2007

AT&T Inc. reported an agreement with Eurpean Wi-Fi provider The Cloud that adds more than 9,000 Wi-Fi locations available to its customers traveling in the United Kingdom, Germany and Scandinavian countries.Following the deal, AT&T’s worldwide Wi-Fi service now comprises more …

There’s good news for a beleaguered American handset giant named Motorola Inc.The company’s Razr handset-beefed up on functionality and spun off in customized form in myriad colors for all four of the top-tier network operators-represented two of the top five …

Mobile software developer NetMotion Wireless is touting another customer win this week, unveiling a deal to deploy its mobile virtual private network with cable behemoth Cox Communications.The nation’s third-largest cable operator said 3,500 field service technicians are using the technology, …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our Monday 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 Jupiter Research’s …

THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION LAST WEEK approved 700 MHz rules to foster the creation of a nationwide public-safety/commercial broadband network and introduce new devices and applications in a wireless space tightly controlled by four national operators.The FCC designated for auction …

Despite the widely recognized success of Amp’d Mobile Inc.’s large portfolio of original content, a source at the company has told RCR Wireless News that less than 1% of the company’s nearly $400 million total budget was spent on such …

WHILE THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND OTHERS CELEBRATED anticipated public-safety and wireless benefits of last week’s 700 MHz auction rules decision, skeptics question whether the action will indeed produce a competitor to the Bell telephone-cable TV broadband duopoly and a …

THE FCC’S RULES FOR NEXT YEAR’S auction of 700 MHz spectrum could change the game substantially for wireless content owners and application developers. Then again, maybe not.Chairman Kevin Martin last week seemed to avoid drawing the ire of any of …

Amp’d Mobile Inc. went dark last week, after filing for bankruptcy and being unable to raise sufficient funds to carry it through reorganization.The company joins Mobile ESPN in the annals of failed mobile virtual network operators, and its customers were …

NII Holdings Inc., formerly Nextel International, has found success in Mexico and South America and recently passed the 4 million subscriber mark across four countries. The international company is based in Reston, Va., but offers service in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico …

MediaFLO USA Inc. is still holding most of its customers’ usage data close to the vest-thanks in part to continuing exclusivity with Verizon Wireless until AT&T Mobility launches the service later this year-but the company is increasingly getting the word …

Cell-cessful surgery Cellphones played a lifesaving role during a surgery in Argentina recently. According to a Reuters report, a blackout in Policlinico, Argentina, interrupted an emergency appendix operation on 29-year-old Leonardo Molina, and backup generators failed. Molina’s family members collected …

With the 700 MHz auction rules officially out (and before any legal challenges are launched), now is a good time to reflect on the government’s role in spectrum auctions.In the past, when the government has tried to craft rules to …

For sure, the reaction to the Federal Communications Commission’s 700 MHz decision was mixed. But no one was so visibly and verbally downcast about what the agency had wrought than Commissioner Robert McDowell. For McDowell, it is the FCC and …

Inching closer to its long-sought goal of 40% of the global market, Nokia Corp. confirmed last week that its business is firing on nearly all cylinders.The Finnish vendor notched impressive, year-on-year, double-digit gains in handset volumes in every region but …

It appears the case has been made for mobile TV. The big question now is, what do on-the-go users want to watch? Once a questionable proposition even for early adopters, wireless video is quickly moving into the mainstream. Dedicated mobile …

FiberTower Corp. announced that it has inked a deal with the No. 3 carrier to provide backhaul services in seven of Sprint Nextel’s initial WiMAX launch markets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed due to confidentiality agreements, according to …

Inmarsat Global Ltd. has challenged TerreStar Networks Inc.’s request to delay for nearly a year its mobile satellite launch currently scheduled for November.TerreStar in late May asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to extend the launch until September 2008 …

A federal court in California ruled a class-action suit accusing Cingular Wireless L.L.C.-now AT&T Mobility-of false and misleading advertising can go forward.The complaint, brought under state consumer protection laws, involves a promotion in which Cingular advertised a cash rebate as …

hedge*hog*ging v. Interrupting conversations in an office environmentby poking your head over the top of the cube. While there is plenty of coverage on the FCC’s 700 MHz auction rules throughout this issue, early betting around the RCR Wireless News’ …

Congress appears unlikely to act before its August recess on a Bush administration request to shield mobile-phone operators and other telecom carriers from lawsuits stemming from participation with the National Security Agency’s terrorist surveillance program.The program-believed to have secretly begun …

Consumers in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Fla., market use mobile coupons at a higher rate than consumers in other U.S. markets, according to research by mobile coupon company Cellfire.Markets in Northern California and Texas made up the majority of the remaining …

First, Balda AG and its partner, TPK Holdings, won Apple Inc.’s business for the touchscreen module for the latter’s iPhone.Now Balda’s shareholders are agitating for the company to spin off its touchscreen business to bring more visibility to that business’ …

Verizon Wireless backed up its strong second-quarter customer numbers with solid financials and a new acquisition that will make the nation’s largest CDMA carrier a roaming provider for GSM services.The carrier announced that it had agreed to buy Rural Cellular …