SAN DIEGO—Qualcomm Inc. announced a single-chip solution that supports three of the world’s mobile broadcast standards. The chipmaker’s new UBM chip supports Qualcomm’s own MediaFlo technology, plus Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) and One-Segment integrated services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T) technology.Qualcomm is among numerous firms that...
WASHINGTON—Verizon Wireless announced that 95 percent of its customers are now using location-capable handsets. Verizon Wireless is the first carrier using a handset-based approach to E-911 to meet the FCC’s 95-percent threshold. However, it did so six months after the Federal Communications Commission’s deadline...
PLEASANTON, Calif.—FunMobility Inc. is hoping to capitalize on the growing wireless social networking trend. The company introduced a social networking platform called Connect that allows carriers to offer features similar to what Internet-based social networking sites offer, including user profiles and personalized greetings. Other...
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...
LOS ANGELES—In a move to bolster its North American mobile gaming position, Capcom Entertainment’s Mobile and Interactive Media division agreed to acquire mobile game developer and publisher Cosmic Infinity Inc. Financial terms of the agreement were not released.Cosmic Infinity develops games for WAP, Java...
ESPOO, Finland—Nokia Corp. scored $341 million while Motorola Inc. received $410 million as part of a settlement with Turkish network operator Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon. The payments were made upon the completion of the sale of Telsim’s assets, in accordance with an agreement reached last...
ATLANTA—Inter-carrier tussles over advertising claims have led to a lawsuit, and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. wants an Atlanta court to validate its assertion that its network has the fewest dropped calls among national carriers. The suit was sparked by Sprint Nextel Corp.’s challenge to Cingular’s...
NEW ORLEANS—Whereas BellSouth Corp. tried legal maneuvers to shut down New Orleans’ free municipal Wi-Fi network even though the city’s hurricane-weary residents and thousands of relief and rebuilding workers had no other means of Internet access, EarthLink Inc. went after the city’s business, offering...
REDMOND, Wash.—Microsoft Corp.’s MSN is hoping to move onto the mobile marketing playground with the acquisition of Third Screen Media. MSN is negotiating to buy out the Boston-based company, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Representatives from Microsoft and Third Screen...
NEW YORK—Sprint Nextel Corp. is reportedly in talks with Sling Media Inc. and other media companies to expand its mobile entertainment offerings and make them simpler for users to access. According to a Reuters story, Sprint Nextel is in talks with various companies, including...
RESTON, Va.—Sprint Nextel Corp. says it is currently testing so-called "4G" technologies for use on its expansive 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings and that it plans to choose one that has a "global reach and presence." The carrier said it was currently in talks with...
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Various telecommunications firms including Covad Communications Group Inc., Korea Telecom Corp., TeleKom Malaysia Berhad, Japan’s NTT Inc. and China’s PCCW announced they formed the WiBro and mobile WiMAX Community, a new trade group seeking to further the deployment and interoperability of WiBro...
WASHINGTON—Highland Capital Management L.P. is contacting stockholders of Motient Corp. to criticize the wireless company’s recent deal with SkyTerra Communications Inc. and its proposal to revamp the board of directors. The move continues an escalating proxy fight by Motient’s largest stockholder in advance of...
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.—Mobile phone users in the United States are incrementally more satisfied with the operation of their handsets than in the past, suggesting that vendors in general are improving user interfaces, according to a study released today by J.D. Power and Associates. Sanyo...
NEW YORK—Verizon Communications Inc. will be looking to make "significant" workforce reductions in the next year and a half, the company’s chief financial officer told analysts during a conference earlier this week. "I think you will see some reductions on the wireline side that...
KANSAS CITY—Sprint Nextel Corp. has reportedly filed a $6.4 million lawsuit against IBM Corp., accusing IBM of missing the performance requirements of a large information technology outsourcing contract. The lawsuit, according to the Kansas City Business Journal, was filed Monday in the U.S. District...
WASHINGTON—The mobile-phone industry applauded the Bush administration’s decision today to abandon the U.S. government’s long-held support for the federal excise tax on long distance wireless and wireline telephone services. The tax, incorporated in 1898 to fund the Spanish-American War, adds 3 percent to monthly...
Hello! And welcome to the first edition of 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 to rant and rave about whatever rubs...
SAN DIEGO—U.S. Cellular Corp. signed on to use Qualcomm Inc.’s BREW-based handset customization interface, uiOne. Qualcomm’s uiOne is already in use at Sprint Nextel Corp, the nation’s third-largest carrier with more than 40 million subscribers, and at Alltel Corp., the nation’s fifth-largest carrier with...
WASHINGTON—Bidding on a 3-megahertz license to offer air-to-ground services in the 800 MHz band appears to be over as AC BidCo L.L.C., an affiliate of AirCell Inc., looks to be the winner with a $31 million offer. Bidding is continuing between Space Data Spectrum...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. and LG Electronics Co. Ltd. announced the launch of the Fusic music phone, another example of taking a feature phone and branding it a "lifestyle" device to tap the U.S. youth market. The phone also represents Sprint Nextel’s effort...
SUNNYVALE, Calif.—Yahoo Inc. has extended its photo-sharing application to mobile phones, allowing users to access images from picture albums wirelessly. The Internet giant also upgraded its mobile e-mail service with a new user interface and text-message alerts for new e-mails. Yahoo said it has...
BEIJING—Rumors are swirling that China Mobile Communications Corp., the world’s largest wireless carrier, may be on the brink of acquiring Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular SA—or possibly, already has bought the company. Several newspapers reported earlier this week that the two companies were close to...
SAN FRANCISCO—The average U.S. mobile TV subscriber spends $40 a month more on wireless services than non-mobile TV users, according to new figures from Telephia. The research firm, which announced its first wireless TV user panel, said more than 2 million U.S. wireless users—1.4...
