RCR Wireless News articles from September 2005

RCR Wireless News archives from September 2005

Motorola announces $1B debt offering.(News)
September 5, 2005... Motorola Inc. announced cash tender offers for up to $1 billion of certain of its outstanding debt. The company said the offer included all the $200 million aggregate principal amount outstanding of its 6.5-percent notes due in 2008 and...

Sprint Nextel births new brand.
September 5, 2005... Byline: DAN MEYER Sprint Nextel Corp. kicked off its "Day 1'' operations as a new company last Friday just three weeks after Sprint Corp. completed its $35 billion acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. The introduction of combined...

Data, price competition heats up as Verizon rolls out EV-DO in more cities.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: DAN MEYER Verizon Wireless continues to build on its domination in the wireless data space, adding a handful of new markets to its rapidly growing coverage area while at the same time cutting prices. The carrier now offers its...

Network Awards.(News)
September 5, 2005... Following are infrastructure contracts announced in August: Alcatel Armenia. With VivaCell to deploy a GSM/GPRS mobile network. Value: Undisclosed Kosovo. With Vala900 to expand its GSM/GPRS network. Value: $22.2 million ...

WFI wins optimization contract in Europe.(News)
September 5, 2005... Network provider Wireless Facilities Inc. has won a $10 million network services contract to provide second- and third-generation network optimization for a major wireless carrier in Europe. The company said the contract is an extension of...

Germany's E-Plus to offer Skype VoIP service.(News)
September 5, 2005... Skype Technologies S.A. inked its first deal with a wireless carrier, announcing a contract with Germany's E-Plus to provide its Voice over Internet Protocol service over the mobile operator's network. Beginning in October, Skype software...

Verizon sues 2 telemarketers.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Verizon Wireless sued two telemarketers for violating the prohibition against making sales calls to mobile phones using autodialers. Using evidence initially gained because Verizon Wireless employees...

Remec shareholders vote to dissolve company.(News)
September 5, 2005... Remec Inc.'s shareholders approved the dissolution of the company, scheduling the company's asset sale for Friday. Remec's shareholders approved the sale of selected assets and liabilities of the company's Wireless Systems Business to...

Cingular, T-Mobile USA, i-mate debut new devices.(News)
September 5, 2005... Cingular Wireless L.L.C., T-Mobile USA Inc. and device vendor i-mate were among those introducing new phones to the market last week. Cingular Wireless said it will sell two new clamshell-style, low-end phones from LG Electronics Co. Ltd....

Bluegrass Cellular employs InterOp for ring-back services.(News)
September 5, 2005... Kentucky-based regional carrier Bluegrass Cellular Inc. has tapped InterOp Technologies Inc. to provide ring-back services, the companies said. InterOp, which powers mobile data services for Tier 2 and 3 operators, will deliver its library...

Nokia appoints Oistamo to lead phones unit.(News)
September 5, 2005... Nokia Corp.'s board of directors added two new members to its executive board, appointing Kai Oistamo to lead the Mobile Phones business group and Robert Andersson to head customer and market operations. Oistamo has been with Nokia since...

U.K. carrier launches pre-WiMAX network.(News)
September 5, 2005... English regional carrier Telabria launched a pre-WiMAX network that covers 850 square miles-including 675,000 households and 60,000 businesses-in southeast England. The carrier said the network offers speeds greater than landline offerings at a...

Canadian carrier group launches distracted-driver focused Web site.(News)
September 5, 2005... The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association has launched Focus on Driving, an interactive Web site to raise awareness of the risks associated with driver distraction. The Web site, http://www.focusondriving.ca, features an...

Cell phones become CFOs top tech tool.(Wireless Metrics)
September 5, 2005... Financial executives say their cell phones are even more indispensable than laptop computers, according to a survey from Robert Half Management Resources. The staffing division of Robert Half International found that 44 percent of U.S....

Judge tosses out bundling lawsuit.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA A federal judge in New York last week threw out lawsuits alleging the nation's top mobile-phone companies violated antitrust laws by improperly tying the sale of handsets to the purchase of wireless service, keeping...

Carriers make slow progress to repair networks.
September 5, 2005... Byline: DAN MEYER The wireless industry continues to struggle with service outages in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast region when it came ashore Aug. 29, but by late last week, carriers appeared to be...

Surveillance issues creep in with fall.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER As the calendar nears Sept. 11, various issues at the intersection of law enforcement and the telecom industry are heating up. Foremost is the Federal Communications Commission's decision that Voice over...

