December 2002

WASHINGTON-Wireless carriers are now required to contribute 28.5 percent-up from 15 percent-of their revenues to the universal-service fund due to action taken on Friday by the Federal Communications Commission. The …

NEW YORK-Slowing subscriber growth in the United States is an early sign that the wireless industry is approaching its maximum penetration rate, and consequently, mobile operators could have fewer subscribers …

LONDON-Following several streaming video announcements this week, U.K. company Oplayo said it launched the first network-independent consumer mobile video service, Mobile Media Club. Users of the Nokia 7650, 3650 and …

LONDON-Pogo Technology, which sold a unique mobile phone/personal digital assistant (PDA) to consumers in the United Kingdom through a deal with Carphone Warehouse, will get a name change and new …

CAMPBELL, California, United States-P-Com announced more than US$1 milion in orders for its point-to-point products to customers in China. The orders are from system integrators serving Chinese telecom companies, P-Com …

INDIANA, Pa.-YourInter.Net, a regional Internet service provider, has deployed Navini Networks Inc. nomadic wireless technology to provide broadband access to its customers. The Navini Ripwave 2.4 GHz system deployment covers …

VANCOUVER, British Columbia-Contec Innovations said it is acquiring Clearigo Solutions Inc., which develops mobile server software. The software will integrate with Contec’s mobile application server. “As Contec grows, we will …

SUNNYVALE, Calif.-RadioShack Corp. said it will sell new wireless data access products from FutureDial in its 5,100 stores nationwide. FutureDial’s SnapSync software allows mobile-phone users to edit phonebook information directly …

WASHINGTON-Rather than relying on industry-supplied data-much of it from the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association-the Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on the state of competition in the mobile phone …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. has filed patent infringement law suits against Maxim Integrated Products Inc. in federal court over inventions that cover transmission, reception and processing of radio signals by wireless …

TORONTO-With a view to better financial flexibility, Nortel Networks said it will terminate its $1.8 billion in undrawn credit that expires in April next year. The wireless vendor said it …

NEW YORK-Walker Wireless, which owns spectrum throughout New Zealand, has contracted with U.S.-based IPWireless to build a broadband wireless network that covers the country’s three largest cities and about half …

DENVER, United States-AT&T Wireless confirmed that it has won a license to offer mobile services on the Caribbean island of Dominica. The U.S.-based operator will compete against Cable & Wireless, …

WASHINGTON-The auction policy which saw the mobile-phone industry pay millions of dollars for radio-frequency spectrum was wrong, said Sen. George Allen (R. Va.). Speaking later to reporters Allen backed away …

WASHINGTON-A new Pentagon report said spectrum loss to the wireless industry is hurting military capability and has forced it “to pursue proactive approaches that would prevent future erosion of critical …

DALLAS-Wireless broadband service provider airBand Communications said its Phoenix market has reached profitability four months ahead of schedule. airBand said its customer acquisitions in Phoenix grew 114 percent for the …

PARIS-French vendor Alcatel said it expects market deterioration next year, although the company still expects to meet its targets. Alcatel said it also anticipates a fourth-quarter growth of 20 percent …

GENEVA-Ten major electronics manufacturers, including Nokia, Motorola Inc. and Samsung, have pledged to help safely dispose of used mobile phones. The pact, signed with the United Nations Environment Program, calls …

DALLAS-Texas Instruments Inc. and STMicroelectronics have come together to establish an open standard with the Open Mobile Application Processor Interfaces for application processors targeting 2.5G and third-generation mobile phones, personal …

SAN DIEGO, Calif.-LG Electronics has chosen Qualcomm Inc.’s MSM 6200 mobile station modem chipset and system software for its dual-mode third-generation handsets, according to a press release. “Our partnership with …

BEIJING-Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has rated Chinese mobile-phone manufacturer TCL Mobile Communications Asia’s fastest-growing technology company during the past three years. TCL is now China’s third most popular handset brand, following …

TOKYO-KDDI, the second-largest mobile operator in Japan, announced the number of subscribers for its third-generation (3G) service exceeded 4 million. KDDI launched its 3G service based on cdma2000 1x in …

HELSINKI, Finland-Orange Sweden, the Stockholm-based mobile subsidiary of debt-troubled France T

BEIJING-China marked its one-year anniversary World Trade Organization (WTO) membership 11 December. As part of its members, foreign operators gained the right to set up joint ventures with Chinese counterparts …

TOKYO-Coding Technologies, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic) and NEC jointly released a new low-power decoder version for the upcoming MPEG-4 AAC-plus-SBR standard. The low-power implementation allows the standard to run on …