WASHINGTON—CTIA is changing its USF tune and siding with FCC Chairman Kevin Martin in his battle to change the way universal service is paid for. Martin—and now CTIA—wants to base universal service funds on telephone numbers, instead of the current system that works on...
ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. looks to be getting down to business with its national third-generation network buildout plans. L.M. Ericsson and Lucent Technologies Inc. both announced contract expansions with Cingular to continue supplying the nation’s largest carrier with UMTS and HSDPA equipment and integration services....
BARCELONA, Spain—Walt Disney Co. licensing partner Dmobo launched a limited-edition Mickey Mouse-themed mobile phone. The M900 phone, produced by Korea’s NewGen Telecom Co., is a tri-band GSM device that includes a 1.3-megapixel camera. It comes in three colors and includes a charm strap in...
BATH, United Kingdom-Wireless chipmaker picoChip announced it received an undisclosed investment from AT&T Inc.AT&T joins Intel Corp., Atlas Venture and others in funding picoChip, which said it raised $20.5 million in its third round of funding. The company makes silicon for a wide range...
FT. MYERS, Fla.-NeoMedia Technologies Inc. announced it purchased Munich-based mobile marketing company 12snap AG for $22 million in cash and shares. The announcement comes just days after NeoMedia announced it acquired visual search company Mobot for $10 million.NeoMedia said the acquisitions will help the...
DENVER—Regional Bell operating company Qwest Communications International Inc. posted a third quarter of sequential growth after transitioning customers from its own network, which it subsequently sold to Verizon Wireless, to that of Sprint Nextel Corp. Qwest reported that its wireless revenue for the fourth...
LONDON—European operator Vodafone Group plc announced a major new agreement with Chinese equipment manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. that calls for Huawei to build 3G phones that Vodafone plans to sell under its own brand. The move highlights a significant, growing trend in the...
BARCELONA, Spain—Virgin Mobile is set to be one of the first European operators to launch mobile TV services using a dedicated mobile TV network. The carrier, which operates a number of mobile virtual operator services around the world, laid out plans to launch mobile...
RESTON, Va.—Sprint Nextel Corp. touted the success of its Sprint Music Store, announcing that customers had downloaded one million full-length songs through the service.Sprint Nextel said it reached the milestone less than four months after the service launched. With a per-song cost of $2.50,...
MURRAY HILL, N.J—Lucent Technologies Inc. said it won a contract to conduct a threat assessment of Europe’s wireless, wireline and Internet networks.The contract, which was awarded by the 25-member state European Commission, calls on Lucent to perform a comprehensive analysis of the factors influencing...
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—The Walt Disney Internet Group has set up a pre-launch Web site for its planned mobile virtual network operator service, Disney Mobile.The site allows interested consumers to sign up for information about the cellular service and indicates a launch date of this...
PORTLAND, Ore.—Metro One Telecommunications Inc. said it reached a settlement regarding the enhanced directory assistance services it provided to former Nextel Communications Inc. customers prior to Sprint Corp.’s acquisition of Nextel last year. Sprint Nextel Corp. terminated the master contract with Metro One as...
WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission wants to make sure that the sale of customer call records—which has erupted into this year’s biggest wireless scandal—has not been aided and abetted by employees inside telecommunications companies."Is there any evidence that dishonest insiders at the carriers are providing...
TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo Inc. announced plans to begin selling Nokia Corp.’s 6630 3G phone. The announcement stands as a notable victory for Nokia, which has largely been locked out of DoCoMo’s market.Interestingly, DoCoMo is calling the phone the FOMA NM850iG, and in a press release...
BARCELONA, Spain—The GSM Association said it has started interoperability trials for video services in Europe, Asia and the United States that would allow wireless users to share live video clips across networks.The trials include more than twenty mobile operators and subsidiaries, including China Mobile,...
BARCELONA, Spain—The GSM Association and Intel Corp. unveiled an initiative designed to drive the adoption of GSM-based wireless data technologies in laptop computers. The plan calls for both parties to develop guidelines for integrating 3G modems and SIM cards into laptop computers that would...
ESPOO, Finland—Vodafone Group plc named Nokia Corp. and L.M. Ericsson as its preferred suppliers for IMS technology, an agreement that could stand as a major boost to both vendors.Nokia said it has a contract to begin deploying its Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem solution to...
BARCELONA—Voice over Internet Protocol company Skype Ltd. declared 2006 the year that it would "go mobile," and announced that international carrier Hutchison Whampoa’s 3 group operators in several countries are ready to offer Skype-enabled mobile devices.Skype said that mobile operators such as Hutchison 3...
WASHINGTON—The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee hinted to state regulators Monday afternoon that federal pre-emption of state and local telecommunications regulations would not be included in the telecommunications-reform legislation he hopes to have the Senate Commerce Committee consider later this year. Instead, Ted...
BARCELONA, Spain—Japanese browser vendor Access Co. Ltd. gave details about what it plans to do with Palm OS vendor PalmSource Inc., which the company last year acquired for $324 million. The company said it would rebrand the Palm operating system as the Access Linux...
ESPOO, Finland—Nokia Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. announced they plan to form a joint venture to build CDMA phones. The move likely will have major repercussions for the global wireless industry, and stands as evidence that no one company—no matter how successful—can go...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.—Verizon Wireless filed two new lawsuits related to customer privacy, alleging that three Florida-based marketing firms made hundreds of thousands of illegal calls to its subscribers. Both lawsuits seek injunctions and monetary damages; they were filed in state Superior Court in Somerville, N.J.The...
SHERMAN OAKS, Calif.—Waat Media, which provides adult-oriented mobile-phone programming, is dipping its toe into the mobile gaming space with the acquisition of mobile-game developer Charismatix Ltd. & Co.Germany-based Charismatix develops Java-based games and entertainment products.Ian Aaron, Waat’s newly appointed chief executive officer, noted Charismatix’s...
WASHINGTON—Sprint Nextel Corp. signed an 800 MHz planning-funding agreement with the State of Utah and hopes to have a completed frequency-relocation agreement completed by June 30, the company announced.The Utah Communications Agency Network, which serves 115 public-safety agencies covering 12 counties and 85 percent...
