retail

ATLANTA—Boost Mobile L.L.C. users can exchange cash electronically for prepaid calling minutes at various locations, due to a recent arrangement with CheckFreePay. Boost is a subsidiary of Sprint Nextel Corp. CheckFreePay is a business unit of CheckFree Corp. and offers …

By Julie Johnsson and Sandra Jones CHICAGO—Motorola Inc. is racing to open a store on North Michigan Avenue—its first retail outlet—on June 5, before archrival Nokia Corp. can open its own store just a block away. Motorola, the world’s second-largest …

Inmarsat plc may have raised the ante for mobile satellite services by launching land-based “broadband” voice and data service in the United States, close on the heels of launches in Europe and Asia. The London-based MSS provider’s BGAN service, enabled …

It seems there’s a new mobile virtual network operator for just about every interest, age and ethnic group in the United States. And each operator has a different strategy about how to reach its target. Retailing strategies were simpler when …

WASHINGTON-With the advanced wireless services auction quickly approaching and companies largely silent about their bidding intentions, controversy and uncertainty are slowly beginning to dominate an event billed as one of the biggest and most import sales of public airwaves in …

T-Mobile USA Inc. posted a strong first quarter, beating analysts’ expectations in gaining just over 1 million new customers and lowering its customer churn rate while improving its revenues and income. The carrier posted1.04 million net customer additions, which was …

PISCATAWAY, N.J.-So you’ve been thinking about launching a mobile virtual network operator service for multi-cultural ethnic groups in the United States that features prepaid and postpaid plans, and affordable international calling? After all, America is a melting pot of immigrants …

LOS ANGELES-Like fans at a rock concert shouting to be heard above the din, game publishers are trying just about anything to rise above overcrowded carrier decks and present their wares-and their names-to consumers. Multi-layered decks have long been a …

WASHINGTON—A telecom watchdog group filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and congressional committees alleging major mobile phone carriers and their small-business partners illegally pocketed billions of dollars of taxpayer money through deceptive auction …

PISCATAWAY, N.J.—So you’ve been thinking about launching a mobile virtual network operator service for multi-cultural ethnic groups in the United States that features prepaid and postpaid plans, and affordable international calling? After all, America is a melting pot of immigrants …

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. tapped Wirestone to manage marketing strategies in the carrier’s retail and e-commerce divisions. Wirestone, an interactive advertising firm, will be responsible for shaping SunCom’s in-store marketing efforts. The company will also work with SunCom to …

Helio L.L.C. made its long-awaited debut in the wireless marketplace last week with two high-end handsets linked to social networking site MySpace.com and plans to have its services available through 1,000 retail locations by the end of the month. Helio’s …

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 …

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 …

The reason a wireless handset becomes successful in the marketplace remains something of a mystery. Everyone knows it must depend, in part, on a winning combination of many factors-brand, price, style, features, the integration of form and function, marketing muscle, …

SAN DIEGO—While its annual analysts meeting got underway in New York, Qualcomm Inc. launched a minor salvo of financial and product news today, including a collaboration with Microsoft Corp. to speed time-to-market for its chipsets for smart phones. The chip …

ATLANTA—Strip a phone of any fun features, cut its retail price and—bingo!—you have a handset aimed at business and government users in the United States. Such is the logic behind Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s introduction of the Motorola Inc. L2, a …

BELLEVUE, Wash.—Following the current mobile-phone mantra that “thin is in,” Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and T-Mobile USA Inc. today announced the availability of their candy bar-form Samsung t509 in the United States. The t509 measures 9.8 millimeters in thickness, a …

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Helio L.L.C. made its debut in the wireless marketplace today with two high-end handsets linked to social networking site MySpace.com and plans to have its services available through 1,000 retail locations by the end of the month.    …

NEW YORK—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 carrier added 1.7 million new customers, about 3 percent more than 2005’s first quarter. Verizon …

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

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 …

SUNNYVALE, Calif.—Location-based services provider Trimble Mobile Solutions Inc. said it plans to acquire Eleven Technology Inc., a Massachusetts-based developer of wireless applications. Terms of the all-cash deal were not disclosed. Eleven Technology provides real-time information to mobile field workers who …

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. kicked off 2006 with a strong first quarter that exceeded analysts’ expectations, including driving its churn rate down to a company-record low of 1.9 percent overall, with 1.6 percent postpaid churn. But while Cingular’s postpaid average revenue …