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, will form a new...
BOSTON—Boston University said it is adding an experimental course in its College of Communications that teaches students esthetics and production methods for making films designed specifically for mobile phones and handheld devices. The course will be led by director Jan Egleson. Students will be...
ALEXANDRA, Va.—Hook Mobile emerged from stealth mode with a cross-carrier multimedia messaging service (MMS) application that allows players to collect and trade "cards" of contestants from the CBS reality hit "Survivor." Users can initiate the subscription service by sending a key word to a...
PURCHASE, N.Y.—MasterCard Worldwide customers can find nearby ATMs with their mobile phones thanks to a new application from Mobile 365. Under the new service, Mobile users can dial an 800 number and enter their location information to receive a text message detailing the location...
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 acquisition of BellSouth. "...
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 were both up slightly...
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 companies will write code...
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 of last year, the...
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 this year. Lightbridge said...
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 a cost of about...
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. The terrestrial components of...
MENLO PARK, Calif.—Zannel Inc., which sells a mobile media platform, said it raised $6 million in its first round of financing. US Venture Partners and Palomar Ventures led the round.The company said its platform has delivered more than 100 million ringtones, graphics and other...
WASHINGTON—The Telecommunications Industry Association and the United States Telecom Association announced plans for a new industry conference that will replace Globalcomm and TelecomNext next year. The conference, called NXTcomm, is scheduled for June 18-21 in Chicago. The two groups said the event will focus...
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 wireless Voice over Internet...
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 us the wrong way....
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 recognized the public interest...
MARINA DEL RAY, Calif.—Wi-Fi hardware manufacturer 5G Wireless Communications Inc. is now in the travel and hospitality wireless service provider business, thanks to its acquisition of Ivado’s timeshare deployment contracts. 5G Wireless said its new services division will focus on the installation, delivery, support...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Canadian operator Telus Mobility launched two handset-based Global Positioning System services developed by Networks In Motion. Telus said its new Navigator and Kid Find services are now available using the carrier’s CDMA2000 1x coverage area in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. The...
WASHINGTON—In the ongoing battle over whether national carriers should have to provide automatic roaming access to smaller operators, SouthernLINC Wireless is pleading its case as an iDEN operator with only one potential national roaming partner: Sprint Nextel Corp. SouthernLINC filed a letter in response...
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 pre-IMS and IMS technology and...
SANTA MONICA, Calif.—Mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. is moving beyond the phone to offer a CDMA2000 1x EV-DO laptop card that will allow users to "switch between a nationwide 3G network, private and free Wi-Fi signals and a worldwide network of Wi-Fi hotspots,"...
WASHINGTON—ADT Security Services Inc. is expected to ask the Federal Communications Commission later today to extend the end of cellular analog service requirements until 2010. The company said that equipment and security technicians are not available to make the current Feb. 18, 2008, deadline....
WASHINGTON—Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) vetoed legislation to allow California wireless and wireline telecom subscribers to contest unauthorized billing charges, including those arising from the theft or loss of mobile phones. Schwarzenegger’s veto is a big victory for the mobile phone industry, which opposed the...
SAN DIEGO—Just a few days after the Mobile ESPN flameout, an executive from the mobile virtual network operator was named chief executive of Soapbox Mobile, a mobile marketing solutions company. Vladimir Edelman has been named chief executive officer of Soapbox. He joins the company...
