WASHINGTON-The solution to the thorny problem of first responders not being able to communicate with each other may come from the local level rather than the federal government, a federal public-safety communications official told a House panel last week. "Sometimes in the federal government...
Wireless multimedia entertainment provider mSpot Inc. is partnering with CBS Radio to deliver streaming audio from three major-market sports radio stations.Subscribers of mSpot Radio, which is available through Sprint Nextel Corp., will be able to access streaming content from New York's WFAN-AM, Chicago's WSCR-AM...
Google Inc. was finally awarded a patent for speech-recognition technology that allows users to search the Internet by uttering a few words. But whether that's good news or bad news for a handful of wireless software developers is far from clear. Voice-activated technology-which for...
WASHINGTON-Small and regional wireless carriers petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a special inquiry designed to collect and inspect a representative sample of wireless roaming agreements on a confidential basis. Airpeak Communications L.L.C., Airtel Wireless L.L.C., Cleveland Unlimited Inc., Leap Wireless International Inc.,...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission backed away from making major reforms to a controversial auction program offering bidding discounts to small businesses, rejecting a revenue-only threshold for partnership eligibility in favor of a resale standard to determine whether national mobile carriers and other large telecom...
READING, United Kingdom-The worldwide smart mobile device market is in flux, according to a new study from market research firm Canalys. The firm defines smart mobile devices as handhelds, wireless handhelds and smart phones.According to the study, top-ranked Nokia Corp. slightly increased its market...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Highway Administration last week released the "presolicitation notice" for the next-generation 911 system, which would overhaul the current nationwide emergency-response system that relies on 6,000 public-safety answering points with divergent ways of handling calls."This follow-on project will require the 911 system to...
As cities across the nation experiment with offering free or subsidized Wi-Fi access to their citizens, stories are cropping up regarding stumbles along the way in these endeavors. It's a grand thought gaining traction in diverse regions of the country: Give your residents and...
WAKEFIELD, Mass.—Comverse Technology Inc. announced a front-office shakeup amid a company probe into the timing of stock-options grants to top executives. The telecommunications systems and software producer disclosed the resignation of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kobi Alexander, who founded the company in 1984....
CALGARY, Alberta-CSI Wireless, which designs and manufactures products using wireless and Global Positioning System technology, has agreed to sell its fixed wireless telephone business to Illinois-based Telular Corp. for $13 million. CSI said that its decision to seek a buyer for the fixed wireless...
TORONTO-Canadian telecommunications provider Rogers Communications Inc. boosted its operating revenue by 28 percent from the first quarter of 2005, results driven primarily by a nearly 36-percent growth in its wireless operations. The company noted its wireless revenues were just over $1 billion for the...
WASHINGTON-Motient Corp. may be the wireless industry's premier high-wire act. The Lincolnshire, Ill., company is attempting a great leap forward from a business model based on unprofitable land-based wireless data operations to one premised on high-risk-but potentially lucrative-mobile satellite communications that would work with...
PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands-Caribbean wireless carrier Digicel Group plc gave L.M. Ericsson the nod as its exclusive infrastructure provider to build out its GSM network across the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British colony in the West Indies. Since Digicel's launch in 2001,...
While Congress and states around the country pursue legislation to crack down on schemes to obtain and sell personal cell-phone records, Mississippi is taking a slightly different tack to phone records.No doubt, Mississippians have been scammed by data brokers who ply their pretexting trade...
WASHINGTON—Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the House telecom and Internet subcommittee, has come out against a new proposal to preserve a large chunk of 700 MHz spectrum for a national broadband public safety network. "The DTV bill which Congress recently passed will...
WASHINGTON—A health-related lawsuit filed against Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin and other agency members seeks to block the scheduled June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction. The EMR Policy Institute, a watchdog group concerned about health implications of cellular phones and...
CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.—One of UbiquiTel Inc.’s largest shareholders is protesting the sale of the CDMA affiliate to Sprint Nextel Corp., according to a letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Deephaven Capital Management owns 9.9 percent of UbiquiTel’s common stock and argued in its...
LONDON, England—Britain’s Office of Communications has announced the winners of 6.6 megahertz of technology-neutral spectrum to be used for low-power GSM wireless services such as private networks. The Wireless Telegraphy licenses cover spectrum in the 1781.7-1785 MHz and 1876.7-1880 MHz paired bands. The dozen...
SUNNYVALE, Calif.—Location-based services provider Trimble Mobile Solutions Inc. said it plans to acquire Eleven Technology Inc., a Massachusetts-based developer of wireless applications. Terms of the all-cash deal were not disclosed.Eleven Technology provides real-time information to mobile field workers who deliver consumer products such as...
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 said it took several rating actions on Rural...
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.—Nokia Corp. has agreed to pay $253 million to InterDigital Communications Corp. to settle a long-running patent dispute between the companies, according to InterDigital. InterDigital’s stock soared more than 20 percent on the news to around $27.01 per share. Nokia’s stock...
WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives earlier this week unanimously passed the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006, which criminalizes pretexting—the practice of impersonating someone else to get access to their records. However, the House has yet to consider another bill aimed at changing...
MUNICH, Germany—Siemens AG announced plans to cut about 1,000 jobs in Germany from its largest division, Communications. The wireless and wireline telecommunications equipment unit has struggled to rake in profits in the face of biting competition that has forced equipment vendors to lower their...
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—U.K. carrier O2 plc and Openwave Systems Inc. announced an initiative that calls for the companies to build a simplified mobile messaging service based on Openwave’s core messaging platform and client software products. The companies said they initially plan to develop a...
