September 2003

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson has tweaked its organization by creating a new business unit known as Access, which focuses on radio products. It is divorced from the business unit known as Systems. The vendor will also form a sales and marketing …

SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc.’s Cricket Communications Inc. subsidiary named Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners as the agency of record to handle its advertising account, which the carrier said is worth between $20 million and $25 million annually. “We are …

Motorola Inc. will introduce a mobile phone running Microsoft Corp.’s Smartphone operating system this month, and European operator Orange will sell the device, according to a report in the Financial Times. Motorola declined to comment on the report, citing company …

WASHINGTON-The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday sent to the Senate floor a bill that directs the Federal Communications Commission to release the implementation guidelines for wireless local number portability before the Nov. 24 deadline. “The Committee is pleased that the FCC …

TOKYO-Sharp Electronics has developed a 128-megabyte flash memory, which offers a maximum access time of 60 nanoseconds, which the company calls the industry’s fastest. It is aimed at mobile phones and other wireless devices. “These new high-speed memory devices mark …

TOKYO-Japanese mobile operator J-Phone Co. Ltd. announced that its board of directors proposed a resolution to change its name to Vodafone K.K., which will completely rebrand the mobile operator under its U.K.-based parent’s name. K.K. stands for Kabushiki Kaisha, J-Phone …

POWAY, Calif.-Gateway Inc. said it has launched 802.11b and g products, which include a broadband router and cards. The router ensures connection with a variety of computers, while the cards connect notebooks and PCs to the network. “The new wireless …

LONDON-A U.K. supplier plans to offer push-to-talk services in the United Kingdom through an alliance with Wizcom Ltd., which owns retail outlet chain Phones4U. In October, Fastmobile’s Fastchat service will be available through Phones4U stores in the United Kingdom. The …

BELLEVUE, Wash.-Following the five simultaneous concerts T-Mobile USA Inc. hosted across the country Sept. 4, the carrier announced it will hold another All Access concert, featuring Barenaked Ladies and Train, at the same location the carrier first launched the T-Mobile …

Sprint PCS reported that an undetermined number of its wireless customers in area codes beginning with 41 and 42 were affected for about six hours Thursday by a software glitch that prevented them from making calls between mobile phones and …

LONDON-Wireless content company Digital Bridges announced the release of a wireless game based on “The Weakest Link” TV show, which will be available through interactive TV company Sky Active. “We are very pleased to launch The Weakest Link to U.K. …

WASHINGTON-An amendment to the bill that would fund the Federal Communications Commission for Fiscal Year 2004 was passed late Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee and would grant Northpoint Technology Ltd. spectrum without an auction, but could also end auctions …

The battle over business customers continues to heat up as Nextel Communications Inc. and Verizon Wireless launched new advertising campaigns targeting potential deficiencies in each other’s business-centric offerings. Nextel’s campaign, which includes full-page advertisements in prominent newspapers, highlights latency issues …

BERLIN-Germany’s largest wireless operator, T-Mobile International AG, which is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG and parent company to U.S.-based T-Mobile USA Inc., said it has nearly fixed a software problem in its Frankfurt market that incapacitated the carrier’s network …

BERLIN-German wireless provider T-Mobile International AG reported its Frankfurt area network suffered a severe disruption today following the failure of a routing computer. A company spokesman said the problem, which included Frankfurt’s airport, forced customers to dial several times before …

NEW YORK-Spending on cellular infrastructure will trump WiMAX either of the 802.16 or 802.20 variety, according to a report by Allied Business Intelligence. “Though WiMAX will play a significant role in the industry, the markets for traditional cellular networks will …

LAGOS, Nigeria-Motorola Inc. said it has launched its first GSM circuit core solution as part of its $50 million end-to-end system the company is deploying for M-Tel, an operator in Nigeria. “By working with M-Tel to strengthen its network and …

HELSINKI, Finland-Celcom, a mobile operator in Malaysia, has launched the Tecnomen Multimedia Messaging Service Centers. The center enables Celcom to take full advantage of MMS terminals and take a leading role in the market, Tecnomen said. Celcom is the second-largest …

ATLANTA-Regional iDEN provider Southern LINC reported it had met the Federal Communications Commission’s Sept. 1 deadline to set up E911 Phase II implementation for Tier III wireless carriers. The carrier said the implementation was accomplished ahead of schedule, and it …

WASHINGTON-Identity theft is increasing and is much more of a problem than the government expected, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC estimated that during the last year 9.9 million people and during the last five years 27.3 million …

WASHINGTON-California regulators could issue a proposed decision as early as next week on their year-long investigation of Cingular Wireless L.L.C., according to a source close to the probe. The California Public Utilities Commission launched a probe into the business practices …

Following months of raised forecasts and hopeful outlooks, research firm IDC presented perhaps the most optimistic wireless industry outlook to date, predicting that sales of mobile phones will break the 500-million mark next year. The firm said advanced phones, including …

PALO ALTO, Calif.-Danger Inc. said it will include Sun Microsystems Inc.’s Java 2 Micro Edition application download technology in its Hiptop wireless device platform, which forms the basis for T-Mobile USA Inc.’s Sidekick wireless phone. Now, through Danger’s licensing agreement …

MILPITAS, Calif.-Palm Inc. asserted that it will continue to use Novarra Inc.’s Web browser in its future wireless personal digital assistants. Novarra’s Web Pro 1.0 browser is included in Palm’s Tungsten T, Tungsten T2 and Tungsten W handhelds. “We’ve had …

HOUSTON-Crown Castle International Corp. said it intends to amend certain provisions of its restricted group operating company’s $1.2 billion credit facility and make certain changes to its capital structure. The plan is subject to the consent of its senior credit …