WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission is re-examining the service and licensing rules for the 700 MHz spectrum it plans to auction in 2008, and will consider changing how the spectrum is divvied up as well as when the spectrum licenses will expire. The 700 MHz...
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. CarrierStandard & Poor’s Ratings Services cut its corporate credit and unsecured debt ratings...
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...
SAN DIEGO—Leap Wireless International Inc. reported increasing profits and higher revenues during the second quarter. The carrier also scored 58,000 net customers during the quarter, a huge increase from net customer additions of about 2,700 during the second quarter of last year. However, the...
AMSTERDAM—Royal Philips Electronics announced plans to sell a majority stake in its semiconductor business as the company transitions away from cyclical activities to focus on developing itself into a healthcare- and lifestyle-focused company. Philips is selling an 80.1-percent stake in its semiconductor business, which...
BOSTON—MobileLime, which focuses on using mobile phones for marketing and loyalty programs, said it is working with a dozen Subway sandwich shop franchises in Buffalo, N.Y., to offer alerts and coupons t to mobile-phone users. The program is part of MobileLime’s Mobile Alerts Club,...
HAMPSHIRE, U.K.—The mobile music market may be on the cusp of shifting away from ringtones to over-the-air full-track music services, according to new research from Juniper Research. The shift is being driven by new technologies like third-generation networks and music-centered handsets, and increasing competition,...
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo.—ARC Wireless Solutions Inc. said it plans to sell its Winncom Technologies Corp. subsidiary to an unnamed Irish company for $17 million in cash. Winncom is a wholly owned subsidiary of ARC and contributed 82 percent of ARC’s revenue and net assets...
NEW YORK—On the heels of a disappointing performance in the second quarter, Sprint Nextel Corp. plans to add Motorola Inc.’s Q and Slvr handsets to its portfolio in the critical fourth quarter to attract and retain subscribers and boost earnings, Sprint Nextel’s Chief Operating...
WASHINGTON—Online cell phone retailer InPhonic Inc. reported its net loss from continuing operations grew during the second quarter despite an increase in revenues. The company reported revenues of $95.8 million for the quarter, up from $75.2 million during the same period last year. Revenues...
PARIS—French news organizations reported Alcatel Inc. has confirmed that it bought Fujitsu’s remaining 34 percent stake in the UMTS joint-venture, Evolium, which the two companies formed in 2000. Though financial details have not been disclosed, the purchase is interesting because Alcatel has been rumored...
KINGSTON, Jamaica—Caribbean mobile service provider Digicel Group plc said it raised $150 million through a corporate bond effort led by Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase. The bond was priced at a yield of 8.625 percent, and Digicel said it plans to use the capital...
WASHINGTON—The National Association of Regulatory Commissioners said Wednesday that state commissions should take into consideration the possibility of legislation pre-empting state regulation of wireless services when deciding whether to grant mobile-phone carriers the right to receive universal-service subsidies. "NARUC urges state commissions to consider...
BELLEVUE, Wash.—InfoSpace Inc. reported a profit for the second quarter, surprising analysts who expected the company to log a loss on the quarter. Net income for the quarter came in at $1 million, down from net income of $16.3 million during the same period...
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...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. shares were down sharply after the company reported a scant 708,000 net subscriber additions in the second quarter, most of which were prepaid customers. Sprint Nextel added just 210,000 postpaid subscribers in the quarter. The rest of the carrier’s...
AUSTIN, Texas—StarCore L.L.C. is closing up shop due to a lack of success in licensing its early digital signal processor family of chips. The company had hoped to eventually challenge Texas Instruments Inc.’s leadership position in the DSP market. The shutdown is set for...
TORONTO—Nortel Networks Ltd. posted second-quarter profits of $366 million from $2.74 billion in revenues, up from last year’s $33 million net loss based on revenues of $2.62 billion. "Our second quarter performance underscores both the challenges and good progress we are making with Nortel’s...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Alltel Corp. posted strong second quarter results with plusses and minuses in all the right places. The industry’s No. 5 carrier improved its average revenue per user, substantially cut its overall and postpaid churn rate, and increased revenue from its wireless segment...
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 Wireless News to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the...
MARSHALL, Texas—L.M. Ericsson, the Swedish wireless telecommunications firm, has sued South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. for allegedly infringing on 11 of Ericsson’s patents, according to a complaint filed July 28 in a U.S. district court in Texas. Both companies maintain offices in Texas....
BOSTON—The Khronos Group continued to gain steam as high-profile players including Apple Computer Inc., Dell Computer Corp. and Google Inc. joined the association’s effort to develop open standards for mobile phones and computers. Khronos aims to define open standards for the development of dynamic...
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.—InterDigital Communications Corp. announced a substantial boost in second quarter revenue from $38.6 million in the year-ago quarter to $296.6 million this year. The difference was primarily related to the resolution of InterDigital’s patent disputes with Nokia Corp. and Panasonic Mobile...
PLANO, Texas—L.M. Ericsson named Robert Pajos to head its Cingular Wireless L.L.C. North American market account, saying his years of experience managing several key accounts in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia will help him strengthen Ericsson’s relationship with the country’s largest wireless...
