2006

Telecom operators around the world lose about 12 percent of their revenue on average to factors ranging from internal and external fraud to bundling and the billing complications that providing multiple services brings. That figure reflects a slight increase from …

WASHINGTON—Council Tree Communications Inc. and others last week asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn results of the advanced wireless services auction, arguing new rules designed to prevent national mobile-phone carriers and others from exploiting bidding benefits …

Strong regional differences in call quality among carriers showed up in the latest J.D. Power and Associates consumer survey, with no carrier dominating nationally. J.D. Power also noted that the number of calls made from inside buildings exceeded the number …

Airgo Networks Inc.’s TrueMIMO technology was showcased in two new wireless-in-the-home launches that were announced last week. Though pre-802.11n technology will not be certified until sometime next year, Airgo is shipping products built according to the IEEE’s draft 2 specifications, …

CINCINNATI—MobileVoiceControl Inc. is entering the voice-driven search market with an application for smart phones from Sprint Nextel Corp. The developer launched VoiceControl, which allows users to search for mobile content, local business listings and information from the Internet; users can …

Vodafone Germany launched a downloadable Java-based mapping application that features hi-resolution aerial photos and a searchable database of more than 4,000 German points of interest. Like Google Earth and other mapping applications for computers, Mobile Earth allows users to access …

It seems U.S. consumers are slowly getting used to searching for information on their mobile phones. And service providers are beginning to deploy ways to cash in. More than 9 million users reported accessing a mobile Internet search service in …

WASHINGTON—U.S. law enforcement officials are expected to continue scrutinizing large purchases of prepaid cell phones and possible links to terrorist activity on American soil, despite failing to make such a connection to a wireless buying behavior that may be far …

NEW YORK—Crisp Wireless unveiled a service from The Associated Press designed to deliver updates and results from the upcoming election to wireless users. AP Mobile Election Results will feature state-by-state results for national office races and gubernatorial contests in November …

HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG announced the business unit and regional leadership team for their planned Nokia Siemens Networks with the expectation that the proposed merger will be approved and begin operations by Jan. 1, 2007. “We are making …

SANTA ANA, Calif.—Powerwave Technologies Inc. reworked its $336 million acquisition agreement with Filtronic plc, paring the deal down to $185 million in cash along with 17.7 million in shares of Powerwave common stock. In June, the two companies struck an …

We didn’t spend too much time hedge-hogging last week, what with the upcoming I.T. Show and the Show Daily preparations. But there were still a few things to get us talking. Intrepid RCR reporters Heather Forsgren Weaver and Jeffrey Silva …

MELBOURNE, Fla.—Harris Corp. said it signed a definitive agreement to combine its Microwave Communications Division with Stratex Networks Inc. The new company will be called Harris Stratex Networks Inc. Terms of the deal call for Harris to contribute its microwave …

Amp’d Mobile Inc. is “fast approaching” 50,000 subscribers and is on track to have a customer base of between 100,000 to 150,000 customers by Christmas, according to Peter Adderton, chief executive officer and founder of the mobile virtual network operator. …

BURBANK, Calif.—Warner Music Group Corp. subsidiary Rhino Entertainment said it will provide music-based content for HBO Mobile. Rhino, which develops and promotes content from WMG’s catalog, plans to deliver ringtones and ring-back tones to support HBO’s mobile content services to …

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Google Inc. has joined the mobile marketing playground with a wireless version of its AdWords service. The Internet giant quietly launched the offering that allows AdWords customers to place marketing messages—including clickable links—in listings retrieved through Google’s mobile …

Bidding slowed last week in the advanced wireless services spectrum auction, but the competition could be far from wrapping up as companies could bid up prices for competitors and make a few last attempts to capture always valuable spectrum. T-Mobile …

WASHINGTON—A new federal pre-emption battle has broken out at the Federal Communications Commission between two small wireless companies and Qwest Corp. The small carriers are asking telecom regulators to intervene by barring five state public utility commissions from further involvement …

AURORA, Ill.—Lucent Technologies Inc. and Westell Technologies Inc. signed a global reseller agreement that calls for Lucent to resell Westell’s TriLink IP Multimedia Subsystem gateway as part of its IMS-based solution. Lucent said it integrated Westell’s converged residential gateways into …

MENLO PARK, Calif.—Voice-recognition software developer Promptu said it closed an $11.6 million round of funding. Steelpoint Capital Partners led the round, and other current investors also participated. Promptu, which was founded as AgileTV in 2000, has gained significant traction by …

Nokia Corp. announced plans to build on its relationship with Yahoo Inc., embedding the Internet giant’s mobile search application on its NSeries multimedia handsets and other phones running the Symbian operating system. The world’s largest handset maker said Yahoo will …

NEW YORK—The New York Times finally went wireless with a mobile site delivering news, sports, business information and other content to users with Web-enabled devices. The company, which has drawn criticism for its efforts to capitalize on new technological platforms, …

SINGAPORE—Mobile storefront operator CellCity Pte Ltd. said it has inked a deal to offer content from Asian aggregator WooWorld Pte Ltd. CellCity offers a vast portfolio of content and applications for businesses and consumers through its Web site Thecellcity.com. WooWorld …

RESTON, Va.—Sprint Nextel Corp. said it won a government contract worth an estimated $679 million to continue providing telecommunications services for federal agencies. The General Services Administration awarded Sprint Nextel the Federal Telecommunications System 2001 Bridge contract, which Sprint Corp. …

No wonder China is postponing its decision on third-generation wireless licenses. They’re almost obsolete, if you believe the rhetoric thrown about these days. OK, slight exaggeration, but new technologies are being developed at a faster pace than ever before. At …