2006

WASHINGTON-A New York federal judge refused to certify a potentially disruptive class-action lawsuit against the four national mobile-phone carriers, possibly removing from the line of fire for now the latest …

Nextlink Wireless Inc. announced it’s expanding its wireless broadband reach into Atlanta, Chicago and Houston and said it plans to continue aggressively leveraging its spectrum holdings in the United States’ …

Leap Wireless International Inc. filed a lawsuit claiming that MetroPCS Communications Inc. had stolen its business plan-only to be accused of stealing in its own right. The lawsuit could be …

Len Lauer, Sprint Nextel Corp.’s chief operating officer and one of the company’s most high-profile executives, left the company last week after the carrier’s dismal second quarter put management under …

NEW YORK-Comverse Inc. said it will pay $19 million in cash for privately held Netonomy, a developer of customer self-service, bill analysis and point of sale software for wireless communications. …

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands-Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. launched a handset equipped with Unlicensed Mobile Access technology in Italy. Samsung’s SGH-P200 phone runs on the Nexperia chip from Royal Philips’ Philips Semiconductor division. …

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-Mobile users continue to opt for streaming music services over full-track downloads and wireless video services, according to the latest figures from In-Stat. The market research firm found that …

Nortel Networks Ltd. came out of the closet last week touting dual-radio Wi-Fi gear that’s being used in large-scale network deployments in Moscow and Taipei, Taiwan, as well as in …

If, as the saying goes, pops are tops in an auction, then T-Mobile USA Inc. is certainly outdoing itself in the advanced wireless services spectrum auction thus far. Meanwhile, Sprint …

PLAINFIELD, Ind.-Brightpoint Inc. inked a deal to supply wireless devices and accessories to online retailer Newegg Inc. Newegg operates a storefront for manufacturers of consumer electronics, communications equipment and hardware …

French rock star Johnny Hallyday’s latest single, “La Loi du Silence,” is being made exclusively available on Orange mobile phones for one week, according to Orange. Hallyday has been called …

Few wireless applications tickle my oh-so-fickle fancy. As a matter of fact, up until last week only a pair of apps were useful enough for me to download to my …

As shareholders of Lucent Technologies Inc. and Alcatel Inc. get set to vote Sept. 7 on the companies’ proposed merger, analyst opinions run the gamut on the infrastructure “merger of …

In other Wi-Fi news, AeroScout Inc. announced the launch of its enhanced Wi-Fi-based active RFID chip, the T2 Tag, which is used primarily for asset-tracking in the healthcare and manufacturing …

The FLO Forum said it approved a specification for its mobile TV network technology, a move that will allow equipment makers to build gear designed to work on any FLO-based …

The executive shuffle continued last week at RadioShack Corp. as President and Chief Operating Officer Claire Babrowski said she will step down at the end of the month. But the …

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Sierra Wireless Inc. says it expects to begin shipping wireless wide area network cards supporting CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A networks during the first quarter of 2007, along …

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—The market for long-form mobile video will begin to gain traction in 2008, according to new figures from In-Stat. The market research firm said that while long-form wireless TV—video …

Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. topped a new prepaid wireless customer satisfaction survey from J.D. Power & Associates. The rankings covered mobile virtual network operators and traditional wireless operators. The survey …

WASHINGTON—Bidding has slowed dramatically in the advanced wireless services spectrum auction, also known as Auction 66, with an average of about 140 new bids placed in the last few rounds. …

LOS ANGELES-A new partnership between TV Guide Mobile Entertainment Inc. and 4INFO Inc. aims to deliver TV listings to cellular phones. Wireless subscribers will immediately be able to search for …

SHENZHEN, China—Reports are streaming out of China that ZTE Corp.’s net earnings fell 47 percent during the first half of 2006 compared to the same period last year. The company …

MIAMI—Mobile-phone distributor Brightstar Corp. said it has completed expansion of a $250 million credit facility. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. led syndication of the credit facility; other investors included HSBC, …

TOKYO—Japanese wireless operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. plans to dissolve a small subsidiary that focused on helping businesses use wireless phones more efficiently. Allucher Inc. had two employees and $384,000 in …

Age, income, gender and location are among the familiar elements of demographic-based marketing across industries and, to an extent, the wireless industry has embraced the basics. One-touch dialing for pre-teens …