Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
The Federal Communications Commission could be forced to back off the backup power rule. Two members of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voiced serious doubts about whether the FCC had authority to mandate...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Reality Check, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile content industry to give their insights into the marketplace. In the coming weeks...
Wireless providers continue to push back against proposed reforms to the stressed universal service program for rural America, arguing that they are being penalized at a time when consumers increasingly demand the kind of mobility and broadband capabilities that wireless technology provides.The FCC is...
Stop me if you've heard this one before: NextWave Wireless Inc. said today it's exploring the sale of its U.S. spectrum holdings.The company made its mark on wireless in the mid-90s by being the top bidder for extensive 1.9 GHz spectrum covering most of...
Microsoft Corp. subsidiary TellMe said it added a GPS location feature to its voice portal to give BlackBerry users information about businesses, movies, traffic, weather, maps and driving directions. The "voice in, visual out" way of receiving information is useful to people who are...
Public-interest groups reiterated their call for federal regulators to protect text-messaging rights, framing the debate as far-reaching in terms of the potential implications for free speech, disability access and competition in the wireless industry.Public Knowledge and other organizations want the Federal Communications Commission to...
One of the hot topics leading into the CTIA Wireless 2008 event earlier this month was the recent move by carriers to offer unlimited, flat-rate calling plans. While I didn't have much time to discuss the move with industry analysts prior to the show,...
A group of House lawmakers introduced legislation to close a loophole in federal law that makes mobile-phone subscribers potential targets for unsolicited text message advertising."Basically, this adds text messages to banned calls to cellphone numbers listed on the national do-not-call list," said John Shimkus...
Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Chris Cannon (R-Utah) introduced a bill to impose a five-year freeze on new discriminatory state and local wireless taxes."The wireless sector of the technology industry continues to be an important driver for growth in our nation's economy. Americans don't...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Current Analysis' Peter Jarich, IDC's...
OK, Mark Twain's "mysterious stranger" was actually Satan's nephew, and we're certainly not deriding the devilish Steve Jobs or his wonderful company - but the theme of unwanted intrusion is apt.That is, if you consider the perspective of incumbent handset vendors and all network...
With so many smart people in the wireless industry, how can there be so many problems with mobile content?At CTIA Wireless 2008, I had the privilege of moderating a panel on mobile content sales, and had the luxury of interviewing six wireless gurus,...
Mark Louison's unassuming manner dovetails well with Nokia Corp.'s efforts to project a kinder, gentler approach to the North American device market, an effort he has led for the past year."Alignment" with carrier needs is a term oft-repeated by handset vendors in discussing the...
Attendees heard plenty at the recent CTIA Wireless 2008 event about all the sexy things in the mobile space including music, video and, of course, mobile advertising. But the quiet world of wireless donations may be about to make some noise.Nonprofit agencies have long...
The Federal Communications Commission agreed to allow Globalstar Inc. to make greater use of land-based wireless facilities in mobile satellite service frequencies licensed to the company."This action will allow greater capacity and flexibility for MSS/ATC , and will allow CDMA Big LEO MSS/ATC...
Hello! And welcome to our column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We...
CTIA's Wireless 2008 conference and exhibition touched on all things wireless, from new handset launches to the industry's ongoing technology arguments. RCR Wireless News Online Editor Mike Dano covers the biggest news of each day at the show.
CTIA's John Walls explains the...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News' weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. 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...
As the wireless industry gears up for the nation's biggest wireless show, CTIA's John Walls discusses the trade group's objectives for this year and beyond. ; CTIA's John Walls and the issues facing wireless; And in other news,...
By most accounts -- mine included -- this year's CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas bore a striking resemblance to February's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (the show formerly known as 3GSM). To be sure, there were clear differences outside the convention center: cava...
JUDGING BY THE HANDSET NEWS out of CTIA Wireless 2008 last week, competition in the United States is a SKU vs. SKU battle -handset-to-handset combat, if you will. In the absence of anything earth-shattering, the variety of handset news really spoke more to the...
LAS VEGAS-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said during a keynote last week at the CTIA Wireless 2008 event that he opposes Skype Ltd.'s petition to impose open access throughout the cellphone industry, prompting cheers from cellular carriers and criticism from others. "In light...
LAS VEGAS-Flashback to CTIA Wireless 2006: As former Nokia Corp. CEO Jorma Ollila gave his farewell address to the industry two years ago this spring, he exhorted his audience to keep working on the basics. "There's more to be done with voice," Ollila said...
