March 2006

BURNABY, British Columbia-Unity Wireless Corp. said it closed a $2.2 million three-year debt financing by institutional investors. The company, which develops wireless subsystems and coverage solutions, said it plans to use proceeds from the transaction for general corporate purposes. The …

ALPHARETTA, Ga.-Verizon Wireless inked a two-year deal to provide wireless voice and data services for Chick-fil-A Inc. As part of the deal, the Georgia-based fast-food chain has purchased 1,000 handsets, Verizon Wireless said, including Plam Inc.’s Treos and personal digital …

WASHINGTON—A federal court in Colorado told state regulators there that they cannot require Alltel Corp. to file rate statements and agree to certain service-quality standards in order to receive eligible telecommunications carrier status—a necessary designation to receive universal-service subsidies. “The …

WASHINGTON—Evoking visions of the Battle of Yorktown, Robert McDowell appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee Thursday afternoon hoping to be confirmed as a member of the Federal Communications Commission. “This coming Oct. 19, in Virginia, we will commemorate the 225th …

The following list details this week’s infrastructure awards for the cellular and Wi-Fi industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available.   Cellular Brazil: Motorola Inc. said …

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.—Next month’s LinuxWorld Conference & Expo will include a mobile Linux focus, according to conference organizer IDG World Expo. In addition, the show floor will feature a Mobile Linux Pavilion, with scheduled exhibitors including Palm OS vendor Access Co …

TORONTO—Nortel Networks Ltd. plans to restate its financial results—again—and also will push back the filing of its 2005 annual report to the end of April. The bookkeeping-challenged Canadian equipment vendor also reported preliminary fourth-quarter results, posting a stunning $2.2 billion …

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and T-Mobile USA Inc. halted retail sales of the Razr, Motorola Inc.’s best-selling handset, this week after the vendor informed the carriers that a component glitch was cutting off calls as if the flip phone was …

COLUMBUS, Ohio.—An Ohio WiMAX start-up that says it plans to launch a wireless nationwide triple play of data, voice and video services this fall announced a partnership with MODF.tv, a Web site that streams television programming. Televip Networks officials could …

COPPELL, Texas—SmartVideo Technologies said it signed a distribution agreement with CellStar Corp. covering the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. SmartVideo offers video services for cellular phones, including live broadcasting, on-demand and download-and-play TV content. Terms of the agreement …

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.   Carriers Morgan Stanley downgraded its opinion on Alltel Corp. to equal weight from overweight following a rally in the …

WATERLOO, Ontario—Research In Motion Ltd. announced today it purchased Ascendent Systems, which sells products that extend desk phone connectivity to wireless handsets in a campus environment. RIM said the purchase would complement its current enterprise offerings. Terms of the agreement …

HANNOVER, Germany—Microsoft Corp. unveiled its much-hinted-at Origami product today—an ultra-mobile personal computer with Wi-Fi connectivity—at the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany. The computing giant called the device a “first step” in its “big vision” for a mobile device that …

LOS ANGELES—Bunim-Murray Productions, which is often credited with starting the reality TV phenomenon with the MTV hit “The Real World” more than a decade ago, launched a spinoff focused on new media initiatives, including mobile and Internet. The spinoff, called …

SAN DIEGO—Wireless handset distributor InfoSonics Corp. said its geographic mix of revenues experienced a significant shift last year toward sales in Latin America. The company said sales in Latin America increased 226 percent, and it noted it added Argentina as …

PEARL RIVER, N.Y.—Interactive media company Traffix Inc. launched a strategic mobile marketing business unit called mxFocus. The company said the new business unit focuses on off-deck marketing, which allows clients to reach customers directly on their wireless device through all …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. unveiled Voice over Internet Protocol services for business customers, and said it plans to integrate wireless capabilities with services that are expected to be deployed later this year. The Sprint IP Voice Connect service offers …

AACHEN, Germany—A consortium of European businesses and colleges unveiled an Application Programming Interface (API) designed to allow users to access content across mobile devices. The $2.1 million project, which was underwritten by the European Commission, seeks to reduce the development …

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.—InterDigital Communications Corp. announced its fourth quarter and full-year results, showing a jump in revenues over the same quarter a year ago. For the fourth quarter, the company reported revenue of $40.5 million and net income of …

SAN DIEGO—Now that the Chinese government has sanctioned its homegrown TD-SCDMA technology as the third-generation technology of the land, and with precious 3G licenses about to be granted to Chinese operators, Qualcomm Inc.’s plans to charge royalties on TD-SCDMA products …

BEDMINSTER, N.J.—Verizon Wireless inked a major retail distribution deal for its wireless service, agreeing to sell its INpulse offering through 2,300 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. locations nationwide. The news marks a potentially substantial opportunity for Verizon as Wal-Mart dominates the market …

ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. had a brief service outage earlier this week, due to problems with a database that stopped recognizing customers. Cingular spokesman Mark Siegel declined to give specific numbers of customers affected, but said it was “a very small …

WASHINGTON—As part of the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to solve the public-safety interference problem in the 800 MHz band, Sprint Nextel Corp. was given 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band. However, before the carrier can use the …

WASHINGTON-The Justice Department asked U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty to join the spectrum auction fraud lawsuit against Wall Street telecom magnate Mario Gabelli, upping the stakes of the litigation at a time when federal regulators are scrambling to enact reforms …

WASHINGTON—A new report says injecting property rights and market forces into spectrum allocations would best foster efficient spectrum use and development of new technologies. The report, issued by academics and former policymakers affiliated with the Digital Age Communications Act Project, …