The value of the contract is included when available. Click here for additional infrastructure awards from RCR Wireless News.CellularFrance: Bouygues Telecom selected Nortel Networks as a supplier for its national high-speed mobile Internet and voice network. Nortel will provide HSDPA technology for the deployment...
PARIS—As Alcatel Inc.’s shareholders get set to vote on the issue Sept. 7, analyst opinions run the gamut on the infrastructure "merger of the season" between Alcatel and Lucent Technologies Inc. According to Joe Chaisson, analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group, "it has been a long,...
FREMONT, Calif.—The FLO Forum said it approved a specification for its mobile TV network technology, a move that will allow equipment makers to build gear that will work on any FLO-based network. Thus, operators will be able to choose products from multiple vendors. Designed...
TOKYO—Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. said it launched HSDPA service in Tokyo, and will cover all major Japanese cities with the technology by the end of October. The carrier is selling its new HSDPA-capable phone, the N902iX, to support the service launch. DoCoMo said...
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—The worldwide mobile infrastructure market grew 10 percent during the second quarter, but declined 3 percent compared with last year’s second quarter, according to a new study from market research firm Dell’Oro Group. The company said weak sales of CDMA equipment impacted...
LOS ANGELES—A new partnership between TV Guide Mobile Entertainment Inc. and 4INFO Inc. aims to deliver TV listings to cellular phones. Wireless subscribers will immediately be able to search for programs by title, time or channel. The offering will work on either text messaging...
SAN FRANCISCO—The U.S. mobile gaming industry rang up $47 million in sales in the second quarter of 2006 as nearly 13.5 million wireless users downloaded at least one game, according to the latest figures from Telephia. The market research firm said on-deck mobile game...
TAPEI, Taiwan—BenQ Corp. announced it will spend an additional $400 million on its handset business BenQ Mobile—which ranks just below the world’s top five handset vendors—while spinning off other non-mobile businesses to strengthen the handset brand. The electronics firm has been making LCD monitors...
WASHINGTON—Some of the players who were squeezed out of regional spectrum licenses early in the auction seem to be making up the loss with dozens of smaller geographic licenses. Click here for the latest headlines from the AWS auction. Click here for full AWS...
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 RCRNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
WASHINGTON—The total amount raised by the advanced wireless services auction is creeping toward $13 billion, although each round is raising less money that the previous. However, bidding is still active on a number of licenses; the number of licenses with new high bids continues...
WASHINGTON—The National Emergency Number Association has added its voice to the chorus calling for a national debate on a proposal to set aside 30 megahertz of spectrum in the upper 700 MHz band for a next-generation public-safety network that the wireless industry would build...
NEW YORK—Verizon Communications Inc. announced a deal to provide directory assistance to customers of Dobson Cellular Systems, a subsidiary of Dobson Communications Corp. Verizon’s LiveSource unit won a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract with Dobson to provide directory services including call completion, movie and restaurant listings,...
NEW YORK—Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. has tapped MX Telecom to support its off-deck content activity. The mobile virtual network operator said MX Telecom will deliver premium SMS support and provide short-code connectivity for third-party transactions. The London-based messaging company maintains direct connections to more...
NEW YORK—Comverse Inc. said it will pay $19 million in cash for privately held Netonomy, a developer of customer self-service, bill analysis and point of sale software for wireless communications. Comverse said Netonomy’s self-service application suite enables subscribers, including consumers, enterprise and retailers, to...
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.—Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. topped a new prepaid wireless customer satisfaction survey from J.D. Power & Associates. The rankings covered mobile virtual network operators and traditional wireless operators. The survey examined responses from about 4,000 current prepaid wireless customers on their experience...
PLAINFIELD, Ind.—Brightpoint Inc. inked a deal to supply wireless devices and accessories to online retailer Newegg Inc. Newegg operates a storefront for manufacturers of consumer electronics, communications equipment and hardware and software. The 5-year-old company claims nearly 6 million registered customers including IT professionals,...
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands—Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. launched a handset equipped with Unlicensed Mobile Access technology in Italy. Samsung’s SGH-P200 phone runs on the Nexperia chip from Royal Philips’ Philips Semiconductor division. Philips’ Nexperia offering uses the company’s low-power wireless local area network system-in-package that integrates...
LONDON—Smart phone OS vendor Symbian Ltd. announced increasing shipments and rising revenues in the second quarter, and promised more of the same in the future. "Looking forward … I expect to see an acceleration of Symbian smart phones in the lower-cost device market segments,...
WASHINGTON—Leap Wireless International Inc.’s flat-rate-service patent infringement suit against MetroPCS Communications Inc. in a Texas federal court could be the start of Leap’s major legal assault against small- and mid-sized wireless carriers around the country that are trying to emulate its all-you-can-eat price plans....
WASHINGTON—Just as at any yard sale after a long weekend, the big, expensive items are long gone and the persistent shoppers have continued to rummage about for the unappreciated gems that add significant value to their own current holdings. Click here for the latest...
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—Mobile users continue to opt for streaming music services over full-track downloads and wireless video services, according to the latest figures from In-Stat. The market research firm found that consumer interest in mobile music has outpaced interest in wireless TV over the last...
TOKYO—KDDI Corp. said it will invest $1.73 billion over the next three years to upgrade its network to CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A technology. Japan’s second-largest carrier said the new network will boost network speeds roughly tenfold, allowing downloads up to 3.6 megabits per...
BOSTON—Mobile virtual network operators Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. and Helio L.L.C. are more effective at using the Internet to drive brand awareness and sales relative to their peers, according to a new report from market research firm Compete Inc. The research also showed niche...
