September 2006

BELLEVUE, Wash.—Shares of InfoSpace Inc. plunged after the company said it expects its revenues to take a hit due to a plan by an unnamed carrier partner to develop direct …

WASHINGTON—The Senate Commerce Committee approved the nominations of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin and acting National Telecommunications and Information Administration head John Kneuer. The nominations now await action by …

CAMPBELL, Calif.—SoonR said it raised $6 million in series A funding. The company said it plans to use the funds to expand its service, which allows customers to access data …

WASHINGTON—A group of rural and regional wireless carriers again urged the Federal Communications Commission to adopt automatic-roaming rules they believe are necessary for competition. “Many carriers, particularly regional and rural …

ESPOO, Finland—Nokia Corp.’s Mobile Search platform will incorporate Microsoft Corp.’s Live Search capabilities to streamline mobile information searches on Nseries smart phones—now “multimedia computers,” in Nokia’s parlance—and select S60 platform …

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Alltel Corp. is set to begin a major advertising push for its MyCircle offer, which allows customers to place unlimited calls to up to 10 wireless or wireline …

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Wireless Infrastructure Association officially launched the Distributed Antenna Systems Forum at the PCIA trade show, explaining that the group’s mission is to promote the understanding, acceptance and deployment …

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.—Motorola Inc. said it is testing the concept of selling its products through robotic retail stores. The automated vending stores are operated by Zoom Systems and will be branded …

Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for …

ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. struck a five-year agreement with the U.S. Army, Air Force and Defense Telecommunications Services-Washington worth more than $150 million. The deal, according to Cingular, will “enable the …

ESPOO, Finland—Chalk up another one for Nokia Corp.’s reputation as an environmentally friendly electronics manufacturer. And give Motorola Inc., Nokia’s global rival, credit for an effort to catch up by …

BASKING RIDGE, N.J.—Nielsen Mobile continued its leisurely stroll into wireless, tapping Verizon Wireless to provide sales information regarding the carrier’s mobile music sales. Nielsen Mobile—a division of the longtime Internet …

KINGSTON, Jamaica—Caribbean operator Digicel announced it will expand its reach into Central America by purchasing an El Salvadoran wireless provider that also has a telecom license in Guatemala. The wireless …

LONDON—MobileMail Ltd. said it snared $1 million in private placement funding as well as a distribution agreement with Russian Internet service provider NNT Telecom. The London-based developer of two-way, PC-to-mobile …

PISCATAWAY, N.J.—The IEEE standards association announced a leadership shake-up in its troubled 802.20 working group, a move aimed at getting the work on a mobile wireless broadband access standard back …

LOS ANGELES—Xero Mobile isn’t expected to launch service until January, but the mobile virtual network operator is already looking for a buyer. Xero, which hopes to lure college-age users with …

By Daisy Whitney ATLANTA—Cellular provider Cingular Wireless L.L.C. said its early work with advertising on video-on-demand TV offerings has outperformed its expectations by more than a third. The carrier began …

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—PeerMe Inc., a wireless Voice over Internet Protocol company, said it launched a free service for Sprint Nextel Corp. CDMA2000 1x EV-DO phone users that allows them to …

LONDON—Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. bolstered its mobile music strategy with the launch of a new promotional area for new and developing artists. The company’s M-BUZZ initiative allows users to …

SEATTLE—WhitePages.com launched the beta version of its new mobile search service. The service allows cellular phone and e-mail device users to access the same information offered to visitors of its …

NEW YORK—Demand is strong at T-Mobile USA Inc. retail stores for the recently launched Research In Motion Ltd. BlackBerry Pearl, according to a national channel check by UBS analyst Maynard …

WASHINGTON—Two proponents of cell broadcast technology said a Senate-passed bill to modernize the nation’s emergency alert system could further delay widespread deployment of wireless warnings to the nation’s 219 million …

ARLINGTON, Va.—The Washington Post Co. is the latest old-school news company to go mobile, unveiling wireless Internet sites for three of its high-profile products. The company launched wireless versions of …

BOSTON—Shares of American Tower Corp. slid after the tower vendor said it will have to restate earnings due to inconsistencies regarding past stock-option grants. The company plans to file an …

ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. will add two more handsets to its portfolio—both Walkman music phones—from Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. in the next couple of weeks, the carrier acknowledged. The first …