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Cyren Call: Don’t blame us for Frontline’s demise

Cyren Call Communications Corp. said it never demanded long-term payments as a condition for a winning bidder of the 700 MHz national commercial/public-safety license, breaking its silence in response to news reports and blog postings that strongly suggested it caused the demise of one-time...

Question marks multiply amid Motorola’s plans to split: Company leadership: We’re in control here

Motorola Inc. will split into two publicly traded companies, if it has its way, the company said today. Under the plan announced this morning, shareholders will receive shares of both companies -- one focused solely on mobile devices, the other on home broadband and...

Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility on top in 700 MHz auction results: Google leaves event empty-handed

Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility won the vast majority of the 700 MHz spectrum up for grabs during the Federal Communications Commission's recently completed auction. Verizon Wireless was the event's biggest spender, doling out $9.63 billion (fully half of the almost $20 billion in...

IT’S OVER: 700 MHz auction ends after 38 days, 261 rounds: Event generates record $20B in provisionally winning bids

It took 38 days and 261 rounds, but the Federal Communications Commission's 700 MHz spectrum auction came to an end this afternoon, having raised $19.592 billon for the U.S. treasury. The haul is a record for an FCC-run auction and nearly double the high...

Motorola: stand-alone device biz possible

Motorola Inc.'s CEO Greg Brown today said the company is exploring options to accelerate the recovery of its mobile devices business, including the possible creation of a standalone devices business.Rumors circulated among market analysts earlier this week that Motorola might consider selling off its...

C-Block action could slow: Reserve reached, open access becomes reality

Following a few tense rounds without any bids, the nationwide package of eight C-Block licenses picked up a new bid during round 17 to push the potential winning price for the block past the $4.6 billion reserve mark, thereby triggering the spectrum's open-access provision....

700 MHz auction rings up $2.4B in first-round bids: C, D blocks licenses garner highest bids

The long-anticipated 700 MHz auction kicked off today, attracting 1,849 bids totaling more than $2.4 billion during the first round. The Federal Communications Commission, which will hold a second round of bidding today, is keeping the identities of bidders secret during the auction to...

AT&T Mobility posts U.S. industry record 2.7 million net adds in Q4: Acquisition of Dobson contributed 1.7 million during quarter

New wireless subscribers came to AT&T Mobility in record droves during the fourth quarter; the carrier added 2.7 million net new customers to the rolls -- an all-time record high among U.S. wireless carriers. The growth was well ahead of even the most optimistic...

Frontline ‘closed for business’: With its extensive connections, firm’s ultimate fate is unclear

The future of Frontline Wireless L.L.C., the Silicon Valley-backed and politically connected startup that spent months positioning itself to bid big in the upcoming 700 MHz auction, has suddenly become shrouded in mystery."Frontline is closed for business at this time. We have no further...

FCC releases full list of applicants for 700 MHz auction: Qualcomm to bid, while T-Mobile USA could sit it out

The Federal Communications Commission said it received 266 applications for the 700 MHz auction, with small and rural telephone companies dominating a field that also includes leading mobile-phone operators, Google Inc., EchoStar Satellite L.L.C., and some surprises. Click here for complete 700 MHz auction coverage. Nearly...

Zander out at Motorola: Investors exhale, then gird for long haul

Swapping out a chief executive sends a message of change. In the case of Motorola Inc.'s CEO Ed Zander's long-anticipated departure, announced today, the message-new leadership-will require updates. Investors and market watchers clearly want to know what's next.Motorola's core business in handsets continues to...

Google puts ‘money where principles are,’ says it will bid in 700 MHz auction: Search giant looks at open-access C Block

Google Inc. is in! The Internet search engine giant said it will participate-alone-in the 700 MHz auction set to begin Jan. 24."We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," said Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google. "Consumers deserve more...