2 carriers seek waivers on hearing-aid handsets.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Two of the four national mobile-phone operators will not meet the first major deadline this month for rolling out hearing-aid-compatible handsets to the public. T-Mobile USA Inc. on Aug. 26 asked the Federal...

Sprint Nextel buys two more affiliates.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: DAN MEYER Sprint Nextel Corp. continued to throw money at its affiliate problems, announcing plans to acquire a pair of network partners-IWO Holdings Inc. and Gulf Coast Wireless L.P.-for more than $700 million. The deals will add...

FTS Wireless to sell Metro PCS service.(News)
September 5, 2005... Wireless retailer FTS Wireless Inc. reported a deal with regional wireless operator MetroPCS Inc. to sell MetroPCS' unlimited calling service in the Tampa, Fla., area. FTS said it has secured approval for certain FTS Wireless locations to begin...

BMI, Gracenote make wireless music moves.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Music-rights company Broadcast Music Inc. said it has acquired music-recognition technology from U.K. software developer Shazam Entertainment Ltd. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. BMI, which...

Pantech to merge two subsidiaries.(Global Wireless)
September 5, 2005... Electronics manufacturer Pantech announced it will bring its various mobile-phone operations closer together. The company said its mobile-phone affiliate Pantech Co. Ltd. will merge with its recently acquired SK Teletech Co. business. ...

Union says it's making progress with Cingular Wireless workers.(News)
September 5, 2005... The Communications Workers of America said progress is being made unionizing Cingular Wireless L.L.C. 's workers in the South, particularly former AT&T Wireless Services Inc. employees. Larry Cohen, chosen to succeed long-time CWA President...

Nokia to receive payment following Telsim sale.(Global Wireless)
September 5, 2005... Nokia Corp. reached a settlement with Turkish operator Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon, whereby Nokia will receive a payment after the sale of Telsim's assets. Nokia said the settlement is subject to the formal board approval of the Turkish...

Verizon Wireless offers new music content.(News)
September 5, 2005... Verizon Wireless added to its music offerings, announcing exclusive deals with pop star Shakira and rhythm and blues artist John Legend. The carrier launched two ringtone versions of Shakira's hit "La Tortura'' as well as a ring-back tone...

World Briefs.(Briefs)
September 5, 2005... Australia Australian wireless carrier Telstra Corp. now offers commercial W-CDMA services. The carrier, which operates both GSM- and CDMA-based networks, previously offered EV-DO service in some markets in Australia. The carrier is...

Fixed-wireless vendor IDT plans auction-like IPO.(News)
September 5, 2005... Fixed-wireless vendor IDT Spectrum Inc. plans to raise up to $57.5 million in an initial public offering. The company said it will use the funds to build a fixed-wireless network in various U.S. markets, including New York, Los Angeles,...

DiBcom scores $30M in funding.(News)
September 5, 2005... DiBcom snared $30 million in its fourth round of financing, the French chipmaker said Monday. Partech International led the round, which DiBcom said was the largest venture-backed financing for a French information technology company this...

KDDI fixes phone glitch via OTA.(Global Wireless)
September 5, 2005... KDDI Corp. in Japan used over-the-air updating technology to fix a software glitch in several thousand subscriber phones. KDDI uses OTA technology from InnoPath Software Inc. "By delivering fast, efficient and reliable software updates...

ACG scores first high-end handset.(News)
September 5, 2005... The Associated Carrier Group scored its first handset, an advanced camera/music phone from Kyocera Wireless Corp. The group of independent, rural carriers formed early this year for just such a purpose-making sure that smaller carriers get...

Commercial EDGE networks reach nearly 100 worldwide.(Wireless Metrics)
September 5, 2005... In a new report, the Global mobile Suppliers Association confirmed that commercial GSM/EDGE network launches have tripled since last year to reach 96 EDGE-enabled networks in 60 countries. The breakdown is 38 commercial networks in 26...

Cingular Wireless to offer iTunes phone.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: MIKE DANO Motorola Inc. plans to unveil its long-awaited iTunes-capable mobile phone Sept. 7, said an analyst familiar with the company's plans. The device will sell through Cingular Wireless L.L.C. Roger Entner, vice president...

U.S. Cellular adds Hispanic content.(News)
September 5, 2005... U.S. Cellular Corp. became the latest carrier to court the Hispanic market, announcing a deal with the wireless arm of media company Univision to provide Latin content and Spanish-language wireless services to its subscribers. The Tier 2...

