The thought of bar codes typically goes hand-in-hand with sleep-inducing topics like managing inventories, tracking shipments and supermarket check-out lanes. But Jim Levinger wants you to associate bar codes with interactive wireless marketing. Levinger is the chief executive officer of startup Nextcode Corp., a...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-Google Inc. quietly took its e-mail service wireless, allowing users to access their Gmail accounts from Web-enabled handsets. The service, which is free aside from carrier data charges, allows consumers to reply with a voice call to people in their contact list,...
BEDFORD, Mass.-Shares of Boston Communication Group Inc. jumped more than 25 percent after a U.S. appeals court halted an order that would have forced the company to stop selling prepaid services to some of its carrier customers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the...
Sprint Nextel Corp. said it will acquire another of its CDMA affiliates, this time picking up Enterprise Communications for about $98 million including the assumption of debt.The move is the latest in a string of affiliate acquisitions in the wake of Sprint Corp.'s purchase...
WASHINGTON-Public-safety network operators should consider partnerships with commercial wireless businesses, said Timothy Donahue, executive chairman of Sprint Nextel Corp. and NRIC VII chairman. Acting as chairman of the FCC's Network Reliability & Interoperability Council, it was the only time Donahue questioned a presenter at...
ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. said it plans to shut down two AT&T Wireless Services Inc. location-based services in 2006 as it continues to integrate AWS' network. The carrier said it will kill the mMode LBS offering "Find Friends" and "Find Things Nearby" effective Jan. 1....
WASHINGTON-A junior member of the Senate Commerce Committee introduced legislation to transform communications regulation by modeling the Federal Communications Commission's work after the Federal Trade Commission. The proposed legislation by Sen. James DeMint (R-S.C.) tracks closely with a proposal made earlier this year by...
Siemens AG's equipment is not part of Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s initial 16-city UMTS/HSDPA rollout, according to UBS Investment Research. The situation stands as a blow to the equipment provider, and could call into question Siemens' future relationship with Cingular. UBS said Cingular deployed radio...
WASHINGTON-Law enforcement's ability to use "roving wiretaps" is in doubt following a failed attempt to break a Senate filibuster of the USA Patriot Act late Friday. The House of Representatives had passed a compromise USA Patriot Act extension but the Senate rejected the compromise....
WASHINGTON-The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gutted Minnesota's wireless consumer-protection law, defeating Attorney General Mike Hatch (D) and handing the mobile-phone industry a major legal victory at a time of increasing state intervention into the wireless business. In reversing a lower court, the...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission should not discriminate against Voice over Internet Protocol providers when there are more than 100 counties that do not offer wired 911 service, Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) told FCC Commissioner Michael Copps last week. Copps was appearing before the Senate...
SEATTLE-Nextel Partners Inc. is expanding its use of Seattle-based Par3 Communications' customer care platform for automating collections, welcoming and interacting with new customer, and to provide automated details on using voicemail, wireless Web access, plan limits, billing cycles and walkie-talkie services. The Par3 service...
ATLANTA, Georgia-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is among a half-dozen technology and financial companies teaming on a contactless payment and content trial at Atlanta's Philips Arena. JP Morgan Chase & Co., Nokia Corp., Royal Philips Electronics, Visa USA and VivOtech are also participating in the trial,...
WASHINGTON-As part of an effort to spur the deployment of broadband services in airplanes, the Federal Communications Commission said it would auction spectrum in both the 800 MHz air-to-ground band and the 400 MHz general-aviation band, but only will give small businesses bidding credits...
WASHINGTON-The Bush administration asked Japan to promote competitive wireless policies and to improve spectrum management, but some reforms pushed by trade officials here are not necessarily legally embraced in the United States. The office of U.S. trade representative weighed in on wireless issues in...
Amid holiday howls over the use of "Merry Christmas" instead of more all-inclusive seasonal greetings, Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. is blithely tripping its own way by pushing its "Chrismahanukwanzakah" marketing campaign again this year. The company declared Dec. 13 to be the official day...
CHARLOTTE, N.C.-SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. said it broadened a two-year licensing agreement with Seattle-based Qpass. The two companies agreed to add Qpass' Content Delivery Platform and Content Management Services to SunCom's Downloadables service, which allows users to download content to personalize their phones. Qpass...
T-Mobile USA Inc. pulled job postings with anti-union language from its Web site, after protests from Switzerland-based international union group UNI. T-Mobile USA spokesman Peter Dobrow said that the language of the ads was "a poor choice of words" and confirmed that "we've now...
With Alltel Corp.'s announcement last week that it would spin off its wireline business and merge it with Valor Communications Group, the nation's fifth-largest carrier is on its way to becoming purely a wireless player in an increasingly consolidated mobile marketplace. The declaration had...
ANAHEIM, Calif.-NextPhase Wireless Inc. said it expanded its pre-WiMAX network into California's Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The company, which designs and operates its own networks, acquired Blazen Wireless earlier this year. Since then, NextPhase said it has focused its efforts on building out...
SAN FRANCISCO-T-Mobile USA Inc. paid a $135,000 fine to settle a deceptive-advertising claim brought by New York's Department of Consumer Affairs. This summer, the department took action against T-Mobile USA, as well as Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. charging that while newspaper ads...
WASHINGTON-The private-wireless industry told FCC Chairman Kevin Martin that it supports the creation of a new homeland-security bureau within the Federal Communications Commission. However, the industry wants its policy and licensing issues moved to the new bureau if public-safety policy and licensing issues are...
The IEEE's November Wi-Fi standards-development meeting came and went without much fanfare, but debate over how to best reach a standard is causing some fireworks. Airgo Networks Inc. said it is disappointed that there was no proposal to vote on at the meeting, and...
FORT WORTH, Texas-Disappointing wireless sales likely will prevent RadioShack Corp. from meeting its full-year earnings forecast, the retailer said. Calling its wireless sales "weaker than anticipated," RadioShack said it is unlikely to meet its fiscal 2005 target of $2.14 to $2.24 per share. But...
