Boston Communications Group Inc. suffered another legal setback when a federal judge ordered the company to stop providing the prepaid wireless services that account for 70 percent of its revenue. BCGI provides a platform carriers like Cingular Wireless L.L.C. use to deploy prepaid offerings....
SEATTLE-The mobile music space continued to heat up across the Atlantic this week as two European carriers rolled out new services.02 Germany unveiled a wireless and Internet storefront that allows users to browse, search and download full-track songs directly to their handsets and PCs....
Prepaid services are continuing their march up the feature-rich ladder with an increasing number of operators beginning to offer wireless Web browsing services to their noncontract subscribers. Many operators offer basic text messaging or even more advanced access to downloadable content to their prepaid...
Several handset makers, including UTStarcom Inc., Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Kyocera Wireless Corp., chose wireless trade shows from San Francisco to Singapore as venues to introduce new handset models Tuesday.
Following several quarters of year-over-year customer growth, the wireless industry's nationwide operators could be set for a softer third quarter. Customer additions are expected to fall just short of the nearly 5 million customers added last year and below the 5.2 million added during...
Leap Wireless International Inc.'s service expansion continues, as the carrier announced plans to launch high-speed wireless data capabilities and WAP-based browsing. The carrier also plans to loosen the rein on its Jump prepaid service to better target the youth demographic. Leap's high-speed wireless data...
Verizon Wireless is on track to post another record quarter of net additions driven by back-to-school and family-plan additions, according to a report from Merrill Lynch. Based on more than 80 store visits in five markets, the firm said it raised its third-quarter net...
Virgin Mobile USA Inc. said it has torn down the walls surrounding its mobile Web browser, allowing users with third-generation handsets to freely surf the Internet. The operator said subscribers can access the entire Internet from 3G phones including the Audiovox Flasher V7 and...
Facilities-based telecommunications provider IDT Corp. unveiled its TuYo Mobile prepaid wireless service targeting the rapidly growing-and increasingly targeted-Hispanic community. IDT said the TuYo Mobile service will offer a bilingual customer experience, international calling and text messaging, and "culturally relevant" music, ringtones, games and graphics....
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. reported an agreement with national entertainment retailer Musicland Group Inc. to sell Cingular's postpaid and prepaid GoPhone products in nearly 400 Sam Goody and Media Play stores beginning next month. The companies also said they would collaborate on "new approaches to...
Instant messaging continued to move into wireless Wednesday, as Virgin Mobile announced a deal to bring America Online Inc.'s Instant Messaging to subscribers who purchase Virgin Mobile's latest phone. The offering will include traditional IM features, including presence and buddy lists, and initially will...
NEW YORK-Virgin Mobile USA Inc. announced an exclusive deal to bring content from alternative rockers the Gorillaz to wireless. The operator said it has launched ringtones, realtones and wallpapers from the band's platinum album "Demon Days" through Virgin Mobile's First Dibs program.Wallpapers include "signature...
NEW YORK-Virgin Mobile USA Inc. announced an exclusive deal to bring content from alternative rockers the Gorillaz to wireless.The operator launched ringtones, realtones and wallpapers from the band's platinum album "Demon Days" through Virgin Mobile's First Dibs program. Wallpapers include "signature graphics" from members...
Wireless operators rank among the most prolific advertisers in the business world. The wireless industry spent $692 million on advertising during the first quarter, a 17.7-percent increase from the $588 million the industry spent during the first quarter of 2004, according to Nielsen Media...
Bolstered by a relatively speedy and uneventful approval process and a new ticker symbol that began trading on the New York Stock Exchange last week, Sprint Nextel Corp. said it is in position to become a differentiated wireless provider focused on providing advanced services...
Nearly 80 percent of wireless shoppers said they prefer to use cell-phone company Web sites to compare plans and products compared with visiting retail stores for such comparisons, according to a study conducted by Keynote Systems Inc.The study noted that in terms of mainstream...
The battle for wireless customers between the industry's No. 1 operator Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and No. 2 Verizon Wireless is set to move into the rapidly expanding hybrid-plan market segment. Hybrid plans generally merge calling-minute buckets associated with lucrative postpaid plans with the no-contract...
SK-Earthlink's plans to launch a mobile virtual network operator service have been pushed back until at least early next year, but despite the delay, the company is not scaling back its roadmap to sign up 3 million customers by 2009. "We are looking at...
As profit margins from voice become razor-thin, operators are hoping to push lucrative content and applications to bulk up the bottom line. Ironically, they're looking to voice-driven technologies to help. Consumers' difficulties in accessing content and services from a wireless phone are well documented....
The second quarter is shaping up as a one-horse affair as Verizon Wireless appears set to take substantial market share away from its competitors and move ever closer to its larger rival Cingular Wireless L.L.C. Verizon Wireless, which ruled supreme as the industry's big...
Carriers and content providers increasingly are targeting younger users in a scramble to push revenue-generating content and applications into one of the few remaining growth market segments. But marketing to teens, "tweens" and even grade-schoolers can be a perilous endeavor. Last week, a group...
Sprint Corp. reported a disappointing 400,000 net customer additions during the second quarter, a 20-percent drop from the 505,000 customers the carrier added last year and below analysts estimates of between 450,000 and 500,000 subscriber additions. Sprint attributed the shortfall to an increase in...
PISCATAWAY, N.J.-Telcordia said Virgin Mobile USA deployed its newly added real-time charging and rating functionality for carriers. The system allows carriers to set up billing for mobile games, offer customer rewards such as two-for-one ringtone downloads, support promotions and give family members access to...
PISCATAWAY, N.J.-Telcordia announced Virgin Mobile USA has deployed its newly added real-time charging and rating functionality for carriers. The system allows carriers to set up billing for mobile games, offer customer rewards such as two-for-one ringtone downloads, support promotions and give family members access...
