2006

SAN JOSE, Calif.—GPS chipset provider SiRF Technology Holdings Inc. said it acquired TrueSpan, a two-year-old company that is developing chips for mobile TV. The acquisition is part of SiRF’s plans …

Mobile virtual network operator Cool Mobile has big plans for this year, starting off today by expanding its cool.Prepaid handset lineup to six Motorola Inc. devices and aiming to offer …

By Bradley Johnson A majority—57 percent—of teens age 13-17 now have a cell phone, but that’s far below the 80 percent of adults 18-plus who own a phone. Still, for …

WASHINGTON—The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday easily passed several nominations after it decided not to consider its cell-phone privacy bill due to pressing business on the Senate floor. The Commerce Committee …

BOCA RATON, Fla.—SBA Communications Corp., the nation’s fifth-largest tower company, is offering $1 billion to acquire AAT Communications Corp., the nation’s sixth-largest tower company. SBA said it will pick up …

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission Friday created its long anticipated Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, which will take over various functions and issues from seven other entities within the commission. …

NEWBURY, England—Vodafone Group plc confirmed that it will sell its struggling Japanese operation to Japanese Internet conglomerate Softbank in a deal valued at about $15.4 billion. The cash that Vodafone …

ALAMEDA, Calif.—UTStarcom Inc., a wireless equipment and handset manufacturer, announced it will delay filing its 2005 annual report until the end of April so its audit committee could resolve a …

Steve Wozniak has put the brakes on the Wheels of Zeus. The Apple Computer co-founder formed the start-up four years ago in an effort to “help everyday people track everyday …

SAN FRANCISCO—Tira Wireless, which provides mobile content deployment technology, added $13 million to its coffers as part of its third round of funding. Lehman Ventures led the investment. Existing investors …

NEW YORK—Frazzled, on-the-go parents can now entertain their kids with Thomas & Friends stories on their Sprint Nextel Corp. mobile phones. Vocel and Random House Children’s Books teamed up to …

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms. Click here for wireless ratings from past weeks from RCR …

AURORA, Ill.—The city of Aurora, Ill., a suburb about 40 miles west of Chicago, awarded two contracts this week as it prepares to launch a citywide Wi-Fi network that is …

TORONTO—Nortel Networks Ltd. said its insurers have agreed to put $228.5 million toward Nortel’s settlements for a pair of class-action lawsuits that stemmed from an accounting scandal. In February, Nortel …

The following list details this week’s infrastructure awards for the cellular, Wi-Fi and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the …

BERWYN, Pa.—SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. posted a loss for 2005, which the company said was due to a transitional year of migrating former AT&T Wireless Services Inc. customers onto SunCom’s …

SAN DIEGO—Leap Wireless International Inc. had a slightly weaker-than-expected fourth quarter, but the company emphasized that it is looking forward to a strong first quarter of 2006. Leap said it …

WASHINGTON—Six senators are asking the Bush administration to develop guidelines for a new public-safety interoperable communications grant program to allow for the use of Internet Protocol-based technologies instead of the …

RESTON, Va.—Sprint Nextel Corp. is teaming with the Associated Press to allow reporters to file 60-second video clips from the 215 cities and 466 airports where the carrier offers high-speed …

WASHINGTON—The Senate Commerce Committee pulled the Protecting Consumer Phone Records Act from consideration. The committee was “concerned that because of a series of stacked votes on the Senate floor, it …

FREMONT, Calif.—The Flo Forum ratified technical specifications for devices, transmitters and test applications based on Qualcomm Inc.’s Flo technology standard for mobile TV. The group said the new specifications are …

REDMOND, Wash.—Microsoft Corp. is expected to overhaul ActiveSync, its Windows Mobile device management offering, when the software giant rolls out the next version of its PC operating system later this …

MIAMI—Brightstar Logistics Pty Ltd. said it signed a three-year agreement with Australian carrier Telstra to manage its handset supply chain. The deal calls for Brightstar to manage the carrier’s retail …

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.—A new report from J.D. Powers and Associates says wireless call-quality problems declined for the second straight year, with reported problems reaching their lowest level since the renowned …

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Alltel Corp. announced it purchased the remaining 50 percent interests in 10 partnerships with Palmetto MobileNet, L.P. that it did not already own. The partnerships cover about two …