2005

WASHINGTON-The Iraqi National Communication and Media Commission is seeking applications for national and provincial licenses for local telecom services based on wireless local loop technologies. The licenses are expected to …

DALLAS-The Alberta Special Areas Board picked Nortel Networks Ltd. to build a fixed WiMAX network in Canada, bringing high-speed wireless broadband access to rural areas of Alberta, Nortel said. Nortel …

LONDON-Vodafone Group plc named banking group HSBC Holdings plc Chairman John Bond as its new chairman. Bond, who announced his resignation from HSBC last week, will succeed Vodafone Chief Executive …

NEW YORK-Comverse Technology Inc. reported increases in sales and income for the third quarter. The company reported sales of $299 million for the period, up 21.8 percent from sales of …

WASHINGTON-A handful of public-safety organizations, led by the Association of Public-safety Communications Officials, sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging the government agency to deny Sprint Nextel Corp.’s …

AMSTERDAM-Europe’s Gemplus International S.A. and Axalto N.V., the world’s two largest smart card vendors, announced plans to merge in an all-stock transaction. If approved, the combined company would have 2005 …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson said it won a seven-year contract to manage wireless operator 3’s network and IT infrastructure in the United Kingdom. The deal is worth an estimated $1.9 billion. …

YONKERS, N.Y.-Wireless carriers struck out for a fourth straight year in the annual survey of cellular service and phones conducted by independent evaluator Consumer Reports. Cingular Wireless L.L.C. acquisition of …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry, joined by the rest of the telecommunications industry, last week asked the Treasury Secretary to intervene and stop the Internal Revenue Service from continuing to collect the …

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-Mobile search technology provider JumpTap Inc. snared $21 million in its latest round of financing. New investor Redpoint Ventures joined existing backers General Catalyst Partners and BCE Capital. JumpTap …

WASHINGTON-In an attempt to educate Capitol Hill staff about the importance of cost recovery, the Foundation for Rural Service released a paper saying that Voice over Internet Protocol could not …

WASHINGTON-The U.S. mobile phone industry, having watched a slew of headset and brain cancer suits returned to state courts the past year and a half, is scrambling to keep three …

CHELMSFORD, Mass.-Operating system company SavaJe Technologies raised $40 million in equity financing, which the company said it plans to use to enhance its sales and marketing efforts. Investcorp’s Technology Ventures …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Cisco Systems Inc. announced it’s updating several products with Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem standards in order to enable cellular carriers to bring IP-based services to their networks. Cisco’s …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will use ArrayComm L.L.C.’s smart antenna technology in its wireless base stations, the companies announced. ArrayComm said its antenna technology is designed to help …

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-Mobile virtual network enabler Visage Mobile accumulated $30 million in Series D funding, bringing the total capital raised by the company to more than $80 million. Visage said …

SAN DIEGO, Calif.-Qualcomm Inc. said it has joined the Wi-Fi Alliance, saying it aims to be directly involved with ensuring wireless local area network technology is compatible with the company’s …

ESPOO, Finland-Nokia Corp. announced the winners of its annual Forum Nokia PRO Awards, which recognize accomplishments in the development of content and applications during 2005. Quickoffice Inc. won the Developer …

WASHINGTON-A group opposed to assessing universal-service contributions based on telephone numbers said it had sent nearly 600,000 e-mails and letters to the Federal Communications Commission before this Friday’s expected vote. …

SAN DIEGO, Calif.-House of Blues Entertainment licensed Soapbox Mobile’s Anywhere product, a mobile marketing and customer relationship management platform. Soapbox Mobile said its product will allow House of Blues to …

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-VeriSign Inc. said its Jamster subsidiary is working with Melodeo Inc. to develop a digital music platform that will support full-track music downloads. Verisign noted that Jamster was …

ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. officially took the high-speed plunge with the launch of its UMTS/HSDPA-based BroadbandConnect network. The carrier said its next-generation network is initially available in 16 markets covering nearly …

LONDON-Vodafone Group plc said it plans to launch eight new mobile TV channels including wireless versions of HBO, MTV and Twentieth Century Fox Television. The new video content will be …

BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless customers now can view and pay their wireless phone bills online at the Web sites of more than 1,700 U.S. banks, portals, credit unions and brokerage firms, …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson said it has conducted a live trial of interactive mobile TV services with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Ericsson explained that the trial demonstrated how consumers could use …