WASHINGTON-The mobile- phone industry last week opposed a proposed $1.4 million settlement in a health-related privacy lawsuit that provides funds for a registry to be headed by Dr. George Carlo, the epidemiologist who has clashed with industry since discovering genetic damage from phone radiation...
NEW YORK-The tail is wagging the dog when it comes to billing systems capable of meeting the needs of wireless network operators to enhance average revenue per subscriber by charging for the provision of enhanced data services."In our conversations with carriers during the past...
PortugalOni Way, a Portuguese mobile operator that recently won a UMTS 3G license, has selected Accenture as the primary systems integrator for its integrated billing solution. The solution includes the Amdocs 3G billing platform. The Accenture/Amdocs solution provides Oni Way with single billing for...
As the Virgin Mobile rumor factory continues to pump out news stories, Sprint PCS finally brought some substance to the situation. The wireless carrier issued a brief, two-sentence release confirming that the two companies were in discussions, but that no definitive agreement had been...
NEW YORK-Carrier network sharing, which made headlines this month in Europe with regard to third-generation wireless, is nothing new and will not hurt the prospects of equipment providers, executives of L.M. Ericsson and Nokia Corp. said June 13 at CIBC World Markets' "Communications Food...
Major hardware and software vendors are teaming up to reinforce their strengths and shore up their weaknesses as the wireless industry marches to the third-generation of Internet services.Involved in marriages and talks of marriages are Nokia Corp., Lucent Technologies Inc., Nortel Networks, Mitsubishi Electric...
CALGARY, Alberta-Cell-Loc Inc. announced it has singed a memorandum of understanding with IQ2 Communications Corp., a management and service company that specializes in software development, management, billing and administrative services. The agreement gives IQ2 Communications rights to sell Cell-Loc wireless location services including fleet...
ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless introduced its national wireless micropayment billing service, Cingular DirectBill, allowing customers to bill purchases made by wireless phones or from the Internet to their current wireless phone bill.Using technology from Qpass, a provider of commerce service infrastructure, Cingular customers can purchase low-cost...
Dr. George Carlo has missed his true calling. Carlo, who led the six-year, $28 million effort to study any potential links between wireless phone use and cancer, should write self-help books, become a motivational speaker and tour the talk show circuit. He is worth...
The use of affiliates to manage and operate local markets is common in the wireless industry. While the larger carriers use affiliates to help build out their national footprints, affiliates are often left behind the scenes operating the networks and providing a local connection...
Brad Scott does not think one-way paging is dead."We do believe there is still opportunity in paging, in one-way paging," he said. "It is a challenging business. It's certainly not a business that is in a growth mode right now, but it is a...
NEW YORK-As part of its wireless data strategy, TeleCorp PCS officially launched two-way short message service in all its markets May 18 and is offering its customers free three-month trials, Gerald T. Vento, chief executive officer and board member, said at the Lehman Brothers...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission on May 25 denied a petition filed by litigants in a lawsuit complaining that certain of the former GTE Corp.'s billing practices were unjust and unreasonable, but it left open the question of whether the practices are unjust and unreasonable...
WASHINGTON-Wireless Technology Research L.LC., the organization headed by Dr. George Carlo that clashed with the cellular industry after researchers found genetic damage from mobile-phone radiation, has entered into a settlement agreement in an Illinois class-action lawsuit that would clear it of any wrongdoing and...
NEW YORK-Amdocs Ltd., a St. Louis-based provider of telecommunications billing and related services and software, raised $500 million through the private placement of seven-year senior convertible notes paying 2 percent interest.Within 30 days, the purchaser also may elect to purchase up to $100 million...
CINCINNATI-Convergys Corp., a provider of integrated billing and customer care services, signed a two-year contract with AT&T Wireless to provide integrated contact center services in support of AT&T Wireless' fixed wireless digital broadband technology, marketed as AT&T Digital Broadband.Convergys said its integrated contact centers...
Verizon Wireless has signed an agreement with Triad Holdings L.L.C. to acquire Triad's PCS licenses covering the Southern Oklahoma BTA of Ardmore and Lawton-Duncan. The new area, which covers total pops of 267,000, will become part of the Verizon Wireless South area. Verizon hopes...
NEW YORK-Unplugged Games Inc., founded last year with $2 million in venture financing, made public May 15 an agreement reached last month to supply AT&T Wireless Services Inc.'s Digital PocketNet customers with interactive games for multiple players.The New York-based start-up began offering "a limited...
WASHINGTON-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) is set to ask the General Accounting Office to investigate mobile-phone service problems and consumer complaints across the country, a probe that would be the most comprehensive of its kind in an industry that now numbers 115 million subscribers. Serena...
If the economy is going south for both vendors and operators in the United States, part of the solution may lie in going south, literally.According to a Strategis Group study conducted on international roaming focusing on TDMA technology, there is huge market potential in...
NEW YORK-The promise of intelligent networks will be realized in their convergence with the world of the Internet, said Paul G. Florack, co-author of a recently published book, Wireless Intelligent Networking.WIN has not succeeded in its ultimate goal of "freeing carriers from the grasp...
NEW YORK-Wireless carriers seeking to reduce customer defections would do well to pay close attention to the important but overlooked linkage between subscriber churn and rising turnover among customer service representatives.These employees, who serve as companies' primary direct link with customers, are quitting their...
WASHINGTON-The North American Numbering Plan Billing and Collection Inc. has officially asked the Federal Communications Commission to justify bills for work done by an independent contractor."To the best of NBANC's knowledge, no public notice or order discussing the standards for retention of a consultant...
NEW YORK-With up to seven competitors in some large markets, price wars have begun that are not sustainable as a long-term business case for carriers, telecommunications executives said last week at the "Kagan Wireless Telecom Summit.""Verizon missed its additions significantly. When the big guys...
