BOSTON—Mobile virtual network operators Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. and Helio L.L.C. are more effective at using the Internet to drive brand awareness and sales relative to their peers, according to a new report from market research firm Compete Inc. The research also showed niche...
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif.—Wherify Wireless Inc. will retail its Wherifone GPS Locator phones through Toys ‘R’ Us outlets nationwide starting Oct. 1, after a long delay during which the firm twice re-engineered the product. Wherify will sell the phone under a mobile virtual network operator...
Why is everybody in wireless chasing the youth demographic? To steal a line from bank robber Eddie Sutton, that's where the money is. Today's average 10-year-old will spend nearly $30,000 on wireless services over the course of his lifetime, according to new figures from...
Sprint Nextel Corp. had a rocky second quarter, with plummeting retail postpaid net customer additions and negative net additions through its wholesalers. Carrier executives acknowledge the problem and blamed it on a tightening of the company's credit requirements for customers, as well as the...
U.S. Cellular Corp. released limited operating results for the second quarter, reporting a churn rate that ticked upward and net overall customer activations that were about half of what the carrier achieved during the same period last year-however, the company expects to boost its...
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s decision to deploy mobile WiMAX technology for its next-generation network answers one set of questions, but begs another.For a couple of years now, Sprint Nextel has touted that it is not a telecom company, but a multimedia carrier. I believe it....
BOSTON—The U.S. mobile virtual network operator market continues to take hits from naysayers who believe the segment isn’t living up to its hype. The latest blow comes from research firm Strategy Analytics, which predicts the majority of MVNOs will fail to make an impact...
DENVER-Qwest Communications International Inc. has quietly launched Sprint Nextel Corp.'s full-track music download service for Qwest wireless customers. The mobile virtual network operator is carrying the Sprint Music Store, which allows users to download songs to a mobile phone or PC for $2.50 per...
DENVER—Qwest Communications International Inc. has quietly launched Sprint Nextel Corp.’s full-track music download service for Qwest wireless customers. The mobile virtual network operator is carrying the Sprint Music Store, which allows users to download songs to a mobile phone or PC for $2.50...
A growing number of colleges and universities around the country are grappling with how to communicate with and provide services for students who are part of a mobile generation, often have their own cellular phones and likely aren't going to sign up for landline...
Not all subscribers are equal.While big-spending, low-churning direct subscriber adds are often best, there are only so many of them to go around. As such, the value of indirect subscribers is evolving as some operators begin to depend more heavily on these customers and...
The mobile virtual network operator bandwagon, cruising along smoothly a few months ago, appears to be suffering from a case of backlash. Recent MVNO news and rumors haven't been particularly pretty. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a scathing assessment of MVNOs' performance thus...
Yet another wireless startup is diving head-first into the mobile payment waters this week, as Secure Wireless Transfers Corp. plans to team with the Association of Surfing Professionals for its coming-out party. The Orange County, Calif.-based company will introduce "KushCash," a system allowing consumers...
Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCR Wireless News to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the...
With several mobile virtual network operators targeting ethnic or immigrant markets, low-cost international calling is one of the key potential differentiators in a marketplace that demands differentiation. It's a space where MobileSphere saw an opportunity, and in the year or so since it began...
Time to play "Guess the mobile virtual network operator." Your clues: U.S.-based, postpaid but requires no contract and relies on Internet sales and telephone sales for distribution. The MVNO is hosted by a national carrier and has nearly doubled its customer base within the...
After entering the mobile virtual network operator space with naked ambition, a $500 Sanyo Corp. handset (the "MVP") and a take-the-world-by-storm marketing spend, Walt Disney Co.-owned Mobile ESPN L.L.C. has regrouped. Results have not met expectations for the lucrative sports news franchise-gone-mobile, or in...
U.S. carriers are demanding more of a place at the content trough, content provides say, whittling away at already onerous revenue-share deals. And publishers are feeling the squeeze. Ringtone vendors and others have long complained about operators that pocket the lion's share of content...
T-Mobile USA Inc. again is trying to crack down on independent dealers that sell service from multiple carriers and mobile virtual network operators, allegedly threatening to pull T-Mobile USA products from distributors who want to carry products from new market entrants such as Amp'd...
Ah, the second quarter-no big holidays and the momentum from fourth quarter sales is but a distant memory. Still, it hasn't been an idle three months for the wireless industry: several carriers have revamped sections of their pricing plans, and mobile virtual network operators...
With a flurry of launches last week, the wireless industry appears to have re-discovered-and is falling head over heels in love with-The Family. Both Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA Inc. announced new family-focused services on the day that Disney Mobile began selling its highly...
LOS ANGELES—Xero Mobile has yet to launch its advertising-based mobile virtual network operator service in the United States, but that isn’t keeping the company from offering up its business model for partnerships with telecom companies abroad. "While our focus remains resolutely on our U.S....
Consumer-side mobile virtual network operators that still want to get in on the game could be out of luck, but there are opportunities ahead on the business side and in serving the machine-to-machine space. John Caddell, vice president and general manager of mobile virtual...
PITTSBURGH—Penthera Technologies Inc., a software provider for mobile broadcast TV and multimedia, announced the launch of its Penthera Broadcast Center 1.0, a carrier-grade mobile broadcast control and data system designed to support advertising, branding and metering. Though terms were not disclosed, the company said...
