hedge*hog*ging v. Interrupting conversations in an office environmentby poking your head over the top of the cube.While there is plenty of coverage on the FCC's 700 MHz auction rules throughout this issue, early betting around the RCR Wireless News' world headquarters has this auction...
A federal court in California ruled a class-action suit accusing Cingular Wireless L.L.C.-now AT&T Mobility-of false and misleading advertising can go forward.The complaint, brought under state consumer protection laws, involves a promotion in which Cingular advertised a cash rebate as an enticement to prospective...
Inmarsat Global Ltd. has challenged TerreStar Networks Inc.'s request to delay for nearly a year its mobile satellite launch currently scheduled for November.TerreStar in late May asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to extend the launch until September 2008 for its planned 2...
FiberTower Corp. announced that it has inked a deal with the No. 3 carrier to provide backhaul services in seven of Sprint Nextel's initial WiMAX launch markets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed due to confidentiality agreements, according to FiberTower.FiberTower did, however, disclose...
It appears the case has been made for mobile TV. The big question now is, what do on-the-go users want to watch? Once a questionable proposition even for early adopters, wireless video is quickly moving into the mainstream. Dedicated mobile broadcast networks and 3G...
Inching closer to its long-sought goal of 40% of the global market, Nokia Corp. confirmed last week that its business is firing on nearly all cylinders.The Finnish vendor notched impressive, year-on-year, double-digit gains in handset volumes in every region but North America. The company's...
For sure, the reaction to the Federal Communications Commission's 700 MHz decision was mixed. But no one was so visibly and verbally downcast about what the agency had wrought than Commissioner Robert McDowell. For McDowell, it is the FCC and the ruling itself that...
With the 700 MHz auction rules officially out (and before any legal challenges are launched), now is a good time to reflect on the government's role in spectrum auctions.In the past, when the government has tried to craft rules to mandate competition, it has...
Cell-cessful surgery Cellphones played a lifesaving role during a surgery in Argentina recently. According to a Reuters report, a blackout in Policlinico, Argentina, interrupted an emergency appendix operation on 29-year-old Leonardo Molina, and backup generators failed. Molina's family members collected cellphones from people in...
MediaFLO USA Inc. is still holding most of its customers' usage data close to the vest-thanks in part to continuing exclusivity with Verizon Wireless until AT&T Mobility launches the service later this year-but the company is increasingly getting the word out about its platform...
NII Holdings Inc., formerly Nextel International, has found success in Mexico and South America and recently passed the 4 million subscriber mark across four countries. The international company is based in Reston, Va., but offers service in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Peru, and recently...
Amp'd Mobile Inc. went dark last week, after filing for bankruptcy and being unable to raise sufficient funds to carry it through reorganization.The company joins Mobile ESPN in the annals of failed mobile virtual network operators, and its customers were stuck with shiny paperweights...
THE FCC'S RULES FOR NEXT YEAR'S auction of 700 MHz spectrum could change the game substantially for wireless content owners and application developers. Then again, maybe not.Chairman Kevin Martin last week seemed to avoid drawing the ire of any of the major players-or would-be...
WHILE THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND OTHERS CELEBRATED anticipated public-safety and wireless benefits of last week's 700 MHz auction rules decision, skeptics question whether the action will indeed produce a competitor to the Bell telephone-cable TV broadband duopoly and a strong commercial entity willing...
Despite the widely recognized success of Amp'd Mobile Inc.'s large portfolio of original content, a source at the company has told RCR Wireless News that less than 1% of the company's nearly $400 million total budget was spent on such endeavors.This revelation, which came...
THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION LAST WEEK approved 700 MHz rules to foster the creation of a nationwide public-safety/commercial broadband network and introduce new devices and applications in a wireless space tightly controlled by four national operators.The FCC designated for auction a nationwide 10-megahertz spectrum...
Verizon Wireless backed up its strong second-quarter customer numbers with solid financials and a new acquisition that will make the nation's largest CDMA carrier a roaming provider for GSM services.The carrier announced that it had agreed to buy Rural Cellular Corp. for $2.67 billion,...
First, Balda AG and its partner, TPK Holdings, won Apple Inc.'s business for the touchscreen module for the latter's iPhone.Now Balda's shareholders are agitating for the company to spin off its touchscreen business to bring more visibility to that business' value, according to German...
MetroPCS Communications Inc. reported a quarter of strong growth following its debut on the public market, as the company's net income jumped and it added 155,000 subscribers. The flat-rate provider's total revenues were up 50% year-over-year to $551 million, and its net income increased...
Canadian telecom provider Telus Corp. reported Q2revenues were up 4% year-over-year due to growth in wireless and data, but that its earnings for the second quarter were impacted by the advent of wireless number portability in Canada as well as the bankruptcy of Amp'd...
Shares of Openwave Systems Inc. jumped after the mobile software developer reported mixed quarterly results and shuffled its front office.The Redwood City, Calif.-based outfit posted a net loss of $92 million, marking a dramatic downturn from a quarterly loss of $5 million last year....
Welcome to our Friday feature, Week in Review. Every Friday, RCR Wireless News will run through the major events of the past week, outlining what happened and speculating on what to look for in the coming weeks. Check below for news about carriers, handset...
High-tech giants seeking a new avenue for wireless Internet access suffered at least a temporary setback as a result of government tests that found prototype, Wi-Fi-like devices had trouble detecting TV signals and caused interference to broadcasters and wireless microphones. The tests studied operations...
"There are so many channels of distribution in the U.S. market," said Mark Howell, Co-COO Brightpoint Inc., President Americas, the world's largest independent distributor of handsets. Indeed, Howell should know, he oversees the distribution of cellphones from coast to coast, and provides products to...
