BROWSING: Verizon

WASHINGTON—It took nearly a month but the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of 800 MHz spectrum is over after 144 rounds. Winning bids totaled $38.3 million for the two licenses to offer air-to-ground services. Early on, AC BidCo L.L.C., an affiliate of AirCell Inc., won...

Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCR to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....

ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. finally joined the ringback tone bandwagon, launching ringback music and voice clips from Warner Music Group artists. The carrier unveiled a catalog of 20-second ringback tones that can be used in place of the traditional "ring" a caller hears while waiting...

SAN DIEGO—Qualcomm Inc. said it plans to extend Microsoft Corp.’s "Live Anywhere" technology onto its BREW platform in an effort to provide a "unified gaming universe." The chipmaker used its BREW 2006 Conference to showcase an integrated gaming offering across Microsoft’s Xbox Live, MSN...

BEDMINSTER, N.J.—Verizon Wireless had a brief service outage on Tuesday evening that affected customers in southern New Jersey, after equipment at a switching center shut down due to overheating. Verizon Wireless spokesperson Sheldon Jones said that a heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) unit at...

NEW YORK—Sonic Branding Solutions Inc., a mobile entertainment developer and publisher, said it acquired mobile software developer DeviceIQ Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal calls for all of DeviceIQ’s employees to transition to Sonic. In addition, Bob Pascazio, DeviceIQ’s founder...

LONDON—Vodafone Group plc posted a massive $41.1 billion loss for 2005, mainly from impairment charges over assets it acquired during the telecom boom days, but promised its investors an even larger than expected payout, which sent its stock up slightly in early trading in...

By Jay ShermanWASHINGTON—The Senate on Friday confirmed the nomination of telecommunications lawyer Robert McDowell to the Federal Communications Commission, ending a two-month delay and handing FCC Chairman Kevin Martin a Republican majority on the panel.The unanimous confirmation fills the fifth seat on the five-member...

All eyes will be on Germany next week as teams from 32 nations open play in the FIFA World Cup, a four-week, 64-game tournament to determine the planet's best soccer club. And the wireless industry is hoping many of those eyes will be watching...

WASHINGTON-XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and WCS Wireless L.L.C. said they terminated an agreement that called for XM to buy WCS after the companies failed to secure government approval for the transaction. The companies announced the agreement last July. The deal called for XM...

"News of my death has been greatly exaggerated," Mark Twain is said to have written in 1897, when he remained hale and hearty. Qualcomm Inc. has taken a page from Twain and added a biblical twist, as it hails its new incarnation of BREW...

The nationwide investigation into executive stock-option grants seems to be widening daily. And some major players in wireless are coming under the microscope. At issue is the practice of retroactively changing dates stock-option grants become effective. Stock options-allowing employees to purchase shares of the...

Verizon Wireless announced that 95 percent of its customers are using location-capable handsets. Verizon Wireless is the first carrier using a handset-based approach to E-911 to meet the FCC's 95-percent threshold. However, it did so six months after the Federal Communications Commission's deadline of...

WASHINGTON-As one House committee passed a pro-network neutrality bill, another bill with weaker network-neutrality provisions from a different committee awaits House action, setting up a fight over how to govern the information highway. Network neutrality has emerged as the key battleground for telecommunications-reform legislation...

Further glimpses at Nokia Corp.'s strategy for addressing the CDMA market that has largely eluded its global grasp came to light recently as several phones surfaced, rebranded for the Finnish handset giant. Web-based reports revealed last week the existence of a CDMA2000 1x EV-DO...

Motorola Inc. will finally bring its much-touted MOTO Q smart phone to market as you read this, probably the last time it will announce a handset far in advance of its launch, to avoid tipping off competitors and so its executives won't have to...

WASHINGTON-With a $31.3 million offer, AC BidCo L.L.C., an affiliate of AirCell Inc., looks to be the winner of a 3-megahertz license to offer air-to-ground services in the 800 MHz band. Bidding continues between Space Data Spectrum Holdings L.L.C. and JetBlue's LiveTV L.L.C. for...

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. stirred up some controversy when it rolled out a new advertising campaign claiming that it has the least number of dropped calls on its network, claims that have led to a lawsuit. Sprint Nextel Corp. challenged Cingular's claim with the usual...

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma wreaked havoc along the Gulf Coast and in Florida last year, and the U.S. is facing another above-average hurricane season. Cellular carriers claim that they are ready for the storm season, which starts June 1 and is expected to...

Gas prices and higher mortgage rates have not affected the demand for Sprint Nextel Corp.'s wireless services, the carrier's chief financial officer told analysts last week. Paul Saleh's remarks were made during a parade of wireless executives at conferences in New York, hosted by...

WASHINGTON—With a $31.3 million offer, AC BidCo L.L.C., an affiliate of AirCell Inc., looks to be the winner of a 3-megahertz license to offer air-to-ground services in the 800 MHz band. Bidding continues between Space Data Spectrum Holdings L.L.C. and JetBlue’s LiveTV L.L.C. for...

WASHINGTON—Verizon Wireless announced that 95 percent of its customers are now using location-capable handsets. Verizon Wireless is the first carrier using a handset-based approach to E-911 to meet the FCC’s 95-percent threshold. However, it did so six months after the Federal Communications Commission’s deadline...

SAN DIEGO—Qualcomm Inc. announced a single-chip solution that supports three of the world’s mobile broadcast standards. The chipmaker’s new UBM chip supports Qualcomm’s own MediaFlo technology, plus Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) and One-Segment integrated services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T) technology.Qualcomm is among numerous firms that...

WASHINGTON—Bidding on a 3-megahertz license to offer air-to-ground services in the 800 MHz band appears to be over as AC BidCo L.L.C., an affiliate of AirCell Inc., looks to be the winner with a $31 million offer. Bidding is continuing between Space Data Spectrum...