless carriers and content providers around the world are salivating over potential revenues from adult content, which is expected to generate $1 billion annually within the next few years, according to a study by...

Group aims to set foundation for wedding Wi-Fi, cellular.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE With 802.11n still lurking in the distance, wireless players are stepping up efforts to wed cellular and wireless local area networks while earnestly preparing Wi-Fi for wedded bliss. The "n'' protocol will not be...

Glenayre links with MetroPCS on messaging.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Mobile-messaging company Glenayre Technologies Inc. announced the commercial deployment of a new messaging service. Dubbed the Versera Intelligent Communications Environment (ICE), the service has been deployed in...

FCC rates wireless competitive using antitrust data.(News)
September 13, 2004... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Federal Communications Commission deemed the wireless industry competitive and for the first time used antitrust data in its report. "There is effective competition in the wireless marketplace, and...

Verizon goes long with global phone.
September 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Verizon Wireless threw its considerable resources into the international roaming business earlier this month by expanding the availability of Samsung Corp.'s SCH-a790 Global Phone to the carrier's non-business customers....

EDGE not only not survives, it thrives.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Byline: SAM OMATSEYE No longer will EDGE technology belong to the list of protocols with an uncertain future. As some industry experts look at it, EDGE is ramping up in spite of its weaknesses. It is taking advantage of the boom of its...

Sorrent launches Fox sports games, TV ads.(News)
September 13, 2004... With the NFL's opening weekend just days away, Sorrent announced three new sports-related mobile content offerings. The California-based company will promote the launch with a television advertising campaign that Sorrent claims will be the...

Late News.
September 13, 2004... iPCS sells towers to TCP for $16M Sprint affiliate iPCS Inc.'s operating facility iPCS Wireless will sell 92 wireless communications towers to TCP Communications L.L.C. for proceeds of $16.5 million. The towers, mainly located in Michigan,...

Crown Castle begins tender offers.(News)
September 13, 2004... Crown Castle International Corp. has commenced cash tender offers for $205.6 million of its outstanding 9.375-percent senior notes due 2011, $216.4 million of its outstanding 10.75-percent senior notes due 2011, $151.4 million of its...

Centennial to sell TV assets to fund Mich. wireless buildout.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Centennial Communications Corp. said it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Puerto Rico cable television operations to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc. for $155 million in cash. Proceeds from the sale will...

Lucent wins Chinese deal, makes further R&D investment.(Global Wireless)
September 13, 2004... Lucent Technologies Inc. said it has won a $98.5 million contract to expand the CDMA network of Guangdong Unicom. It is the third phase of the expansion, which will cover eight cities. The cities include Guangzhou, Foshan, Jiangmen,...

Rogers inches closer to buying AWS stake in Rogers Wireless.(Global Wireless)
September 13, 2004... Canadian telecommunications provider Rogers Communications Inc. said it has entered into a letter of agreement with AT&T Wireless Services Inc. to facilitate the possible sale of AWS' 34-percent stake in Rogers Wireless Communications Inc. The...

Orange launches PTT in U.K.(Global Wireless)
September 13, 2004... European wireless operator Orange plc commercially launched its push-to-talk Talk Now service on its U.K. network following nine months of customer trials across Europe. The carrier said the trials produced positive results with 58 percent of...

People.
September 13, 2004... CrystalVoice CrystalVoice Communications, which provides enterprise voice communications software solutions, appointed Harvey White chairman of its board of directors. White most recently was chief executive officer of Leap Wireless. ...

Business Briefs.(Briefs)
September 13, 2004... BellSouth Corp. said it plans to offer $3 billion aggregate principal amount of five- and 10-year senior notes to help finance its share of the pending acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. by its wireless subsidiary Cingular Wireless...

World Briefs.(Briefs)
September 13, 2004... SOUTH KOREA The W Seoul Walkerhill Hotel has implemented a voice-over-wireless local area network solution from Nortel Networks Ltd. and its channel partner ECS Telecom to enable mobile communications for its hotel management and staff....

News Briefs.(Briefs)
September 13, 2004... Regional telecommunications provider Qwest Communications International Inc. expanded its nationwide wireless voice service to residential and small business customers in Las Cruces, Alamogordo and Clovis, N.M. Qwest said customers who select...

Wavecom dumps phones, chips in restructuring.(Global Wireless)
September 13, 2004... Module maker Wavecom Inc. said it will no longer develop handsets and semiconductors as part of a sweeping restructuring of the company that will lap up about 560 jobs.The company will focus on its automotive and machine-to-machine markets and...

