Mobile Phones

WASHINGTON-A divided federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled wireless carriers and Internet firms do not have the same right as other telecom service providers to access utility poles on a nondiscriminatory basis-an unexpected decision that could hurt mobile-phone antenna siting …

STUTTGART, Germany-The Mobile Electronic Signature Consortium announced another 11 organizations have joined its effort to define a worldwide standard for mobile digital signatures, bringing the total number to 25. The consortium aims to develop an application interface facilitating standardized communication …

If someone wants to kill you, chances are they will be able to, given enough time and venom. It is naive to think that any tool, least of all, a four-inch wireless phone, can stand up against the evil that …

NEW YORK-Bolstered by their respective strengths in network infrastructure and mobile handsets, the Scandinavian giants, Ericsson Inc. of Sweden and Nokia Corp. of Finland, reported strong quarterly results last week. Nokia, which released its earnings April 27, reported profits of …

BEACHWOOD, Ohio-At Allen Telecom Inc.’s annual meeting, President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Paul said the company has significant opportunities in the geolocation market with its Geomatrix system, and noted that every division within the company had opportunities to participate …

WASHINGTON-While most of the nation’s 90 million mobile phone subscribers are still without enhanced 911 wireless service two years after the federal deployment deadline, there are signs of progress as a result of key legislative and regulatory actions. “I would …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is expected shortly to rule on Motorola Inc.’s 911 call processing-telematics waiver request, a filing that attracted industry support and sharp criticism from consumer and public-safety groups. Motorola last month asked the FCC for permission to …

Content is king. That’s the mantra repeated by many looking to make it big in the wireless Internet space these days. But for content to be valuable, it must be personal, and that is the driving force behind the growing …

AUSTIN, Texas-Siemens announced it will spend $500 million to re-enter the U.S. telecommunications market. The company exited the U.S. telecom business in 1998. The company said its $500 million mobile communications effort will include strengthening existing businesses, entering new markets, …

WASHINGTON-Dr. George Carlo, the controversial scientist who broke with the cellular industry last year after finding data possibly linking mobile phone use to health problems, will roll out a new research program this week combining epidemiology, laboratory research and passive …

Large carriers across the country are painstakenly trying to determine what wireless Internet service offerings will attract customers. Surprisingly, some small and rural carriers are on the same page. Smaller operators historically have followed the coattails of their metropolitan counterparts …

WASHINGTON-The White House is expected shortly to release a belated report advocating the integration of wireless technologies into the nation’s Emergency Alert System, a policy that industry, federal regulators and Congress have not aggressively pushed despite the fact that millions …

STUTTGART, Germany-Debitel AG, which is 74-percent owned by Swisscom, reported robust 1999 earnings, and international press reports said it is in talks with potential partners for third-generation license bids. U.S.-based SBC Communications Inc. and Japan’s NTT are both reported to …

As the wireless industry is ramping up efforts to convince customers to use their mobile phones for Internet access via Wireless Application Protocol technology, some are taking the concurrent step of preparing for voice access to the Net as well. …

This week, official Washington will play host to an army of anti-global protesters flown in special from Seattle. Actually, the festivities began last week: human chains, banners, chanting, mobile-phone congestion, etc. It’s not that protesters-as a matter of courtesy-waited until …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration is expected to announce as early as next month a dramatic improvement to global positioning system accuracy, a move with enormous public safety and commercial implications for the wireless telecom industry. The administration on Friday declined to …

WASHINGTON-The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to hold a series of meetings beginning in July on digital driver distractions, like mobile phones, that local, state and federal officials fear will lead to more traffic accidents as well as injuries …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry last week was rocked by two confounding controversies involving a California bill to promote hands-free devices as a precautionary measure against mobile phone radiation and a British consumer magazine’s claim that such gadgets cause a three-fold increase …

FREEREALTIME.com FreeRealTime.com Inc. launched a beta version of FRT2go, a service for use on 3Com Corp.’s Palm Computing unit Palm VII and Palm.net service, giving its members wireless access to real-time stock quotes as well as other financial market information. …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration last week accused nine countries of violating global telecom trade agreements, with Japan and Mexico cited as the worst offenders. The U.S. trade representative’s report follows by a week the White House’s charge that Japan has not …

WASHINGTON-What to do with the often confusing tax structures of both mobile phones and the Internet collided in back-to-back hearings by the House telecom subcommittee on Thursday. The collision occurred because Internet taxation has been met with a divided commission …

NEW YORK-The Consumers’ Association of the United Kingdom is advising readers of its “Which?” report not to “waste your money” on radio-frequency shields or certain kinds of hands-free kits for cell phones. The Association reported last week that it had …

SAN FRANCISCO-Even as the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock market was spinning out of control and dragging down telecom shares last week, wireless network and marketing managers here were brimming with optimism about a industry whose biggest challenge is keeping up with …

SAN FRANCISCO-A citizens group plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a recent federal appeals court decision upholding the Federal Communications Commission’s mobile-phone radiation safety standard. The Ad Hoc Association of Parties Concerned about FCC Radio-frequency Radiation and …

NATICK, Mass.-edocs Inc., a provider of Internet billing and customer management software and services, introduced a bill presentment and payment distribution module for Palm Inc.’s Palm VII handheld computer, allowing the delivery of bills, statements, trade confirms and other transactional …