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REVIEW: It’s no joke, Skype allows you to make free calls from your cellphone

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Yay or Nay. Every week we'll review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn't. If you wish to submit your application or...

Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel crack open location services: Carriers to allow wireless application developers access to GPS data

Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless each appear to be easing their stance on sharing subscribers' location information with partners, efforts that put weight behind their bluster about openness.Sprint Nextel announced it will open its location platform to location aggregators WaveMarket Inc. and uLocate...

Wireless policies under scrutiny under Obama advisers

While it will be months before President-elect Barack Obama gets his administration in place and begins to roll out policy priorities, the selection of individuals focusing on high-tech agencies and their issues in the transition period suggests industry giants Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility...

CTIA drops open-access challenge over 700 MHz C Block

The mobile-phone industry has dropped a legal challenge to the open-access condition imposed on a third of the 700 MHz spectrum auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission earlier this year. Wireless industry trade association CTIA appealed the agency's C-Block open-access rule last year -...

Parting the waters, pummeling walled gardens

History-making is not apt to stop with the election of an African American to the highest office in the land. President-elect Barack Obama and his incoming administration also could break with tradition insofar as the balance of power between telecom network titans and the...

Why don’t things simply work right out of the box?

We expect our purchases to work as promised - and work right away. When it doesn't happen, it's frustrating and disappointing at best, and potentially a customer-losing experience at it's worst.Apple's 3G iPhone was a product that I was enthusiastically looking forward to for...

Policy landscape likely to shift with Tuesday’s races

The wireless industry faces a policy landscape whose evolving contours could be significantly shaped in coming years by the outcome of the Nov. 4 elections.On the surface, it would appear industry has plenty of reason to worry. If Democrats capture the White House and...

Open access: No one’s sure of definitions in this new territory

From early indications, the uncertain shift to open platforms in the wireless space will not take a linear path and instead is apt to evolve in zigzag fashion due to variances in unpredictable political, technological and market forces.The answer to the question, 'What does...

Hutchison subsidiary to bring low-end, social networking phones to U.S.: INQ to use BREW to integrate Facebook, other services

Social networking is exploding in mobile, according to figures released by ABI Research. And Frank Meehan thinks he knows how to capitalize.ABI polled 500 users of online social networks and found that 46% of respondents had used such services from their phones. MySpace and...

Open-access proponents point fingers: Carrier CEO comments raise concerns

THE OPEN-ACCESS POLICY DEBATE, which raged last year and then curiously subsided after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said the agency should not force wireless networks to give unfettered access to third-party devices and applications, is once again alive. The issue appears to...

Worst of the Week: Quit fiddling!

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 RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....

VZW+Alltel: Roaming issues to be scrutinized

VERIZON WIRELESS' PLAY for Alltel Communications L.L.C. may not necessarily trigger a classic battle over whether the government should block the deal, but rather could ignite considerable controversy over whether roaming, divestiture and other conditions should be imposed on a merged entity already boasting...

Show me the math!

So it seems to me that the whole exclusive, subsidized handset business model is causing the wireless industry a lot of grief - unnecessary grief.For example: 1. The FCC was working with Verizon Wireless to create a national early termination fee policy. The nation's...

FCC may auction another 25 MHz of spectrum: ‘AWS III’ licensee could be required to provide free service

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin scheduled a vote on rules for another major spectrum auction, one that would encompass 25 megahertz in the 2155-2180 MHz advanced wireless services band and require the winning bidder to offer free broadband service under an aggressive build-out...

Startups see revenue in enhanced voicemail

MOBILE CONSUMERS PROBABLY don't give voicemail a second thought. But a couple of startups are hoping to change that. Voicemail, like caller ID and long-distance calling, has become a standard inclusion in almost all wireless offerings, nearly as much a part of plans as...

CTIA Video Roundup

CTIA's Wireless 2008 conference and exhibition touched on all things wireless, from new handset launches to the industry's ongoing technology arguments. RCR Wireless News Online Editor Mike Dano covers the biggest news of each day at the show. CTIA's John Walls explains the...

CTIA Video Roundup

As the wireless industry gears up for the nation's biggest wireless show, CTIA's John Walls discusses the trade group's objectives for this year and beyond. ; CTIA's John Walls and the issues facing wireless; And in other news,...

Martin to oppose open-access mandates: Uproar from public-interest groups, Skype follows swiftly

LAS VEGAS-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said during a keynote last week at the CTIA Wireless 2008 event that he opposes Skype Ltd.'s petition to impose open access throughout the cellphone industry, prompting cheers from cellular carriers and criticism from others. "In light...

Post-CTIA show syndrome

Excited by the initial buzz of CTIA, Red Bull and Vegas, (Did I mention how much I love this city? It's perfect. Just perfect.) I made some wild claims early last week.I said the wireless industry was "back to full strength" and that this...

Day 2 blues

So it was about 24 hours ago when in these same pages - and if we did our jobs right, in this same general area - I made some wild claim that the wireless industry was "back to full strength" and that this year's...

Doyle questions Martin on Skype

Federal Communication Commission Chairman Kevin Martin's well-received announcement here that he will push for dismissal of Skype Ltd.'s open-access petition has now prompted a reaction from an influential House lawmaker. Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), vice chairman of the...

Martin to oppose open-access regs

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said he opposes Skype Ltd.'s petition to impose open access throughout the cellphone industry, prompting cheers from cellular carriers and criticism from others. "In light of the industry's embrace of this more open approach, I think it's premature...

Open access: Paradigm shift or an open question

Change has never been easy for the cell-phone industry. And it's perfectly understandable. With the kind of wild success and wealth creation during its first three decades, cellular chieftains who collectively service more than 250 million subscribers have a history of being instinctively cautious...

VIDEO: Top stories from CTIA Wireless 2008, Day 2: Sprint’s announcements, FCC’s rulings, and more

The nation's biggest wireless show kicks into high gear, as Sprint Nextel announces its handset plans. Dan Hesse, Sprint's CEO, releases the carrier's iPhone response, designed by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Samsung's new sleek, black Instinct device features a touchscreen, graphically rich user interface, visual voicemail...