2006

WASHINGTON—A three-judge panel on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed its rejection of a Federal Communications Commission decision pre-empting states from regulating line items on mobile-phone bills. However, the panel clarified their July 31 opinion by specifically vacating …

WALL, N.J.—U.S. and Caribbean operator Centennial Communications Corp.’s earnings were down sharply, coming in at a loss of $2.2 million compared with a gain of $14.6 million in the same period last year. The company’s operating income and consolidated revenue …

“Idealistic” isn’t a word commonly associated with venture capitalists. But Brian Biniak, founder of the new wireless venture-capital firm Provenance Ventures L.L.C., believes there is a business case for making the world a better place. “Some people complain about it, …

The wireless industry already has MyCircle, Inner Circle, Mobile-to-Anyone, and Sprint-to-Home. Add to that list “myFaves,” the new offer from T-Mobile USA Inc. that allows customers to make unlimited calls to a handful of wireless or wireline numbers. The move …

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—Openwave Systems Inc. announced the acquisition of SoloMio Corp., a Texas-based provider of integrated subscriber call management services. Terms of the all-cash deal were not disclosed. Key to the deal is SoloMio’s Smart Call platform, which supports both …

PORTLAND, Ore.—Digital commerce software developer Vesta Corp. acquired Beijing-based mobile top-up company Unimobile in an effort to tap the Chinese prepaid wireless market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Unimobile, which was founded in 2000, distributes “recharge cards” for …

WASHINGTON—Online phone retailer InPhonic Inc. announced it will power the online mobile phone sales of retailer Best Buy Co Inc. InPhonic said it will be the provider and fulfillment partner of cellular products and services on BestBuy.com. “We are very …

HOUSTON—In the world of tower companies, where size definitely matters, No. 1 has just been usurped. Crown Castle International has skipped ahead of American Tower Corp.—the nation’s largest tower company—by buying Global Signal Inc. The deal, valued at $5.8 billion, …

OKLAHOMA CITY—Dobson Communications Corp. said it acquired Highland Cellular L.L.C. through its American Cellular Corp. subsidiary. The deal is valued at $95 million. Highland provides wireless service to about 50,000 subscribers in southern West Virginia and two counties in Virginia. …

NEW YORK—Following its $4.2 billion worth of spectrum auction winnings, T-Mobile USA Inc. announced plans to spend $2.6 billion to upgrade its network to 3G technology. The carrier said it has already been working with 3G handset and equipment vendors …

ATLANTA—BellSouth Corp. said it is expanding its Wireless Broadband Service to Albany, Ga., and Paducah, Ky., this month. The service runs over a pre-WiMAX network. The company said it also is expanding the service, which offers residential and business customers …

The following list details this week’s infrastructure awards for the cellular, Wi-Fi and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available. Click here for additional infrastructure …

SAN DIEGO—Novatel Wireless Inc. offered upbeat preliminary results for the third quarter, including revenues and earnings per share that the company expects to exceed previous guidance. The company expects revenues to be between $53 million and $55 million. Earnings per …

LEAGUE CITY, Texas—Wireless broadband products and services provider ERF Wireless Inc. said it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of NetYeti Inc. NetYeti is the wireless broadband division of PCCare Inc. and does business under the 36db.com …

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms. Click here for wireless ratings from past weeks from RCR Wireless News. Carrier RBC Capital Markets lowered its rating on …

BURLINGTON, Mass.—Lightbridge Inc. said it will quit its Telecom Decisioning Services business after losing Sprint Nextel Corp.’s business. The nation’s No. 3 carrier was Lightbridge’s largest TDS customer. Sprint Nextel’s TDS contract is scheduled to expire at the end of …

OKLAHOMA CITY—Dobson Communications Corp. said its subscriber additions improved significantly during the third quarter. In a preliminary quarterly report, the company said it added about 23,500 net subscribers, including 11,300 postpaid customers and 14,500 prepaid customers. During the third quarter …

WASHINGTON—AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp. urged the Federal Communications Commission not to give in to congressional pressure by requiring them to divest their 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz wireless broadband assets as a condition of approving AT&T’s proposed $67 billion …

WASHINGTON—The wireless broadband industry lashed out at XM Radio Inc. over the satellite radio operator’s admission that 221 land-based repeaters were operating above authorized power levels and 19 repeaters were transmitting outside the scope of XM’s Federal Communications Commission permit. …

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission tapped cell-phone association CTIA and wireless infrastructure trade group PCIA as clearinghouses for moving existing 2.1 GHz licensees to new frequencies to make room for new advanced wireless services operators. “PCIA is pleased that the commission …

LONDON—Wireless giant Vodafone Group plc selected two U.S. companies to manage its application development and maintenance services around the world. Vodafone chose to outsource the operations to EDS and IBM Corp. after an eight-month process and 11 competitive bidders. The …

SAN DIEGO, Calif.—Leap Wireless International Inc. offered insight into its plans for the spectrum it won in the FCC’s advanced wireless services auction, outlining a buildout that should start next year and ultimately cover about 24 million potential customers at …

Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCR to rant and rave about whatever rubs …

WALL, N.J.—U.S. and Caribbean operator Centennial Communications Corp.’s earnings were down sharply, coming in at a loss of $2.2 million compared with a gain of $14.6 million in the same period last year. The company’s operating income and consolidated revenue …

LONDON—It looks like Florida-based xG Technology Inc. is ramping up for a $56.9 million IPO on the London stock exchange. Though the company wouldn’t confirm reports about its initial public offering plans, rumor has it that xG is roadshowing its …