July 2006

16The spate of recent headlines can only feed the well-founded paranoia of corporate IT managers struggling to serve their colleagues’ quest for mobility. The enterprise’s demand for data on-the-go naturally …

WiMAX base-station and subscriber unit developer Aperto Networks Inc. inked a deal to ship its WiMAX Forum-certified products to Alvacom, a leading systems integrator and equipment reseller in Russia. The …

WARREN, N.J.—Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. is expanding it customers’ ability to earn free airtime by launching a prepaid Visa debit card that will be linked to Virgin Mobile USA phones. …

NAPERVILLE, Ill.—Tellabs Inc. announced that its board authorized a new share buyback program for up to $300 million of the company’s outstanding common stock. The repurchase plan follows Tellabs’ completion …

A growing number of colleges and universities around the country are grappling with how to communicate with and provide services for students who are part of a mobile generation, often …

The mobile virtual network operator bandwagon, cruising along smoothly a few months ago, appears to be suffering from a case of backlash. Recent MVNO news and rumors haven’t been particularly …

LOS ANGELES-Toyota Motors North America plans to expand its mobile marketing efforts with a new wireless TV series from Fun Little Movies. The automaker is sponsoring “The Pool,” a made-for-mobile …

Welcome to Hedgehogging. As you know from your own jobs, there is always something happening in the wireless industry. Some of it makes us stop what we’re doing to clap, …

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.-Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA Inc. tied for the top spot in the most recent J.D. Power & Associates survey of wireless carrier customer care performance. Both carriers …

BOULDER, Colo.-Equipment manufacturer Carrier Access Corp. reported second-quarter net losses of $903,000 from revenues of $24.9 million, vastly improving on the company’s year-ago net loss of $1.44 million based on …

WASHINGTON-Both houses of Congress are working on legislation to address emergency communications, but funding for any interoperability measures remains an obstacle. The House last week passed a bill creating an …

SAN MATEO, Calif.-Mobile game publisher Digital Chocolate Inc. welcomed six new investors as it scooped up $22.5 million in Series C funding. New investor Bridgescale Partners led the round; other …

WASHINGTON-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. came out as the only major wireless carriers largely in favor of the so-called Missoula Plan, which calls for reforming the way and amounts telecommunications carriers pay …

ROSEMONT, Ill.-Though much pent-up interest was focused on Motorola’s handset announcements, company execs talk about operations, supply chain, finances, product roadmap and whether Motorola could sustain its recent robust performance-in …

Many are asking what Nokia Corp.’s and Motorola Inc.’s ascendancy is doing to all the other handset vendors-the two together hold 56 percent of the world’s handset business-and one answer …

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.-Two mobile virtual network operators will soon be adding additional phones to their handset repertoires. MVNO Disney Mobile is planning to add a third handset to its line-up, …

HAMPSHIRE, England—Mobile WiMAX is set to outpace fixed WiMAX technology, according to a new report from Juniper Research, which claims that mobile WiMAX will grow from 1.7 million subscribers in …

It’s a WiMAX world, and we only live in it. Or so it would seem with the plethora of press announcements, standards proposals and virgin sacrifices made at the altar …

MUNICH-Siemens AG said it struck a turnkey deal with Hutchison 3G Austria GmbH worth “an amount in the multi-digit millions” to plan, set up and supply the carrier’s W-CDMA network …

Lucent Technologies Inc. said a North American slowdown in wireless equipment sales caused its year-over-year revenue to sink 12 percent and income to plummet 79 percent. The company reported third-quarter …

Nortel Networks Ltd. is making organizational changes in its GSM and UMTS access businesses, which could lead to a selling of the company’s UMTS access business, according to UBS Investment …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Forget the car charger. Sprint Nextel Corp. is the first to market with a portable charger from Energizer, the Energi To Go, which can charge a cell phone …

MURRAY HILL, N.J.-Manx Telecom, a subsidiary of O2 Group plc, has partnered with Lucent Technologies Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. on a UMTS and HSDPA field trial using 900 MHz spectrum …

Call it the WAP gap. Major media companies and mega-brands around the world are trying to lure customers by promoting short codes as a kind of red carpet to their …

BASKING RIDGE, N.J.—Verizon Wireless hopes that, as it claims, “everybody loves chocolate,” especially the $150 variety from LG Electronics Co. Ltd. that provides multimedia functions. Verizon Wireless launched the Chocolate …