WAKEFIELD, N.H.-Prepaid reseller Freedom Phone Services introduced a new prepaid phone plan that starts at $10 per month. Customers must pay ahead of time and essentially have a month-to-month arrangement; they have a month to use their allotted minutes and then can choose whether...
Leap Wireless International Inc. reported plans to swap 10 megahertz of 1.9 GHz spectrum covering Grand Rapids, Mich., for 10 megahertz in Rochester, N.Y. currently held by Cingular Wireless L.L.C. The move plays into Leap's market-cluster strategy, adding to its upstate New York holdings...
NASHVILLE, Tenn.-Mobile virtual network operator Mobile ESPN L.L.C. said it plans to offer roadside assistance services to its customers via insurance and warranty company Asurion. The service is expected to cost $3 per month and include 24-hour towing, lockout assistance, tire changes and fueling...
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.-The handset market in the United States continues to run hot, with new figures from The NPD Group reflecting an 11-percent growth in sales for the first quarter over the year-ago quarter. The biggest beneficiary in the United States is Motorola Inc.,...
KIRKLAND, Wash.-Craig McCaw's Clearwire Corp. filed for a $400 million initial public offering, a move that likely will help fund the company's efforts to expand its wireless broadband operations in the United States and elsewhere. The company did not reveal how many shares it...
PHILADELPHIA-The last political hurdle for Philadelphia's citywide Wi-Fi project has been cleared, as Philadelphia's city council gave its final approval to plans to provide low-cost Wi-Fi to all residents. The council voted unanimously in favor of a proposed 10-year contract with EarthLink Inc. to...
HOUSTON-Dexa Wireless, a Mexican-owned mobile virtual network operator, threw its hat into the MVNO ring, announcing it launched commercial operations in Los Angeles. The company said it is targeting the Hispanic population with prepaid service under its Va Contigo commercial brand. Alejandro Bosque, chief...
As the use of RFID technology increases, so do the concerns from consumer privacy advocates. A trade group recently unveiled a set of best practices that they say promotes respect for consumer privacy, but at least one group calls the guidance a ruse."This is...
The advocacy group assisting Maria Gonzalez in the health-related suit to delay the June 29 start of the advanced wireless services was incorrectly identified in the May 8 story. The correct name is the Vermont-based EMR Policy Institute.
WASHINGTON-Motient Corp. and SkyTerra Communications Inc. signed agreements to consolidate ownership and control of mobile satellite service assets, whose value is tied to plans to build and operate next-generation hybrid satellite-terrestrial communications networks covering the United States and Canada. As a result of a...
OKLAHOMA CITY-Dobson Communications Corp.'s subsidiary American Cellular Corp. said it agreed to purchase Highland Cellular L.L.C. for $95 million. Highland provides wireless service to approximately 51,000 customers in parts of West Virginia and Virginia, markets south of existing Dobson operations. The deal includes a...
Qualcomm Inc. may be closer to snaring a European deal for its MediaFlo mobile TV offering through a new agreement with digital TV platform operator British Sky Broadcasting Inc. The two companies agreed to test MediaFlo this summer in the United Kingdom. The companies...
Now that Qualcomm Inc. has signed a new royalty-bearing patent agreement giving Soma Networks Inc. license to develop, manufacture and sell subscriber units, modem cards and infrastructure equipment based on Qualcomm's OFDM and OFDMA technology, the wireless industry is buzzing with guesses as to...
SAN MATEO, Calif.-Digital Chocolate Inc. scored dual MVNO agreements, announcing deals to offer its games from the decks of mobile virtual network operators Amp'd Mobile Inc. and Helio L.L.C. Each operator plans to carry about two dozen titles from the publisher, which specializes in...
T-Mobile USA Inc. posted a strong first quarter, beating analysts' expectations in gaining just over 1 million new customers and lowering its customer churn rate while improving its revenues and income. The carrier posted1.04 million net customer additions, which was nearly 9 percent more...
GREAT FALLS, Mont.-Nokia Corp. announced it won a contract with MTPCS L.L.C., otherwise known as Chinook Wireless, to build a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network throughout Montana. Though financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Nokia said the 5-year deal includes equipment, network-planning services, deployment services...
The IEEE 802.11n working group earlier this month voted down draft 1.0 of the proposed standard for higher throughput improvements, sparking debate about whether the vote was a dramatic defeat or an expected speed bump. Draft 1.0 of the measure fell well short of...
WASHINGTON-Law enforcement and first-responder groups asked key Senate lawmakers to consider a private-sector plan to designate a block of spectrum in the 700 MHz band for a national wireless broadband public-safety network, one that would be shared with commercial wireless carriers and include an...
WASHINGTON-T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Wireless said they did not participate in a data-mining operation run by the National Security Agency that collects phone records and looks for trends that would indicate terrorist activities. The NSA phone-records operation, first reported by USA Today ,...
WASHINGTON-A U.S. appeals court in Atlanta is scheduled to hear oral argument this week in a key case that turns on whether a common billing practice by mobile-phone carriers is pre-empted by federal law. After the Federal Communications Commission last year ruled states are...
WASHINGTON-Unison Spectrum L.L.C. and Space Data Spectrum Holdings L.L.C. posted the highest bids at the end of round eight in the government's air-to-ground auction of in-flight broadband services spectrum. The Federal Communications Commission is auctioning four megahertz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band...
PISCATAWAY, N.J.-So you've been thinking about launching a mobile virtual network operator service for multi-cultural ethnic groups in the United States that features prepaid and postpaid plans, and affordable international calling? After all, America is a melting pot of immigrants who maintain fond ties,...
SAN FRANCISCO-More than one-quarter of all European mobile subscribers replace their handsets every year, and 60 percent replace after two years, according to San Francisco-based Telephia's first-quarter report on the subject. Purchase rates are highest at the 12-, 24- and 36-month cycles, which matches...
PLAINFIELD, Ind.-Brightpoint Inc. reported that its net income more than tripled during the first quarter from $2.9 million last year to $8.9 million this year. The company also announced plans for a 6-to-5 stock split at the end of this month. Brightpoint's revenues came...
