Mobile News – RCR Wireless News

WASHINGTON-Apple Computer Inc. is attracting attention with two new patent applications that outline plans for a wireless iPod. The application, filed 18 months ago but only recently published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, describes a device with a …

News continued to churn out of the various municipal Wi-Fi projects gaining steam across the country, as one city’s Wi-Fi contract made its way to a politically charged city council for a vote and another swirled in rumors of being …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. raised its revenue estimates for its third quarter ending in June, indicating it expects revenue at or slightly above earlier forecasts of $1.77 billion to $1.87 billion based on strong demand for its chipsets destined for both …

Wireless drove revenue growth at Alltel Corp. and aided Qwest Communications International Inc. with success in bundling services in the first quarter of 2006, but regional wireless operator SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. had a rough quarter and was roundly punished …

WASHINGTON-Three groups this week could file a lawsuit in federal appeals court to stay the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services auction if the Federal Communications Commission does not agree by today to drop changes it recently made …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Trade Commission last week filed civil complaints against five data brokers, urging the court to find that the data brokers violated the FTC Act and that they must give up any money they obtained from the practice of …

WASHINGTON-Motient Corp. last week said company Chairman Steven Singer and four other directors would not seek re-election at the wireless company’s annual meeting, a development that comes at a time when Highland Capital Management L.P.-the largest single investor in Motient-is …

WAYNESBORO, Va.-Regional telecommunications operator Ntelos Holdings Corp. posted an 18-percent jump in wireless revenues during the first quarter, from $65.6 million in 2005 to $77.6 million this year. The growth was boosted by a 25-percent increase in wholesale revenues that …

WASHINGTON-Universal Studios is the latest mainstream media giant to go wireless in a big way, establishing a division dedicated to mobile content. Universal, which already has more than 60 licensing deals worldwide with mobile entertainment publishers, announced plans to launch …

DULLES, Va.-AOL L.L.C. is teaming with Craig McCaw’s Clearwire Corp. to offer high-speed wireless broadband access. The service, which is available starting for $26 a month, has been deployed in three mid-sized Clearwire markets in California and Florida. Subscribers can …

WASHINGTON-Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. have been forced to defend their proposed trans-Atlantic merger after a key lawmaker raised security concerns about the deal in a letter to President Bush. “I have several grave concerns about the potential merger …

Mobile e-mail continues to be a largely untapped market, but the patent litigation industry in wireless is alive and well. Visto Corp.’s lawyers mobilized once again last week as the developer set its sites on Research In Motion Ltd., claiming …

Motorola Inc.’s announcement last week that it plans to acquire a Danish research-and-development facility and team of product-development engineers appeared routine at first blush: global juggernaut rolls up modest facility and team to bolster its continuing momentum toward worldwide market …

Nortel Networks Ltd. late last month restated its much delayed financial results for 2003, 2004 and the first nine months of 2005, though analysts seemed indifferent to the impact. Daniel Longfield, industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan’s Wireless Group says …

Verizon Wireless continued its run of strong quarterly results, boosting its service revenues by double-digits and squeezing its churn rate below 1.2 percent. The company’s results “just [keep] getting better,” said Albert Lin of American Technology Research, noting that Verizon …

SAN DIEGO-Residents of San Antonio will be able to add Cricket to their list of wireless service choices. Leap Wireless International Inc. and Alaska Native Broadband 1 License L.L.C. said they plan to begin offering Leap’s Cricket service with four …

RESTON, Va.-Sprint Nextel Corp. said it expects to complete the spinoff of its local telecom business, dubbed Embarq Corp., on May 17. That day, Sprint Nextel expects to distribute to its shareholders all of Embarq’s shares as a stock dividend, …

Voce, the luxury mobile virtual network operator, has begun offering its services on a small scale in the L.A. area. Steve Stanford, Voce’s chief executive officer, described the quiet start as an invitation-only market trial, with participation capped at around …

OKLAHOMA CITY-Dobson Communications Corp. said last week it launched service in Deadhorse, Alaska. The launch extends the carrier’s GSM/GPRS/EDGE network into the North Slope region along the coast of the Arctic Ocean, an area that contains one of the major …

WASHINGTON-Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, went to the Senate Floor May 1 to announce he was introducing “the Communications Act of 2006.” The 135-page bill combines many previously introduced proposals. The bill supports municipal broadband …

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.-Carriers may not be earning the additional revenue they expected from the popularity of camera phones, according to new research from The NPD Group Inc. In less than four years, camera phones have found their way into the …

Following several years of lean results, tower companies appear to be righting their ships thanks to network expansions and new technology investments. Indeed, Mark DeRussy, analyst with Raymond James Equity Research, said the tower sector remains solid as carriers continue …

WASHINGTON-Customers of at least one rural telecommunications cooperative are cutting the cord at the rate of five to 10 per month, J. Frederick Johnson, executive vice president and general manager of Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative, based in Rainsville., Ala., told RCR …

A slew of first-quarter earnings announced last week reflected a generally upbeat quarter for regional wireless carriers. U.S. Cellular Corp. relieved some pressure, having finally released operating results from the third quarter of 2005 and financial restatements dating back to …

Sprint Nextel Corp. reported a mixed first quarter, with gross additions and wireless revenues up compared to the same period last year. However, merger-and-integration and marketing costs pulled down the company’s earnings. Sprint Nextel said it added 1.3 million net …