Mobile and Wireless Industry Reports

Verizon Communications Inc. has sued Sprint Nextel Corp. in Delaware federal court, accusing the No. 3 mobile-phone operator of failing pay nearly $10 million in interconnection charges.“Verizon has repeatedly attempted to resolve this dispute short of litigation,” the suit stated. …

LAS VEGAS — Five companies promoting the A-VSB standard for mobile TV broadcasting said they have made progress on the technology, and offered demonstrations during the National Association of Broadcasters Show this week to underscore their efforts.The Advanced Television Systems …

Key House members introduced a bill to ban cellphone use on in-flight airplanes, triggering a rebuke by a Georgia wireless technology firm.“The public doesn’t want to be subjected to people talking on their cellphones on an already over-packed airplane,” said …

A class-action antitrust lawsuit has been filed against Qualcomm Inc., the San Diego-based CDMA technology giant. The suit appears to echo similar claims filed against Qualcomm by rival Broadcom, but was filed by an individual, Jesse Meyer, who bought a …

Public-safety groups scrambled to salvage support for a private-sector funded national wireless broadband network shared by first responders and a commercial entity, following calls by some House Republicans to abandon in the 700 MHz D-Block re-auction that they consider a …

Novatel Wireless Inc., maker of embedded laptop modems, warned this week that it would miss its first-quarter profit forecast.The company cut its first-quarter earnings estimate to $91 million from $110 million and drastically reduced its per-share earnings expectations. Novatel said …

LG Electronics Co. Ltd. shipped 24.4 million handsets in the first quarter, above analysts’ estimates of 23 million to 24 million units.Handset sales reached $3.2 billion, up nearly 36% over the year-ago quarter, while the division’s operating profit reached $448 …

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Handset and infrastructure vendors–RBC Capital Markets lowered its price target on Motorola Inc. to $10 from $12. The firm also cut …

The Parrot PARTY Black Edition claims to be the first commercially available Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled speaker system . The NFC technology will enable users to pair their device to the speaker simply by tapping them together.

Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Chris Cannon (R-Utah) introduced a bill to impose a five-year freeze on new discriminatory state and local wireless taxes.“The wireless sector of the technology industry continues to be an important driver for growth in our …

AdLink Technology Inc., which makes test-and-measurement solutions for telecommunication equipment manufacturers, introduced a new ATCA blade using Intel Corp.’s 5100 chipset.The new CPU blade is designed to help telecom equipment manufacturers with a product that offers more memory, more storage …

One year after launching Mowser, Russell Beattie has pulled the plug on his transcoding business.Beattie, a former mobile developer for Yahoo Inc., had hoped to compete with Google Inc., Greenlight Wireless’s Skweezer and other developers that customize Internet content for …

Public-interest groups reiterated their call for federal regulators to protect text messaging rights, framing the issue with far-reaching implication for free speech, disability access and competition in the wireless industry.Public Knowledge and other organizations want the Federal Communications Commission to …

While the Federal Communications Commission’s failure to attract a bidder for a national commercial-public safety spectrum license dominated a House telecom subcommittee hearing today, the panel’s review of the 700 MHz auction also served as a platform for addressing other …

Crush or Flush members can now give advertisers a thumbs-up or thumbs-down — just like they do with each other.IceBreaker Inc’s mobile social networking site added Golden Ticket, a component that allows advertisers to create profiles for their wares, just …

The wireless industry’s two heavyweights continued to tweak their service plans with both AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless offering up new packages targeted at different demographics.AT&T Mobility unveiled a new FamilyTalk derivative that targets small businesses, allowing up to 40 …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the …

What’s with all the new pricing plans? Are carriers moving toward customization in lieu of simplicity?The introduction of unlimited plans a few months ago seems to have sparked a rallying cry for even more options from wireless operators: This week …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week we’ll review a new wireless application or service from the user’s point of view, with the goal of …

The following list details this week’s infrastructure awards for the cellular, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available.Cellular–China: Ericsson said it signed GSM …

Today Nokia announced the 6212 Classic, a bar-style phone that incorporates near-field communications technology for mobile payment services.

Redback Networks, an Ericsson company (NASDAQ:ERIC) that makes video-centric routers for 75+ percent of the world’s largest triple-play networks, today announced the results of an Ovum/RHK study, which found that telephone operators made up to $36 billion selling broadband services …

Verizon Wireless is hoping to spur uptake of the wireless Web with a new, all-you-can-surf plan for smartphone users.The carrier introduced a $30-per-month plan that gives smartphone users “an unlimited data allowance” for e-mail and the mobile Internet. The plan …

Verizon Wireless has tapped AOL L.L.C.’s Platform-A as a “major advertising provider” of its online and mobile Internet destinations.The operator said it will use Platform-A’s sales force as well as its technology to deliver display, mobile and video ad services. …

The market for LTE technology took another step forward today as seven infrastructure heavyweights announced a framework for licensing the rights to the next-generation wireless standard. Alcatel-Lucent, L.M. Ericsson, NEC Corp., NextWave Wireless Inc., Nokia Corp., Nokia Siemens Networks and …