Mobile News – RCR Wireless News

The Justice Department said Alltel Corp. agreed to sell wireless assets in several rural Minnesota markets as a condition to antitrust approval of its $1 billion purchase of regional operator Midwest Wireless. “The department’s action ensures that wireless telephone consumers …

NEW YORK—Consumers may be interested in watching video on their cellular phones, but few are willing to pay for it. According to a Jupiter Research report, “Video on Cell Phones,” 11 percent of mobile phones will be video capable this …

WASHINGTON—House and Senate lawmakers face a major challenge in trying to reconcile differences over legislation that would subject foreign investment in wireless and other U.S. business sectors to stiffer national security review, with some lawmakers keenly aware that a heavy-handed …

WASHINGTON—U.S. law enforcement officials are expected to continue scrutinizing large purchases of prepaid cell phones and possible links to terrorist activity on American soil, despite failing to make such a connection to a wireless buying behavior that may be far …

KIRKLAND, Wash.—Clearwire Corp. said all the conditions of its previously announced investment arrangement with Intel Capital and Motorola Ventures have been completed. Further, the company said the original $900 million in equity financing included in the deal has been increased …

SAN ANTONIO—Clear Channel Radio said it launched its mobile radio programming initiative nationwide, with Cingular Wireless L.L.C. as a partner. The launch featured New York’s WHTZ-FM Z100 music station streaming live radio directly to Cingular Wireless phones, said the company. …

SUNNYVALE, Calif.—Palm Inc. said it expects revenues to fall short of its previous guidance for the first quarter of next year due to slower sales of its Treo device with carriers. The company now expects revenues for the quarter, which …

WASHINGTON—Verizon Communications Inc. is one of three dozen technology companies that have joined forces to oppose a plan to give broadcasters new intellectual property rights to audiovisual material. Verizon, AT&T Corp., Dell Inc., Intel Corp., TiVo Inc. and others are …

While the world of wireless infrastructure vendors looks set to be dominated by three all-powerful giants, small player Tellabs Inc. quietly reminds the industry that it’s doing a lot of business with Cingular Wireless L.L.C. as the carrier continues on …

San Francisco—Italy not only won the recent FIFA World Cup Soccer tournament, but were also the most voracious consumers of mobile content from the event, according to a report from Telephia. The report, which was part of Telephia’s third-quarter European …

Minnetonka, Minn.-based US Internet beat out more than 80 other companies for the city of Minneapolis’ contract to build a 54-square-mile citywide Wi-Fi network, beating out notable EarthLink Inc. and its suppliers Tropos Networks Inc. and Motorola Inc. Some Wi-Fi …

WASHINGTON—The Telecommunications Industry Association looked inside and chose Grant Seiffert to succeed Matthew Flanigan as president beginning Jan.1. Seiffert has worked his way up the TIA organization ladder after leaving Capitol Hill in 1996. He is currently executive vice president …

ESPOO, Finland—Nokia Corp. this week announced the pending launch of three new handsets in its L’Amour Collection line of fashion phones aimed at the European market. The new handset models are 7390, 7373 and 7360; they are expected in European …

SAN FRANCISCO—Mobileplay Inc. said it launched an advertising-supported service that provides free access to news, games, lifestyle content and location-based services on wireless devices. The service supports personal digital assistants, smart phones, wireless e-mail devices and Java-enabled cell phones, said …

NEW YORK—Bango announced it has partnered with MTV Networks U.K. & Ireland to provide its browse-and-buy technology for MTV’s new WAP site. The MTV WAP site is designed to promote and sell digital content to users. Bango’s technology streamlines the …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. launched a branded, pay-per-view movie service that offers nearly four dozen classic films and recent releases. Sprint Movies, which is powered by mSpot, allows users to watch films in their entirety or view chapters that …

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.—InterDigital Communications Corp. has been awarded $134 million in past royalties, plus interest, from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. on Samsung’s sales of GSM and GPRS/EDGE phones from 2003 to 2005, according to an international arbitration tribunal. The …

The infrastructure industry’s merger of the season looks to be a done deal, as Lucent Technologies Inc. and Alcatel Inc. announced that their shareholders approved Alcatel’s $10.7 billion proposal to acquire Lucent in the midst of fierce global competition for …

WASHINGTON—The federal government should lean on the wireless industry to make sure hackers can’t access personal information on used smart phones and personal digital assistants, the governor of Illinois told the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. “There …

RESTON, Va.—Sprint Nextel Corp. said it won a government contract worth an estimated $679 million to continue providing telecommunications services for federal agencies. The General Services Administration awarded Sprint Nextel the Federal Telecommunications System 2001 Bridge contract, which Sprint Corp. …

AURORA, Ill.—Lucent Technologies Inc. and Westell Technologies Inc. signed a global reseller agreement that calls for Lucent to resell Westell’s TriLink IP Multimedia Subsystem gateway as part of its IMS-based solution. Lucent said it integrated Westell’s converged residential gateways into …

MENLO PARK, Calif.—Voice-recognition software developer Promptu said it closed an $11.6 million round of funding. Steelpoint Capital Partners led the round, and other current investors also participated. Promptu, which was founded as AgileTV in 2000, has gained significant traction by …

Nokia Corp. announced plans to build on its relationship with Yahoo Inc., embedding the Internet giant’s mobile search application on its NSeries multimedia handsets and other phones running the Symbian operating system. The world’s largest handset maker said Yahoo will …

WASHINGTON—A new federal pre-emption battle has broken out at the Federal Communications Commission between two small wireless companies and Qwest Corp. The small carriers are asking telecom regulators to intervene by barring five state public utility commissions from further involvement …

NEW YORK—The New York Times finally went wireless with a mobile site delivering news, sports, business information and other content to users with Web-enabled devices. The company, which has drawn criticism for its efforts to capitalize on new technological platforms, …