Kitchen to leave PCIA.(News)
September 13, 2004... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY Jay Kitchen, president and chief executive officer of PCIA, plans to retire from the industry trade group he has led for 10 years. Kitchen expects to stay with the group for a year to head up a transition team that...

Dwango Wireless taps M7 Networks.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Mobile entertainment publisher Dwango Wireless has tapped M7 Networks, a wireless platform hosting company, to deliver short message service "wake-up'' functionality to Dwango games. M7's SMS will alert gamers to developments, including...

New mobile marketing firm targets young users.(News)
September 13, 2004... Advertising executives Jim Hood and Wes Bray announced the formation of HipCricket L.L.C., a wireless marketing and event company targeting young mobile-phone users. HipCricket is working with television and radio marketers to create...

AAT, Bechtel form tower-siting partnership.(News)
September 13, 2004... AAT Communications Corp. and Bechtel Telecommunications have signed a national two-year contract under which they will partner to offer wireless carriers a one-stop solution for tower siting and network expansion projects. According to the...

Company offers alarm service for cell phones.(Global Wireless)
September 13, 2004... Datalink Nordic has developed a mobile service that allows users to send alerts from their mobile phone when they are in danger. Users activate MLARM on their phone and then they can press any button to send alert data to the MLARM service....

Wi-Fi Alliance certifies WMM standard.(News)
September 13, 2004... The Wi-Fi Alliance said it has certified the Wi-Fi-multimedia standard, otherwise known as WMM, for networking in consumer electronic devices such as DVD players and televisions. The standard is also referred to as QoS for quality of...

Qualcomm acquires display tech firm.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Qualcomm Inc. said it has acquired a display technology company known as Iridigm Display Corp. for $170 million in cash. The sum accounts for 86 percent of the company that Qualcomm did not already own. The wireless chipmaker said it had...

Products.
September 13, 2004... AirGate AirGate Technologies, a subsidiary of The X-Change Corp., said it has completed a radio-frequency identification (RFID) prototype for car child safety seats. The prototype uses the company's "Smart Buckle'' technology incorporated...

Siemens offers fix for Series-65 defect.(Global Wireless)
September 13, 2004... Siemens AG announced it is offering new software for its Series-65 phones to solve the acoustic glitch it recently warned about. The new software can be downloaded at www.siemens-mobile.com/software65 by users who can then update their...

AWS offers Sierra Wireless' Voq device.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Sierra Wireless announced the Voq Professional Phone is now commercially available in North America on the AT&T Wireless Services Inc. network. The Windows Mobile 2003-based smart phone is retailing for $500 through resellers, including...

Shanda acquires rest of game developer.(Global Wireless)
September 13, 2004... Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. agreed to buy the remaining interest it did not already own in Beijing Digital-Red Mobile Software Co. Ltd., a mobile games developer. Shanda first purchased a minority stake in Digital-Red in January. ...

Cingular offers Yahoo! color IM service.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Cingular Wireless users can send and receive Yahoo! instant messages though a new, full-color graphical interface, the companies announced. "Instant messaging has exploded in the U.S.,'' said Jim Ryan, vice president of data product...

M-commerce uptake inches along with small buys.(Focus)
September 13, 2004... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Don't throw away that wallet just yet. M-commerce-the simple idea of using a mobile phone to buy things-has been hyped for years and has been the vehicle for the exploding industry of downloadable content, including...

Nokia shares up on better 3Q forecast.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Byline: EMILY MOTSAY Shares of Nokia Corp. were up nearly eight points last Thursday on news from the company that it believes it will exceed previous forecasts for the third quarter. Nokia cited strong volume growth in the global mobile...

Wireless satisfaction up 5 percent, survey says; T-Mobile USA gets top honors.(Business)
September 13, 2004... Byline: DAN MEYER Once lightly regarded as a true competitor for its larger nationwide competition due to its relatively small customer base, not-quite nationwide footprint and questionable network quality, T-Mobile USA Inc. has managed to...

Everybody's talking.(Opinion)
September 13, 2004... Byline: Jeffrey Silva Last week, in the lead-up to the third anniversary of that horrific September morning three years back, there was patriot talk aplenty on Capitol Hill. And just what was all the talk about? It was about, well,...

Subcommittee told no technical barriers to CALEA compliance.(News)
September 13, 2004... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER There is no technical reason for carriers not to comply with the digital wiretap act, a senior government official told the House telecommunications subcommittee. "At this junction, it does not appear...

Minnesota tough on notification requirements to contract changes.(News)
September 13, 2004... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA The nation's top mobile-phone carriers last week asked a Minnesota federal court to stay a new ruling upholding a state law set to go into effect this week that bans mobile-phone carriers from making significant...