BROWSING: Telefonica

Like European missionaries of centuries past, Bango came to U.S. shores last week preaching the gospel. The Cambridge, U.K.-based company held events in Southern California and New York to tout the benefits of branded, off-deck mobile portals. Wireless operators, mobile marketers and technology companies...

MADRID-Telefonica Moviles signed two global content agreements, with content vendors I-play and THQ, that the carrier said will allow its subsidiaries to improve their mobile gaming offerings.I-play's titles include The Fast and the Furious 3D, Colin McRae Rally 2005, EA Tiger Woods 2005, EA...

Nokia Corp.'s Preminet offering gained another backer last week as Tira Wireless said it is offering its porting technology to content providers using the delivery platform. Tira has made its Jump software available to developers and publishers looking to deliver content across a variety...

Consolidation hit the European wireless market as Spanish telecommunications provider Telefonica said it plans to acquire U.K.-based 02 plc, and Swedish operator Telenor announced plans to acquire rival Vodafone Sweden. Telefonica said it reached an agreement to acquire 02 for approximately $31.3 billion in...

RUSSIAInfiNet Wireless, which provides broadband wireless access and pre-WiMAX equipment, said Enforta BV selected it to provide equipment for a nationwide broadband network in Russia. The network is expected to span 28 major cities and be constructed during the next two years. InfiNet will...

SAO PAULO, Brazil-South American carrier Vivo announced a series of new partnerships with vendors including Convergys Corp., Motorola Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp. Vivo is a joint venture of Portugal Telecom and Telefonica Moviles SA and counts 28 million customers in Brazil.Vivo announced it...

GUATEMALA CITY-Telefonica Moviles said it launched its third-generation service in Guatemala using CDMA2000 1x EV-DO technology from Nortel Networks Corp.Telefonica signed a contract with Nortel in May to supply the equipment.In addition to offering its customers Web browsing and video and music download services,...

Sprint Nextel Corp. plans to launch a full-track music download service by the holidays, an executive from the newly merged carrier said last week. The operator looks to be the first U.S. carrier to deploy full-track offerings, which have gained steady traction among wireless...

SEATTLE-Mobile music software developer Melodeo Inc. Friday unveiled a service that downloads podcasts directly to mobile phones.The company announced Mobilcast, free software that will allow users to download selections from thousands of podcasts onto their handsets. Each music and talk program will range in...

After weeks of speculation, France Telecom said its Orange SA wireless subsidiary will spend $7.7 billion to buy 80 percent of the third-largest wireless carrier in Spain. The acquisition of 80 percent of Auna Operadora de Telecommunicaciones S.A., which owns 97.9 percent of Retevision...

PARIS-After weeks of speculation, France Telecom said its Orange SA wireless subsidiary will spend $7.7 billion to buy 80 percent of the third-largest wireless carrier in Spain. The acquisition of 80 percent of Auna Operadora de Telecommunicaciones S.A., which owns 97.9 percent of Retevision...

TAMPA, Fla.-Nearly a dozen major players from the wireless and technology industries unveiled a joint venture that will offer a registry service for the ".mobi" Internet domain. The suffix was approved early this month by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)...

WASHINGTON-Telefonica Celular del Paraguay S.A., a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular S.A., will receive $15 million from International Finance Corp. to upgrade and expand its cellular network in Paraguay. IFC is the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group."This investment demonstrates that telecommunications services...

MADRID, Spain-The leading wireless carrier in Spain, Telefonica Moviles Espana, has enhanced its messaging services using technology from Openwave and 724 Solutions.The Spanish carrier will use Openwave's IP Integrated Messaging Infrastructure to deliver next-generation communication and messaging services to its customers. With the equipment,...

ESPOO, Finland—Nokia Corp. is teaming with Abertis Telecom and Telefonica Moviles Espana on a live mobile TV service in Spain, the companies said this week.The project, which is backed by regional and local TV channels, will begin broadcasting to 500 mobile users in Madrid...

An effort to provide a pan-European mobile payment service was aborted just weeks before it was slated to launch. Simpay, a joint venture established two years ago by Orange plc, Telefonica Moviles, T-Mobile and Vodafone plc, pulled the plug after T-Mobile withdrew its support....

The following wireless companies received upgrades or downgrades from financial and investment firms this week.Moody's Investors Service assigned a B3 rating to the proposed senior secured credit facilities of Virgin Mobile USA with a positive outlook. The rating reflects the challenging operating environment the...

ATLANTA-BellSouth Corp. signed an agreement to sell its 34.75-percent equity ownership in Israeli wireless carrier Cellcom to Discount Investment Corp. for $625 million. Discount Investment currently holds a 25-percent interest in Cellcom. BellSouth said it expects to record a gain on the transaction based...

LONDON-NEC Corp said it has received orders for its Mobile Internet Platform and mobile handsets for Russian wireless carrier Mobile TeleSystems' i-mode service. The value of the deal was not disclosed.MTS currently has 40 million subscribers and more than 35 percent market share. The...

ATLANTA-BellSouth Corp. signed an agreement to sell its 34.75-percent equity ownership in Israeli wireless carrier Cellcom to Discount Investment Corp. for $625 million. Discount Investment currently holds a 25-percent interest in Cellcom.BellSouth said it expects to record a gain on the transaction based on...

Following is a list of debt and credit upgrades and downgrades for wireless companies by financial and investment firms this week.Merrill Lynch upgraded its rating on Freescale Semiconductor from neutral to buy, saying the company is improving its margins even though revenue growth is...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson and Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. said they completed W-CDMA Interoperability Testing for global roaming purposes. The tests were performed in DoCoMo's laboratories followed by fully completed field tests in DoCoMo's live FOMA network."The successful completion of the IOT tests with...

STOCKHOLM-Fifteen companies have come together to launch an initiative to foster European leadership in the mobile business and keep pace with Asian rivals. The initiative, known as the eMobility Technology Platform, is designed to enhance cooperation among such players as research community, public authorities...

Fifteen companies have come together to launch an initiative to foster European leadership in the mobile business and keep pace with Asian rivals.The initiative, known as the eMobility Technology Platform, is designed to enhance cooperation among such players as research community, public authorities and...