January 2005

Vodafone Group plc reported its strongest quarter since 2000, posting 5.4 million net customer additions to bring its worldwide subscriber base to 151.8 million. Vodafone’s announcement also offered a glimpse …

WASHINGTON-Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, introduced a bill Tuesday that hopes to streamline homeland-security grants and ensure that rural states get sufficient funding. “My …

WASHINGTON-Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly will ask the country’s top health official to investigate whether cell phones pose health risks to consumers. According to news reports circulating in the …

LOS ANGELES-Idetic Inc. has brought its live, mobile TV service to Cingular Wireless L.L.C. customers. Cingular customers can now get MobiTV, a 22-channel broadcasting service featuring content from MSNBC, ABC …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Thanks to a deal between operator CoTeCal and ZTE Corp., the country will witness its first CDMA 450 MHz network, according to the Chinese vendor. ZTE said the …

Internet search provider Ask Jeeves plans to launch a search service for wireless devices later this year, the company confirmed Tuesday. A spokeswoman declined to give specifics of the planned …

DIC Entertainment said it has signed an agreement with SmartVideo Technologies inc. to create what it describes as the world’s first animation channel for cell phones. Known as “DIC Kid’s …

LOS ANGELES-French mobile-game publisher In-Fusio continued to move into the U.S. market with the acquisition of Thumbworks, a Tustin, Calif.-based provider of entertainment content. Terms of the deal were not …

The venture capital arm of Siemens said it will join Cardinal Venture Capital and Garage Technology Ventures in investing $3 million in wireless technology company PhoneBites. PhoneBites is developing a …

MILAN, Italy-Italian carrier Telecom Italia said it plans to sell its 54.76-percent equity stake in Entel S.A. to Almendral S.A., a holding company listed on the Santiago stock exchange in …

TOKYO-Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said it plans to cut its work force with a view to improving its profit margin. Press reports say the company may slash as many as …

SAN DIEGO-Applied Micro Circuits Corp. said it has settled a securities class-action lawsuit against the company and certain current and former officers and directors. The four-year-old lawsuit alleged the company …

Treo maker PalmOne Inc. announced chief Todd Bradley will resign his position at the end of the quarter. The news seemed to alarm investors, who sent the company’s stock down …

The nation’s three largest wireless operators have the highest percentage of customers under contract for more than 12 months, according to consumer data research compiled by Stax Inc. The research …

WASHINGTON-Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced legislation that could curb the kinds of consumer and health class-action suits brought against the wireless industry in recent years. “In the 109th Congress we …

SHANGHAI, China-Puca Technologies, an Irish company that provides mobile messaging and data services, announced an agreement to acquire Beijing-based Mobile-Factor, which provides marketing applications, employee communications solutions and business-to-business messaging …

SEOUL-LG Electronics Co. Ltd. said it posted solid earnings thanks to strong sales of its TVs and mobile phones. For the full year, LG posted sales up 22 percent from …

TAMPA, Fla.-Wireless retailer and Wi-Fi hot-spot provider FTS Wireless Inc. said it plans to begin marketing Alltel Corp.’s wireless products and services next month. The company currently distributes wireless products …

LOS ANGELES-WMD Holdings Group Inc. said it will use broadband connectivity from Verizon Wireless for the company’s Navitouch Interactive Broadcast Network. Navitouch is an interactive video and audio network that …

SEATTLE-M-commerce software developer Qpass announced Tuesday that it had acquired ucp morgen, a Vienna, Austria-based developer of content delivery software for network operators and content providers. Terms of the deal …

SAN FRANCISCO-Yet another mobile music label was launched Tuesday as digital record company INgrooves announced its effort to create music exclusively for wireless devices. INgrooves Mobile Music will produce custom …

MIAMI-BatMax Corp. said its BatMax cell-phone battery-life booster is now in production and being shipped to retailers and wholesalers around the world. BatMax, based on a nanoceramic material called IonXR, …

Rural telecommunications provider Ntelos Inc. said it has commenced a self-tender offer to repurchase up to 76 percent of its existing equity in relation to a previously announced agreement to …

Despite a rash of operational difficulties during the past several years that led to its eventual sale to rival Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Forrester Research Inc. found that AT&T Wireless Services …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson signed an exclusive managed services contract with H3G Italy for the overall management of H3G Italy’s third-generation network, which has more than 2.6 million subscribers. The value …