BARCELONA, Spain-A trio of executives from operators counting more than 400 million subscribers made for an entertaining opening keynote at this year's 3GSM World Congress.As has been the case for several years, Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin led off the keynote proceedings at 3GSM, this...
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is pushing a plan to treat wireless broadband service as an information service, a classification that would enable wireless Internet access providers to escape cumbersome common carrier rules imposed on wireless operators that are increasingly turning to Web-based...
Regional wireless operator SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. has reached an agreement with its bondholders to reduce its debt, and also hired a company to advise it on its options, including a possible sale. SunCom's stock was de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange in...
WASHINGTON-Wireless carriers are renewing their fight for relief from new regulations and taxes levied by cities and states, while manufacturers find themselves caught in the crosshairs of a dispute headed for Capitol Hill between the mobile-phone industry and public-safety community over the latter's efforts...
Editor's Note: Following are the most-read stories from RCRNews.com this year. They have been edited to fit in paper format.1. Vodafone records $41B loss, reworks strategic plansMay 30Vodafone Group plc posted a massive $41.1 billion loss for 2005, mainly from impairment charges over assets...
Brightpoint Inc. will shell out $88 million in cash to purchase a major piece of crippled competitor CellStar Corp.The Plainfield, Ind.-based logistics and distribution giant announced plans to buy CellStar's 500-employee U.S. operations, including its Miami headquarters, and the bulk of its Latin American...
Editor's Note: Following are the most-read stories from RCRNews.com this year. They have been edited to fit in paper format.1. Vodafone records $41B loss, reworks strategic plansMay 30Vodafone Group plc posted a massive $41.1 billion loss for 2005, mainly from impairment charges over assets...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission officially awarded more than half of the 1,087 advanced wireless services licenses won at the agency's auction that began in early August and ended Sept. 18. The FCC said the 550 AWS licenses it granted represent $12.2 billion of the...
WASHINGTON-Council Tree Communications Inc. and other parties challenging changes to small-business bidding rules again hammered away at the Federal Communications Commission, telling the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that procedural irregularities in crafting new guidelines and the dismal showing by designated entities in...
WASHINGTON-Top mobile-phone carriers, having bid the lion's share of the $13.9 billion for advanced wireless services licenses auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission, now face the potentially time-consuming and costly process of negotiating to relocate commercial and government users off of the 2110-2155 MHz...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission and the wireless industry cautioned the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals not to overturn results of the advanced wireless services auction if the three-judge panel finds the agency mishandled a rulemaking intended to prevent large cellular carriers and others...
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 Wireless News.CarrierStandard & Poor’s Ratings Services assigned its B- corporate credit rating to MetroPCS...
WALL, N.J.—U.S. and Caribbean operator Centennial Communications Corp.'s earnings were down sharply, coming in at a loss of $2.2 million compared with a gain of $14.6 million in the same period last year. The company's operating income and consolidated revenue were both up slightly...
WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission tapped cell-phone association CTIA and wireless infrastructure trade group PCIA as clearinghouses for moving existing 2.1 GHz licensees to new frequencies to make room for new advanced wireless services operators. "PCIA is pleased that the commission recognized the public interest...
RESTON, Va.—Ali Tabassi, vice president for technology development at Sprint Nextel Corp., predicted diverse spectrum and technology assets, combined with proven strategic partners, will give the No. 3 mobile-phone carrier a substantial headstart over competitors in wireless broadband deployment in the United States. "We...
With big fanfare but little surprise, T-Mobile USA Inc. announced it would begin deploying UMTS technology across its network beginning early next year. The move follows the recent completion of the Federal Communications Commission's advanced wireless services auction that saw T-Mobile USA plunk down...
WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission tapped cell-phone association CTIA and wireless infrastructure trade group PCIA as clearinghouses for moving existing 2.1 GHz licensees to new frequencies to make room for new advanced wireless services operators. "PCIA is pleased that the commission recognized the public interest...
One of the worst-kept secrets in the wireless industry today is T-Mobile USA Inc.'s much-discussed-by everyone but them, that is-plan to launch services that allow subscribers with dual-mode handsets to move seamlessly between cellular and Wi-Fi networks. U.S. trials of the technology by T-Mobile...
WASHINGTON-Designated entities accounted for a historically low percentage of the government's multibillion-dollar take in the recently completed advanced wireless services auction, even though they made up more than half of the winning bidders. Indeed, an independent panel of the Small Business Administration recommended that...
NASHVILLE, Tenn.-For Mike Fitch, well into his second year as head of a trade group for which reinvention has become a survival mechanism, the planets appear to be lining up for PCIA and its wireless infrastructure members. Mobile-phone carriers need fatter pipes to carry...
There were no last-minute bombshells when the advanced wireless services spectrum auction wrapped up last week after a few final, tedious rounds with a mere handful of bids. T-Mobile USA Inc. was the undisputed and unsurprising highest bidder, walking away with a hefty new...
WASHINGTON--Wireless industry trade association CTIA asked the Federal Communications Commission to delay the comment cycle for its re-examination of the service and licensing rules for the 700 MHz spectrum band because the auction for advanced wireless services is still ongoing. "The timing of the...
PLAINFIELD, Ind.—Wireless device distributor Brightpoint Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Wireless Fulfillment Services LLC, has agreed to buy all of Texas-based Trio Industries Inc.’s outstanding shares. Trio distributes data products from original equipment manufacturers.Brightpoint’s president, J. Mark Howell, pointed out, "TrioTek is a leading...
WASHINGTON—Council Tree Communications Inc. and others last week asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn results of the advanced wireless services auction, arguing new rules designed to prevent national mobile-phone carriers and others from exploiting bidding benefits for small businesses were...