Verizon Wireless selects LTE for 4G network: Qualcomm ‘key loser’ as future of CDMA becomes hazy

Verizon Wireless announced it will use Long Term Evolution technology for its fourth generation network. The carrier said that it and parent company Vodafone Group plc will begin testing LTE technology next year with equipment suppliers Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Motorola Inc., Nokia- Siemens, and Nortel...

Giving them what they want: Verizon Wireless goes ‘any device, any app’: Embrace of open access stands as significant change in VZW position

Verizon Wireless announced this morning a major shift in its position on non-carrier-offered devices and applications, saying it will begin activating any device that meets a "minimum technical standard" and will allow "any application the customer chooses" to be used on the devices. The...

Google heads coalition for ‘Android’ cellphone platform: VZW, Nokia, Microsoft notably absent

A group of industry heavyweights-headed by Google Inc., T-Mobile, HTC Corp., Qualcomm Inc., and Motorola Inc.-announced a new software platform for cellphones that includes an operating system, middleware, user interface and applications. The alliance said the first phones based on the "Android" platform will...

Kyocera in talks to pick up Sanyo cellphone biz: Firms mum on purchase price

Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. announced it is in negotiations to sell its cellphone business to fellow Japanese electronics maker Kyocera Wireless Corp. If the deal is completed, it would further consolidate the world's hotly contested mobile phone business, as well as bolster Kyocera's market...

AT&T Mobility acquires Aloha’s 700 MHz spectrum for $2.5B: MediaFLO deal unaffected

AT&T Mobility said it will pay $2.5 billion in cash for all of Aloha Partners L.P.'s 700 MHz spectrum, apparently signaling Aloha's exit from the mobile broadcast space.AT&T, which said it remains committed to using Qualcomm Inc.'s MediaFLO network for multimedia wireless broadcasts, said...

Forsee steps down at Sprint Nextel

Bowing to shareholder pressure in the face of poor performance, Sprint Nextel Corp. Chairman, President and CEO Gary Forsee will step down effective immediately. The company also pre-released a few metrics for the third quarter and said it lost nearly 340,000 postpaid wireless customers...

Nokia to buy mapping vendor Navteq in $8.1B deal

Nokia Corp. said it will acquire digital mapping company Navteq in a blockbuster $8.1 billion deal.The Finnish company plans to spend $78 per share for Navteq, a 22-year-old, Chicago-based outfit. The offer marks a 3-cent premium over Navteq's Friday closing price, and a 34%...

T-Mobile USA to buy SunCom for $2.4B

T-Mobile USA Inc. announced it will acquire regional operator SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. for about $2.4 billion in cash and assumed debt. SunCom's GSM/GPRS/EDGE network covers parts of the southeastern U.S. and the Caribbean; the carrier has provided roaming in its markets to T-Mobile...

MetroPCS proposes $5.1B merger with Leap

MetroPCS Communications Inc. has proposed a merger with its flat-rate rival Leap Wireless International Inc.Metro said it sent Leap a letter detailing its offer, which involves a "stock-for-stock, tax-free merger that will create a fifth national wireless carrier." Each outstanding share of Leap's stock...

Industry sighs in relief as court throws out brain-cancer suits

The Superior Court of the District of Columbia today threw out six brain-cancer lawsuits against the mobile-phone industry, potentially removing a legal cloud that could have cost wireless carriers and manufacturers billions of dollars.The decision to dismiss the suits was based on jurisdictional grounds,...

VZW to pay $2.67B for Rural Cellular

Verizon Wireless announced a $2.67 billion deal to acquire Rural Cellular Corp., one of the nation's largest rural carriers. The agreement will add RCC's 700,000 customers to Verizon Wireless' base-which currently stands at 62.1 million-and will expand the No. 2 operator's coverage in parts...

Rev. B gains steam: Airvana gearing for operator tests of the CDMA upgrade

The wireless industry's incessant march toward faster and better networks appears to be showing no signs of slowing as industry players gear up for increasing interest in CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision B technology, a software upgrade to the Rev. A networks that Sprint Nextel...