To the Editor:On Oct. 13, l983, the first commercial cellular phone call was made. On Oct. 13, 2003, Tom Wheeler's Retirement Roast was held at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. I had the good fortune to be at both events and also at...
Wireless data service speeds-which for years have been cast aside as less important than the applications running over the networks-were again the topic of discussion for many carriers at this year's Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association IT & Entertainment 2003 show. The loudest discussions...
So much progress the past two decades, not to mention all the glitzy wireless stuff that debuted in Las Vegas last week. Yet the achievements-real and profound-tend to be overshadowed by lawsuits, industry infighting and consumer rage reported here and elsewhere. The mobile-phone industry...
BOSTON-Mobile multimedia platform provider Acotel made its U.S. debut at the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show in Las Vegas last week.The company announced the opening of its U.S. headquarters in Boston, as well as a sales office in New York, and the launch...
LAS VEGAS-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. plans to relaunch its mMode wireless data offering in November, although details of the carrier's plan are unclear.Andre Dahan, president of AT&T Wireless' multimedia services, announced the carrier's intent during the CTIA Wireless I.T. show earlier this week in...
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association today launched a new campaign to bring awareness to its own phone recycling program and the recycling efforts of several of its members."The wireless industry has been a leader in encouraging the safe management of its used hardware,...
LAS VEGAS-Nellymoser Inc. announced the availability of MedleyTunes and MedleyTones, mobile music distribution solutions for the new generation of mass-market Java-enabled handsets, at this week's CTIA show in Las Vegas.MedleyTunes allows wireless users to listen to high-quality music clips on their cell phones, while...
LAS VEGAS-Aiirnet Wireless L.L.C., which provides and deploys high-speed Wi-Fi Internet service, made several announcements at this week's CTIA Wireless I.T. show in Las Vegas. The company announced the availability of the AiirLink Hot-Spot-In-A-Box, which allows any retail establishment to offer high-speed wireless broadband...
LAS VEGAS-Motorola Inc. announced it will use a streaming video player from RealNetworks Inc. in upcoming mobile phones, including new phones using its Linux/Java operating system.The move is notable on several levels. First, it marks Motorola's plans to support streaming video, a technology that...
LAS VEGAS-Digit Wireless said its Fastap technology was used by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association at its keynote session at the I.T. show in Las Vegas.The company said CTIA Chief Executive Officer Tom Wheeler used a Panasonic GD87 demonstration model with the Fastap...
WASHINGTON-After struggling to line up a new president whose conservative politics align with the GOP-controlled Congress, top lobbyists at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association are actively rounding up scores of donations for Sen. John Kerry's (D-Mass.) presidential campaign.Among fundraisers bringing in $50,000 to...
ANNAPOLIS, Md.-TeleCommunication Systems Inc. announced the latest release of its Wireless Internet Gateway (WIG) at this week's CTIA Wireless IT show in Las Vegas.Version 4.1 of the gateway incorporates anti-spam technology to guard against mobile spam. TCS' anti-spam solution incorporates techniques, including white lists,...
LAS VEGAS-Ascendent Telecommunications announced at this week's CTIA Wireless IT show in Las Vegas that its AscendentCS mobility and continuity application has been installed inside media specialist OMD's New York office.Ascendent's solution allows mobile phones to be linked to Private Branch Exchanges (PBX), allowing...
LAS VEGAS-Access Systems announced at this week's CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment show that Handspring's newly-released Treo 600's Blazer Web Browser will use Access' NetFront v3.0 as its core browser technology.The Blazer Web Browser supports a range of content types, including HTML 4.0, XHTML...
BOSTON-Mobile multimedia platform provider Acotel is making its U.S. debut at the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show in Las Vegas this week.The company announced the opening of its U.S. headquarters in Boston, as well as a sales office in New York, and the...
LAS VEGAS-Audiovox Communications Corp. is introducing its CDM-9900 series of wireless handsets featuring video capabilities at the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment show in Las Vegas. "The CDM-9900 and 9950 are the first handsets to offer both video and still photography in the same...
Twelve of the nation's top wireless carriers have joined forces to launch a common short codes, a service that will be commercially available next week. The program will allow TV stations, movie studios and virtually any other business to purchase a five-digit text messaging...
The wireless industry continues to move closer to a universal short code service, with mobile marketing company M-Qube announcing a new TV voting deal with Universal Domestic Television.Under the deal, the station will offer a text messaging campaign through its "The 5th Wheel" dating...
LG Electronics plans to enter the GSM race in the United States through two new clamshell phones, devices that will be available through Cingular Wireless. LG said pricing and availability details will be announced in the official unveiling of the phones next week during...
WASHINGTON-Changes sought by wireless firms to a U.S. document being prepared for an upcoming International Telecommunication Union meeting are insufficient, a major industry group said last week, keeping alive a controversy the Bush administration must resolve in the next two weeks. Industry's criticism...
Before it becomes a rehash of PCIA vs. CTIA, PCIA and Shorecliff Communications need to merge their tower shows into one event. It's the best thing for the industry, and both groups have a vested interest in seeing the tower sector succeed. PCIA's conference...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday that rural wireless carriers cannot refuse to port a telephone number to another wireless carrier that does not have an interconnection agreement with them."The FCC held that wireless-to-wireless porting does not require the wireless carrier receiving the number...
Kyocera Wireless Corp. appears to have abandoned plans to build its much-hyped Kurv phone, a move that prompted the company's Kurv technology partner, Wildseed Ltd., to file suit against the handset maker alleging breach of contract."We are extremely disappointed that Kyocera will not deliver...
WASHINGTON-Verizon Wireless broke with its industry brethren again when it said it had signed a service-level agreement with its wireline parent, Verizon Communications Inc., to enable numbers to be ported starting Nov. 24."The two companies have demonstrated that, when willing, these pacts can be...
