Editor's Note: RCR Wireless News has teamed with the Yankee Group to conduct a series of market surveys of RCR Wireless News' subscribers to gauge their thoughts o technology issues impacting the wireless ecosystem. Those of you who respond to the surveys will get...
Today, at least two companies have incorporated an innovation for M2M that first was aimed at the handset market: FOTA, or, firmware-over-the-air. Make that DOTA (based on OFDM standards), in Wavecom's parlance: download-over-the-air. Or, in Red Bend Software's case, FOTA will do...
Regional wireless operator MetroPCS Communications Inc. topped the rankings in the latest customer-satisfaction study of prepaid users from J.D. Power and Associates.The Dallas-based carrier performed particularly well in five out of seven categories, the market research firm said, including cost of service, account management,...
Private equity's avid interest in Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.'s handset business is based on Huawei's opportunities for significant growth and as a means to further investment in China, analysts said last week. Huawei has a chance to profit from domestic Chinese wireless growth and...
A tax holiday may be in the future for wireless providers and the nation's 262 million cellphone users after all. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced legislation to impose a five-year moratorium on new or increased wireless taxes. "Americans...
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s under-the-table Sprint Employee Referral Option has seen its final days. SERO was a plan Sprint Nextel introduced a few years ago that offered cheaper rates through an employee referral. And it wasn't as though you had to have a blood relation...
You already know that Steve Jobs understands the power of deep device lust in American hearts and, indeed, in hearts around the globe. And it may not be news that Jobs knows how to use this lust to produce a media splash in the...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today said it will not rule on wireless providers' challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's backup power rule until Bush administration budget officials complete their review of controversial guidelines designed to respond to...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.Mobile penetration in Latin America was around 66% in early 2008, well above the world average of...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Yay or Nay. Every week we'll review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn't. If you wish to submit your application or...
Editor's Note: RCR Wireless News has teamed up with the Yankee Group to conduct a series of market surveys of RCR Wireless News' subscribers to gauge their thoughts on technology issues impacting the wireless ecosystem.Those of you who respond to the survey will get...
Sprint Nextel Corp. has sued ICO Global Communications Ltd. and TerreStar Networks Inc. to force the mobile satellite service licensees to pay the No. 3 mobile-phone operator for relocation costs associated with a Federal Communications Commission rebanding plan to eliminate interference to 800 MHz...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Yay or Nay. Every week we'll review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn't. If you wish to submit your application or...
Sprint Nextel Corp. has launched an expensive, frontal assault on rivals in a bid for a hit handset that will resuscitate its fortunes. While it remains early in the game - the Instinct handset has been on the market for 11 days - the...
With wireless connectivity becoming ever more common in vehicles, security systems and utility meters, machine-to-machine technology is on the path to transform vending machines, real estate lock boxes and mail drop-boxes. Although the M2M space is still evolving (even the definition of which devices...
Analyst Brian Modoff at Deutsche Bank this week cut his forecast for global handset shipments from 8% growth to 6%, citing fuel and food cost pressures on consumers. Modoff said that those financial pressures were causing consumers to delay handset upgrades, weakening the outlook...
Virgin Mobile USA's purchase of fellow MVNO Helio L.L.C. allows Virgin to evolve beyond its low-ARPU customers to higher-paying subscribers, as well as gain a sophisticated handset portfolio, improve its debt levels and cut a better deal with network operator Sprint Nextel Inc.Virgin Mobile...
Wireless Oakland, a municipal wireless network covering Oakland County, MIch., is offline due to lack of funds, Deputy Oakland County Executive and CIO Phil Bertolini said today.The project's private-sector partners have been unable to secure the necessary funding to continue to implement the...
Last year, of course, the iPhone launch drove hand-wringing over the need to revamp user interfaces, accompanied by a move to large-display touchscreens.A wave of devices sporting large-display touchscreens followed, with varying results on the user interface. That influence continues to play out with...
Regional wireless carrier MetroPCS Communications Inc. announced a new promotion, MetroFlash, that will allow shoppers with a compatible CDMA handset to connect to the MetroPCS network; users will be able to sign up for MetroPCS service without having to buy a new phone. The...
Comments on what the FCC should do with the 700 MHz D Block ran the gamut, with some urging the agency to tighten its rules on a public-private sharing of the spectrum while others recommended the D Block be auctioned without any conditions whatsoever.The...
The Federal Communications Commission agreed not to hold Sprint Nextel Corp. and public-safety agencies to the June 26 deadline regarding portions of spectrum involved in an 800 MHz rebanding effort designed to remedy public-safety interference caused by the No. 3 mobile phone carrier's push-to-talk...
Analyst Tero Kuittinen at Global Crown Capital L.L.C. said in a note to investors that top-tier carriers in the United States were pulling back on support for Motorola Inc., and characterized the vendor's pending product launches as "a half-baked mess.""The summer surge of fresh...
Carriers are changing their minds about outsourcing pieces of their operations. The decision for carriers to put units of their business in others' hands is beginning to increase in popularity - not at a rapid speed, but it's being considered. Historically, the thought...
