SAN FRANCISCO—Microsoft Corp. announced a joint marketing and development alliance with Motorola Inc., among other vendors, in an effort to fold various wired and mobile access points into a unified system for enterprise communications. The overall effort is aimed at combining functions of desktop...
EXTON, Pa—Wireless infrastructure engineering services firm WPCS International Inc. announced it will spend $3.2 million to acquire Southeastern Communication Service Inc. of Sarasota, Fla. SECS has deployed and maintained wireless systems for Verizon Wireless, BellSouth Corp., Comcast Corp., Time-Warner and Puerto Rico Telephone. The...
LOS ANGELES—Mobile virtual network operator Xero Mobile has yet to launch, but the company already is facing an investigation of its business by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The MVNO announced late Friday that it had been notified by a local office of the...
The satellite industry as a whole is rebounding, driven by new technologies and applications in the mobile satellite services space, plus consumer applications such as high definition television and satellite radio, according to the Satellite Industry Association, which recently reported revenue figures for 2005....
The market for mobile phones' onboard memory is undergoing transformation and commoditization, threatening incumbent companies and opening opportunities for small, nimble companies with a competitive differentiator to their product, according to Yankee Group analyst John Jackson. Carriers and handset vendors are exploring how much...
The good news is that about 80 percent of the world's population is covered by wireless networks, and only about one-quarter of those actually subscribe to a wireless service, which means emerging markets offer opportunities for handset vendors to grow market share and, possibly,...
SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa—Local telecommunications provider Long Lines L.L.C. will launch wireless service later this summer to customers in northeast Nebraska, southeast South Dakota and western Iowa. The company in December acquired two small wireless providers, Great Lakes of Iowa Inc. and Siouxland PCS, which...
PORTLAND, Ore.—A new startup, Tyfone Inc., is jumping into the mobile transaction arena with a payment product for mobile phones that the company said it has spent the past two years developing. Tyfone said its offering supports most existing forms of banking and payment...
PLAINFIELD, Ind.—Brightpoint Inc. said it has opened a Moscow office in an effort to tap emerging Eastern European markets. The company said it will distribute a variety of mobile devices, including Windows Mobile-enabled handsets, and will offer product customization and support for Russian Pocket...
WASHINGTON—A bill outlawing deceptive tactics by data brokers to acquire and sell cell phone records may soon get a vote on the House floor after mysteriously being pulled from a scheduled vote in early May. The possible breakthrough follows a meeting between House Commerce...
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Asurion Corp., which provides handset insurance and warranty management, said it has completed its acquisition of mobile software developer Lumitrend Corp. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Lumitrend’s offerings include CellBackup, a service sold by more than 20 carriers worldwide that automatically protects...
HONOLULU—Free Wi-Fi is coming to Honolulu’s Chinatown neighborhood, said the city’s mayor, Mufi Hannemann. The Mayor said the city is establishing a public-private partnership with EarthLink Inc. to test free Wi-Fi access throughout Chinatown as part of the city’s effort to revitalize the area....
FALLS CHURCH, Va.—Disparate standards and lack of spectrum could hinder the growth of the mobile TV industry, according to a new report from Telecom Trends International Inc. The industry has the potential to generate $107.3 billion in annual service revenue by 2012, predicts the...
DUBLIN, Ireland—Mobile social networking company NewBay Software said it acquired Inamobile Ltd., a United Kingdom-based handset application developer, in a deal NewBay said expands its product portfolio and adds high-profile mobile operators to its customer base. Inamobile’s technology provides image upload and viewing capabilities...
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...
WASHINGTON—AT&T Inc. Chairman Edward Whitacre told the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee he would not oppose conditions on special-access lines as part of any regulatory approval of AT&T’s proposed $67 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp., a merger expected to be eventually approved by the Justice...
ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. has turned to flat-rate bundles for messaging. The move mirrors pricing strategies from other national carriers, some of which have been offering flat-rate bundles for messaging for about a year and a half, according to a Current Analysis research note. The...
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill.—Motient Corp. said it is selling its legacy wireless data business, including its narrowband terrestrial DataTac wireless data network and its IMotient Solutions platform, to Geologic Solutions Inc. Geologic is a subsidiary of Logo Acquisition Corp. Logo agreed to assume most of the...
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.CarrierR.W. Baird lowered its rating on Sprint Nextel Corp. to neutral from outperform...
WASHINGTON—The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral argument for next week on a challenge of controversial changes to small business bidding rules, a development that may signal that the court sees merit in the suit against the Federal Communications Commission. The issue...
MODESTO, Calif.—An electrical fire on a 90-foot-tall cellular site damaged some network equipment belonging to Sprint Nextel Corp. CDMA affiliate UbiquiTel Inc. and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. earlier this week. The Modesto Bee first reported the fire.Both Cingular and Sprint Nextel representatives said that surrounding...
LOS ANGELES—Publisher Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. said it will acquire mobile developer Blue Label Interactive Inc. in an effort to build and distribute cross-platform and other entertainment applications. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Konami hopes to increase its presence on the mobile playground...
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—U.S. businesses are ready to invest heavily in wireless services and applications to boost productivity, according to a survey from Compass Intelligence. They’re just waiting for the industry to come up with some solutions. More than 40 percent of the 1,600 decision-makers polled...
LONDON—It appears users in the United Kingdom like Chocolate as much as their South Korean counterparts. LG Electronics Co. Ltd. said it sold more than 1 million of its slim, slider Chocolate phones worldwide, and British retailers are having trouble keeping the handsets in...
