After just 18 months on the job, Nortel Networks Ltd. announced that its chief marketing officer, Clent Richardson, plans to leave the company March 1. Nortel has not named a replacement and said only that Richardson’s decision was based on personal reasons and that he plans to move his family from Toronto to the U.S. West Coast. Richardson’s departure comes about six weeks after Mike Zafirovski took the reins as Nortel’s chief executive. On Nov. 30, Nortel announced that Brian McFadden, chief research officer, and Sue Spradley, operations president, were leaving the company. Their departures took effect immediately.
Content delivery company MBlox got mired in Crazy Frog’s marsh. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company was fined $70,000 by U.K. watchdog group Icstis for powering Jamba’s content offerings to wireless users. Hundreds of consumers complained to Icstis about the VeriSign Inc. subsidiary, saying they unwittingly subscribed to an ongoing service after attempting to purchase the Crazy Frog ringtone. Jamba and its U.S. sister company Jamster have made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic this year as consumer groups blasted the firms for allegedly fraudulent business practices and marketing to minors. Icstis ordered MBlox to issue refunds to 338 users who bought the Crazy Frog clip. While MBlox said it accepted Icstis’ ruling, it said the group should target content providers directly.
Shenandoah Personal Communications Co. and Sprint Nextel Corp. agreed to extend a deal to avoid litigation until they can work out a management agreement that takes Sprint Corp.’s acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. into account. The companies extended the agreement until Feb. 15, according to SEC filings. Shentel is one of a handful of remaining independent Sprint affiliates. Since Sprint announced plans to acquire Nextel late last year, the carrier has absorbed a number of network affiliates. A judge recently refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Sprint Nextel charging that the company violated exclusivity agreements with affiliates UbiquiTel PCS Inc. and Horizon Personal Communications Inc.