2003

Less than a week into what is traditionally the busiest quarter of the year, Sprint PCS rolled out a handful of modest rate plan changes bolstering the carrier’s low-end and mid-priced offerings and providing more competitive price-per-minute rates as the …

Before it becomes a rehash of PCIA vs. CTIA, PCIA and Shorecliff Communications need to merge their tower shows into one event. It’s the best thing for the industry, and both groups have a vested interest in seeing the tower …

A much-awaited ruling from the Federal Communications Commission, hailed as one of the most important spectrum-reform decisions during the past decade, could impact the wireless industry even more than anticipated. The FCC’s final rules on secondary markets, which ease spectrum-leasing …

WASHINGTON-Rural wireless carriers cannot refuse to port a telephone number to another wireless carrier that does not have an interconnection agreement with them, the Federal Communications Commission ruled last week. “The FCC held that wireless-to-wireless porting does not require the …

MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J.-The percentage of consumers using mobile-phone service has markedly increased during 2003, according to research from Solomon Wolff Associates. According to the firm, 77 percent of households use wireless phone service, up from 66 percent a year ago. …

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Wireless enterprise company Everypath Inc. scored a significant $14.3 million in new venture funding, with Trident Capital leading the round. Everypath offers technology for mobile task automation, which the company said allows business-critical tasks to be performed on …

WASHINGTON D.C.-Global Crossing received Federal Communications Commission approval to transfer its assets and operations to New GX, a company formed under the laws of Bermuda, with main offices in New Jersey, to carry out Global Crossing’s Chapter 11 reorganization process. …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry, pointing to legal, legislative and regulatory precedent, told a federal appeals court that U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake was correct to dismiss on federal pre-emption grounds five class-action lawsuits seeking damages on behalf of consumers who plaintiffs …

NTT DoCoMo Inc. joins several other major wireless players in introducing an over-the-air updating service that will allow the carrier to remotely send software patches or even new applications to mobile-phone subscribers. DoCoMo said its mova and FOMA handsets will …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission said late Friday it is giving rural wireless carriers a chance to make their case why they can’t abide by the enhanced 911 rules. “Tier III (less than 500,000 subscribers) carriers seeking further extensions or other …

OKLAHOMA CITY-Bank of America Corp. subsidiary Banc of America Strategic Solutions Inc. has agreed to sell approximately 28.6 million shares of Dobson Communications Corp.’s Class A common stock to approximately four dozen institutional investors and funds, cutting the bank’s ownership …

The world’s handset makers are ramping up their holiday season devices, with Motorola Inc., Siemens and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. joining the fray. Motorola and Siemens both released new W-CDMA devices for the European market. Motorola will sell its new …

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-Handspring Inc. reported declining revenues and a growing net loss, but said shipments of its new Treo 600 were beginning to ramp up. The company posted revenues for its first quarter of $13.1 million, down from $14.5 million …

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. and Hungarian operator Pannon GSM said they demonstrated the first public W-CDMA third-generation call in Hungary. A Pannon GSM executive using a Nokia 6650 phone made the call. During the demonstration, streaming, Internet browsing, downloading and multimedia …

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-Openwave Systems Inc. announced its board of directors has approved a one-for-three reverse split of its common stock. The reverse stock split will be effective Oct. 21, and Openwave’s common stock will begin trading under the split adjustment …

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom-Using Its EDGE module, TTPCom, said it has achieved a 216 kilobits per second download on L.M. Ericsson’s infrastructure. “There has been some debate about the maximum data that are achievable using EDGE technology, and with this latest …

ARLINGTON, Va.-US Airways has expanded its onboard wireless phone use policy to allow customers to use their phones sooner after landing. Passengers now can use wireless devices onboard US Airways while taxiing to the gate, after being advised by the …

BOSTON-American Tower Corp. announced Jim Taiclet, formerly president and chief operating officer, will take over the roll of chief executive officer, replacing Steve Dodge who will continue as chairman of the company’s board of directors. Taiclet joined American Tower in …

LUXEMBOURG-T-Mobile Netherlands and Gemplus announced results from their deployment of a short message service-based information-on-demand service for T-Mobile’s Dutch customers. After five months of the service, volumes for SMS ring-tone downloads increased fivefold, the companies said. T-Mobile Netherlands offered a …

HOUSTON-Crown Castle International Corp. announced it has completed an amended $1.6 billion credit facility and made certain changes to its capital structure. “This leverage-neutral transaction simplifies our capital structure and provides our restricted borrowing group access to the operating cash …

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. launched its Multimedia Messaging service, allowing customers to attach photos, text, graphics, music, video and voice to traditional text messages, and according to the carrier, send them to virtually any e-mail address or multimedia messaging service-capable mobile …

WASHINGTON-FCC Commissioner Michael Copps issued a clarion call against the deregulatory stance taken by the Federal Communications Commission chaired by Michael Powell. “I don’t think there will be gaps to be filled in (by wireless) if we make the wrong …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Ericsson signed a sole supplier contract with Lithuanian operator Bit GSM for an EDGE network. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Ericsson said it will supply all necessary EDGE infrastructure, including an upgrade of the existing core …

WASHINGTON-If attendees at the Private Wireless Summit, sponsored by the Industrial Telecommunications Association, thought FCC Chairman Michael Powell would tip his hand as to how the Federal Communications Commission will solve the public-safety interference problem in the 800 MHz band, …

AT&T Wireless Services Inc. launched a new brand advertising campaign, which the company said would invoke the carrier’s former corporate parent AT&T Corp.’s heritage and encourage people to “reach out on the wireless service America trusts.” AT&T Corp., which spun-off …