Mobile News – RCR Wireless News

NEW YORK-Despite prepaid and reseller additions driving much of the growth within the wireless industry, Fitch Ratings concludes in a new report that the industry will continue to be profitable. The first quarter showed trends from 2005 continuing, Fitch analyst …

PORTLAND, Ore.-Metro One Telecommunications Inc. announced the renewal of a multi-year contract to provide enhanced directory assistance for Midwest Wireless subscribers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Metro One’s 411 service provides movie listings and driving directions in addition …

NETANYA, Israel-Intel Corp. has selected Siano Mobile Silicon’s multi-band, multi-standard receiver chipset for Intel’s mobile TV reference platform in its Xscale product line. The collaboration comes at a time when mobile TV component makers are matching up with chipset and …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission urged a U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia to reject a lawsuit seeking to delay the Aug. 9 advanced wireless services auction and to re-examine news rules designed to close a loophole enabling large wireless carriers to …

LONDON-Warner Music continued to expand its digital distribution operations, acquiring a minority stake in Japanese mobile broadcasting FrontMedia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Warner Music Japan said it is making a capital investment in the year-old firm, which …

NEW YORK-The Recording Industry Association of America formally launched a Master Ringtone Sales Award, updating its 47-year-old Gold and Platinum program to recognize the growing popularity of ringtones on cellular phones. In the inaugural group, RIAA awarded 84 Gold, 40 …

Telephia Inc., a consulting firm that provides measurement information on the mobile industry, said it filed a lawsuit against fellow research company M:Metrics Inc. on claims the company violated Telephia’s intellectual property. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. …

WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court asked the Bush administration for guidance on Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch’s appeal of an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down the state’s wireless consumer law, a development that could make prospects for a …

SEATTLE-Direct-to-consumer mobile content provider 3GUpload is the latest to join the user-generated content rush. The company rebranded as Mixxer and launched a package of Web-to-mobile features designed to help members create ringtones, publish songs and discover music from emerging acts. …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry continued to press for pre-emption as telecom reform plods along in the Senate. But the industry could be making some headway on universal service provisions that are more favorable to wireless carriers. At a Senate Commerce Committee …

WASHINGTON-Wireless industry trade association CTIA continued to press the Federal Communications Commission to allow its members to use studies to determine long-distance vs. local traffic to figure how much they owe in universal-service fund contributions. The commission expects to consider …

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group launched what it’s calling the “Bluetooth Experience Icon Program,” which the group said will help inform consumers about various Bluetooth technologies. The Bluetooth SIG said the icons will tell consumers and retailers which products use …

High Tech Computer Corp. wants its day in the sun and plans to begin selling phones under its own “HTC” brand, a departure from the anonymous, original design manufacturer role the company has played over the past several years in …

A warm and fuzzy-toned embrace of an open source, mobile Linux operating system sought by an alliance led by Motorola Inc. and Vodafone Group plc, among others, and announced last week drew both optimism and skepticism among analysts, who await …

A handful of startups are targeting wireless subscribers who may be reluctant to divulge their phone numbers. Tossable Digits Inc., which launched service earlier this year, provides a 10-digit phone number and five-digit extension that subscribers can use for up …

WASHINGTON-The state of New Jersey and the federal government are in a public fight about whether five telecommunications companies turned over customer call records to the National Security Agency and in doing so violated New Jersey’s consumer-protection law, according to …

WASHINGTON-Despite legal setbacks in court jurisdictional rulings, including the Supreme Court’s refusal to review a 4th Circuit headset ruling that rejected industry’s federal pre-emption arguments, headset and brain-cancer litigation have failed to gain traction in state and federal courts. The …

BOSTON-Despite dozens of announcements about municipal Wi-Fi deployments and feverish hype regarding the growth potential of the industry, incumbent operators have little to fear long-term from the technology, according to a new report by Strategy Analytics. The firm predicts public …

A quote attributed to Federal communications Commission member Michael Copps in the June 5 story “FCC keeps AWS auction rules intact” should have been attributed to Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.

A snapshot of the 3G handset market in the United States reveals a nascent business on the verge of growth, as carriers upgrade their networks and more aggressively market their data-based offerings, and a broader portfolio of 3G handsets is …

WASHINGTON-Sprint Nextel Corp. urged the Federal Communications Commission to reject the proposed $67 billion merger of AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp. because of the negative impact it would have on “special access”-dedicated lines used by wireless carriers to transmit calls …

In determining its path to a profitable future, Intel Corp. faces what other companies have faced before: the fundamental question of focus. Should Intel focus on core competencies, even if that’s in cooling markets, or should it endure a slide …

LONDON-Infonetics Research found that the global market for radio access network (RAN) gear dropped 22 percent to $7.4 billion in the first quarter due to huge declines in CDMA EV-DO and GSM/GPRS/EDGE equipment revenue. However, the report indicates that sales …

In a move that smacks of the Research In Motion Ltd./NTP Inc. tussle, a holding company that owns wireless spectrum has sued Alltel Corp. and Verizon Wireless over alleged patent infringements involving the transmission of television to a wireless phone. …

Embarq Corp. is setting off into the wide world of telecom, and expecting its ability to offer wireless service to help the company stay afloat. The local landline company, freshly spun off from Sprint Nextel Corp., officially began offering its …