ALAMEDA, Calif.—UTStarcom Inc., a wireless equipment and handset manufacturer, announced it will delay filing its 2005 annual report until the end of April so its audit committee could resolve a premature recognition of $22 million in revenue and complete an assessment of its internal...
NEWBURY, England—Vodafone Group plc confirmed that it will sell its struggling Japanese operation to Japanese Internet conglomerate Softbank in a deal valued at about $15.4 billion. The cash that Vodafone receives from the sale is to be dispensed to shareholders after the transaction closes,...
WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission Friday created its long anticipated Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, which will take over various functions and issues from seven other entities within the commission. "Many of the problems we saw during Hurricane Katrina were consistent across platforms," FCC...
BOCA RATON, Fla.—SBA Communications Corp., the nation’s fifth-largest tower company, is offering $1 billion to acquire AAT Communications Corp., the nation’s sixth-largest tower company. SBA said it will pick up AAT’s 1,855 owned tower sites along with an additional 250 revenue-producing managed sites in...
WASHINGTON—The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday easily passed several nominations after it decided not to consider its cell-phone privacy bill due to pressing business on the Senate floor. The Commerce Committee sent to the full Senate for its consideration the nominations of Robert McDowell to...
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 News. CellularUkraine:...
TORONTO—Nortel Networks Ltd. said its insurers have agreed to put $228.5 million toward Nortel’s settlements for a pair of class-action lawsuits that stemmed from an accounting scandal. In February, Nortel agreed to pay more than $2.4 billion in cash and stock to settle the...
AURORA, Ill.—The city of Aurora, Ill., a suburb about 40 miles west of Chicago, awarded two contracts this week as it prepares to launch a citywide Wi-Fi network that is scheduled to offer free public Internet access as well as public-works and public-safety services....
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.CarrierMerrill Lynch lowered its price target on Telephone & Data Systems from $50 to...
NEW YORK—Frazzled, on-the-go parents can now entertain their kids with Thomas & Friends stories on their Sprint Nextel Corp. mobile phones. Vocel and Random House Children’s Books teamed up to bring the adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine to mobile phones. Thomas & Friends,...
SAN FRANCISCO—Tira Wireless, which provides mobile content deployment technology, added $13 million to its coffers as part of its third round of funding. Lehman Ventures led the investment. Existing investors Brightspark Ventures, Flagship Ventures and Export Development Canada also participated. Tim Banahan, managing director...
WASHINGTON—The Senate Commerce Committee pulled the Protecting Consumer Phone Records Act from consideration. The committee was "concerned that because of a series of stacked votes on the Senate floor, it would be too difficult for members to fully debate and vote on amendments that...
CHICAGO—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is using PCTel Inc.’s Roaming Client software as part of the carrier’s BroadbandConnect service, according to PCTel. Cingular launched its BroadbandConnect UMTS/HSDPA network late last year in 16 markets.PCTel said it is providing a customized version of the platform for use...
SEOUL, South Korea—LG Electronics Co. Ltd., one of the world’s top five handset vendors, plans to acquire South Korean handset rival KTF Technology, allowing LG to go head-to-head with Pantech Group, which is now the top handset vendor in the South Korean market. Pantech...
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Cantata Technology, the newly formed company created by the combination of Excel Switching Corp. and Brooktrout Technology, introduced an updated version of its SnowShore IP Media Server, which now includes support for 3G networks and IMS applications. The product provides the Media...
RESTON, Va.—Sprint Nextel Corp. is teaming with the Associated Press to allow reporters to file 60-second video clips from the 215 cities and 466 airports where the carrier offers high-speed wireless access. The service uses SNAPfeed, a "store and forward" video application developed by...
WASHINGTON—Six senators are asking the Bush administration to develop guidelines for a new public-safety interoperable communications grant program to allow for the use of Internet Protocol-based technologies instead of the wholesale replacement of current equipment. "The administration should seriously consider grant proposals to purchase...
SAN DIEGO—Leap Wireless International Inc. had a slightly weaker-than-expected fourth quarter, but the company emphasized that it is looking forward to a strong first quarter of 2006. Leap said it added about 46,000 net new retail customers in the fourth quarter, fewer than the...
BERWYN, Pa.—SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. posted a loss for 2005, which the company said was due to a transitional year of migrating former AT&T Wireless Services Inc. customers onto SunCom’s network. The regional operator had warned in January that it expected a $14 million...
CHICAGO—U.S. Cellular Corp. released revised figures on the impact of the financial restatement the company has been working on since November, and put out a few preliminary figures on its operations for the fourth quarter and year-end 2005. The company considerably upped its estimate...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Alltel Corp. announced it purchased the remaining 50 percent interests in 10 partnerships with Palmetto MobileNet, L.P. that it did not already own. The partnerships cover about two million potential customers in North and South Carolina. Alltel did not disclose the value of...
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.—A new report from J.D. Powers and Associates says wireless call-quality problems declined for the second straight year, with reported problems reaching their lowest level since the renowned customer survey firm began studying the issue in 2003. The report, now in its...
MIAMI—Brightstar Logistics Pty Ltd. said it signed a three-year agreement with Australian carrier Telstra to manage its handset supply chain. The deal calls for Brightstar to manage the carrier’s retail fulfillment operation and launch inventory management tools to help Telstra lower costs. Brightstar said...
REDMOND, Wash.—Microsoft Corp. is expected to overhaul ActiveSync, its Windows Mobile device management offering, when the software giant rolls out the next version of its PC operating system later this year. Microsoft will change the service’s name to Windows Mobile Device Center with the...
