January 2006

WASHINGTON-Amid a swirl of publicity over the apparent widespread theft and sale of cell-phone users’ call records, two federal agencies along with both houses of Congress jumped to try to …

WASHINGTON-Iraq’s telecom regulatory chief vowed not to cave to pressure to extend license terms of the country’s three national wireless operators, an escalating controversy overshadowed last week by a deadly …

Radio Communications Report began publishing a monthly newspaper in 1981 focused on covering the emerging land mobile communications industry. During the next 25 years, the newspaper evolved to a weekly …

MIAMI-Brightstar Corp. continued to strengthen its presence in the Asia-Pacific market with a new subsidiary in Hong Kong. The mobile-phone distributor and supply-chain management company opened the doors to its …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Fixed WiMAX products from Aperto Networks Inc., Redline Communications Inc., Sequans Communications and Wavesat Inc. have been stamped “WiMAX Forum Certified.” “The WiMAX era starts today,” boasted Ron …

ROCKVILLE, Md.-Performance analysis systems provider Spirent Communications plc announced it will buy SwissQual AG for $70.5 million in cash. SwissQual develops wireless testing and measurement technology for service providers. The …

As marketing challenges and content-delivery issues continue to shackle the wireless content arena, game-makers are hoping to entice their own customers to act as sales associates. The number of U.S. …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission authorized Globalstar L.L.C. to operate land-based cell phone networks to augment its existing mobile satellite services, a significant enhancement that should allow the company to reduce …

BASKING RIDGE, N.J.-Verizon Communications Inc.’s new enterprise unit, Verizon Business, unveiled an integrated wireline/wireless offering that include wireless broadband access from its Verizon Wireless subsidiary. This is the first product …

TAOYUAN, Taiwan-In a surprising turnaround, Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. announced it will sell phones running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile operating system. DoCoMo previously had allowed only phones running either …

Alltel Corp. reported weaker-than-expected total earnings, but still outpaced analysts’ predictions by adding 147,000 net new wireless subscribers, most of which were prepaid. Alltel reported consolidated revenue of $2.58 billion, …

HONOLULU-The IEEE 802.11n task group voted 184-0 in favor of a joint proposal for the 802.11n standard for high-speed Wi-Fi. The vote ends months of bickering and maneuvering by competing …

BOCA RATON, Fla.-Global Tower Partners says it’s scooping up 209 towers and 24 tower sites under construction as part of an agreement to purchase the wireless assets of TCP Communications, …

HOUSTON-Westlin Corp. and CellCast L.L.C. formed a joint venture that calls for the companies to deploy a cell broadcast emergency alert system focused on the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Cell …

RESTON, Va.-Sprint Nextel Corp. said it invested another $10 million into IPWireless Inc., which develops UMTS TD-CDMA network technology. Sprint Nextel initially invested $4 million in IPWireless in July. Sprint …

WASHINGTON-Research In Motion Ltd. received more bad news this week as the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear its case against patent holder NTP Inc. The high court rejected a …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission and cellular carriers urged a federal appeals court to throw out challenges to an agency ruling that forbids states from regulating line-item charges on monthly mobile-phone …

NEW YORK-Value-added services developer Comverse Technology Inc. and Chinese infrastructure provider ZTE Corp. announced plans to deliver value-added services to the fixed and mobile markets in China. The companies said …

The handset market enjoyed another solid quarter, with Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. giving thanks for a rosy holiday shopping season. “We expect …

Brightpoint Inc. said it will continue to be the exclusive authorized distributor for Nokia Corp. phones in the United States through 2007. The companies announced the extension of an existing …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson plans to offer ringtones and full-track downloads from music publisher EMI to European wireless users. The companies announced a deal to bring 12,000 ringtones and 200,000 full …

Regional wireless operator SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. said it expects to report a $14 million loss for the fourth quarter of 2005. The carrier also said it no longer plans …

When Cingular Wireless L.L.C. managed to squeeze the launch of its 3G network into the last month of 2005, the move catapulted 16 major metropolitan cities into the spotlight as …

Wireless loves advertising; the industry ranks third in terms of total ad dollars spent, behind the automotive and financial services industries. And while most of the wireless industry’s commercials are …

RESTON, Va.-Sprint Nextel Corp. has hopped on the pension-freezing band wagon, following similar moves by Verizon Communications Inc., IBM Corp. and Sears. The freeze will mean that nearly half of …