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Virgin Mobile USA stock down on economic worries

Investors sent Virgin Mobile USA Inc.'s stock plunging this morning despite decent quarterly numbers, based on worries about the impact of an increasing competitive prepaid landscape as well as economic impacts on the company's customer base. Virgin Mobile USA's stock was down more than...

FCC approves AT&T Mobility/Dobson deal

The Federal Communications Commission approved AT&T's Mobility's $2.8 billion purchase of Dobson Communications Corp., embracing less stringent divestiture requirements than those imposed by Justice Department and the same universal service wireless-cap condition federal regulators worked into the $27.5 billion acquisition of Alltel Corp. by...

Buongiorno expects growth, savings from iTouch deal

Buongiorno S.p.A. forecasts it will bring in revenues of $462 million to $476.5 million for the year, as well as also predicting continued growth in 2008, forecasting $484 million to $513 million in revenues.By the close of next year, the Italian mobile content and...

FCC to allow wholesaling of D block spectrum: Decision seen as victory for Frontline

The Federal Communications Commission relaxed the small-business bidding rule for the national commercial/public-safety license up for grabs in the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction. The ruling is major victory for startup Frontline Wireless L.L.C., which has expressed strong interest in pursuing the D block...

700 MHz band to be used for broadband worldwide

The United States teamed with neighboring countries to get the 700 MHz band identified for wireless broadband services in the Americas and major markets in Asia at the close of the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva, effectively setting the foundation for a global...

Motorola invests in social-networking

Motorola Inc. said its venture capital arm, Motorola Ventures, would invest in Tilefile Ltd., which has developed a social-media platform. Terms were not disclosed. Leading handset companies such as Motorola clearly are moving beyond the hardware and software of handsets to become...

Garmin drops Tele Atlas bid, extends Navteq contract

Shares of Garmin Ltd. surged after the manufacturer of personal navigation devices withdrew its $3.3 billion takeover bid for digital mapping company Tele Atlas NV.The move paves the way for TomTom, a Garmin rival that last week offered $4.25 billion for Tele Atlas...

The Week in Review

Welcome to our Friday feature, Week in Review. Every Friday, RCR Wireless News runs through the major events of the past week, outlining what happened and speculating on what to look for in the coming weeks, months and years. Check below for news about...

Bango unveils button to link computers, cellphones

Bango unveiled a link that allows users to send online content to their mobile phones.The Bango Button was created for blogs and social networking sites as a way to bridge the gap between computers and mobile phones. A user can place the icon on...

Microsoft buys Musiwave for $46M

Openwave Systems Inc. finally found a buyer for Musiwave, selling the mobile music business to Microsoft Corp. Microsoft will spend $46 million in cash for Musiwave and assume roughly $4 million of the Paris-based business's net debt. The software giant earlier this week acquired...

Pocket cuts unlimited local calling rate to $25

San Antonio-based carrier Pocket Communications introduced a pair of new rate plans, including one that starts at $25 per month, in an attempt to attract users to its flat-rate calling service. Pocket has a track record of shaking up the south Texas market with...

Worst of the Week: An m-commerce sellout

Hello!And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We...

LTE gains steam: Nokia, LG, Alcatel-Lucent tests set stage for commercial deployments

Over the past week, a wide breadth of telecom companies have completed Long Term Evolution tests.Nokia Corp. announced results last week from the first phase of a trial that the company claimed achieved 100 megabit-per-second data transfer speeds. The trial was conducted by the...

J.D. Power lauds Sony Ericsson

J.D. Power announced Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications' handsets scored highest in overall customer satisfaction among U.S. and Canadian consumers in the consumer research firm's latest survey.SEMC ranked highest in features, battery life, physical design, operation and durability among U.S. consumers. Najmi Jarwala, president of...

Investors bullish on MetroPCS’ Q3

MetroPCS Communications Inc. beat Wall Street's earnings expectations in spite of weak customer numbers, and the company's stock soared nearly 13% in early afternoon trading. MetroPCS' financial metrics were strong, with a 47% year-over-year increase in service revenue to $489 million. The company's total...

Qualcomm scoops up Firethorn for mobile banking

The mobile banking space got even hotter as Qualcomm Inc. said it will shell out $210 million in cash for Firethorn Holdings L.L.C.Firethorn's technology links financial institutions and mobile network operators, allowing users to check bank balances and transfer funds from their handsets. The...

Dutch court dismisses Nokia claim against Qualcomm

Qualcomm Inc. announced the dismissal of Nokia Corp.'s complaint in District Court in The Hague against the chip and licensing company over patent exhaustion.Nokia had complained in March that Qualcomm's European patents were "exhausted" with respect to chips sold on the European market by...

VeriSign considers dumping mobile operations

VeriSign Inc. outlined plans to streamline its operations and sell or close as many as 12 divisions including some-or perhaps all-of its mobile operations.The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it will divest "a number of businesses in the company's portfolio, such as communications, billing...

Revol rolls out idle-screen ads: Full deployment follows successful trial

After a trial involving 5,000 users, regional wireless carrier Revol has decided to go forward with a full launch of a mobile advertising service that the company said has achieved engagement rates of close to 50%. The company will begin marketing the service, Revol...

Financial ratings wrap-up: Leap, Nortel, Brightpoint and more

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier --Standard & Poor's Ratings Services placed the ratings of Leap Wireless International on CreditWatch with negative implications after the company said it plans to...

Venture capital financing wrap-up: Celltick, Iovation and ViVOtech

The following list includes venture capital and other investments into wireless companies announced during the past week. The value of the investment is included when available.--Celltick: JVP and Amadeus invested $8.5 million into mobile marketing company Celltick Technologies. The company said the venture-capital funding...

Kodiak scores China PTT deal

China Mobile Ltd. subsidiary Jiangsu Mobile Communications Corp. picked Texas-based Kodiak Networks to supply push-to-talk technology for deployment in the coastal Jiangsu Province. Kodiak said it has been in trials with JMCC with a user base of 20,000 customers who will be rolled over...

Mobile banking gains steam with AT&T Mobility launch

AT&T Mobility launched a mobile banking platform that will be preloaded on its handsets starting later this year. The offering is now available for download to more than 30 of the carrier's devices, which account for about 30 million wireless handsets in the market.The...

M:Metrics wins ruling in Nielsen lawsuit

After more than two years, M:Metrics had its day in court and prevailed. A court has ruled that the mobile research firm did not infringe on a patent owned by its competitor Nielsen Mobile.The battle may be won, but the war seems far from...