BROWSING: Verizon

Customer confusion over wireless rate plans and services is costing wireless operators $3 billion per year due to increasing customer churn and harmed brand relationships, according to a consumer survey from brand strategy company Siegel & Gale. The survey, which was part of the...

Startup Xcelis Communications L.L.C. last week introduced a service that essentially re-routes Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s in-network calls to numbers outside the carrier's network. The $10-per-month service allows Cingular customers to place a call to any phone number in the United States and Canada, but...

WASHINGTON-Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell (D) has yet to signal whether he will sign or veto a bill some critics fear will undermine Philadelphia's planned Wi-Fi rollout. But there is a possibility he will direct city officials, telecom carriers and other stakeholders to work out...

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. plans to cut at least 10 percent of its newly combined staff, or around 7,000 of its 68,000-strong workforce, chief Stan Sigman said. In an interview with the Associated Press, the carrier's chief executive officer said Cingular will start making the...

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is testing Audiovox's Windows Mobile smart phone for use on its network, a move indicative of the complications surrounding the carrier's combination with AT&T Wireless Services Inc. AT&T Wireless sold the Audiovox smart phone before the merger.Since its acquisition of AT&T...

BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless expanded its content offerings with two announcements. The carrier launched a new service that allows music fans to view images of artists as they browse and download ringtones and voice tones. Through Track Magnet, which was developed by content provider Ztango,...

BETHESDA, Md.-Iridium Satellite L.L.C. said it has made an agreement with Verizon Airfone that calls for the company to sell Iridium services to its general aviation operators.According to the agreement, Verizon Airfone will use the services to supplement its existing MagnaStar system, which is...

Verizon Wireless continued to accumulate spectrum Tuesday, announcing the purchase of licenses of 10 megahertz of spectrum in Pennsylvania for $15.15 million from Ntelos Inc.The agreement includes licenses for the Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading and York areas, which cover a population of 2.1 million people....

Verizon Wireless became the first major U.S. carrier to offer ringback tones, launching a service analysts say-and carriers hope-may be even more profitable than ringtones. Ringbacks are clips of music a caller hears instead of a traditional ring before the person being called answers...

As the new No. 1 carrier in the United States, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is in the position to greatly tighten its control over its handset suppliers. And with a subscriber base of nearly 46 million, the carrier has influence enough to develop a Vodafone-style...

Once the darling of the wireless broadband publicity machine, 802.11-based Wi-Fi technologies have increasingly lost their luster to more appealing opportunities forecast from broader-coverage technologies like WiMAX and OFDM-based services, and even more traditional third-generation cellular technologies. But, despite the dimming attention, most industry...

It's time to count blessings again, and here are a few things I am thankful for that relate to wireless:c I am thankful that most cars don't have "Hang up your cell phone and drive" bumper stickers. As much as I hate these bumper...

DALLAS-Handset makers opened the floodgates on new phones and carrier deals for the holiday season, with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Nokia Corp., Research In Motion Ltd. and others making announcements. First up is Samsung, which said it will sell nine new phones in the...

BoingoWireless local area network provider and aggregator Boingo Wireless Inc. named David Hagan chief executive officer, replacing company founder Sky Dayton, who will remain chairman of the board at Boingo. Hagan previously served as Boingo's president and chief operating officer. Boingo said that Hagan...

LONDON-The world's largest mobile operator said it grew its proportional customer base to 146.7 million at the end of September and will double its dividend for the most recent six-month period to about 4 cents. Vodafone Group plc reported a pretax profit of $10.6...

The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. recommended that Verizon Wireless modify or discontinue its "anytime, anywhere" claim for the carrier's "IN-Network" calling plans to "avoid potential consumer confusion and to avoid potentially conveying the inaccurate and overly broad...

Wireless technology and service company InPhonic Inc. enjoyed a major initial public offering last week, raising a total of $108.9 million in net proceeds. The company initially expected to raise about $83.5 million. InPhonic's stock began trading at around $19 per share, but quickly...

BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless said it was eliminating local number portability-related monthly regulatory charges for its customers beginning with upcoming customer billing cycles. The carrier said it has been charging 40 cents per customer per month since March to help defray the cost of implementing...

WASHINGTON-The long-awaited publication in the Federal Register of the Federal Communications Commission's plan to solve public-safety interference in the 800 MHz band occurred.Publication starts the 75-day clock for Nextel Communications Inc. to say whether it will accept or reject the plan. The FCC recently...

LONDON-Gracenote, a 6-year-old digital entertainment technology provider, has put its huge musical database to use for a song identification system for mobile users. Earlier this year, Gracenote launched Mobile MusicID in several European and Asian markets, allowing users to identify a song by sending...

MILPITAS, Calif.-PalmOne Inc. said it opened a retail store in a mall in San Jose, Calif., designed specifically to sell its line of Treo smart phones. PalmOne also operates 13 other retail outlets nationwide, which sell its smart phone and personal digital assistant devices."To...

A new study shows that businesses are most likely to look to wireless carriers-instead of device makers or computer suppliers-for their wireless data needs. Further, the business market represents a major opportunity for wireless, as enterprises have increased their spending on the technology by...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. launched Motorola Inc.'s V710 handset, which includes a 1.2-megapixel camera and flash, video recorder, MP3 player and Bluetooth wireless technology. The handset also supports Alltel's Axcess Picture Messaging application and BREW-based Axcess Mobile Web 2.0 service.The handset, which was initially...

Customer confusion over wireless rate plans and services is costing wireless operators $3 billion per year due to increasing customer churn and harmed brand relationships, according to a consumer survey from brand strategy company Siegel & Gale. The survey, which was part of the...