2003

TOKYO-The Japanese wireless industry continues to see massive innovation in the mobile-phone area, with technology giants NTT DoCoMo Inc. and NEC Corp. releasing notable new phone advances. First, NEC showed off a new prototype phone that can tune in to …

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-Wireless e-mail company Seven announced it scored a major deal with Japanese wireless data giant NTT DoCoMo Inc., which will package and resell Seven’s wireless e-mail technology under its Binwan brand. “Binwan pairs the world’s most respected mobile …

LONDON-JP Morgan reduced its rating on Vodafone Group plc from “overweight” to “underweight” noting the company’s stock is overvalued among its peer group and it expects Vodafone to begin reporting reduced margins and lower market share. “We believe growing competition …

BRUSSELS, Belgium-The European Commission widened its inquiry proceedings into German company MobilCom, specifically looking at $157 million in loans paid to MobilCom, covered by guarantees issued by the German federal government and the Land of Schleswig-Holstein. The loan guarantees are …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission today named James Daley director of a new office of homeland security. The new unit, which will reside in the Enforcement Bureau, will have oversight of Emergency Alert System regulatory issues.

WASHINGTON-A bill to ban driver use of handheld cell phones in California unexpectedly died in the state legislature after a Senate amendment so watered down the measure as to prompt the bill’s chief sponsor to seek its defeat. The Assembly …

TOKYO-IPMobile said it has received a trial license to deploy a trial system using TD-CDMA technology in Japan. The company said it has built three cell sites inside the Tokyo metropolitan area with subscribers using PCMCIA cards and modems with …

WASHINGTON-The Senate appropriations subcommittee on homeland security approved President Bush’s request to fund wireless priority service at $73 million in fiscal 2004. The panel passed the homeland security-spending bill Wednesday. “Wireless technology is a critical tool for our first responders …

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.-NMS Communications announced it has helped deploy WiseSpot’s Cai-Ling ringback tone service with wireless carriers in China. With the Cai-Ling service, callers hear personalized ringers when placing a call to a user who has subscribed to the service. Approximately …

BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Flarion Technologies Inc. said T-Mobile Venture Fund is making an investment in the company, although the terms were not disclosed. “Our investment in Flarion provides us with a window on technology to what we consider to be one of …

OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-The number of worldwide hot spots will grow from 28,000 in 2003 to 160,000 in 2007, according to analyst firm ABI, in spite of challenges in the market like achieving interoperability between hot spots and attracting users. ABI …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission today voted to require some digital mobile phones to be compatible with hearing aids under a phased-in approach calling for industry by early 2008 to make one-half of all handsets accessible to the nation’s 6 million …

WASHINGTON-When the House Commerce Committee takes up anti-spam legislation next week, language will be included to combat wireless spam, Rep. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) told RCR Wireless News following a hearing on spam Wednesday. Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chairman, had hinted …

The GSM Association issued a call to the industry to speed the interoperability of multimedia messaging services across the world. The group said it is working with the Open Mobile Alliance, the 3G Partnership Project and the vendor community to …

The Wyndham Anatole convention hotel in Dallas said it plans to install Sprint Corp. high-speed wireless and wired Internet access in common areas and 315,000 square feet of total meeting space, and install wired Internet access in its 1,614 guestrooms. …

REDMOND, Wash.-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Intel Corp. unveiled a distribution program in which Intel will promote and sell AT&T Wireless GPRS- and Wi-Fi-based data solutions through more than 200 Intel Product Dealer Channel members. The two companies also said …

NEW YORK-Advanced Communications Technologies Inc. said its shareholders have increased its authorized common stock to 5 billion shares. The company markets a software defined radio system known as SpectruCell.

NEW YORK-Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services assigned a CCC rating to the $230 million convertible senior notes recently issued by tower owner Crown Castle International Corp. The rating service also affirmed its B- rating on the company and kept its …

BELLEVUE, Wash.-Western Wireless Corp. said it intends to sell $600 million worth of senior unsecured notes with maturities in 2010 and 2013 to qualified institutional buyers in an unregistered offering. The carrier said it will use net proceeds from the …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. said it has shipped samples of its Mobile Station Modem chipset and system software that support cdma2000 1x, EV-DO and GSM/GPRS standards, allowing roaming among the technologies. “The MSM6500 chipset was developed to meet increased operator and …

WASHINGTON-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Verizon Wireless asked a federal appeals court here to overturn a Federal Communications Commission ruling permitting mobile satellite service operators to use their frequencies to provide land-based mobile-phone communications. “Converting a satellite-only authorization into a …

MONTREAL-Canadian carrier Microcell Solutions Inc. said it will sell Danger Inc.’s unique Hiptop mobile phone/wireless data device, following the lead of fellow Hiptop sellers T-Mobile USA Inc. and Triton PCS. “Microcell is committed to working with industry leaders like Danger …

LONDON-More than 42 million consumers in Western Europe will use mobile portals by 2007, bringing the market’s value to more than $1 billion, according to research from IDC. “The growth of mobile portals represents an important development area, influencing many …

MIGDAL HAEMEK, Israel-Tower Semiconductor Ltd. has described as “without merit” a legal action filed against it in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of the company’s shareholders. The company said it has not …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. said Korean mobile operator KTF will become a BREW Global Publisher for applications developed for Qualcomm’s BREW mobile Internet platform. The agreement authorizes KTF, which was the first operator in the world to launch BREW services, to …