2007

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We’ve collected a group of the industry’s leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Current Analysis’ …

AS THE 3G MARKET HEATS UP, so has the level of litigation among industry players, exemplified by longrunning headlines involving the Goliaths and the Davids in wireless.The underlying disputes that have generated the current level of litigation may be few, …

Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna said he wants legislation to prohibit the marketing of cellphone numbers without consumer consent, responding to privacy concerns raised by a directory business launched by Bellevue, Wash.-based information commerce firm Intelius Inc.“I have my …

THE WIRELESS INDUSTRY DODGED one bullet and got tagged by another as the Superior Court of the District of Columbia threw out six brain-cancer lawsuits against wireless carriers, manufacturers and others.The decision was a major legal victory that tempered the …

FLAT-RATE WIRELESS carriers serving the sub-prime sector have seen their stocks plunge in recent weeks, reflecting fears about sub-prime customers who could affect the carriers’ financial results.The financial markets have been rattled by fears about the extent to which the …

Battling for brand recognition, or more particularly, connecting a brand with a certain image, is more than apropos in the wireless industry-it very often defines the success of each company’s marketing scheme.Ever since the entertainment and sports worlds opened their …

Verizon Wireless is hoping it can make better music as part of a trio than it did singing solo.The carrier last week announced a partnership with MTV Networks and RealNetworks Inc. to challenge Apple Inc.’s dominant iTunes service. MTV will …

Google Inc. Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt left the door open to bidding on wireless licenses when the 700 MHz auction begins in mid-January, but the Web search-engine giant and others are not apt to make final plans until after …

Personalization refers to the way consumers use mobile content as kind of a bumper sticker, telling others who they are and what they think. It won’t be long, though, before users will be placing those bumper stickers on your phone-not …

Verizon Wireless needed a refreshed portfolio of converged devices that could deliver revenue-generating services into consumers’ hands. Motorola Inc. needed to boost its smartphone offerings, its margins and its overall fortunes.The two parties’ interests thus dovetailed over the new Q …

Are cellphone carriers becoming the New York Yankees of then wireless world? Or is it worse?● A federal judge last week said it was ridiculous that AT&T Mobility (then Cingular) had a clause in its customer contracts that said customers …

In light of the troubles encountered by telecom carriers and public-safety agencies following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina four years later, it is hard to criticize the Bush administration’s regulatory bailout of a still-struggling yet promising mobilesatellite …

Dear Editor,It is with great interest that we read the article, “The MMS disconnect,” (RCR Wireless News, Aug. 13). Sybase 365 believes that the article has many inaccurate assumptions and misleading statements, and would like to clear the air about …

If businesses had Ten Commandments, No. 1 would probably be “Know Thy Customer.”Easier said than done.Customer information plays a crucial role in customer relationship management, from determining the type of offers and incentives that are made to customers to impacting …

An aggressive pricing strategy to reduce inventory enabled Motorola Inc. to perform significantly better in global sales to end users in the second quarter than in the oft-cited, unit-shipment metric, according to data from Gartner.The upshot: Motorola, based on sales …

Save the trees In addition to its advanced functionality, Apple’s iPhone is also endowed with very detailed billing. AT&T Mobility said it was re-examining its current billing practices for the wonder device that provides customers with billing records of not …

Post-merger Alcatel-Lucent isn’t winning over many hearts and minds on Wall Street these days. The company announced the departure of two senior executives last week, both of whom at one point were hand-picked to lead their previously separate companies, according …

Digital security company Gemalto is teaming with NXP Semiconductors to push contactless payments toward commercial viability.The companies last week said they’d work together to define standards for SIM-based Near Field Communications products and ensure interoperability with MIFARE, a contactless smartcard …

The Federal Communications Commission latest efforts to improve wireless 911 location accuracy could be hindered by a widening chasm between public-safety organizations and the mobile-phone industry over contemplated changes and timeframes for achieving new guidelines.Already cellular carriers have taken issue …

Has it really only been two months that the iPhone burst on wireless scene? For all the hype leading up to the launch of device, some of which we admit we aided, the wireless industry not all that different some …

Welcome to our Friday feature, Week in Review. Every Friday, RCR Wireless News will run through the major events of the past week, outlining what happened and speculating on what to look for in the coming weeks. Check below for …

The Superior Court of the District of Columbia today threw out six brain-cancer lawsuits against the mobile-phone industry, potentially removing a legal cloud that could have cost wireless carriers and manufacturers billions of dollars.The decision to dismiss the suits was …

With all eyes upon the two parties-Nokia Corp. and one of its suppliers, Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan-the latter agreed today to cover the direct costs of a battery replacement program for Nokia handset owners affected by potentially …

Mobile virtual network operator Working Assets Wireless announced it will begin offering a solar-powered cellphone charger for free for a limited time. The company said the offering is part of its effort to help subscribers “connect to progressive causes.”“If we …