retail

It’s official: the BlackBerry Curve from Research In Motion Ltd., is available at AT&T Mobility beginning tomorrow. Price is $200, with two-year contract and mail-in rebate. The quad-band device rides on AT&T Mobility’s EDGE network. Any doubts that RIM-known for …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We’ve collected a group of the industry’s leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Jupiter Research’s …

Growth in the handset market in the United States remains healthy, and recent market-share figures for vendors paint a markedly different picture than the global scene. Handset sales in the first quarter grew 12% from the year-ago quarter, with the …

Private equity has made its biggest wireless deal yet with the $27.5 billion agreement for ownership of Alltel Corp., the fifth-largest U.S. carrier and major roaming partner for all four national operators. The transaction, expected to close in the fourth …

Verizon Wireless cellular retailer Wireless Zone is restructuring its management team as the company focuses on expanding its 270 locations to 400 by mid-2008. The company named David Staszewski as VP and GM of operations; he will be responsible for …

The handset market in the United States in the first quarter grew 12% over the year-ago quarter, with the sale of about 39 million units valued at nearly $3 billion, according to The NPD Group. That growth is roughly similar …

AT&T Inc. made a major re-branding push by stripping a number of its company-owned stores of Cingular-related trappings overnight and replacing them with AT&T logo and signage.The company said in a statement that the change in about 1,800 wireless retail …

Say goodbye to the lily-pad carpet. Leap Wireless International Inc. is redesigning its new retail stores, hoping to appeal to an audience beyond its budget-conscious core demographic. The existing stores will stay as is, according to Leap officials, but going …

Editor’s Note: In this monthly feature, RCR Wireless News talks to retail managers across the country to get a first-hand view of what’s hot in wireless. By Kelly Hill Leap Wireless International Inc.’s Cricket store in Greenwood Village, Colo., is …

Napster announced a deal to bring on-demand subscription music services to Motorola Inc.’s entire line of cellphones.The digital music company said it will work with Motorola to promote the mobile music offerings in North America, the United Kingdom and Germany. …

U.S. Cellular Corp. had a solid first quarter, with net customer additions in line with its results for the first quarter of 2006 and sequentially stronger than its performance in the fourth quarter of last year.The carrier recorded 86,000 net …

Amp’d Mobile Inc. jacked up its handset prices across the board on all five of its proffered models.For instance, the Motorola Inc. Q soared to $220 (from $100), two models of Razrs went to $70 and $80, respectively (from $50 …

Handset pricing gyrations ran the gamut last week, as all of the nation’s tier-one carriers tinkered with the cost of their handset portfolios.–AT&T Mobility slashed in half the price on four Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. handsets last week, ranging from …

Leap Wireless International Inc. is set launch its Cricket-branded services in Charleston, S.C., tomorrow. The flat-rate carrier plans to open two company-owned stores, and has established a network of seven exclusive wireless retailers and 20 retail locations in the Charleston …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We’ve collected a group of the industry’s leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Compete’s Miro …

Few music companies have pursued mobile as aggressively as The Orchard Enterprises Inc. The New York-based company serves as a kind of digital music aggregator, distributing content from dozens of independent record labels and more than 14.000 artists from Bing …

As wireless companies and banks seek to move into mobile banking and payments, many are eyeing the global remittance market as a potential source of new revenue. However, some may find that space a bit crowded by remittance giant Western …

More than four months after announcing its acquisition of BellSouth Corp., AT&T Inc. continues a determined push to rebrand Cingular as “the new AT&T.” Though that phrase has gotten its share of promotion by AT&T itself, let’s get it straight: …

Helio L.L.C. announced it is now offering an unlimited voice calling plan for $145 per month. The offering includes long distance and roaming calls, as well as unlimited data services like text messages, picture messages, 3G network access and Helio …

First impressions really do count in wireless, and retail store staff had better be quick on their feet, according to the most recent customer satisfaction survey by J.D. Power and Associates. The firm found that wireless customers want to be …

Alltel Corp. added a new handset over the past week dubbed the “Snap,” which the carrier is selling online for 99 cents with a two-year contract.The Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. flip phone features a camera and support for Alltel’s various …

T-Mobile USA Inc. appears to have refreshed its handset lineup by discounting most of its Motorola Inc. Razrs-four models dropped to $30 from $50-and discontinuing the Moto Pebl.The Pebl had once been one of Motorola’s flagship devices, and T-Mobile USA …

Tween-focused mobile virtual network operator kajeet Inc. added more than 400 Longs Drugs stores as points of distribution for its pay-as-you-go wireless service. The Longs Drugs stores are located in California, Nevada and Hawaii. Kajeet will offer the LG Electronics …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We’ve collected a group of the industry’s leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Current Analysis’ …

Alltel Wireless added “The Wafer”-a new, thin, bar-style handset from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.-to its portfolio. The handset is $50 with a mail-in rebate and two-year contract, and is available to existing Alltel customers whose rate plan allows them to …