2003

Cingular Wireless and instant messaging company America Online Inc. announced an expansive partnership to allow Cingular subscribers to send and receive AOL instant messages using their phones. The announcement is AOL’s latest carrier deal, but is more extensive than many …

WASHINGTON-FCC Chairman Michael Powell said he does not favor mandating the use of best practices developed by the FCC’s Network Reliability & Interoperability Committee as some state regulators have suggested. “As long as the process works effectively, there is no …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. said it expects its revenue and earnings per share for the fourth fiscal quarter and fiscal 2003 to achieve the high end of its prior guidance. In July, Qualcomm said it expected its fourth-quarter revenues to edge …

Sprint PCS affiliate US Unwired Inc. said it has entered into agreements to sell certain “non-core operating assets,” including its cellular operations that served approximately 57,000 subscribers at the end of the second quarter and eight of its 13 10-megahertz …

OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-Despite the dominance of the GSM family of network technologies over the CDMA family of technologies in the wireless market, next-generation CDMA, CDMA2000 1X EV-DO, is gaining traction more rapidly than next-generation GSM, W-CDMA, according to research from …

WASHINGTON-The Bush administration, charging Chinese trade practices hurt U.S. tech firms and facing mounting criticism about layoffs heading into the 2004 election season, has proposed a further Commerce Department reorganization in hopes of reducing a $40 billion trade deficit. Commerce …

AUSTIN, Texas-Motorola Inc. said it has unveiled an addition to its i.MX line of multimedia applications processors with the i.MX21, which is based on ARM926EJ for mobile phones and personal digital assistants. “The i.MX21 not only enables smart LCD displays …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

ATLANTA-Reinforcing its relationship with parent companies BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., Cingular Wireless L.L.C. launched its FastForward device that allows wireless customers to automatically forward unlimited calls from their mobile devices to their landline telephone numbers. The service, which …

MEXICO CITY-America Movil is continuing its buying spree by acquiring 51 percent of Salvadorian company CTE, which provides mobile and fixed services in El Salvador, for $417 million. America Movil is buying the stake from France Telecom, which is exiting …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …