WARREN, N.J.-Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. is expanding it customers' ability to earn free airtime by launching a prepaid Visa debit card that will be linked to Virgin Mobile USA phones. The "Stash" prepaid debit card will be issued by Inter National Bank and is...
If you're a Cingular Wireless L.L.C. customer, having an out-of-date wireless phone is going to cost you. The nation's largest wireless carrier will soon start charging customers an additional $5 each month if they have an analog or TDMA handset.As of the end of...
Welcome to Hedgehogging. As you know from your own jobs, something is always happening in the wireless space. Some of it makes us stop what we're doing to clap, boo or question these developments. This week's column is a roundup of some of the...
BOSTON—American Tower Corp., the nation’s largest tower company, released limited second-quarter results—but said it will probably restate its past earnings as a result of its investigation of stock option-granting practices. AMT said it expects to report its full second-quarter results in the next four...
SAN DIEGO—Can a magazine brand help sell mobile phones and, presumably, vice versa? That question could be answered soon as the Elle Magazine partnership with Alcatel to produce the GlamPhone Elle—a dual-band GSM phone with features designed to appeal to the magazine’s readership of...
LOS ANGELES—Helio L.L.C. is appealing to its 102,600 MySpace friends by offering to drop its standard two-year contract requirement. However, the carrier is not offering discounts on its phones. According to Helio’s MySpace page, the site’s members can get Helio service without a contract...
WASHINGTON—A federal appeals court may be reconsidering its ruling that Congress’ digital-wiretap act applies to Voice over Internet Protocol and broadband Internet services. The court has asked the Federal Communications Commission to explain why the court should not reconsider its June decision on the...
HICKORY, N.C.—CommScope Inc. has shaken up ADC Telecommunications Inc.’s bid to buy Andrew Corp. with a $9.50 per share proposal valued at about $1.7 billion in cash, including the assumption of $186 million in debt. Based on Friday’s closing stock price of $12.22 per...
CHICAGO-Online travel company Orbitz launched a service allowing customers to find hotel rooms, view travel itineraries and check the status of flights from mobile phones. The off-deck offering is free aside from carrier data charges, and can be accessed from the company's home page...
Dear Editor, I was compelled to respond to Mike Dano's article, "Worst of the Week: Push-To-Silence-PTT," on RCRNews.com July 27, in which he writes "the thing about walkie-talkie cell phones: THEY ARE UNNECESSARY. And, more importantly, annoying." His conclusions certainly don't match the reality...
DENVER-Qwest Communications International Inc. has quietly launched Sprint Nextel Corp.'s full-track music download service for Qwest wireless customers. The mobile virtual network operator is carrying the Sprint Music Store, which allows users to download songs to a mobile phone or PC for $2.50 per...
ATLANTA-T-Mobile USA Inc. has tweaked its pricing options with a promotional "back to school" plan for families that includes 1,000 anytime minutes for $50 per month. The plan does not include free weeknight or weekend calling, but does include unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling. The plan...
Polar opposite pictures of the second quarter emerged last week from Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. as the industry's No. 2 and No. 3 operators reported financial results. Verizon Wireless' parent company, Verizon Communications Inc., encountered what its executives called a "pivot point"...
SHENZHEN, China-Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer ZTE Corp. launched a dual-mode TD-SCDMA/GSM handset. The U350 model features dual standby capability, which allows users to put a call in one mode on hold to take a separate call in the other mode. The company also makes...
WASHINGTON-While the network-neutrality issue holds up telecommunications reform, fissures in the telecom industry between big and little carriers are forming. Generally large carriers-both wireline and wireless-oppose any attempts to legislate or regulate network neutrality. Wireless trade association CTIA in June officially came out against...
The Symbian operating system, championed by Nokia Corp. in its smart phones, currently has a majority of OS market share, a state of affairs likely to continue for the foreseeable future, according to projections from market research firm IDC. This is likely despite the...
MINNETONKA, Minn.—Digi International Inc. said it will buy MaxStream Inc. a privately held firm based in Lindon, Utah, that works in the wireless device networking space. The acquisition is characterized as a merger transaction for $38.5 million in cash and stock. Digi International, which...
OKLAHOMA CITY—Dobson Cellular Systems Inc. has completed its purchase of assets from four wireless companies in Kodiak and Nome, Alaska. Dobson Cellular Systems is a subsidiary of Dobson Communications Corp. The company purchased for $2 million the assets of New Horizons Telecom Inc. and...
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—Openwave Systems Inc. reported substantially improved net loss figures during its fourth quarter, but revenues declined. For the quarter, Openwave reported revenues of $91.1 million, down 9 percent from revenues of $100.3 million during the same period a year ago and down...
MILAN, Italy—Content aggregator Buongiorno USA Inc. is looking to expand its presence in North America with plans to spend as much as $27 million to acquire application developer Rocket Mobile. The subsidiary of Buongiorno SpA Group agreed to a $17 million buyout of the...
WASHINGTON—CTIA is asking the Federal Communications Commission to clarify recent universal-service rules that have sparked a puzzling situation where the FCC has accused the industry of not fully reporting its "toll" revenues—and by implication not paying its full share of universal-service contributions. "Commercial mobile...
HOUSTON—Following Crown Castle International Corp.’s good news—the company’s shrinking net loss in the second quarter—the company released some not-so-good news that the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an informal inquiry into the company’s stock-option practices. Crown said it will cooperate with the SEC...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Canadian telecommunications company Telus has announced a partnership with mobile virtual network operator Amp’d Mobile Inc. in which Telus subscribers will have access to Amp’d services and content and Telus will manage most of the business operations. Meanwhile, Telus Ventures, Telus’ venture...
BOCA RATON, Fla.—SBA Communications Corp., the nation’s fourth-largest tower owner, posted second-quarter losses of $75.6 million despite increased revenues of $87.4 million. Last year in the same quarter the company recorded $63.2 million in revenues and a loss of $26.2 million. The company said...
