2002

TORONTO—Canada’s four national wireless carriers launched commercial availability of inter-carrier mobile text messaging. The four operators, Bell Mobility, Microcell PCS, Rogers AT&T Wireless and Telus Mobility, are all using technology …

SAN DIEGO—Wireless streaming media company PacketVideo Corp. said it will cut an unspecified number of jobs in order to realign itself with the sluggish economy. Fernando Corona, the company’s senior …

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla.—Korean wireless device maker HuneTec Co. Ltd., which licensed Motorola Inc.’s ReFLEX two-way paging technology, is the latest in a string of companies seeking to fill the gap …

LAUSANNE, Switzerland—Orange’s Swiss operator has agreed to purchase Liechtenstein’s Viag EuroPlatform, which owns licenses to operate GSM 1800 MHz and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks. The value of the …

MOSCOW—Cdma2000 technology based on the International Mobile Telecommunications-Multi Carrier (IMT-MC) standard has made the first step toward acquiring federal status in Russia. In March, the Communications Ministry approved “general technical …

TOKYO—NTT Communications, a long-distance and international business unit of NTT Group, is going to launch wireless local area network (WLAN) service in mid-2003 using next-generation technology developed by Soma Networks, …

RESTON, Virginia, United States—Nextel Communications reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that it took a US$1.6 billion charge during the fourth quarter of last year to restructure …

BEDMINSTER, New Jersey, United States—Through a deal with message interoperability company InphoMatch, Verizon Wireless is now the last of the nationwide, consumer-focused carriers to allow its users to send short …

CHICAGO—Verizon Wireless plans to roll out its next-generation Express Network in a trio of new U.S. markets this week, including Chicago, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. The market launch expands the …

TOKYO—KDDI, the second-largest mobile operator in Japan, launched third-generation (3G) service based on cdma2000 1x on 1 April. NTT DoCoMo, the leading mobile carrier in Japan, which launched its 3G …

TORONTO—Canadians are not getting too excited about the possibilities for short message service (SMS), according to a report released by the Yankee Group in Canada. Its research claims only 5 …

MOSCOW—Second-biggest Russian carrier Vimpelcom (BeeLine) launched its General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) into commercial operation in April after several delays caused by a lack of clients. Vimpelcom, which boasts more …

CHICAGO—Mobile phone maker Motorola Inc. said it froze the pay and cancelled the bonus of chairman Christopher Galvin last year owing to the vendor’s “unsatisfactory financial performance.” The company did …

PALO ALTO, Calif.—Hewlett-Packard Co. director Walter Hewlett filed a lawsuit Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court against HP claiming that the company improperly garnered shareholder votes in favor of a merger …

SAN DIEGO—Leap Wireless International Inc. amended the vendor-financing agreements between its wholly owned subsidiary Cricket Communications Inc. and Ericsson, Lucent Technologies Inc. and Nortel Networks designed to provide greater flexibility …

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Multichannel multipoint distribution service equipment provider Hybrid Networks Inc. has failed to find a buyer and consequently is ceasing operations at the end of April, the company announced. …

COUDERSPORT, Pa.—Adelphia Business Solutions Inc., the largest holder of 31 GHz local multipoint distribution services spectrum in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court …

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Alltel Corp. filed a shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission enabling the company to offer up to $5 billion in the aggregate of debt securities, …

NEW YORK—Attempting to decrease its exposure to Argentina’s financial troubles, Verizon Communications transferred 5.5 million shares in wireless communications company CTI Holdings S.A. to a newly created trust for CTI …

BURNABY, British Columbia—Telus Ventures announced it has invested $3 million in Telica Inc., provider of softswitch-based voice and data infrastructure products. “This investment gives Telus access to Telica’s best-of-breed technology …

STOCKHOLM—Siemens Mobile Acceleration announced it has invested in Swedish start-up Mediabricks AB, which provides a platform that enables mobile operators and service providers to offer interactive broadcasting applications to Java-enabled …

NEW YORK—i3Mobile Inc., a Stamford, Conn., provider of premium wireless content, hired the Draftworldwide advertising agency to promote its new Pronto service offering voice-activated information retrieval over a variety of …

NEW YORK—Wingcast L.L.C. will be the exclusive provider of telematics services for the model-year 2003 Infiniti G35 sedan, G35 coupe, M45 and Q45, the company announced. Wingcast and Infiniti will …

LONDON—Although global computer chip sales are down sharply form a year ago, year-on-year comparisons are improving, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, commenting on numbers recently released by the European …

LONDON—Moody’s Investor Service downgraded its credit rating on Deutsche Telekom and its VoiceStream Wireless Corp. subsidiary citing doubt DT would achieve its previous forecast of net debt of $43.5 billion …