EBay Inc. has agreed to spend at least $2.6 billion in cash and stock to acquire Internet startup Skype International S.A. The online auction company said it will pay $1.3 billion in cash and an equal amount in stock for Skype, a 2-year-old Voice...
Among the tragedies that Hurricane Katrina brought was the realization that it would be easier for some people to reconnect with their dogs than their grandmas. A veterinarian can access ownership information on a dog that has been implanted with a microchip; an ailing...
U.S. wireless carriers ultimately want to get every American on their networks. In this utopian dream, everybody would be a paying customer. Subscribers would make all their voice calls from their mobile phones, they would gobble up services like downloadable music and mobile TV,...
Conceding that no carrier wants to offer islands of coverage, U.S. Cellular Corp. and Alltel Corp. swapped assets in rural America to fortify their geographic footprints and shed nonstrategic assets. U.S. Cellular paid $50 million and gave up two rural Idaho licenses in exchange...
ESPOO, Finland-Nokia Corp. raised its revenue expectations due to what the company said were stronger-than-expected sales of mobile phones. Nokia's stock jumped almost 4 percent on the announcement to $16.71 per share. Nokia increased its revenue expectations by about $350 million to around $10.4...
LONDON-Vodafone Group plc said it teamed with an infrastructure vendor to launch a new product that provides high-speed mobile data connectivity for teams working on the move. Vodafone will offer the 3G/UMTS Router with Cisco Systems Inc. and its Linksys division. The router enables...
Sprint Nextel Corp. this week plans to announce its fourth music service, a wireless version of RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody Radio. The offering includes five channels of streaming audio including alternative, pop, urban and country music, as well as podcasts from a California National Public...
WASHINGTON-A key court battle with far-reaching implications for nationwide calling plans of top mobile-phone carriers kicked off in a federal appeals court in Atlanta, with a consumer group and Vermont regulators arguing the Federal Communications Commission exceeded its authority in pre-empting state regulation of...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission and Congress may have differing opinions on upcoming auctions of third-generation and digital TV spectrum, warned the Rural Telecommunications Group. RTG said the FCC's idea of allowing combinatorial bidding could go against Congress' wishes that spectrum be made available to...
Verizon Wireless has tapped into the international capabilities of parent company Vodafone Group plc to launch its Global Data Access product that will allow users to access Verizon Wireless' CDMA2000 1x EV-DO data network for domestic wireless data needs and Vodafone's GPRS/UMTS network for...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless said it helped shut down an Internet firm that was selling its customers' calling records. "Accessing a person's personal telephone records without a valid court order or the customer's permission is illegal," said Steven Zipperstein, the carrier's general counsel and vice...
MONTREAL-Satellite and terrestrial wireless equipment manufacturer Advantech AMT has acquired Powerwave Technologies Inc.' microwave operation in Gothenberg, Sweden. Advantech said it would resurrect the Allgon Microwave brand, which it used prior to joining the Powerwave group. Advantech said Allgon Microwave is well known for...
PLAINFIELD, Ind.-Palm Inc. authorized two mobile-phone distributors to distribute its Treo smart phone in the United States. The company signed agreements with Brightpoint Inc.'s North American subsidiary and with CellStar Corp. to distribute the Treo. Both distributors will offer the smart phone to operators,...
BOSTON-Industry research and analyst firm The Yankee Group reported that wireless usage continues to outpace wireline usage in the United States. Citing its own internal surveys, government reports and industry trade group reports, The Yankee Group reported that personal calling using wireless devices exceeded...
Trip Hawkins believes the last thing wireless gamers want is to play console-style offerings on their phones."If you take Madden Football and put it on a mobile device, it can't possibly live up to the experience the customer is going to expect from the...
WASHINGTON-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. has been expelled from the Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York, according to a report in a Rochester, N.Y., newspaper. The nation's largest wireless carrier acknowledged the situation. "We did indeed meet with the BBB of upstate NY earlier this...
In the face of the lofty pronouncements and promises from official Washington about improving emergency communications and muscling up our telecom infrastructure in the aftermath of 9/11, the Asian tsunami and now Hurricane Katrina-and the results to date-can real progress be achieved only in...
Nokia Corp. released a new, low-priced wireless e-mail product that will work with almost any new mobile phone, be it a low-end, voice-centric device or a high-end smart phone. The offering sets Nokia squarely in the wireless enterprise marketplace and pits the company directly...
WASHINGTON-In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said that he intends to create a new Homeland Security and Public Safety Bureau. Likewise, the issue of public-safety interoperable communications-including the return of analog TV spectrum-gained momentum in Congress. The FCC's Homeland Security...
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Wireless e-mail vendor Good Technology Inc. said it cut an unspecified number of jobs due to the company's transition from direct to indirect sales. The cuts were part of a restructuring at Good that resulted in a total workforce reduction from 500...
Sprint Nextel Corp. reported a deal with Samsung Telecommunications America L.L.P. to jointly test network equipment based on the 802.16e WiMAX standard using Sprint Nextel's 2.5 GHz spectrum. The companies said the agreement will involve testing prototype terminals and core network equipment designed to...
Nokia Corp. is hoping to create a framework for Java-based developer tools with this week's expected announcement that it has joined Canada's Eclipse Foundation. Nokia said it will contribute software and developers to a new Eclipse project that seeks to create tooling support for...
MORRISVILLE, N.C.-Israeli-based Convergin, which provides wireless convergence servers, has won a contract with Tekelec, a developer of next-generation fixed and mobile packet networks, to accelerate Internet Multimedia Subsystem deployments with fixed-mobile convergence solutions.In the deal, Convergin's Accolade platform will be resold as Tekelec's Real...
Sprint Nextel Corp. reported a deal with Samsung Telecommunications America LLP to jointly test network equipment based on the 802.16e WiMAX standard using Sprint Nextel's 2.5 GHz spectrum. The companies said the agreement will involve testing prototype terminals and supporting core network equipment designed...
