September 2003

As Sprint PCS continues to trial its push-to-talk solution ahead of a planned pre-year-end launch date, details emerged last week about the offering that is expected to include at least a pair of color-screen handsets when launched and a claimed …

Wireless call centers should be gearing up for this fall’s implementation of wireless number portability when they are likely to be inundated with calls for information about the service, according to research from billing and customer-care services provider Convergys. The …

Nextel Communications Inc.’s dated handset selection is set to receive a jolt next month as the carrier is expected to begin launching new handsets based on the “Falcon” platform, which Motorola Inc. developed and will manufacture. The launch eventually should …

WASHINGTON-With the United States facing $4 billion in retaliatory tariffs from the European Union by month’s end, telecom and high-tech firms find themselves split on competing legislation to repeal tax breaks for U.S. exporters. The export subsidy issue directly impacts …

HONG KONG-Hong Kong mobile operator CSL said it launched Asia’s first commercial EDGE network using infrastructure equipment and handsets from Nokia Corp. The operator plans to roll out the EDGE network in key locations around the city, including the airport, …

KARLSKRONA, Sweden-Johan Sandberg freely admits that UIQ Technology AB, based in Ronneby, Sweden, is not exactly a major force in the hotly contested mobile-phone operating system market. “We are more of a niche player,” Sandberg said, smiling. “But the niche …

GOTEBORG, Sweden-Speaking from one of L.M. Ericsson’s major design headquarters in the company’s home base of Sweden, Hakan Eriksson pronounced Ericsson’s massive cost-cutting and reorganization efforts a success, while at the same time painting a relatively glowing outlook of the …

WASHINGTON-Congress last week dipped its toe into the dirty waters of digital pornography, an emerging issue with financial and intellectual property implications for mobile-phone operators globally. Last Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing was designed to focus primarily on the use …

On balance, wireless chips have carried a small swagger as the industry’s only oasis of good news. But Texas Instruments Inc. caused the sector to stumble by narrowing its third-quarter forecast. The semiconductor bellwether said it revised its earnings per …

During the past 11 years, Nextel Communications Inc. has carved out a healthy niche for itself in the wireless market while using a proprietary network technology and infrastructure provided by a single supplier, diverse spectrum holdings and a laser-like focus …

Tropos Networks Inc. will supply equipment to enable Verge Wireless Networks Inc.’s metro-scale Wi-Fi network in downtown Baton Rouge, La. The Tropos system works like a mesh network in which Wi-Fi cells communicate with each other, creating paths back to …

Often seen as lacking a strong next-generation wireless data roadmap, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. has began to nudge its way up the wireless data ranks thanks to the continued strength of its Mobitex network, the pursuit of spectrum to support high-speed …

AT&T Wireless Services Inc. plans to sell a Motorola Inc.-manufactured smart phone that incorporates Microsoft Corp. technology. Motorola said it will launch a Microsoft Smartphone-powered handset next month, and that the two companies will collaborate on a series of smart …

The difference between cellular networks before and after the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy came in bold relief during the recent power outage in New York and other East Coast states. Wireless networks hummed in spite of the blackouts. People could …

PISCATAWAY, N.J.-Greece’s National Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) has awarded a five-year exclusive contract to Telcordia Technologies Inc. for number portability. Telcordia will support the provision of fixed and mobile number portability to Greece’s 16 million phone lines, comprising 10 …

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.-724 Solutions announced that a recent series of integration tests of its X-treme Alerts Platform, released in March, showed a “significant level” of performance, scalability and fault tolerance. 724 worked with Sun Microsystems and BEA to test the …

WASHINGTON-States shouldn’t raid funds collected from wireless subscribers for enhanced 911services, and carriers shouldn’t collect additional money to use to deploy E911 service if the state has a cost-recovery mechanism in place. This was the single message of two separate …

It is a curious contrast, not without painful irony, this reconstruction business in Iraq and democratic experiment in the Middle East. The United States, unmatched hyperpower of the 21st century and high-tech giant, is hard at work with the Brits …

SEATTLE-Cometa Networks said it will launch more than 100 new hot spot sites in the Seattle area Sept. 25, and it expects to activate an additional 150 locations in the area by the end of this year. The company, which …

WAYNESBORO, Va.-Rural telecommunications provider Ntelos Inc. said it had completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings following the confirmation of its reorganization plan by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Ntelos said …

OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-The emergence of converged wireless handheld devices capable of multiple communications tasks may provide relief for the seemingly slowing PDA industry, according to research firm ABI. Converged devices, which ABI refers to as “connected PDAs,” have thus far …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-Sprint PCS President Len Lauer added the title of president and chief operating officer of Sprint Corp., where he will lead the company’s sales, marketing and customer care operations. Sprint added that Lauer will also direct the transformation …

WASHINGTON-The chiefs of the FCC’s Enforcement and Wireless Telecommunications Bureaus want to go on field trips to see how well carriers are implementing wireless local number portability. In letters to four carriers, WTB Chief John Muleta asked the carriers to …

WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association fell short in proving to critics that its voluntary code of conduct, which it officially unveiled Sept. 9, is an adequate response to jabs about lack of quality customer service. “This code of conduct …

True to its cautious style, The Federal Communications Commission has shied from committing to a definite ruling on the ultra-wideband technology, which has divided the various players into two camps. One group is led by Motorola Inc., and the other …