April 2004

DENVER-Emily Motsay has been promoted to reporter at RCR Wireless News. Motsay covers the tower and in-building wireless beats for the publication and the rcrnews.com Web Site. She also reports …

It was with great fanfare that the District of Columbia last week unveiled a new, underground first-responder wireless system stretching through subway tunnels that’s fully interoperable with an advanced public-safety …

After facing harsh criticism over the sluggish introduction of its camera phone line-up, the world’s No. 2 phone-maker Motorola Inc. is hoping to regain the industry’s cutting edge by placing …

Airline workers could be tasked with a new set of responsibilities as wireless industry advancements make it possible to safely use portable electronic devices like cell phones while in flight. …

WASHINGTON-It has been 10 years since the Federal Communications Commission took its first steps toward a nationwide wireless enhanced 911 system, and after a long struggle, important progress is being …

Following its sluggish first-quarter earnings report, Nokia announced it scored a distribution deal with third-generation carrier Hutichson 3 and released a new camera phone for the Europe, Middle East, Africa …

Wireless customers are often viewed as the most valuable asset a carrier has, though they are often the hardest to quantify. While having more customers usually translates into higher revenues, …

WASHINGTON-Verizon Wireless is at odds with the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association regarding the expansion of the digital wiretap act to information services, including push-to-talk. CTIA filed comments saying information …

WASHINGTON-Disability advocates have urged federal regulators not to reconsider a mandate that would force wireless carriers to offer hearing-aid compatible mobile phones. The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association challenged various …

WASHINGTON-More than 21 million people, or 17 percent of Internet users, have logged onto the Internet via a wireless device, according to a new survey from the Pew Internet & …

Call automation can make or break perceptions of the quality of customer service offered by wireless service providers, depending on how well that automation works, according to a series of …

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.-Electronics company Audiovox Corp. reported first-quarter net sales of $376.9 million, an increase of 27 percent from the $296.8 million it reported in the same quarter a year ago. …

RESTON, Va.-Following what it called a successful trial, Nextel Communications Inc. said it will begin accepting paying customers for its high-speed service using Flarion Technologies’ Flash-OFDM technology. Nextel will also …

It’s been nearly three years since attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, yet the city still does not have interoperable public-safety systems. It’s unthinkable. And yet, it …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission approved rules improving radio frequency identification systems for commercial shipping operations, a move that comes as enterprise applications and consumer concerns about the wireless technology attract …

LONGMONT, Colo.-Intrado Inc. reported contracts to provide Emergency 911 Phase I and Phase II services to eight rural Texas wireless operators serving more than 100,000 subscribers. The carriers include Cellular …

HOUSTON-Crown Castle International Corp. put wireless communications tower stock traders in a frenzy this week when it offered up a concrete sign of hope for the sector by raising its …

PLAINFIELD, Ind.-Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. extended its agreement with Brightpoint Inc. to be the exclusive master agent for Virgin Mobile through March 2006. The agreement calls for Brightpoint to provide …

WASHINGTON-The mobile-phone industry-already facing the prospect of new rules and hefty fines in trend-setting California-suffered a major setback last week with the announcement that enough signatures were collected to put …

While market watchers sounded their disapproval of Nokia Corp.’s handset sales in the first quarter, the Finnish vendor witnessed sound activities in its infrastructure business, including a 16-percent increase in …

The twists and turns continue in a year that most predict will be the biggest ever for the mobile-phone industry, as market leader Nokia Corp. disappointed with a flat second-quarter …

The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association said Friday it will support waiver requests from small wireline carriers hoping to delay the May 24 rural wireless local number portability deadline. “NTCA is …

With what it describes as the first clearinghouse of its kind, LightSurf Technologies Inc. hopes to raise the bar on how wireless operators will do business by democratizing the ebb …

Developers: Wireless wants you. At least, that’s the message coming from many of the largest players in the wireless industry. Companies from Microsoft Corp. to Nokia Corp. to Verizon Wireless …

WASHINGTON-In a move expected to make spectrum available to commercial operators sooner, the FCC’s Media Bureau is proposing to move the digital TV transition date back to 2009. The proposal …