March 2006

SAN FRANCISCO—MobileLime and mFoundry are the latest companies to announce financing rounds this week. Mobile application publisher mFoundry said it completed a $7.3 million Series B round of private equity financing. GRP Partners led the round, which included participation from …

AUSTIN, Texas—KGI Wireless Inc. said it snagged a multi-year deal to manage Alltel Corp.’s 3,000 wireless tower sites. The agreement represents the first time a domestic wireless carrier has selected a company to direct the marketing and licensing of its …

BURNABY, Canada—Fortuna Gaming Corp., a Canadian-based company focused on online and mobile gambling, sees mobile gambling as a big part of its future and eventually wants to launch a mobile virtual network operator for gambling. “The long-term vision is to …

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Nokia Corp. unveiled a new software development kit (SDK) for game-makers looking to create 3-D titles for the manufacturer’s smart phones. The SDK, which was announced at the Game Developers Conference, includes debugging and analyzing tools as well …

SAN DIEGO—A lawsuit claiming Qualcomm Inc. didn’t deliver services it agreed to provide has been dismissed by New York state’s Supreme Court. Russian telecommunications contractor Whale Telecom filed suit in November 2004, seeking more than $400 million in damages relating …

NEW YORK—Price Communications Corp.’s board of directors has decided to pursue liquidating the company, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The small wireless operator has been operating in partnership with Verizon Wireless since 2002; prior to …

LAS VEGAS—BellSouth Corp. unveiled a pre-WiMAX wireless broadband back-up system for businesses’ Internet connections. The carrier said the system allows customers to activate a Wi-Fi hotspot at a business location, with a WiMAX backhaul, in the event the wireline network …

SEOUL, South Korea—Do Europeans like chocolate as much as South Koreans? If we’re talking food, the question is crazy. But because we’re talking about LG Electronics Co. Ltd.’s new Chocolate mobile phone, which has done well since its release in …

BOULDER, Colo.—The Mobile Marketing Association revised its “consumer best practices,” updating the guidelines to include chat services, interactive television and viral and affiliate marketing. The rules are designed to establish a standard, efficient platform for brands, advertisers and carriers looking …

LAS VEGAS—SkyBridge Technology Group Inc. signed a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire TeleDigit Inc., according to the companies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. SkyBridge, based in Las Vegas, specializes in business systems integration for telecom, data and …

LAS VEGAS—Consumers may not be willing to pay for the premium services many telecom companies are banking on to grow their revenues, according to findings of two new studies from KPMG L.L.P. One study found nearly 60 percent of telecom …

OKLAHOMA CITY—Dobson Communications announced that it completed and closed its exchange of $150 million in unregistered senior floating rate notes due 2012, for notes that have been registered under the Securities Act, also due in 2012. The notes were issued …

The emerging iconic headset, the gadget plaintiffs’ lawyers claim is key to minimizing health risks from mobile phones and that state lawmakers champion as the silver-bullet cure for cell-phone-yakking drivers, is suddenly the suspected culprit behind hearing troubles of teenagers …

LG Electronics Co. Ltd., one of the world’s top five handset vendors, plans to acquire South Korean handset rival KTF Technology, allowing LG to go head-to-head with Pantech Group, which is now the top handset vendor in the South Korean …

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—L.M. Ericsson and Lucent Technologies Inc. could find themselves in a bidding war today for Ethernet developer Riverstone Networks Inc. Ericsson submitted a competing offer for Riverstone just over a month after Lucent and Riverstone agreed to a …

WASHINGTON-Congressional auditors said the deployment of wireless enhanced 911 services continues to progress, but that some states could take five more years and others may not ever fully implement the emergency location service. “Significant progress has been made toward implementing …

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—VeriSign Inc. continued its spending spree, inking an agreement to shell out $250 million in cash for mobile messaging and content services provider m-Qube Inc. M-Qube powers mobile storefronts and marketing campaigns for media companies and major brands …

SAN JOSE, Calif.—GPS chipset provider SiRF Technology Holdings Inc. said it acquired TrueSpan, a two-year-old company that is developing chips for mobile TV. The acquisition is part of SiRF’s plans to develop chips for a variety of wireless technologies. TrueSpan’s …

Mobile virtual network operator Cool Mobile has big plans for this year, starting off today by expanding its cool.Prepaid handset lineup to six Motorola Inc. devices and aiming to offer hybrid and postpaid service plans by the end of the …

What does $67 billion buy these days? Convergence nirvana, for one thing. If AT&T Inc.’s offer for BellSouth Corp. gets approved, as it’s expected, big-time convergence could finally start happening in real-world terms. Bundled communications services from a range of …

Google Inc. is dipping its toe in the mobile browser business, formatting Internet sites for users surfing the wireless Web. But legal experts say the Internet giant may be infringing on copyrights in the process. The Mountain View, Calif.-based firm …

It was a week of mixed results for regional carriers, as numbers trickled in from a handful of operators-some of which had delayed their reporting or had to restate prior earnings. Leap Wireless International Inc. had a slightly weaker-than-expected fourth …

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. announced it purchased the remaining 50-percent interests in 10 partnerships with Palmetto MobileNet L.P. that it did not already own. The partnerships cover about 2 million potential customers in North and South Carolina. Alltel did not …

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. rolled out a new pricing plan-without its signature Rollover feature-in a move to counter a similar plan offered by T-Mobile USA Inc. Cingular’s Nation 1000 plan for $40 per month includes nationwide long distance and roaming, but …

SBA Communications Corp., the nation’s fifth-largest tower company, is offering $1 billion to acquire AAT Communications Corp., the nation’s sixth-largest tower company. SBA said it will pick up AAT’s 1,855 owned tower sites along with an additional 250 revenue-producing managed …