WASHINGTON-Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review a federal appeals court decision striking down a state law that would have required cell-phone carriers to notify subscribers of-and sometimes get permission for-changes to wireless contracts. In December, the 8th...
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...
It was a week of mixed results for regional carriers, as numbers trickled in from a handful of operators-some of which had delayed their reporting or had to restate prior earnings. Leap Wireless International Inc. had a slightly weaker-than-expected fourth quarter, but the company...
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 network. The regional operator had warned in January that it expected a $14 million...
What a long, strange trip it's been.Almost two years ago, I renewed my cell-phone contract with what was then AT&T Wireless Services Inc. I was happy to do so-in fact, that was when my wife and I "cut the cord" and got rid of...
Lucent Technologies Inc. is swimming in new contracts, announcing seven deals valued at more than $300 million at the CeBIT 2006 trade show. "Our customers' competitive landscape continues to undergo tremendous change as the boundaries between the telecom, media and Internet worlds continue to...
The following list details this week's infrastructure awards for the cellular and Wi-Fi industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available. CellularBrazil: Motorola Inc. said it has been selected by Vivo to...
HANOVER, Germany—Lucent Technologies Inc. is swimming in new contracts, announcing seven deals worth more than $300 million at the CeBIT 2006 trade show. "Our customers’ competitive landscape continues to undergo tremendous change as the boundaries between the telecom, media and Internet worlds continue to...
Head honchos from soon-to-launch mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. have been talking up their MVNO the past few weeks, speaking to groups at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's Wireless Forum and Jefferies Wireless Conference last week and also making an appearance at EarthLink Inc.'s...
ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and Qpass extended an agreement for Qpass to provide its mobile-commerce platform to the carrier, according to the companies. Qpass is a mobile-commerce solutions company that sells technology that enables the downloading and billing of content. Essentially, Qpass’ offerings allow mobile...
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s Boost Mobile and wholesale channels did much of the carrier's heavy lifting in the fourth quarter, helping propel the carrier to 2 million net customer additions. The numbers put Sprint Nextel, technically, on equal footing with Verizon Wireless' record-breaking net adds,...
Integration is one of Sprint Nextel Corp.'s biggest challenges this year as the company continues to digest its multiple mergers-ranging from the former Nextel Communications Inc. to various PCS affiliates such as Nextel Partners and Alamosa Holdings Inc.-and gobbles its remaining affiliates, such as...
Wi-Fi news is never in short supply. Last week, EarthLink Inc. announced that it teamed with Google Inc. to submit a proposal for San Francisco's Wi-Fi network contract. Instead of having to choose between free or paid options to get Wi-Fi services, the city...
SUNNYVALE, Calif.—Mobile billing and messaging provider mBlox Inc. snagged $25 million in a funding round led by new investor Trident Capital. Existing investors BA Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Novus Ventures and Avanti Capital Ltd. also joined the round. MBlox, which claims to have...
CALABASAS, Calif.—Strix Systems announced it is working with international carrier Accatel Inc. to cover Chittagong, Bangladesh, with wireless mesh networking infrastructure for voice, data and video services.Accatel said it’s partnering with Nextel Telecom, a local carrier in Bangladesh, to build a turnkey solution that...
BARCELONA, Spain—Internet and mobile vendor VeriSign Inc. signed an agreement to acquire Vienna, Austria-based 3united Mobile Solutions AG, which is a privately held wireless applications service provider founded in 1999. 3united said its network connects with more than 50 wireless operators in Eastern Europe,...
Lucent Technologies Inc. said it agreed to purchase Ethernet developer Riverstone Networks' assets for $170 million in cash. Most of Riverstone's employees are expected to join Lucent as part of the company's Multimedia Network Solutions business."We are extremely pleased and energized to join forces...
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Lucent Technologies Inc. said it agreed to purchase Ethernet developer Riverstone Networks' assets for $170 million in cash.Most of Riverstone's employees are expected to join Lucent as part of the company's Multimedia Network Solutions business."We are extremely pleased and energized to join...
TOKYO-Japanese telecom giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. posted weaker year-over-year third-quarter fiscal 2005 results. For the nine months ended Dec. 31, the consolidated results for DoCoMo and its subsidiaries included an operating revenue decrease of 1.7 percent, an operating revenue decline of 7.7 percent and...
TOKYO-Japanese telecom giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. posted weaker year-over-year third quarter fiscal 2005 results. For the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2005, the consolidated results for DoCoMo and its subsidiaries included an operating revenue decrease of 1.7 percent, an operating revenue decline of 7.7...
WASHINGTON-The bill-of-rights brawl in California took yet another turn last week, with Public Utilities Commission member Dian Grueneich offering a new telecom consumer-protection plan less onerous than the existing regime, but more regulatory than another proposal backed by CPUC President Michael Peevey. Votes on...
Three Christmases ago, Sue Nokes received a call from a T-Mobile USA Inc. customer who had been bumped up through the customer care system until he reached her. The man, Nokes recalled, told her that though he liked the carrier's customer service reps, he...
WASHINGTON-Former federal telecom regulator Rachelle Chong wasted no time as the newest member of the California Public Utilities Commission in making her presence known, joining other state regulators in recommending wireless truth-in-billing be national in scope and that states be preempted from enforcing such...
Brightpoint Inc. said it will continue to be the exclusive authorized distributor for Nokia Corp. phones in the United States through 2007. The companies announced the extension of an existing agreement that sees Brightpoint deliver Nokia's wares to carriers, mobile virtual network operators, independent...
