Mobile News – RCR Wireless News

Siemens AG will cut about 74 jobs in its North American mobile-phone business, moves that come as the company ponders what to do with its loss-making global handset operations. Siemens would not say how many workers will remain in its …

The overwhelming popularity of ringtones and ring backs has given birth to an unprecedented cottage industry: mobile music labels that deal directly with artists to create content for wireless phones. INgrooves became the latest entrant in the developing space last …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry plans to meet this week to begin work on a wireless content ratings system similar to other entertainment industries. “We are going to do something. Hopefully by the end of the year, the industry will have adopted …

SHREVEPORT, La.-Fixed-line prepaid phone service company Budget Phone Inc. will offer service from Boost Mobile, a prepaid mobile service owned by Nextel Communications Inc., under an agreement announced Tuesday. Budget said it has partnered with Precept, an authorized national master …

McDonald’s restaurants in the Pacific Northwest will give away ringtones, wallpaper and coupons to wireless handsets during a Web-based promotional campaign, the fast-food chain said. McDonald’s will use the Web site www.mobilestr33t.com as a focal point for the campaign to …

Wall Street stomped Sierra Wireless Inc.-sending the company’s stock down an astounding 38 percent to $8.97 per share-after the company said it expects to post a massive drop in first-quarter revenues and a huge loss. Just 12 hours later, Sierra’s …

Internet search engine Ask Jeeves said it will bring its service to wireless devices later this year, joining an already crowded playing field of mobile-search providers. But whether wireless subscribers will use their phones to access search engines-or how they …

LONDON-IMS Research said worldwide cell-phone subscribers could reach 650 million by year’s end, up from 500 million at the end of 2003. As the market matures, an increasing number of handsets are being equipped with advanced features that take advantage …

Despite a rash of operational difficulties during the past several years that led to its eventual sale to rival Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Forrester Research Inc. found that AT&T Wireless Services Inc. was the leading wireless provider of next-generation business services, …

The twists and turns in Research In Motion Ltd.’s legal battle with NTP Inc. continues with a new, separate lawsuit that pits NTP against a company that claims it actually owns the patents that NTP and RIM are fighting over. …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson signed an exclusive managed services contract with H3G Italy for the overall management of H3G Italy’s third-generation network, which has more than 2.6 million subscribers. The value of the contract was not disclosed, but Ericsson noted the …

RESTON, Va.-Nextel Communications Inc. said it will expand its Spanish-based “Nextel. Ya.” advertising campaign to Hispanic communities in Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; Boston; Philadelphia; Fresno and Sacramento, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. The campaign, which was created by Accentmarketing, builds on …

WASHINGTON-Several Supreme Court justices appeared not to buy arguments that municipalities are liable for attorneys’ fees and damages when they lose antenna-siting court cases. The case has huge monetary and indirect policy implications, but it will not settle the divisive …

Mobile workers are discovering there’s nothing more tethering than wireless devices. As advancing technologies enable 24/7 communications and monitoring capabilities, the once-clear lines between “company time” and “private time” are blurring. Employees are wrestling with how to be accessible without …

Don’t be alarmed by those Canadians who seem to be wrestling with their cell phones. They’re probably just fishing. More accurately, they’re likely playing “Swordfish,” a new game that allows players to locate their quarry, drop a virtual line and …

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International and The Consultant Registry, with the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, conducted a test to show how background sounds, which are important to 911 call-takers, are transmitted over a Voice over Internet Protocol …

WASHINGTON-Softbank Corp., the Japanese Internet company trying to muscle or possibly buy its way into that country’s mobile-phone market, has crashed the party here by breaking with U.S. and foreign mobile-phone carriers that do not want any further American intervention …

WiMAX may be one technology, but the players involved with it are issuing a number of discordant notes. While some news outlets published reports last week that the certification date had been postponed from this month to July, and that …

Around the world, carriers are looking to boost wireless data sales to offset razor-thin profit margins from voice services. And they’re getting a lot of help. NMS Communications last week launched a framework that allows carriers to manage subscriber relations, …

SACRAMENTO, Calif.-SBC Communications Inc. reported an agreement to install Wi-Fi networks covering 85 California state parks. SBC noted that San Eli State Beach located outside San Diego will be the first state park gaining Wi-Fi services, with plans to install …

COSTA MESA, Calif.-The CDMA Development Group added 31 CDMA2000 networks and 60 million subscribers in 2004, the trade association announced. By the end of the year, more than 100 CDMA2000 carriers in 53 countries were providing service to 145 million …

WASHINGTON-A U.K. health group said there is no solid evidence mobile phones pose health risks, but recommended cell-phone use by children and others be minimized and urged the public to take a precautionary approach to wireless calling as additional research …

DENVER-RCR Wireless News is moving to new offices effective Monday, Jan. 17. The newspaper’s new address is 1746 Cole Blvd., Suite 150, Golden, Colo., 80401. All telephone numbers and e-mail addresses will remain the same. RCR Wireless News is owned …

A computer hacker broke into T-Mobile USA Inc.’s network in 2003 and stole the names and social security numbers of about 400 T-Mobile subscribers, the carrier said. The hacker also was able to access information stored on subscribers’ T-Mobile Sidekick …

NORWALK, Conn.-Wireless companies will continue to invest heavily in their networks in the United States and abroad for at least the next several years, according to two new studies. A soon-to-be-released report from Business Communications Company Inc. indicates worldwide wireless …