2003

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.-Customer retention is a top priority for wireless carriers, according to J.D. Power and Associates’ new 2003 U.S. Wireless Regional CSI Study. Slowing penetration and upcoming wireless local number portability are making customer retention more important than ever …

TOKYO-Two former Sprint Corp. executives have been named to the board of Japan Telecom Co. William Esrey, former Sprint chief executive officer, has been named chairman of the board, and Ronald LeMay, former Sprint chief operating officer, has been named …

Roy Miniel is a video gamer. He knows his way around a joystick and is on a first-name basis with Lara. Lara Croft, that is, professional tomb raider. Indeed, it’s Miniel’s job to know such things-he runs a Denver-area video …

NEW YORK-Telecommunications site consulting and management company HighPointe Group L.L.C. has acquired the assets of Crown Castle International Corp.’s Site Spectrum Management Corp. rooftop management subsidiary. The value of the deal was not disclosed. The acquisition indicates tower owners like …

SEATTLE-It appears PictureIQ Corp. is shutting down its operations, making the company perhaps the first casualty of the picture messaging market. A message on the company’s Web site said PictureIQ is shutting down. The company’s telephone lines have been disconnected, …

WASHINGTON-Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is not resigning. To emphasize this point, which has been widely quoted amid ever-growing speculation that he would leave after some embarrassing defeats, Powell held a press breakfast to discuss his fall …

TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo Inc. finally hit the 1 million mark for the number of users of its FOMA third-generation W-CDMA service, two years after launching the service and much later than original estimates. After sluggish uptake for its 3G services, DoCoMo …

WASHINGTON-The Dutch government said a new study finds that radiation from GSM base stations of third-generation mobile-phone systems could be a potential health problem. The research, in which individuals exposed to 3G base station transmissions reported headaches, nausea and other …

By rolling out services in two U.S. markets, Verizon Wireless has triggered momentum for CDMA2000 1X EV-DO technology, barely two years since the first launch of CDMA2000 1X services in the world. The EV-DO launches, which took place in San …

I am the kind of customer every wireless carrier seeks. Earlier this year, I cut the cord, and I like to talk A LOT. In other words, I am a high-volume wireless-only customer. So you would think that my wireless …

WASHINGTON-The Bush administration last week said it opposed new grant money for the deployment of wireless enhanced 911. “The administration believes Congress should consider more efficient and more cost-effective means to address this issue, rather than establishing a new grant …

Wireless local number portability will almost certainly provoke a plethora of questions and concerns from confused consumers, even if it does not trigger a flood of churning customers the day the calendar reads Nov. 24. Indeed, carrier customer service call …

WASHINGTON-Even before the California Public Utilities Commission votes on a landmark bill of rights for telecom consumers, other states are signaling they too are ready to get tough with mobile-phone carriers. The Nebraska Public Service Commission late last month said …

NEW YORK-Merrill Lynch increased its forecast for the number of U.S. wireless subscribers it expects to sign up for service by the end of the year, saying it now believes that U.S. carriers will have garnered 16 million new customers …

In what they describe as the world’s first all-software base station system, two companies believe they are breaking new ground in second-generation access network technology. Vanu Inc. and Mid-Tex Cellular said they have completed a successful trial deployment. “This trial, …

As if the Iraq quagmire (mobile-phone licensing mystery aside) and the jobless recovery have not done enough to take the wind out of the administration’s sails, now comes an unpatriotic pitch by Bush telemarketers with enough punch to sink the …

WASHINGTON-Bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. is asking its judge to allow it to conduct a $39 million trial of wireless broadband technology in Las Vegas using spectrum to be obtained from IPWireless Inc. “Given the nascent nature of the wireless broadband …

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Celeritek Inc. said it is pulling out of the wireless amplifier business to focus its semiconductors on defense and other communications markets. The company hopes this decision will decrease its cash burn by between $14 million and $16 …

LONDON-In the second such European alliance aiming to gain power in numbers, nine second- and third-tier mobile operators joined forces in a new mobile alliance to provide seamless, enhanced voice and data solutions for businesses and consumers across the Continent. …

Kyocera Wireless Corp. appears to have abandoned plans to build its much-hyped Kurv phone, a move that prompted the company’s Kurv technology partner, Wildseed Ltd., to file suit against the handset maker alleging breach of contract. “We are extremely disappointed …

MINNEAPOLIS-Activision Inc. will sell wireless versions of three of its popular desktop computer games through a new deal with wireless content company Airborne Entertainment. The companies plan to sell wireless versions of Tough Trucks, Skateboard Park Tycoon and Cruise Ship …

With the onset of standardization and modular technologies, the market shares of the big infrastructure players have continued to see constant declines, according to an upcoming report from the Yankee Group. The picture looks even gloomier in the year ahead …

Partnership announcements were plentiful at the ninth annual SpeechTEK International Educational Conference and Exposition, which took place last week in New York City. The unions demonstrate a trend among vendors in the speech recognition technology field to offer end-to-end, quick-to-deploy, …

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. said it has won a five-year, $117 million contract to supply Singapore carrier StarHub with equipment for a W-CDMA network. According to the deal, Nokia will provide radio access and core network equipment and deliver management services …

WASHINGTON-The Telecommunications Industry Association applauded Senate Finance Committee passage of legislation that includes a tax break designed to foster broadband investment. “TIA supports the use of fiscal incentives as a necessary step in addressing the current lack of investment in …