Virgin Mobile USA offers exclusive Gorillaz content.(News)
September 5, 2005... Virgin Mobile USA Inc. announced an exclusive deal to bring content from alternative rockers the Gorillaz to wireless. The operator said it has launched ringtones, realtones and wallpapers from the band's platinum album "Demon Days''...

VoIP providers get E-911 delay.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Internet-based telephone companies have joined cellular carriers in having difficulty meeting federal enhanced 911 requirements, prompting the Federal Communications Commission to give Voice over Internet Protocol...

Verizon Wireless to sell third LG phone with carrier's new UI.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: MIKE DANO Verizon Wireless said it will sell the new VX5200 clamshell-style phone from LG Electronics Co. Ltd. for $50 with a two-year service agreement. The phone features an integrated camera, speakerphone and voice-recognition...

Camera phones to boost digital camera sales.(Wireless Metrics)
September 5, 2005... Camera phones are more gateways to digital cameras than replacements for them, according to a study released from IDC. The survey found that 30 percent of U.S. camera-phone owners plan to buy digital cameras because they were introduced to...

Court lets stand $128M judgement against BCGI; BCGI plans to appeal.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: DAN MEYER Prepaid wireless service platform provider Boston Communications Group Inc. said it plans to appeal a federal court's decision that let stand a $128 million judgement plus unspecified interest awarded by a jury against...

Emergency-alert legislation will include wireless.
September 5, 2005... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Commerce subcommittee on disaster prevention and prediction, next week plans to offer a national emergency-alert bill crafted with the help of the mobile-phone...

SMS helps with donations for Hurricane Katrina relief.(News)
September 5, 2005... Verizon Wireless was the first out of the gate with what is expected to be an industrywide effort to allow mobile-phone users the ability to donate to the American Red Cross using text messaging and the short code 2Help or 24357. Customers...

Kodak, Nikon to sell cameras with built-in Wi-Fi.(News)
September 5, 2005... Eastman Kodak Co. and Nikon Corp. separately announced new digital cameras that will include built-in Wi-Fi modems. The companies said such devices will allow users to more easily upload their pictures to their computers or the Internet,...

Traffic.com files for $86M IPO.(News)
September 5, 2005... Traffic information vendor Traffic.com Inc. announced plans to raise up to $86 million in an initial public offering. The company sells traffic information to radio and TV stations as well as online and wireless portals. "Increased...

FCC to probe wireless roaming.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Federal Communications Commission said it plans to review the state of roaming, and urged both large and small carriers to prove their claims about the state of the market. Rural wireless carriers often...

RIM rivals file documents in NTP patent battle; Seven, Intel side with RIM, Microsoft sides with NTP.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: MIKE DANO The tumultuous legal battle between BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. and patent-holding company NTP Inc. has coaxed some unexpected players out of the woodwork. RIM rivals Microsoft Corp. and Seven Networks Inc.,...

Skill games: using phones to win prizes.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Wireless software developers are using everything from free ringtones to vacation packages in an effort to lure mobile users onto the gaming playground. And next year, they'll start dangling cash. So-called "skill...

All that noise, all that sound.(Opinion)
September 5, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Silva It should come as little surprise many telecom networks-wireless and wireline alike along the Gulf Coast-succumbed to the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. Manmade structures-indeed, human life itself-are not designed to...

Wireless Xcessories Group, InPhonic enter distribution deal.(News)
September 5, 2005... The Wireless Xcessories Group Inc. and InPhonic Inc. announced a joint marketing and distribution pact that calls for Wireless Xcessories to offer InPhonic's services to its 1,000 private-label Web site affiliates. Wireless Xcessories is a...

Cingular matches Verizon's pricing for family plans; T-Mobile adds more minutes to compete.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: DAN MEYER With one eye on the bottom line and the other on growth, wireless carriers continued to manipulate their family rate plans. Those plans have become an increasingly important growth catalyst for most operators at the...

Focus high on low-end handset market.(Focus)
September 5, 2005... Byline: MIKE DANO Although phone manufacturers typically make their mark with slick, high-end phones-think Razr and Treo-the future of the handset market may lie in less exciting areas. For example: Industry players expect to sell up to...

Andrew buys Nortel location assets, other LBS deals announced.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: JONI MORSE Andrew Corp. has acquired certain assets of Nortel Networks Ltd.'s wireless location business, expanding its Geometrix mobile location system product line for commercial, consumer and public-safety uses. Andrew said it...

