February 2005

MUNICH, Germany-Wireless investment group Siemens Mobile Acceleration said it completed its first investment in the United Kingdom with 3DiS, which specializes in machine-to-machine communications for fleet operators. SMAC is the …

IRVINE, Calif.-Startup Wispry Inc., which develops low-cost, high-performance tunable radio frequency components and modules, announced it scored $6.5 million in its first round of venture funding. Blueprint Ventures led the …

KIRKLAND, Wash.-Nextel Partners Inc. reported $372.4 million in revenues during the fourth quarter of last year, which was in line with estimates and a 26-percent improvement compared with the $296 …

WASHINGTON-Four national mobile-phone carriers have filed suit in Maryland Tax Court against the City of Baltimore seeking more than a $2 million refund of all wireless taxes paid since August …

In conjunction with its 20th anniversary in the country, Nokia Corp. reiterated its focus on China-the world’s No. 1 wireless market-and promised to increase its presence there. “In 2004, Nokia …

As part of a movement designed to improve the shopping experience, Sprint Corp. said it is overhauling many of its company-owned retail outlets. The changes include implementing in-store repairs for …

LISBON, Portugal-Motorola Inc. said it is providing a trial UMTS network for TMN on the island of Madeira. The vendor will provide the equipment and managed services, according to Motorola. …

PARIS-Semiconductor company Sequans Communications said it has secured and closed about $9 million in its Series B financing round from major Venture capital firms. Add Partners and Vision Capital co-led …

SHANGHAI, China-Internet game operator Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. caught the attention of the Chinese wireless market Tuesday after announcing it had taken a 19.5-percent stake in wireless media firm Sina …

WASHINGTON-Nortel Networks Ltd. said it is providing the U.S. Navy with a mobile communications system for humanitarian relief efforts in areas of Indonesia affected by the tsunami disaster. The Nortel …

LONDON-L.M. Ericsson enjoyed a ratings rebound that it attributes to its three years of restructuring after the telecom meltdown. Fitch Ratings awarded the vendor an investment-grade rating, which it expects …

SBC Communications Inc. said it made a joint filing with the Federal Communications Commission as part of its pending $16 billion acquisition of AT&T Corp. The deal, which was announced …

T-Mobile USA Inc. is investigating what appear to be pictures, phone numbers and other information taken from socialite Paris Hilton’s phone and posted on the Internet. “T-Mobile’s computer forensics and …

The battle for wireless supremacy heated up this week as current No. 2 operator Verizon Wireless unveiled a slew of rate plan and service offerings that could help the carrier …

WASHINGTON-CTIA said Tuesday that Laura Zuckerman, communications director and legislative assistant for Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), will join as a director of government affairs March 1. “We are delighted to …

MAITLAND, Fla.-Nextel Communications Inc., which is in the process of merging with Sprint Corp., said it plans to invest $384 million in its Florida network in 2004 and 2005 to …

Movida Communications Inc. reported an agreement with Sprint Corp. and Wal-Mart to provide nationwide prepaid wireless voice and data services to the U.S. Hispanic market using a mobile virtual network …

ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. launched its EDGE-based wireless wide area network connectivity service, which the carrier said is the first commercially available solution using a gateway device at the edge of …

News on the phone front continues in anticipation of the upcoming CTIA trade show, with Motorola Inc., LG Electronics Co. Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Sanyo making announcements. First …

TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo, Inc. said it will stop accepting new prepaid customer at the end of March, citing the use of prepaid phones for fraudulent purposes. The Japanese carrier said previous …

ATLANTA-This year’s “American Idol” text-message voting will likely surpass last year’s groundbreaking campaign, as Cingular Wireless’ 49 million subscribers can take part in the short message service offering for the …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-Sprint PCS Picture Mail subscribers can manage photos taken from both digital cameras and cell phones with an enhancement to the carrier’s imaging service. With the new offering, …

The hacker accused of breaking into T-Mobile USA Inc.’s computer systems and accessing customer information has pleaded guilty. Nicholas Lee Jacobsen, 22, pled guilty in U.S. district court in Los …

Nokia Corp.’s longtime stranglehold on the U.S. mobile-phone market appears to be broken-at least for now-by a major surge in sales from Motorola Inc. “Motorola products are really just more …

Less than three weeks after it began, the Federal Communications Commission’s Auction 58 of 242 spectrum licenses in the 1.9 GHz band came to a quiet close last Tuesday, having …