AT&T Inc. offered to surrender some of its 2.5 GHz spectrum as part of a last-ditch attempt to secure approval of its $85 billion buyout of BellSouth Corp. The telecom giant filed a letter of commitment with the Federal Communications Commission late Thursday in the hopes of satisfying two Democrats on the agency. The new [...]

InterDigital Communications Corp. increased its share repurchase program from $200 million to $350 million. The wireless technology provider said its board voted for the move due to “strong positive cash flow” in 2006 and the anticipation of “high levels of free cash” next year. The company has more than $300 million in net cash and [...]

Alltel Corp., the nation’s fifth-largest wireless carrier, is being floated as a potential target for a leveraged buyout by private-equity firms, according to unnamed sources in an article in today’s Wall Street Journal. Alltel currently has a market value of $21.7 billion and a debt load under $3 billion-a considerably low debt relative to other [...]

Mdog.com is the latest player in the mobile blogging arena with a portal for mobile phones. The offering allows users of Web-enabled phones to post and read blog entries, upload photos and respond to comments on major blog services including Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, Xanga, AOL Blogs and Livejournal. Mdog’s technology formats the content for mobile [...]

Verizon Wireless is pushing their mobile music offerings by allowing users to download a free ringtone on New Year’s Eve.Subscribers can text the word “tone” to short code 2007 to get instructions on how to download a free ringtone. Users can choose from a variety of music clips, but the promotion will end as revelers [...]

Wireless service provider MobilePro Corp. said a subsidiary will offer satellite video from DirecTV Group Inc. CloseCall America will initially carry DirecTV services in 14 northeastern states including New Jersey and Pennsylvania. MobilePro resells fixed-line and wireless services from Verizon Communications Inc. and other carriers; the company’s other subsidiaries include AFN and Kite Network.“With the [...]

Tired of paying fees for 411 calls, trying to get a taxi on the line at 2 a.m.? Fret not, mobile phone users. Yellowpages.com L.L.C. today announced the launch of a new send to mobile feature that allows users to send search results directly from their PC to their handsets.The listing can be sent to [...]

Leap Wireless International Inc. granted stock options to several of its executives, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The company granted 116,000 non-qualified stock options and 12,500 restricted stock awards to President and CEO Douglas Hutcheson; 30,000 non-qualified stock options and 6,000 restricted stock awards to Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer [...]

A $2.25 billion global settlement reached between Nortel Networks Ltd. and its shareholders was given final approval in federal court this week. The parties reached the agreement earlier this year to settle a pair of shareholder lawsuits filed after the company revised its financial results between 2001 and 2005.“We’re very pleased with the progress we’re [...]

Spanish mobile content giant LaNetro Zed scratched its plans to make a bid for buffeted ringtone provider MonsterMob Group plc.LaNetro said late last week that it would spend $66 million to pick up a 53-percent stake in MonsterMob, which operates ringtone storefronts in Europe, Asia and the United States. But shares of Monstermob dipped Wednesday [...]