Virgin Mobile

Bolstered by a relatively speedy and uneventful approval process and a new ticker symbol that began trading on the New York Stock Exchange last week, Sprint Nextel Corp. said it is in position to become a differentiated wireless provider focused …

Nearly 80 percent of wireless shoppers said they prefer to use cell-phone company Web sites to compare plans and products compared with visiting retail stores for such comparisons, according to a study conducted by Keynote Systems Inc. The study noted …

The battle for wireless customers between the industry’s No. 1 operator Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and No. 2 Verizon Wireless is set to move into the rapidly expanding hybrid-plan market segment. Hybrid plans generally merge calling-minute buckets associated with lucrative postpaid …

SK-Earthlink’s plans to launch a mobile virtual network operator service have been pushed back until at least early next year, but despite the delay, the company is not scaling back its roadmap to sign up 3 million customers by 2009. …

As profit margins from voice become razor-thin, operators are hoping to push lucrative content and applications to bulk up the bottom line. Ironically, they’re looking to voice-driven technologies to help. Consumers’ difficulties in accessing content and services from a wireless …

The second quarter is shaping up as a one-horse affair as Verizon Wireless appears set to take substantial market share away from its competitors and move ever closer to its larger rival Cingular Wireless L.L.C. Verizon Wireless, which ruled supreme …

Carriers and content providers increasingly are targeting younger users in a scramble to push revenue-generating content and applications into one of the few remaining growth market segments. But marketing to teens, “tweens” and even grade-schoolers can be a perilous endeavor. …

Sprint Corp. reported a disappointing 400,000 net customer additions during the second quarter, a 20-percent drop from the 505,000 customers the carrier added last year and below analysts estimates of between 450,000 and 500,000 subscriber additions. Sprint attributed the shortfall …

PISCATAWAY, N.J.-Telcordia said Virgin Mobile USA deployed its newly added real-time charging and rating functionality for carriers. The system allows carriers to set up billing for mobile games, offer customer rewards such as two-for-one ringtone downloads, support promotions and give …

PISCATAWAY, N.J.-Telcordia announced Virgin Mobile USA has deployed its newly added real-time charging and rating functionality for carriers. The system allows carriers to set up billing for mobile games, offer customer rewards such as two-for-one ringtone downloads, support promotions and …

WARREN, N.J.-Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. unveiled a third payment option for its mobile virtual network operator service that is similar to host network operator Sprint Corp.’s successful Fair & Flexible postpaid offering. Virgin Mobile USA said its new Month2Month plan …

Universal multimedia messaging service interoperability among U.S. Tier 1 carriers moved closer to becoming reality with two agreements unveiled last week. T-Mobile USA Inc. users can exchange pictures and video clips with subscribers of both Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and Sprint …

As the mobile-phone market continues to surpass all forecasts, there are multiple ways those phones end up in the hands of consumers. At the beginning of last year, industry observers expected handset makers to sell around 500 million phones worldwide …

The big mouse is finally loose in the wireless house as the Walt Disney Co. announced plans to launch a family-oriented mobile virtual network operator wireless service using Sprint Corp.’s nationwide network. The decision has been expected for some time …

MIAMI-Prepaid wireless provider TracFone Wireless Inc. launched its NET10 service offering providing a flat-rate 10-cent-per-minute calling rate for all calls. The service is available with select Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. GSM handsets with airtime card expiration dates available in …

Universal multimedia messaging service interoperability among U.S. Tier 1 carriers moved closer to becoming reality with two agreements unveiled Thursday. T-Mobile USA Inc. users can exchange pictures and video clips with subscribers of both Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and Sprint PCS, …

MIAMI-Prepaid wireless provider TracFone Wireless Inc. launched its NET10 service offering providing a flat-rate 10-cent per minute calling rate for all calls. The service is available with select Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. GSM handsets with airtime card expiration dates …

OTTAWA-Canada’s wireless carriers introduced intercarrier multimedia message services last week. The initiative enables customers with MMS-capable mobile phones, regardless of the customers’ wireless service provider, to send and receive messages with rich content to and from MMS-capable phones of friends, …

While the wireless industry haggles over the price of anti-piracy software supported by the Open Mobile Alliance, Microsoft Corp. is quietly gaining traction in the mobile world with its proprietary digital rights management technology. The standoff continues between industry groups …

OTTAWA-Canada’s wireless carriers will introduce intercarrier multimedia message services July 1. The initiative will enable customers with MMS-capable mobile phones, regardless of the customers’ wireless service providers, to instantly send and receive messages with rich content to and from MMS-capable …

The coming surge of mobile virtual network operators will target virtually every demographic, from ethnic groups to sports fans to rural users. But no group of consumers is being courted as much as America’s youth. As wireless enters the multimedia …

WASHINGTON-The government’s review of the proposed $35 billion merger between Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. could be complicated by Sprint wireless affiliate US Unwired Inc. The affiliate made a surprise call for federal regulators either to reject the deal …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Wireless technology company Ericsson has acquired Spanish software developer NetSpira Networks S.L. in an effort to bolster its mobile data offering, the company said Friday. Terms of the deal were not announced. Ericsson said it will integrate NetSpira’s technology …

The following wireless companies received upgrades or downgrades from financial and investment firms this week. Moody’s Investors Service assigned a B3 rating to the proposed senior secured credit facilities of Virgin Mobile USA with a positive outlook. The rating reflects …

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. restructured its prepaid offering with a pair of services using the GoPhone brand name it acquired when it purchased AT&T Wireless Services Inc. last year. The GoPhone plans include a traditional prepaid service, as well as a …