WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission said it will not investigate whether telephone companies violated consumer-privacy laws by reportedly releasing millions of phone records to a U.S. spy agency. In a letter released Tuesday, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said an inability to obtain classified material would...
WASHINGTON—XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and WCS Wireless L.L.C. said they terminated an agreement that called for XM to buy WCS after the companies failed to secure government approval for the transaction. The companies announced the agreement in July of last year. The deal...
WASHINGTON-Even with carefully worded denials by two large telephone companies and outright denials by two national mobile-phone carriers, the Bush administration and the telecom industry last week failed to quell a mushrooming controversy over whether carriers supplied the National Security Agency with millions of...
WASHINGTON—Verizon Communications Inc. became the second large telephone company to explicitly deny turning over to the National Security Agency phone call records of millions of Americans. "Contrary to the media reports, Verizon was not asked by NSA to provide, nor did Verizon provide, customer...
WASHINGTON—The Bush administration’s domestic eavesdropping controversy has landed at the Federal Communications Commission, with a key telecom lawmaker and an FCC member calling for the agency to investigate whether laws were broken in light of a new report that major telecom carriers turned over...
WASHINGTON-T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Wireless said they did not participate in a data-mining operation run by the National Security Agency that collects phone records and looks for trends that would indicate terrorist activities. The NSA phone-records operation, first reported by USA Today ,...
WASHINGTON—T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Wireless said they did not participate in a data-mining operation run by the National Security Agency that collects phone records and looks for trends that would indicate terrorist activities. The NSA phone-records operation, first reported by USA Today Thursday,...
By Alice Z. Cuneo SAN FRANCISCO—It cost $4 billion to turn it into one of the best known names in the country, a future-forward, dynamic brand with a strong connection to young consumers and a share lead in the wireless marketplace. Yet, in 2007,...
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 said it took several rating actions on Rural...
WASHINGTON-Federal regulators last week agreed to give wireless broadband carriers improved access to educational spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band, a move sought by telecom and a major investment firm, but resisted until recently by a powerful parochial school system. The Federal Communications Commission...
LAS VEGAS-The wireless industry has seen some major changes in the past few months, from Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s launch of the world's first HSDPA high-speed mobile data network to Sprint Nextel Corp.'s announcement to form a joint venture with several cable companies to the...
WASHINGTON-Warring wireless broadband and educational groups last week struck a deal on 2.5 GHz spectrum-lease terms, settling one of the many unresolved regulatory issues associated with the deployment of wireless Internet and third-generation wireless services in the United States.The Federal Communication Commission this week...
Wireless operators largely are expected to maintain their market share in the first quarter, which is typically a weaker quarter than the holiday-fueled fourth quarter. However, the seasonality of the wireless sales cycle is expected to be flattening, with less variation among the four...
NEW ORLEANS—The Big Easy’s municipal Wi-Fi network may go private to sidestep growing legal pressures from BellSouth Corp. and the Louisiana state government. Though the company and the city have not confirmed the reports, EarthLink Inc. is rumored to be in talks with New...
Just when municipal Wi-Fi projects are gaining support from incumbent telcos, the battle between the City of New Orleans and BellSouth Corp. slaps the conflict back onto center stage. New Orleans' Chief Technical Officer Greg Meffert asserts that BellSouth, through telecom lobbyists, is pushing...
WASHINGTON-The telecom industry gathered last week in Las Vegas for a convention sponsored by the United States Telecommunications Association. Next week, many of the same people will visit Sin City again to attend CTIA's annual gathering. Against the backdrop of major telecom carriers consolidating...
LAS VEGAS-BellSouth Corp. unveiled a pre-WiMAX wireless broadband back-up system for businesses' Internet connections. The carrier said the system allows customers to activate a Wi-Fi hot spot at a business location, with a WiMAX backhaul, in the event the wireline network goes down. The...
AUSTIN, Texas—KGI Wireless Inc. said it snagged a multi-year deal to manage Alltel Corp.’s 3,000 wireless tower sites. The agreement represents the first time a domestic wireless carrier has selected a company to direct the marketing and licensing of its national tower inventory, KGI...
LAS VEGAS—BellSouth Corp. unveiled a pre-WiMAX wireless broadband back-up system for businesses’ Internet connections. The carrier said the system allows customers to activate a Wi-Fi hotspot at a business location, with a WiMAX backhaul, in the event the wireline network goes down. The add-on...
Vodafone Group plc last week signaled its retreat from the Japanese mobile market amid turmoil in its boardroom, and Verizon Communications Inc. reportedly upped its pressure on Vodafone by making an informal offer to buy the European operator's 45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless for...
What does $67 billion buy these days? Convergence nirvana, for one thing. If AT&T Inc.'s offer for BellSouth Corp. gets approved, as it's expected, big-time convergence could finally start happening in real-world terms. Bundled communications services from a range of wired and wireless network...
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 2 million potential customers in North and South Carolina. Alltel did not disclose the value of...
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 receives from the sale is to be dispensed to shareholders after the transaction closes,...
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 million potential customers in North and South Carolina. Alltel did not disclose the value of...
