BROWSING: First Cellular

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.A race is underway, and the whole world is watching - even though the winners have already...

A group of wireless leaders interested in the history of the industry announced plans for Oct. 13 in Chicago to host a dinner celebrating the 25th anniversary of the launch of cellular communications.The Cellular 25 event will include a ceremony at Soldiers Field -...

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said a $2.6 million settlement was reached with AT&T Mobility in connection with consumers billed for wireless content advertised as free.The state's CyberFraud Task Force also announced it will investigate other major cellular carriers to ensure subscribers are safeguarded...

Content for puckheads Airborne Entertainment Inc. and NHL Interactive Cyber-Enterprises L.L.C. announced the release of NHL Clubhouse, a mobile storefront that offers NHL-branded ringtones and wallpapers. The content is available exclusively to Verizon Wireless customers. The offering includes team-branded wallpapers and ringtones for each...

THREE OF THE LARGEST REGIONAL wireless carriers are in the process of being acquired by national operators, as the nationals push further into rural and suburban markets and seek to expand their coverage and continue their growth in the face of high penetration rates.T-Mobile...

Airadigm Communications' Einstein Wireless, a GSM cellphone carrier in Wisconsin, said it fired up the nation's first cellular broadcast emergency alert system covering the community of Appleton. "Together with CellCast Technologies and with support from , we've been testing cell broadcast capability in Wisconsin...

Airadigm Communications' Einstein Wireless, a GSM cellphone carrier in Wisconsin, said it fired up the nation's first cellular broadcast emergency alert system covering the community of Appleton."Together with CellCast Technologies and with support from , we've been testing cell broadcast capability in Wisconsin and...

It was a good quarter for some regional providers of wireless service, with healthy growth and increasing average revenue per user. Alltel Corp. posted strong second-quarter results with plusses and minuses in all the right places. The industry's No. 5 carrier improved ARPU, substantially...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Alltel Corp. posted strong second quarter results with plusses and minuses in all the right places. The industry’s No. 5 carrier improved its average revenue per user, substantially cut its overall and postpaid churn rate, and increased revenue from its wireless segment...

WASHINGTON-In the dog-eat-dog world that is life inside the Beltway, it is rare to find someone who is liked, respected and considered effective from people on both sides of the aisle. Meet Brian Fontes, this year's inductee to RCR Wireless News' Wireless Hall of...

A quarter century ago, RCR's inaugural issue rolled off the presses. Radio Communications Report was launched by Titsch Communications Inc. as a monthly spinoff of another publication, Two-Way Radio Dealer, to cover the emerging cellular telecommunications industry. In its second year of publishing, with...

MOUNT VERNON, Ill.-Southern Illinois Cellular Corp., which does business as First Cellular of Southern Illinois, said that it had sold its interests in the Illinois RSA 6 and 7 Partnership to Verizon Wireless and Alhambra-Grantfork Cellular Telephone Co. The two RSAs cover 433,000 potential...

MT. VERNON, Ill.—A small carrier freshly acquired by Alltel Corp. announced that it sold its limited partnership interest in two Illinois rural service areas. Southern Illinois Cellular Corp., which does business as First Cellular of Southern Illinois, said that it had sold its interests...

PALM SPRINGS, Calif.-Alltel Corp. last week expanded its role as the go-to roaming carrier, announcing major reciprocal roaming agreements with Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and Sprint Nextel Corp. that put the nation's fifth-largest operator in a position to provide voice and data roaming for as...

PLAINFIELD, Ind.—Handset distribution company Brightpoint Inc. announced it will be the preferred cell phone supplier for the Associated Carrier Group L.L.C., which is a consortium of small U.S. carriers including Bluegrass Cellular, Carolina West Wireless, Cellcom, Cellular South, First Cellular of Southern Illinois and...

Alltel Corp. is on track to complete its wireline spinoff by mid-year, and the company plans to extend CDMA2000 1x EV-DO services to about 60 percent of its potential customers, Chief Financial Officer Sharilyn Gasaway told analysts at the Bank of America Media, Telecommunications...

AUSTIN, Texas—KGI Wireless Inc. said it snagged a multi-year deal to manage Alltel Corp.’s 3,000 wireless tower sites. The agreement represents the first time a domestic wireless carrier has selected a company to direct the marketing and licensing of its national tower inventory, KGI...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. announced it purchased the remaining 50-percent interests in 10 partnerships with Palmetto MobileNet L.P. that it did not already own. The partnerships cover about 2 million potential customers in North and South Carolina. Alltel did not disclose the value of...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Alltel Corp. announced it purchased the remaining 50 percent interests in 10 partnerships with Palmetto MobileNet, L.P. that it did not already own. The partnerships cover about two million potential customers in North and South Carolina. Alltel did not disclose the value of...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Alltel Corp. said it has agreed to buy cellular operator First Cellular of Southern Illinois, which covers a population of 485,000. First Cellular covers several major transportation conduits that connect St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis and Evansville, Ind., and Louisville, Ky.The terms of...

DALLAS-Preferred Voice Inc. scored a carrier deal, announcing an agreement to deliver ringback tones for MetroPCS Communications Inc. The developer said it plans to provide its ringback delivery platform for MetroPCS, which offers wireless service in parts of Florida, California and Georgia. Preferred Voice...

SAN DIEGO-The Associated Carrier Group scored its first handset, an advanced camera/music phone from Kyocera Wireless Corp. The group of independent, rural carriers formed early this year for just such a purpose-making sure that smaller carriers get access to cool handsets, just like the...

The Associated Carrier Group scored its first handset, an advanced camera/music phone from Kyocera Wireless Corp. The group of independent, rural carriers formed early this year for just such a purpose-making sure that smaller carriers get access to cool handsets, just like the nation's...

OTTAWA-Canada's wireless carriers introduced intercarrier multimedia message services last week. The initiative enables customers with MMS-capable mobile phones, regardless of the customers' wireless service provider, to send and receive messages with rich content to and from MMS-capable phones of friends, family and colleagues. The...