College students more likely to use wireless content.(News)
September 5, 2005... College students are far more likely to download mobile content and use wireless e-mail than other groups, according to the latest report from M:Metrics. The wireless usage measurement firm found that full-time students with jobs are 42...

PTT vendor Kodiak gains $15 million.(News)
September 5, 2005... Push-to-talk vendor Kodiak Networks scored $15 million in its second-round financing. The news comes shortly after Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. said it will use Kodiak's technology in its handsets. Lehman Brothers led the...

Content Briefs.(Briefs)
September 5, 2005... The wireless industry garnered unprecedented attention from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences as MobiTV and Sprint Nextel Corp. were named winners of an Emmy Award. MobiTV is owned by Idetic Inc. The companies were honored with a...

Communications needs.(Opinion)
September 5, 2005... Byline: Tracy Ford No amount of preparation can insulate people from a disaster the magnitude of that experienced in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Alabama last week. Even the best-built communications network...

Health litigation likely suspended until high court acts.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA All wireless health-related litigation-with one notable exception-soon could come to a screeching halt. The cellular industry asked the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, home to six brain-cancer lawsuits...

Vending sales fizzled, but M2M still holds promise.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: MIKE DANO Wireless vending machines have long served as a pristine example of the future of machine-to-machine communications. A vending machine with a built-in wireless modem would be able to call the soda distributor when it's...

Airpath deal extends Wi-Fi to Singapore McDonald's.(Global Wireless)
September 5, 2005... Open access to Wi-Fi hot spots is now available in 128 of Singapore's McDonald's restaurants thanks to a deal between Airpath Wireless Inc. and SkyNetGlobal, a wireless broadband provider in Australia and Asia. SkyNetGlobal is using...

Microsoft buys Internet phone company.(News)
September 5, 2005... Microsoft Corp. said it is buying into the Internet-calling arena with the acquisition of 2-year-old startup Teleo Inc. The software behemoth said it will use Teleo's Voice over Internet Protocol technology to expand voice capabilities to...

Nortel to supply Coral's Hawaiian 1x network.(News)
September 5, 2005... Nortel Networks Ltd. is going to Hawaii as the sole infrastructure supplier for Coral Wireless, a new mobile operator planning to launch an unlimited-use wireless voice and data network in early 2006. Nortel will build a network based on...

New research finds no link between cell phones and brain tumors in first 10 years of use.(News)
September 5, 2005... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA European researchers said a major study found consumers are not apt to have a nervous-system tumor known as acoustic neuroma develop during the first 10 years of mobile-phone use, but cautioned that an increased risk...

Boingo expands airport Wi-Fi network.(News)
September 5, 2005... Boingo Wireless Inc. reported roaming agreements that will add 36 airports in North America and Europe to its roaming system that now includes 169 airports worldwide. Boingo said the North American roaming agreement with Opti-Fi Networks...

Stock Watch: August 25-September 1.(Wireless Metrics)
September 5, 2005... table: Stock Watch: August 25-September 1 * 3 graphics: Market Diary * Indices * RCR Index: see print copy.

Market Impact of the new MVNOs.(News)
September 5, 2005... Respondents to a recent RCRNews.com poll offered varying opinions on how new mobile virtual network operators will affect existing MVNOs and carriers.

Fast Fact.(News)
September 5, 2005... The full-track wireless music download industry in the United States will reach $1.2 billion in revenue by 2009, according to a study from research firm IDC Corp.

Middle East/African Carriers.(Global Wireless)
September 5, 2005... The data above was taken from the International Mobile Carrier Database and lists every country in the Middle East and Africa, along with the number of mobile carriers that has licenses in each country compared with the number that offers...

Stock Watch: September 1-September 8.(Wireless Metrics)
September 12, 2005... table: Stock Watch: September 1-September 8 * 3 graphs: Market Diary * Indices * RCR Index: see print copy

Are you ready for some football?(Wireless Metrics)
September 12, 2005... The NFL season is under way! More than 15 million people in the United States played fantasy sports last year, including 12 million in fantasy football, according to a survey conducted by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. Many fantasy...

Motorola could cut EDGE from initial shipments of new phones.(News)
September 12, 2005... Byline: MIKE DANO Motorola Inc. may cut EDGE technology from the initial shipments of its forthcoming handsets-including the highly anticipated Pebl and Slvr models-due to problems with chips from supplier RF Micro Devices Inc. ...

