LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-XM Satellite Radio Corp. notched its first deal with a U.S. carrier, teaming with Alltel Corp. to offer 20 channels of commercial-free music. The service, available for $8 a month, offers several music genres including pop, alternative, country, hip-hop and Latin. Users...
WASHINGTON-South Dakota citizens in November will be able to vote to repeal a 4-percent gross-receipts tax on wireless service after the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled the initiative could be placed on the ballot. The decision is a victory for Verizon Wireless, which appealed...
SEOUL-Mobile entertainment company WiderThan Co. Ltd. reported increased income and revenue for the second quarter. Net income clocked in at $4.6 million, more than double the net income of $1.6 million reported during the same period last year. The company logged revenues of $33.1...
WASHINGTON-Low-income consumers will be harmed by the government's plan to refund the 3-percent federal excise tax on long-distance communications because the rules require them to file income-tax returns, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in federal court. "After years of `nickel and diming' everyone...
Research In Motion Ltd. will likely continue to dominate the high-end mobile e-mail market, according to Strategy Analytics. But the growing number of open-standard service providers will drive the market in the long term, the market research firm predicted. The BlackBerry maker's market share...
LONDON-Shares of content aggregator MonsterMob Group plc received a much-needed boost after the company acknowledged it may be a target for acquisition. MonsterMob, which operates ringtone storefronts in the United States, Europe and Asia, said it had "received an indicative approach that may or...
WASHINGTON—Bidding is picking up speed in the FCC’s advanced wireless services spectrum auction, with the total value of provisionally winning bids jumping from more than $2.4 billion late Friday to more than $4.1 billion in the two rounds held so far today.Click here for...
Employers who want to avoid the awkward situation of firing employees face to face may want to follow the lead of the Blue Banana body piercing studio in Cardiff, Wales, which fired one if its employees recently via text message. The company said it...
Andrew Corp.'s merger-and-acquisition adventures skidded to a full stop last week as the company pumped its brakes on potential deals with both ADC Telecommunications Inc. and CommScope Inc.-preferring instead to go it alone. Andrew announced in May a merger with ADC, but on Aug....
U.S. Cellular Corp. released limited operating results for the second quarter, reporting a churn rate that ticked upward and net overall customer activations that were about half of what the carrier achieved during the same period last year-however, the company expects to boost its...
The beauty of unlicensed mobile access, or UMA, it seems, is in the eyes of the beholder. The question of the technology's appeal to network operators who might deploy it depends on the particular operator's business plans and whether adopting UMA would help those...
Nokia Corp. is buying its way onto the mobile music playground, agreeing to acquire distributor Loudeye Corp. for $60 million. But the key to success in mobile music still lies in the devices. The world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones said last week it...
WASHINGTON-The Association of Public-safety Communications Officials endorsed a proposal submitted earlier this year by Cyren Call Communications Corp. that would set aside 30 megahertz of spectrum in the upper 700 MHz band for a next-generation public-safety network that industry would build and share with...
Mobile gaming enthusiasts envision the day when they can play massive multiplayer titles that combine real-time interaction and pinpoint location capabilities with eye-catching, 3-D graphics. For now, though, the most popular games in wireless are old and simple. And they weren't originally built for...
WASHINGTON—NextWave Telecom Inc.-backed AWS Wireless Inc. made three of the highest bids in the sixth round of the advanced wireless services spectrum auction, capturing—at least temporarily—the highly coveted Great Lakes regional 20-megahertz license as well as a 20-MHz license that covers 31 million pops...
DURHAM, N.C.—Motricity Inc. continued to fatten its wallet this week, snaring $32 million as part of "a larger funding round" that will gradually be disclosed over the next few weeks. The latest round was led by Advanced Equities Inc. and joined by other existing...
The following list details this week's infrastructure awards for the cellular, Wi-Fi and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available. Click here for additional infrastructure awards from RCR Wireless...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms. Click here for wireless ratings from past weeks from RCR Wireless News. CarrierRBC Capital Markets downgraded Sprint Nextel Corp. to sector perform from outperform and...
PORTLAND, Ore.—Enhanced directory assistance provider Metro One Telecommunications Inc. said its revenues continue to be affected by the loss of Sprint Nextel Corp.’s business. Revenues fell 75 percent for the second quarter to $5.1 million from $20.1 million during the second quarter last year.Net...
RESTON, Va.—Sprint Nextel Corp. said it won a $1 million settlement in its case against data broker 1st Source Information Specialists Inc. Sprint Nextel secured a permanent injunction against the company in March.The data broker issue came to a head earlier this year when...
By Gavin O'MalleyNEW YORK—Zenith Media, a part of Publicis Groupe's ZenithOptimedia Worldwide, has agreed to acquire Moxie Interactive, the Atlanta-based digital advertising agency. Zenith and Moxie have worked together for five years on the Verizon Wireless account, sharing traditional and digital media responsibilities, respectively.The...
HICKORY, N.C.—In the wake of Andrew Corp.’s rejection of CommScope Inc.’s $9.50 per share acquisition proposal, CommScope said it will not pursue the company further. "After careful consideration with our advisors, CommScope has decided not to pursue its proposal to acquire Andrew Corporation at...
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. became the latest carrier to step onto the full-track download playground, teaming with digital music provider Napster L.L.C. to offer a relatively vast library of 2 million tunes. SunCom subscribers can download songs to both a PC and a...
BOSTON—The U.S. mobile virtual network operator market continues to take hits from naysayers who believe the segment isn’t living up to its hype. The latest blow comes from research firm Strategy Analytics, which predicts the majority of MVNOs will fail to make an impact...
