December 2004

Vodafone Group plc customers in some European markets have access to full-length songs from four major music labels through a deal announced Tuesday. French digital music company Musiwave said it …

MURRAY HILL, N.J.-Lucent Technologies Inc. and Novatel Wireless have come together to bring wireless PC card modems on SingTel Mobile’s UMTS network in Singapore. The PC cards will allow the …

STAMFORD, Conn.-Although semiconductor revenue will rise 23 percent to $218 billion for 2004, the second half witnessed a significant downturn, according to a report by Gartner Inc. “The sudden downturn …

Japanese giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. announced it purchased a $3 million stake in Linux developer MontaVista Software Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif. DoCoMo recently standardized on two operating system platforms …

RESTON, Va.-Nextel Communications Inc. said its year-old partnership with NASCAR has yielded a 400-percent increase in Nextel’s customer base within the NASCAR industry and added that NASCAR customers bring in …

SOROCABA, Brazil-Andrew Corp. said it has increased capacity tenfold and tripled its work force in its expanded manufacturing facility in Sorocaba, Brazil. The company manufactures its Decibel base station antenna …

Editor’s Note: Each year, the RCR Wireless News editorial staff chooses the person who has impacted the wireless industry the most during the past 12 months. By successfully closing the …

BOONTON, N.J.-Pervasive networking is poised to take the concept of cellular mobility to the next level, according to a new report by Insight Research Corp. Although carriers do not currently …

Sprint PCS and Sybase Inc. said Tuesday they will expand their relationship to develop and market corporate wireless data applications. Under terms of the agreement, the carrier will use software …

EDINBURG, Va.-Shenandoah Telecommunications Co. and its wireless subsidiary, Shenandoah Personal Communications Company, a PCS Affiliate of Sprint, signed its 100,000th wireless customer, capping two years of greater than 20-percent annual …

WOODBURY, N.Y.-Comverse introduced its Comverse MMS Exchange, a central hub that allows multiple network operators to interconnect their multimedia messaging services. Operators currently must implement separate routing connections and interconnectivity …

CHICAGO-U.S. Cellular Corp. said it completed the sale of its Daytona Beach, Fla., 20-megahertz C block license to MetroPCS California/Florida Inc. U.S. Cellular said it scored $8.5 million in cash …

BETHLEHEM, Pa.-Corr Wireless, a cellular provider in Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, selected Infonxx to provide directory assistance services to its customers. “One of the main reasons for us to choose …

BONN, Germany-T-Mobile International said it extended the range of devices on which it supports BlackBerry services in Europe through the introduction of BlackBerry Connect and BlackBerry Built-In. Support for BlackBerry …

SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc. unveiled an application that allows users to download movie quotes and soundtracks to their handsets. Subscribers of the company’s Cricket service with Cricket Clicks-enabled phones …

TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo Inc.’s journey to fourth-generation technologies earned a boost as the carrier achieved a 1 gigabits per second data rate in downlink high-speed packet transmission. DoCoMo used OFDM radio …

LONDON-The GSM Association announced plans to upgrade a database used by GSM operators that can identify stolen mobile phones. The database ensures that stolen phones cannot be resold. The association …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission left the few remaining independent wireless carriers twisting in the wind last week when it said that mobile-phone and long-distance carriers could not get access to …

The anticipated merger between Sprint PCS and Nextel Communications Inc. offers an olive branch in one area and a turf battle in another. The turf battle arises from what the …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it had received 49 applications to participate in the Jan. 26 auction of licenses returned by bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. and other PCS licenses. …

Third-generation wireless carrier Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. said it has nearly 6 million subscribers to its 3G services around the world. The 5.9 million subscriber figure is up 81 percent from …

LONDON-Shazam Entertainment announced a partnership with The Link that calls for Shazam’s mobile music recognition service to be made available at 300 of The Link’s High Street stores in the …

BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Industry witnessed the release of three unique, advanced handsets from the likes of Verizon Wireless, NTT DoCoMo Inc. and startup Mobiado, a division of Bonac Innovation Corp., which released …

With carriers focusing on network efficiency, tower companies are not expected to yield any immediate benefits from the anticipated merger between Sprint PCS and Nextel Communications Inc., according to analysts. …

PARIS-Alcatel Corp. said it has completed the acquisition of Spatial Wireless, which makes software-based switching solutions. Alcatel first announced the $250 million buy in September. Spatial Wireless’ flagship product known …