FCC gives Cingular until August 2006 to make certain GSM hearing-aid-compatible handsets.(News)
September 12, 2005... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Federal Communications Commission late Thursday granted Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s waiver of the hearing-aid-compatibility rules, delaying for nearly a year hearing-aid compatible GSM handsets that work...

Tower industry rolls up sleeves, pitches in.(News)
September 12, 2005... Byline: JONI MORSE Most wireless communications towers were able to remain at least upright through Katrina's wrath. Power and telecommunications facilities sustained widespread damage from water in some of the hardest-hit areas, but for...

Customers stay connected in wake of Katrina.(News)
September 12, 2005... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The wireless industry averted a potential public-relations disaster, assuring government leaders that wireless services for Hurricane Katrina evacuees would not be cut off for lack of payment. Members of...

HP to supply Wi-Fi gear in Tennessee, Florida cities.(News)
September 12, 2005... Franklin, Tenn., and St. Cloud, Fla., have signed agreements to use Hewlett-Packard Co. equipment for their metro-scale Wi-Fi projects. HP said the deal includes its iPAQ Pocket PC, ProLiant servers, consulting and integration services,...

Sprint Nextel offers new Samsung CDMA phones.(News)
September 12, 2005... Sprint Nextel Corp. introduced two new phones from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to sell over the carrier's CDMA network. Samsung's A560 features a speakerphone and voice-activated dialing and will sell for $170 at Sprint stores and Best...

Nextel Partners loses bid to stall Sprint Nextel brand rollout.(News)
September 12, 2005... Byline: DAN MEYER Nextel Partners Inc. lost its bid to stall Sprint Nextel Corp.'s national brand rollout as a three-member arbitration panel ruled Nextel Partners had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of its claim...

Skype announces second wireless deal.(Global Wireless)
September 12, 2005... Skype Technologies S.A. notched another wireless deal this week, announcing a joint venture with China-focused wireless Internet portal Tom Online Inc. The companies plan to develop and market a stripped-down Chinese version of Skype's...

W-CDMA uptake slower than expected, says ABI report.(Wireless Metrics)
September 12, 2005... Consumption of data-centric W-CDMA technology has been slower than expected, said a report by ABI Research. "We have refined our appraisal of GSM/GPRS/EDGE vs. W-CDMA,'' said Lance Wilson, director of wireless research at ABI Research....

Mobile-phone testing provider Applied Wave buys rival.(News)
September 12, 2005... Mobile-phone design and testing company Applied Wave Research Inc. announced it acquired Aplac Solutions Oy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both companies sell software to mobile-phone companies to test the RF functions of handsets....

Smaller carriers aim to differentiate with local content.(News)
September 12, 2005... Byline: COLIN GIBBS While Tier 1 carriers scramble to deploy sexy applications like full-track downloads and on-demand mobile movies, smaller operators are looking in their own backyards to find more practical services for their consumers....

Motorola prepares to play to its strengths in WiMAX.(News)
September 12, 2005... Byline: JONI MORSE Motorola Inc. says it is playing its trump card-wireless mobility-in the WiMAX space, skipping over 802.16 Revision D in favor of getting Revision E (the mobile standard) products to market by the second quarter of 2006....

Eatoni targets boomers with e-mail software.(News)
September 12, 2005... Software developer Eatoni Ergonomics Inc. has developed a new e-mail application aimed at helping older mobile-phone users more easily send and receive e-mails. Eatoni Mail reduces the number of keystrokes used to type on a telephone...

Carriers should segment wireless data market.(Wireless Metrics)
September 12, 2005... Wireless data and content delivery will account for as much as 25 percent of overall wireless revenues in five years, generating $50 billion annually, according to a report from the Pelorus Group. The market research firm said mobile Web...

People.
September 12, 2005... MobiTV Andy Missan has joined MobiTV as vice president and general counsel. Missan will oversee legal affairs and general corporate matters at the company. Missan brings more than 17 years of legal experience to MobiTV, most recently as...

Cellcom Israel launches i-mode service.(Global Wireless)
September 12, 2005... NTT DoCoMo Inc. reported that Cellcom Israel Ltd., the country's largest wireless carrier with 2.5 million subscribers, launched i-mode service in Israel on its GPRS network. Five handsets were launched with the service, which is offered in...

T-Mobile USA first again in customer survey, overall wireless satisfaction drops 10%; Short-term pain of mergers could be reason.(News)
September 12, 2005... Byline: DAN MEYER T-Mobile USA Inc. again showed that size is not what's most important to customers. The industry's smallest nationwide operator posted the highest customer satisfaction performance across all six regions in the J.D. Power...