WASHINGTON-The 800 MHz rebanding process has entered the alternative dispute resolution phase-a hybrid process established by the Federal Communications Commission to ensure that the retuning effort doesn't drag out past the three-year timeframe. The ADR process has been helpful for some of the licensees...
WASHINGTON-A state appeals court has agreed to review a record $12 million fine levied by California regulators against Cingular Wireless L.L.C. in 2004. "Cingular is encouraged to hear that the California Court of Appeal has agreed to hear our case," said a Cingular spokesman....
WASHINGTON-Federal officials last week said foreigners who last month tried to buy a sizeable quantity of prepaid cell phones in Texas do not have terrorist ties. But the incident, which prompted a flurry of news stories, underscores how quickly a story can take on...
Radio Communications Report began publishing a monthly newspaper in 1981 focused on covering the emerging land mobile communications industry. During the next 25 years, the newspaper evolved to a weekly format under the name RCR Wireless News. This year RCR celebrates 25 years of...
WASHINGTON-A new study published in the British Medical Journal failed to find a cancer link from mobile-phone use for up to 10 years, saying only additional research will be able to address longer latency periods for the development of brain tumors in adults. "Overall,...
LANCASTER, U.K.-Monstermob Group plc continued to increase its global presence, snapping up Chinese mobile game-maker M Dream China Ltd. Monstermob, which sells games, images and ringtones for mobile phones, said it will spend as much as $35 million for the 120-employee company. M Dream...
Research In Motion Ltd. continued to play beat-the-clock last week, pleading that a shutdown of its BlackBerry service could place the nation's public safety and economic security at risk. The Canadian company is facing the disruption due to its ongoing legal battle with patent-holding...
As marketing challenges and content-delivery issues continue to shackle the wireless content arena, game-makers are hoping to entice their own customers to act as sales associates. The number of U.S. mobile users who download games has actually fallen in recent months, according to figures...
Brightpoint Inc. said it will continue to be the exclusive authorized distributor for Nokia Corp. phones in the United States through 2007. The companies announced the extension of an existing agreement that sees Brightpoint deliver Nokia's wares to carriers, mobile virtual network operators, independent...
WAIKOLOA, Hawaii-The IEEE ultrawideband task group ended three years of animosity with a nearly unanimous vote to kill the 802.15.3a proposed standard. The association, which was established to develop a standard for short-range wireless communications at up to 480 megabits per second, disbanded after...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Apple Computer Inc. fueled speculation about its intentions in wireless as the company's efforts to trademark the phrase "Mobile Me" came to light. Apple has filed a series of applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office laying claim to "Mobile Me" to...
Investors gave tower companies a thumbs up last week as plans for augmenting or expanding their facilities were greeted with a slew of new financing options. SBA Communications Corp., the nation's fifth-largest tower company, said it obtained a new $160 million credit facility. SBA...
WASHINGTON-Calling the territory of Guam from a wireless phone can be expensive, and the delegate that represents the island doesn't think it should be-especially since wireline carriers can't charge more for calls to Guam than they charge for long-distance calls to other parts of...
WASHINGTON-Jack Abramoff ordered the wireless firm that won the House in-building wireless infrastructure contract to make payments totaling $50,000 to a tax-exempt group created by the fallen lobbyist instead of charging the company lobbying lawmakers. The revelation was made public as part of Abramoff's...
DENVER-The line in the sand between Airgo Networks Inc. and backers of the Enhanced Wireless Consortium may be washed away if the IEEE adopts the Joint Proposal Team's first draft of the 802.11n standard for high-speed Wi-Fi. The IEEE's Joint Proposal team is set...
The first public airing of Qualcomm Inc.'s proprietary MediaFlo technology for mobile TV is taking place as the Flo Forum submitted its specification proposal for the Flo air interface between towers and devices to the Telecommunications Industry Association subcommittee TR-47. The Flo Forum, led...
The wireline parent companies of Cingular Wireless L.L.C. are dangling discounts, converged bills and the potential of cross-platform services as they try to convince customers to bundle Cingular wireless services along with high-speed Internet, video and wireline phone services. As the AT&T brand re-emerges...
TAMPA, Fla.-Syniverse Technologies Inc., which provides technology and clearing services to wireless companies, said it has renewed its contract with regional wireless operator SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. Syniverse said the deal calls for it to continue to supply the carrier with services designed to...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Kristin Rinne, chief technology officer for Cingular Wireless L.L.C., will serve a second term as chairwoman of 3G Americas after being re-elected by the GSM technology organization's board of governors. Rinne has worked in the telecommunications industry for more than 25 years. Alan...
WASHINGTON-A federal judge in Kentucky temporarily blocked enforcement of a new law prohibiting telecom operators from passing through to subscribers a targeted 1.3-percent gross receipts tax, pending the outcome of truth-in-billing litigation in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The turn of events...
Lucent Technologies Inc. cut its earnings predictions for both the first quarter and the full year, primarily due to lower equipment sales in the United States and Canada.The telecommunications equipment company expects its earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31 to be about $2.05...
Digital security and mobile content provider VeriSign Inc. said it plans to spend $30 million in cash to acquire software developer CallVision Inc. Seattle-based CallVision provides Web-based billing and data analysis applications to operators including T-Mobile, Bell Canada, TelstraClear and Australia's AAPT. The company's...
FORT WORTH, Texas-Shares of RadioShack Corp. slid after the company reported disappointing fourth-quarter sales and confirmed it will fall short of projected 2005 earnings-due largely to lagging wireless sales.The electronics retailer reported total sales during the quarter of $1.67 billion, a 5-percent increase from...
Verizon Wireless made headlines at the Consumer Electronics Show when it unveiled a new full-track mobile music download service. But the carrier was busy last week defending the offering's lack of support for MP3s. Vcast Music offers tunes that can be downloaded to a...
