SHERMAN OAKS, Calif.-Waat Media has named Ian Aaron president and chief executive officer. Waat provides late night mobile entertainment and has been involved with development of standards and validation systems for age verification in the mobile environment.Aaron has served on Waat's board for the...
ATLANTA-EarthLink Inc. announced a new contract with Motorola Inc. and Tropos Networks Inc. as the company prepares to launch municipal Wi-Fi networks in five cities. Though terms of the contract were not disclosed, EarthLink said the agreement includes design, installation, system integration and hardware....
WASHINGTON-A state appeals court has agreed to review a record $12 million fine levied by California regulators against Cingular Wireless L.L.C. in 2004. "Cingular is encouraged to hear that the California Court of Appeal has agreed to hear our case," said a Cingular spokesperson....
PLAINFIELD, Ind.-Brightpoint Inc. said it will continue to be the exclusive authorized distributor for Nokia Corp. phones in the United States through 2007. The companies announced the extension of an existing agreement that sees Brightpoint deliver Nokia's wares to carriers, mobile virtual network operators,...
SAN JOSE, Calif.-Fixed WiMAX products from Aperto Networks Inc., Redline Communications Inc., Sequans Communications and Wavesat Inc. have been stamped "WiMAX Forun Certified." "The WiMAX era starts today," boasted Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum.The WiMAX Forum made the announcement at the WCA...
WASHINGTON-Congress' research unit said the Bush administration's program to wiretap cell phones, landline phones and e-mails without court orders may be violating U.S. law. The White House defends the wiretap program. The National Security Agency conducts the program, which is supposedly limited to communications...
NEW YORK-Alltel Corp.'s board of directors declared a 38.5 cent quarterly dividend on shares of common stock, while Standard & Poor's Ratings Services bumped Alltel's corporate credit ratings down a notch. Standard & Poor's downgraded both Alltel's long-term and short-term credit rating one notch...
WAIKOLOA, Hawaii-The IEEE ultrawideband (UWB) task group ended three years of acrimony with a nearly unanimous vote to kill the 802.15.3a proposed standard. The association, which was established to develop a standard for short-range wireless communications at up to 480 megabits per second, disbanded...
WASHINGTON-Top U.S. mobile phone carriers have joined to bid for rights to offer wireless service in hundreds of subway stations throughout New York City. Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. are bidding for the project. A Cingular spokesman...
RICHMOND, Va.-Research In Motion Ltd. urged a Virginia court not to shut down service to U.S. BlackBerry subscribers, claiming such a blackout could threaten public safety and business productivity. The Canadian company is facing a disruption in service due to its ongoing legal battle...
BOSTON-The next major growth opportunity for wireless carriers is the 'tween' market, according to research firm Yankee Group. The market comprises children between the ages of 8 and 12.The tween market today accounts for 2.6 percent of all wireless subscribers with 5.3 million users,...
LUXEMBOURG-Smart card vendor Gemplus International S.A. lowered its 2005 revenue expectations due to a quality problem with one of its chips. The firm said it now expects fiscal 2005 revenues of around $1.137 billion, which is down from previous expectations of $1.150 billion.Gemplus' shares...
WASHINGTON-In the wake of revelations that cell-phone call records are available for purchase over the Internet, the chairman of the House Commerce Committee plans to introduce a bill that will make pretexting illegal. Online data brokers use pretexting-or impersonating the subscriber whose records they...
MINNEAPOLIS-Verizon Wireless topped Vocal Laboratories Inc.'s quarterly customer service survey for the fourth quarter. The carrier maintained its top position but slipped slightly from an overall caller satisfaction grade of A to B. Verizon held its B rating in the single-call-completion category.T-Mobile USA Inc....
WASHINGTON-The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Wednesday started its annual examination of the wireless market.Comments are due Feb. 17 with replies due March 6.The Federal Communications Commission is required by Congress to annually submit a report on competition in the commercial mobile radio services market.As...
EDINBURG, Va.-Shenandoah Telecommunications Co. cut its churn rate in the fourth quarter of 2005 and increased its net retail customers by 6,515 subscribers, a jump of nearly 43 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2004. The company's wholesale customer adds for 2005 dropped...
WASHINGTON- Three senators Wednesday introduced legislation that would make it a crime for someone to obtain cell phone customer call records under false pretenses. Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) introduced the bill as the Senate came in for...
SAN DIEGO-Shares of InfoSonics Corp. rebounded this morning after the phone distributor said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of at least $34 million.InfoSonics, which distributes handsets in the United States and Latin America, projected a 74-percent increase in fourth-quarter revenue over the year-earlier period. The...
CINCINNATI-Sprint Nextel Corp. said it plans to phase out its billing relationship with Convergys Corp. and has signed a preliminary agreement with Amdocs Ltd. for a single billing and customer care platform to serve all of its wireless subscribers. Plans call for Sprint Nextel...
COSTA MESA, Calif.-The CDMA Development Group announced that Wireless Test Systems in San Diego, Calif., and Telecommunications Technology Association in Seoul, Korea, have been authorized as CDMA Certification Forum test facilities for CDMA2000 devices. The move is an attempt to speed up the testing...
MEXICO CITY-Private equity firm The Carlyle Group is looking to tap the Mexican market by acquiring a majority stake in bilingual call center services provider Hispanic Teleservices Corp.The stake was acquired from J.P. Morgan Partners L.L.C. and Citigroup Venture Capital International. Terms of the...
BOSTON-Wireless operators should develop sophisticated, community-focused game services to stave off increasing competition from Electronic Arts Inc., Yahoo Inc. and other media giants, according to a study from Strategy Analytics.The firm said carriers should expand game download services by adding chat rooms, game ratings,...
SAN DIEGO-Sky MobileMedia Inc., which provides mobile applications software platforms for wireless handsets, said it closed on $15 million of series B financing.Sid R. Bass Associates led the round. Previous investor Enterprise Partners Venture Capital also participated.Sky MobileMedia said it plans to use the...
ORLAND PARK, Ill.-Comsearch, which specializes in spectrum management, said it has come up with a new product designed to give wireless carriers the lay of the Advanced Wireless Spectrum land prior to the Federal Communications Commission auction, which is slated for this summer. Comsearch...
