LOS ANGELES-Telemac Corp., a provider of network-independent billing and accounting technologies for the wireless industry, announced it has been granted broader U.S. and European patents covering a network-independent, handset-based prepaid wireless system.The patented system includes Telemac's IMA-Module software and its DAS software. According to...
While the digital divide holds out hope of shrinking in the next half decade, signs persist that vendors and operators have yet to come to grips with the special needs of the burgeoning numbers of minority users.Two new studies reflect the optimism and obstacles...
WASHINGTON-With the Federal Communications Commission having reaffirmed last month that state courts are not prohibited under the telecom act from awarding monetary damages in lawsuits against wireless carriers, the mobile-phone industry suddenly finds itself vulnerable to consumer litigation on a wide range of business...
ST. LOUIS-Amdocs, provider of customer care, billing and order management solutions to the communications industry, announced its e-care and prepaid solutions will be implemented for Esat Digifone, an Irish mobile operator with more than 1 million subscribers. The e-care solution includes self-care and remote...
BUCHAREST, Romania-At the end of February, ONE began offering GPRS service throughout Austria. Billing is based on the data volume transferred. The handsets for the network are the GPRS-enabled Motorola Inc. Timeport 260 handsets."Our customers merely have to pay for the data volumes actually...
CINCINNATI-Integrated billing and customer-care services provider Convergys Corp. and Geneva Technology Ltd., a billing software provider based in Cambridge, England, have agreed to merge in a stock-for-stock transaction, the companies announced. Based on Convergys' closing stock price March 5 of $39.35, the deal is...
MINNEAPOLIS-ADC, a fiber optics, network equipment, software and integration services supplier for broadband, multiservice networks, announced Singl.eView Web, a new application for its Singl.eView platform.Singl.eView Web is an Internet-based convergent billing and customer management solution. With this new solution, designed specifically for communication service...
Dear Editor,As the third employee of AT&T's cellular subsidiary AMPS (I was director of engineering) and as the first President/COO of MetroMobile CTS (an aggressive nonwireline carrier of the mid-1980s), I have found your articles on the early days of cellular bringing back many...
LONDON-Sema Telecoms announced a contract to install a convergent billing and customer care solution for Telemig Celular Participacoes S.A. and Tele Norte Celular Participacoes S.A. in Brazil. Sema said its solution will consolidate the two existing installations into one centralized data center in an...
Sierra Wireless has announced the addition of Microsoft Corp. to the WirelessReady Alliance. Alliance members, including wireless device manufacturers, software application vendors, and wireless and value-added enterprise service providers, work together to deliver wireless data solutions to the mobile computing market. "As a global...
TORONTO-Rogers Wireless Communications Inc. posted less-than-spectacular fourth-quarter results with average revenue per user falling from $32.06 during the fourth quarter of 1999 to $30.39 during the fourth quarter of 2000, and customer churn rising from 2.37 percent to 2.76 percent during the same time...
ST. LOUIS-Deutsche Telekom selected Amdocs to implement a fraud management solution for local, long-distance and international traffic, as a value-added service for DT's entire customer base.Amdocs said its Fraud Management System detects potential fraud, issues alerts, gathers evidence of fraud and facilitates the work...
So far, the question has been: Who drives the traffic?Do content providers for the wireless Internet push user traffic for wireless carriers, increasing their revenue stream, or do carriers support the survival of content providers by exposing wireless Web users to content?Executives for newly formed...
MONTREAL-Bell Canada and Amdocs, a telecommunications customer care and billing company, announced they will extend their relationship to offer Bell's customers a single bill, which will cover local, long-distance, wireless, broadband and Internet access costs.The companies said the new service will be available by...
WASHINGTON-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) this week plans to re-introduce legislation that sets mobile-phone service standards and directs the Federal Communications Commission to monitor complaints of dropped calls, busy signals, dead spots, improper billing and other wireless consumer problems.Also early this week the FCC is...
As the wireless industry is rocked with one huge acquisition, spectrum auction and technological development after another, a small-and often overlooked-market segment continues to operate just below radar. Resellers have quietly been activating wireless customers for the past few decades, but some say they...
CINCINNATI-Sprint PCS renewed its billing contract with Convergys Corp., a provider of integrated billing and customer care."We're proud of Sprint PCS' achievements and pleased the company has continued its relationship with us for our billing and customer care services," said Bob Marino, president of...
Early expectations of the wireless Internet sweeping the country have suffered the realities of the limitations the service offers in comparison to the wired Web. While the number of wirelessly enabled sites grows daily, the lack of access and content these sites provide has...
NEW YORK-A host of players behind the scenes is pulling the complex strings required to amplify and simplify the end-user experience with billing and customer relationship management for the increasing variety of wireless services.With six or seven operators in each major market, price no...
TeleCommunication Systems Inc. said it received the necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals to complete its acquisition of privately held Xypoint Corp.Under terms of the agreement, Xypoint shareholders received 4.2 million shares of TCS class A common stock.Shortly following the announcement, shares of TCS increased...
With celebrity endorsements becoming common in advertisements for wireless carriers, Cingular Wireless knew it needed a recognizable figure to kick off the advertising campaign promoting its nationwide service.The country's second-largest wireless operator, formed by the combination of BellSouth Corp.'s and SBC Communications Inc.'s wireless...
NEW YORK-Domestic wireless operators have begun to take prepaid services seriously, although it will be awhile before they approach the successful benchmark set by their European counterparts.Comfort with credit is a key distinction between American consumers and those abroad, where cash is king. Prepaid...
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-In a move that could further i-mode's push into Europe, Telecom Italia Mobile said it will jointly develop and introduce a new mobile Internet concept for the pan-European market with KPN Mobile and its Japanese partner NTT DoCoMo.TIM said the joint venture...
Like the harmony of opposites, caution and adventure characterize the journey to the wide-scale rollout of GPRS. Vendors are playing starry-eyed idealists while operators are avoiding a possible precipice on board the chief migration vehicle: handsets.In view of their contrasting attitudes, operators' low blood pressure...
