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Alltel spins off wireline biz

Alltel Corp. will forge ahead as a wireless-only business, the company announced. Alltel is spinning off its wireline business into a $9.1 billion merger with Texas-based Valor Communications Group Inc. The new wireline company will be located in central Arkansas and will focus on...

CPUC President Peevey likely to take over bill-of-rights measure

WASHINGTON-California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey is poised to take control of the deregulatory telecom bill-of-rights plan championed by Commissioner Susan Kennedy, who is set to leave the agency at year's end to become chief of staff to GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kennedy,...

Customer care connected to better retention rates

For the past few years, the strategy for U.S. carriers looking to retain customers was simple: offer subscribers a slick new handset at no charge. But in today's transitory market-where profit margins from voice services continue to thin as data revenues just begin to...

Cingular goes high-speed with BroadbandConnect

Promises fulfilled was the message from Cingular Wireless L.L.C. as the industry's largest operator announced the launch of its UMTS/HSDPA network-dubbed BroadbandConnect-in 16 U.S. markets. The carrier has been touting plans to launch the high-speed wireless data network in between 15 and 20 markets...

Wireless carriers fail to make good grades in magazine survey

Wireless carriers struck out once again in Consumer Reports' annual survey of cellular phones and service. Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. came in for particularly harsh criticism, since many former AWS customers reported low satisfaction after the merger. Overall, customer...

Alltel spins off wireline business

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. will forge ahead as a wireless-only business, the company announced. Alltel is spinning off its wireline business into a $9.1 billion merger with Texas-based Valor Communications Group Inc. The new wireline company will be located in central Arkansas and will...

Operators still prime place to buy games

SEATTLE-Mobile gamers continue to rely on carrier decks for their wireless entertainment even as off-deck businesses continue to gain traction, according to the latest figures from M:Metrics.The firm's most recent monthly survey found that 90 percent of wireless game consumers discover and purchase titles...

UbiquiTel’s stock surges on Sprint Nextel-Alamosa deal

NEW YORK-Sprint Nextel Corp.'s planned acquisition of its largest CDMA affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc. revved up investors of fellow affiliate UbiquiTel Inc. The carrier has yet to resolve ongoing litigation with Sprint Nextel. UbiquiTel's stock price surged more than 10 percent Monday to a...

Cingular updates wireless Web to feature custom, local info

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is overhauling its wireless Web service in an effort to woo would-be mobile Internet surfers and boost content sales. The largest U.S. carrier said it is simplifying its Media Net offering by delivering local information and allowing users to customize their...

Bango preaches off-deck content gospel

Like European missionaries of centuries past, Bango came to U.S. shores last week preaching the gospel. The Cambridge, U.K.-based company held events in Southern California and New York to tout the benefits of branded, off-deck mobile portals. Wireless operators, mobile marketers and technology companies...

Cingular updates wireless Web

ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is overhauling its wireless Web service in an effort to woo would-be mobile Internet surfers and boost content sales. The largest U.S. carrier said it is simplifying its MEdia Net offering, delivering local information and allowing users to customize their wireless...

Ericsson snags deals in Haiti, Serbia

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti-Caribbean wireless operator Digicel said it selected L.M. Ericsson to provide a GSM-based mobile network in Haiti. Digicel noted the network would include GPRS-based mobile Internet services, per-second billing for prepaid services and international roaming. In a separate announcement, Ericsson said...

Ericsson snags deals in Haiti and Serbia

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti-Caribbean wireless operator Digicel said it selected L.M. Ericsson to provide a GSM-based mobile network in Haiti. Digicel noted the network would include GPRS-based mobile Internet services, per-second billing for prepaid services and international roaming.Ericsson has provided infrastructure for Digicel's operations...

Sprint Nextel taps toward multimedia beat

Sprint Nextel Corp. took a significant step in fulfilling chief executive Gary Forsee's plans to expand the carrier's reach into other media distribution channels, and at the same time may have altered the balance of the wireless industry. Following months of speculation, Sprint Nextel...

T-Mobile USA renews Syniverse contract

TAMPA, Fla.-Syniverse Technologies said it signed a multiyear contract renewal with T-Mobile USA Inc. to provide clearing and settlement services for wireless voice roaming. Syniverse said it will provide the carrier with its Access S&E clearing and settlement service, which the company said simplifies...

Nokia’s Preminet small entourage starts to broaden

Nokia Corp.'s Preminet offering gained another backer last week as Tira Wireless said it is offering its porting technology to content providers using the delivery platform. Tira has made its Jump software available to developers and publishers looking to deliver content across a variety...

Syniverse renews T-Mobile contract

TAMPA, Fla.-Syniverse Technologies said it signed a multiyear contract renewal with T-Mobile USA Inc. to provide clearing and settlement services for wireless voice roaming.Syniverse said it will provide the carrier with its Access S&E clearing and settlement service, which the company said simplifies the...

Cable companies tie up with Sprint Nextel

NEW YORK-Following months of speculation, Sprint Nextel Corp. announced agreements with four cable companies to provide wireless services using Sprint Nextel's nationwide network. Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications, which serve a combined 41 million customers, will use the network...

Tira endorses Nokia’s Preminent

TORONTO-Nokia Corp.'s Preminet offering gained another backer Tuesday as Tira Wireless said it is offering its porting technology to content providers using the delivery platform. Tira said it has made its Jump software available to developers and publishers looking to deliver content across a...

Higher penetration rates invite increased scrutiny on how customers are counted

One factor many investors look at before sinking money into the wireless industry has been the ability of wireless devices to penetrate the general population. During the past several years, penetration rates have ballooned from around 50 percent to nearly 70 percent, coinciding with...

InPhonic sells off its MVNO operations

WASHINGTON-Online reseller InPhonic Inc. said it signed a letter of intent to sell certain assets of its Liberty Wireless and Spanish language Viva Liberty mobile virtual network operator services to Vaya. Under the terms of the agreement, Vaya will acquire the Liberty Wireless and...

Freedom wins another round in BCGI patent dispute

Boston Communications Group Inc. suffered another legal setback when a federal judge ordered the company to stop providing the prepaid wireless services that account for 70 percent of its revenue. BCGI provides a platform carriers like Cingular Wireless L.L.C. use to deploy prepaid offerings....

Massachusetts joins California in efforts to legislate telecom rights

WASHINGTON-Industry is trying to fend off bill-of-rights measures in two liberal states at opposite ends of the country, while a court battle rages over how regulatory recovery fees are itemized in monthly wireless bills. The stakes are high for industry. Wireless carriers fear that...

Comverse buys CSG division for $251M

Customer-care and billing solutions provider CSG Systems International Inc. announced it's selling its Global Software & Services Division assets to Comverse Inc. for $251 million in cash. Comverse Inc. is a division of Comverse Technology Inc., a multimedia software and network-based communications services company.CSG...