2003

SYDNEY, Australia-Unwired Australia Pty. Ltd. announced it plans to deploy a metro-area non-line-of-sight, wide-area wireless broadband network in Sydney, Australia, The network deployment, which follows Unwired’s testing of a trial network in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney, will begin in …

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.-AccuWeather Inc. announced it will offer its weather forecasts and information over U.S. Cellular’s BREW application download service. The AccuWeather.com application will become one of the featured applications on U.S. Cellular’s data service, set to be deployed throughout …

Longtime wireless modem maker Sierra Wireless announced a significant new business direction with the unveiling of its Voq phone-a device that marks the entrance of a new smart-phone player and another Microsoft Corp. backer. Investors seemed cheered by the bold …

LUBBOCK, Texas-Sprint PCS affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc. extended the expiration date of its recently announced exchange offer of public debt until Oct. 15 at the request of certain shareholders. The carrier said it has received approximately $70.3 million in principal …

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-While government and carriers continue to hammer out the technical and political details of wireless local number portability, wireless retailer Wireless Retail Inc., which sells services from each of the top six U.S. carriers to consumers, is taking steps …

WASHINGTON-The Telecommunications Industry Association is preparing to send a letter, perhaps by the end of this week, to the Senate leadership asking it to strip language favorable to Northpoint Technologies L.L.C. from the spectrum-relocation bill and to move the relocation …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. said its board of directors has approved a quarterly dividend of 7 cents per common share, which stockholders can receive Dec. 26, 2003. “We believe that the dividend is an important element of total shareholder return given …

Kyocera Wireless Corp. said it will temporarily stop shipments of one of its handsets following reports that a Kyocera phone apparently exploded just days after a Nebraska family purchased it. WOWT 6 News reported that the family purchased the Kyocera …

TOKYO-Japanese mobile operator KDDI Corp. plans to release what is likely the world’s first camera phone that features a camera resolution of 2 megapixels. Casio Computer Co. Ltd. built the phone for the Japanese carrier. KDDI has largely led the …

SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc.’s Cricket Communications Inc. subsidiary launched its MyCricket.com enhanced customer-focused Web site, which the carrier said would allow for online purchases, bill presentment and payment options. Leap added the new site would also serve as home …

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 …

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. said it finalized its deal to purchase Motorola Inc.’s Symbian shares-a 13.2 percent stake-and Psion plc purchased the remaining shares-5.8 percent. The deal was first announced in August, but was subject to a pre-emption process among the …

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.-Verizon Wireless continues to expand its Get It Now data offerings, adding new content from Walt Disney and MapQuest. First, Walt Disney’s wireless business announced an expanded deal with Verizon Wireless, with plans to add content from Disney’s …

News on the Wi-Fi vendor front continues to move along, with several new funding announcements and additional consolidation. First, hot-spot aggregator Boingo Wireless announced it completed its Series B round of financing, scoring $10 million for a total funding war …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission and the Direct Marketing Association, which represents 70 percent of telemarketers, found themselves in a tug-of-war Oct. 3 over the constitutionally disputed Do-Not-Call Registry. “We do not agree with your suggestion that providing the FCC with …

ORLANDO, Fla.-Wireless content company ClearSky Mobile Media Inc. unveiled its new Snap-n-Print application, which the company said allows camera-phone users to take pictures with their phones and then mail the images as they would post cards. The company said it …

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas-Sprint Corp. has been selected by Navigance Technologies Group to provide wireless communication and video security monitoring capabilities to enhance security needs at U.S. general aviation airports. Sprint will provide a high-speed wireless local area network, associated equipment …

WASHINGTON-Are wireless carriers common carriers, and if they are, can they negotiate with their customers? This was the question before a federal appeals court Tuesday, and the answer could have dramatic consequences for the wireless industry. Jacqueline Orloff, a Cleveland-area …

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.-Motorola Inc. said it has rolled out three new GSM base stations to complement its existing portfolio of infrastructure offerings. The new products include the indoor macro, outdoor macro and miniBTS under the company’s Horizon II BTS solutions …

BANGKOK, Thailand-L.M. Ericsson said it has signed an agreement to be the sole supplier of GSM equipment for Thai mobile carrier AIS in the metropolitan area. The initial value of the deal is $10 million, according to Ericsson. “The agreement …

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

ESPOO, Finland-Nokia Corp. reported the results of a multimedia messaging trial it conducted with five wireless operators in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, figures the company said offer evidence that the market for mobile data services will grow to $212 billion …

MONTREAL-Canadian company Telesystem International Wireless and ClearWave said they will acquire a 3.62-percent stake in Czech mobile operator Cesky Mobil from Ceska Konsolidacni Agentura, a Czech state-owned agency. TIW and ClearWave, through their TIW Czech subsidiary, will buy the stake …

TOKYO-Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. looks to have stepped in to revive a merger between two Taiwanese mobile operators that was speculated to have fallen through. DoCoMo said it had agreed to a deal in which KG Telecommunications Co. will …

TOKYO-Japanese operator KDDI Corp. raised its profit estimate for the year by 34 percent due to strong sales of its CDMA2000 1X service. The carrier now expects a full-year profit of $864 million compared with its previous forecast of $646 …