Mobile Phones

SAN FRANCISCO-Nokia and Visa International signed a global agreement to cooperate on the development of payment solutions for mobile electronic commerce. The deal calls for the companies to develop ways in which financial institutions and mobile phone operators can offer …

Globalstar L.P.’s worldwide service rollout took another step last week, bolstering its presence in Mexico where Globalstar de Mexico and Mexican cellular operator Iusacell formed a marketing agreement. According to the deal, Iusacell, Mexico’s second-largest carrier, will sell Globalstar satellite …

WASHINGTON-An FCC staff proposal for the implementation of calling party pays service is being heavily debated by the commissioners’ offices-a debate that could lead to its removal from this week’s Federal Communications Commission’s Open Meeting agenda. CPP is similar to …

WASHINGTON-President Clinton last week proposed levying $200 million in analog broadcast spectrum lease fees this year to fund upgrades of federal public safety wireless systems as part of a technology-weighted, $1.84 trillion budget for 2001. The broadcast lease fee initiative …

JERUSALEM-Bezeq Israel Telecom Ltd., the state-owned telecommunications company, announced a plan to allow cellular telephone users to route incoming calls through either their mobile phones or the nearest fixed-line phone. The proposed One Phone service requires government approval. The company …

In an unprecedented move to bring the Internet to mobile phone users, AOL Europe announced last week it entered into agreements with Nokia Corp. and L.M. Ericsson to develop and trial its “AOL Anywhere” mobile service based on the Wireless …

KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint Corp. launched a new program and Web site-developer. sprintpcs.com-designed to help Web developers create their own Sprint PCS Wireless Web applications or simply make their own Web site accessible to the service. “Sprint developed this Web site …

HONG KONG-An Asian Internet company is looking to block the proposed merger between Cable & Wireless HKT Ltd. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., Reuters reported. Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. hinted that it could launch a competing bid for Cable & Wireless …

WASHINGTON-The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, growing increasingly concerned about the use of mobile phones and other high-tech gadgets in vehicles, plans to expand its review of driver distractions to include Web services and other digital devices that car manufacturers …

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it’s Craig McCaw, swooping in to rescue yet another struggling satellite wireless phone company-leading a group of investors to provide $74.6 million in interim financing for the bankrupt Iridium L.L.C. This is McCaw’s …

WASHINGTON-As wireless e-commerce struggles to establish itself as an industry mainstay, it faces major legal, technical and security challenges like the cyber attacks of last week that temporarily shut down several popular Web sites and triggered a Justice Department probe …

While Vodafone AirTouch plc last week advanced its merger with Germany’s Mannesmann AG, the company indicated it may look to fill in its footprint with smaller acquisitions. In particular, the company has been closing in on a bid for a …

WASHINGTON-Rather than granting a spectrum-cap waiver requested by Arch Communications Group Inc., the Federal Communications Commission should remove the cap altogether, said Metrocall Inc. in comments filed last week. Meanwhile, two traditional one-way paging carriers urged the FCC to reject …

There they were-Bill Clinton in Davos and Al Gore in the Granite State-basking in the glory of a record U.S. economic expansion fueled by a raging high-tech sector of mobile phones and dot-coms. While it deserves some credit, the administration …

WASHINGTON-Richard Blumenthal, the high-profile Connecticut attorney general who played key roles in successful lawsuits against Microsoft Corp. and the tobacco industry, has joined his counterparts in California and Wisconsin in urging the Federal Communications Commission to declare that state laws …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission’s decision to grant Nokia Corp.-the world’s largest mobile phone vendor-a four-month extension to comply with new 911 call-processing rules prompted protests last week by the Wireless Consumers Alliance, which vowed to challenge the ruling and to …

Qualcomm Inc. on Friday officially asked the Federal Communications Commission to grant it spectrum in the upcoming channel 60-69 auctions. Qualcomm wants the commission to quickly award it spectrum to make up for the pioneer’s preference license it repeatedly denied …

After five years, Bell Atlantic Mobile got the last laugh. Long-time opponents of BAM cell tower construction in Rock Creek Park had it all planned: They would resort to civil disobedience to block the siting of a 130-foot antenna when …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson reported 1999 pretax profit dropped 10 percent to $1.89 billion, ahead of analysts’ expectations. Sales for the fourth quarter increased 25 percent to $8.36 billion, with mobile systems as a primary contributor. For the year, sales totaled …

Perhaps the greatest indicator of the wireless data industry’s rise to popularity is the way paging carriers are positioning themselves in the space today. Pioneering wireless data carriers like American Mobile Satellite Corp. and BellSouth Wireless Data L.P. started the …

WASHINGTON-Peter Angelos, the powerful Baltimore lawyer who has successfully litigated against the tobacco industry, asbestos manufacturers and others in personal injury cases, is looking into the mobile phone health issue. “We have some people we represent and we’re looking at …

Wireless carriers and Wall Street are excited about the huge revenue potential advertising via mobile phones could bring in the future, but just how to offer it to customers is a looming question. Regulatory requirements to allow wireless 911 location …

Cable & Wireless plc announced it is in discussions regarding a proposed merger between Cable & Wireless HKT Ltd. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. Such a merger would create the largest independent telecom group in the Asia-Pacific region. “These talks are …

LONDON-BT Cellnet said it will be the first U.K. mobile phone operator to commercially launch General Packet Radio Service this summer. The carrier also officially launched commercial Wireless Application Protocol service. BT Cellnet’s GPRS service will begin with a 500-person …

REDMOND, Wash.-GTE Wireless announced it has selected InfoSpace.com Inc. to provide a wireless Internet services platform that GTE mobile phone users can access from both their mobile phones and personal computers. Services are expected to include one-click e-commerce services, instant …