WASHINGTON-Iraq officially launched the first mobile-phone license tender under the new government, a competition intended to result in four national wireless carriers. "After decades of oppression under the Saddam, Iraqis are keen to express themselves via all forms of telecommunication. Mobile phones, literally, put...
Nokia Corp. announced that its HSDPA network equipment has been launched by T-Mobile International Inc. in Hanover, Germany, during the CeBIT 2006 conference. Later in the year, the service is expected to be rolled out in England and the Netherlands. T-Mobile's HSDPA plans are...
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.-Walt Disney Internet Group is making more noise in advance of the launch of its planned mobile virtual network operator service this summer. In February, the company launched a registration Web site for its Disney Mobile service. The site allows interested consumers...
Free Wi-Fi in Orlando is coming around again. Sort of. Orlando experimented with free Wi-Fi in early 2004 in one square mile of its downtown business district. But barely anyone used it. A city official said the network averaged about 44 users per day...
When Cingular Wireless L.L.C. closed on its purchase of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. in late 2004, the company poured out an estimated $300 million in marketing during the fourth quarter of that year, sending out everything from a "wedding" invitation touting the joining of...
TOKYO-As handset vendors and network operators worldwide spend untold resources to provide advanced functionalities and services to capture end users' imagination with 3G services, NTT DoCoMo Inc. announced it will sell a new line of basic, compact handsets for customers who do not need...
WATERLOO, Ontario-Research In Motion Ltd. unveiled its push into the wireless local area network space with the launch of its BlackBerry WLAN Solution. The service includes a WLAN Solution platform and a Wi-Fi enabled handset, the BlackBerry 7270. The company's WLAN offering is aimed...
WASHINGTON-The House Commerce Committee last week quickly passed a bill making the sale of telecommunications customer call records illegal. The bill also gives the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission added tools to restrict the sale of call records, and requires that...
WASHINGTON-The Justice Department last week asked U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty for permission to join the auction fraud lawsuit against Wall Street telecom magnate Mario Gabelli, upping the stakes of the litigation at a time when federal regulators are scrambling to enact reforms that...
Now that the Chinese government has sanctioned its homegrown TD-SCDMA technology as the preferred third-generation technology of the land, and with precious 3G licenses about to be granted to Chinese operators, Qualcomm Inc.'s claims on TD-SCDMA products bear more weight. The CDMA developer said...
It's an old worn story, but the drum beat seems to be getting louder and the momentum growing for a greater accounting of federal government spectrum-how much agencies have and how they use it.A cloud of intrigue has hung over government spectrum for so...
IRVINE, Calif.—Mobile information service provider AskMeNow is betting on mobile gambling, announcing an effort to acquire Australian betting firm Karrell Pty Ltd. AskMeNow, a subsidiary of Ocean West Holding Corp., said it plans to spend about $29 million in stock and cash for Karrell,...
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and T-Mobile USA Inc. halted retail sales of Motorola Inc.'s best-selling Razr handset, after the vendor informed the carriers that a component glitch was cutting off calls as if the flip phone was closed. T-Mobile USA halted sales last Tuesday and...
WASHINGTON-When the government broke up Ma Bell more than 20 years ago, it did so because it did not want one company controlling computer-to-computer communication-at the time the stuff of science fiction. As Ma Bell is nearly reborn in the form of AT&T Inc....
SAN FRANCISCO-Intel Corp. says its WiMAX cards for laptops will be available sometime in the second half of this year, not in 2007 as was previously announced. The announcement was made by Sean Maloney, vice president of Intel's mobility group during the company's Development...
Lucent Technologies Inc. is swimming in new contracts, announcing seven deals valued at more than $300 million at the CeBIT 2006 trade show. "Our customers' competitive landscape continues to undergo tremendous change as the boundaries between the telecom, media and Internet worlds continue to...
The market outlook for CDMA handsets may be described as a tale of two contrasting regions. And therein lies a few wireless lessons about the difference in how profits are made in emerging and mature markets. The emerging market is the Asia-Pacific region, led...
AT&T Inc.'s planned acquisition of BellSouth Corp. could be great for consumers, but the news isn't so great for telecom equipment vendors, already suffering from declining profits. "In our view, carrier consolidation is a net negative for equipment vendors," stated a recent report by...
SCHAUMBURG, Ill.-Motorola Inc. hedged the value of the 37.6 million shares of Sprint Nextel Corp. stock it owns, which represent about 1.25 percent of Sprint Nextel's stock. Hedging allows Motorola to maintain the stock's current value and participate in a portion of the stock's...
HANNOVER, Germany-Pantech Group spotlighted a variety of upscale handsets at the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany, in an effort to further establish itself as a new player in European and global markets. The company, one of the largest handset makers in South Korea,...
SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc. joined several wireless operators in announcing financial restatements-though the company said it expects the adjustments would result in improved financials. Leap said it plans to restate results for the final five months of 2004 after it emerged from Chapter...
FORT WORTH, Texas-RadioShack Corp. reported plans to team with three other phone resellers to form a purchasing alliance that the companies said expects to resell more than 50 million phones a year. Brightstar Corp. of the United States, European distributor Dangaard Telecom and Middle...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless inked a major retail distribution deal for its wireless service, agreeing to sell its INpulse offering through 2,300 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. locations nationwide. The news marks a potentially substantial opportunity for Verizon as Wal-Mart dominates the market among third-party retailers of...
WASHINGTON-The lawyer for a 20-year-old Michigan man charged with criminally negligent homicide in connection with a fatal car crash initially attributed to driver cell-phone use claims politicians want to make a high-profile example of his client to boost chances of getting a driver handset...
