BROWSING: First Cellular

OTTAWA-Canada's wireless carriers will introduce intercarrier multimedia message services July 1. The initiative will enable customers with MMS-capable mobile phones, regardless of the customers' wireless service providers, to instantly send and receive messages with rich content to and from MMS-capable phones of friends, family...

WASHINGTON-Nine wireless carriers said they will send text messages to people who opt in to receive Amber Alerts over their cell phones in the culmination of a movement CTIA President Steve Largent began more than a year ago.Participating carriers are Alltel Corp., Cingular Wireless...

With the overwhelming array of wireless content and applications on the market, even the nation's biggest carriers are struggling with what to offer and how to present it to the consumer. It may be no surprise, then, that smaller carriers are working overtime to...

TEMPE, Ariz.-First Cellular of Southern Illinois has tapped Excell Services to provide directory assistance and other offerings, the companies announced Tuesday. Excell will provide operator services and inbound customer service for First Cellular through its North American call centers. The regional carrier also said...

For U.S. carriers, the race to deploy ringback tones is on. Ringbacks-the clips of music a caller hears instead of a traditional ring before the person being called answers the phone-began making headlines last year, when uptake exploded in some Far Eastern markets. Asian...

Editor's Note: RCR Wireless News announces that Wayne Schelle has been inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame for 2005, now in its sixth year. The Hall of Fame recognizes the efforts of those people who have made significant contributions to advance wireless telecommunications....

A handful of CDMA technology-based rural operators formed the Associated Carrier Group L.L.C. alliance, which they said "will collaborate their efforts to efficiently provide timely and competitive value to consumers in member markets while creating efficiencies of scale for manufacturers and vendors." The group...

DALLAS-Subscribers of First Cellular of Southern Illinois can access a new ringback service featuring content from the film "Meet the Fockers." Preferred Voice Inc. (PVI) and Versaly Entertainment are teaming for the service, which the companies described as the first movie-themed ring-back offering in...

DALLAS-Preferred Voice Inc. notched its second carrier win with the announcement that it will provide ringback services for Oklahoma regional carrier Panhandle Telephone Cooperative. Ringbacks allow subscribers to choose music clips that callers hear instead of the traditional ring before a phone is answered....

Preferred Voice Inc. notched its second carrier win with the announcement that it will provide ringback services for Oklahoma regional carrier Panhandle Telephone Cooperative.Ringbacks allow subscribers to choose music clips that callers hear instead of the traditional ring before a phone is answered. PVI...

Editor's Note: Each year, the RCR Wireless News editorial staff chooses the person who has impacted the wireless industry the most during the past 12 months. By successfully closing the acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., making Cingular Wireless the nation's largest carrier, as...

Editor's Note: Each year, the RCR Wireless News editorial staff chooses the person who has impacted the wireless industry the most during the past 12 months. By successfully closing the acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., making Cingular Wireless the nation's largest carrier, as...

WASHINGTON-The chief executive officer of First Cellular of Southern Illinois, Terry Addington, will be the 2005 chairman of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, CTIA announced.Addington has been serving as vice chairman. He replaces Scott Ford, president and CEO of Alltel. Ford will continue...

Small wireless carriers want to offer their customers the same advanced services the big companies offer theirs. But since the economics of innovation are less favorable for small companies, it is difficult for them to keep pace with the big carriers in deploying advanced...

WASHINGTON-As local number portability goes nationwide today, rural Americans who want to port their wireline phone numbers to wireless carriers may find the deadline is a bit elastic."Right now, there are still a lot of waivers pending so it is like waiting for a...

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission could fine CenturyTel Inc. $100,000 for not routing ported wireless numbers."Regardless of the status of a carrier's obligation to provide number portability, all carriers have the duty to route calls to ported numbers. In other words, carriers must ensure that...

WASHINGTON-A rural wireless carrier that began porting customers in November told reporters Thursday that 24 percent of its ports had come from wireline customers.Terry Addington, president of First Cellular of Southern Illinois, said porting customers had complained about rising wireline bills and added the...

Following are mobile infrastructure contracts announced in March:Ireland With Meteor for a core GPRS solution.Value: UndisclosedUnited States With First Cellular of Southern Illinois for MMS Proxy Relay, WAP Gateway and Push Proxy Platform products.Value: UndisclosedUnited States With MetroPCS for MMS equipment.Value: UndisclosedEricssonIreland With Meteor...

DALLAS-Alcatel announced First Cellular of southern Illinois will become the fist North American service provider to use its Multimedia Messaging Services. To date, Alcatel has installed its MMS Proxy Relay, WAP Gateway and Push Proxy Platform products in the carrier's network. With the service,...

HERZLIYA, Israel-Israeli operator Cellcom will roll out Nokia's Push to talk over Cellular (PoC) service. Commercial PoC service is scheduled for the second quarter 2004. Nokia says its carrier-grade PoC solution provides a smooth network software upgrade path to the upcoming OMA standard for...

T-Mobile USA Inc. expanded its existing $300 million agreement with Nokia Corp. to include next-generation radio equipment, an expanded GPRS core network, implementation and optimization services and Nokia's NetAct network service management system. Shipments of the new equipment are expected to begin immediately. "Nokia...

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. said it has upgraded its CDMA2000 1x EV-DO software for its CSM5500 cell site modem to support such applications as high-quality video delivery, video telephony, instant multimedia chat or interactive 3D network gaming.Qualcomm describes the enhancement as the first cellular technology...

Pakistan Telecom Mobile, which offers mobile service under the Ufone brand, contracted Siemens to expand its network under a $26 million deal. Siemens will set up a new GSM network for Ufone in 29 cities. Siemens said it is delivering and installing new equipment...

MT. VERNON, Ill.-GSM technology supporters claimed a victory as rural cellular provider First Cellular of Southern Illinois signed a two-year, $5.5 million deal with Ericsson to overlay its existing CDMA network with GSM/GPRS technology. The agreement calls for Ericsson to deploy a complete EDGE-ready,...