A perfect storm of challenges in China, combined with chipset shortages in the United States and one less carrier customer all contributed to lower second-quarter revenues for CellStar Corp. Foremost, CellStar is bracing to take on "significant changes in the handset market in China,"...
Prepaid wireless provider Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. added content from Comedy Central to its already extensive data content selection provided by a number of youth-oriented brands including MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon.The agreement with Comedy Central, which Virgin said is part of a broad ongoing...
The high-speed wireless data field is filling up with contestants as most of the country's larger operators have announced plans to deploy services that in some cases will open up the door to additional competition from companies that either have resale agreements for wireless...
LONDON-Virgin Mobile U.K. is planning an initial public offering of about $2 billion in July, according to international press reports. The mobile virtual network operator will list its shares on the London Stock Exchange.The carrier currently has 4.1 million customers and has witnessed strong...
EDINBURG, Va.-Rural telecommunications provider Shenandoah Telecommunications Co. reported that its wireless subsidiary and Sprint PCS affiliate Shenandoah Personal Communications Co. signed an addendum to its management and services agreement with Sprint. The addendum gives Sprint more flexibility in the negotiation of nationwide reseller agreements...
Rural telecommunications provider Shenandoah Telecommunications Co. reported that its wireless subsidiary and Sprint PCS affiliate Shenandoah Personal Communications Co. signed an addendum to its management and services agreement with Sprint. The addendum gives Sprint more flexibility in the negotiation of nationwide reseller agreements in...
Government approval of Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s proposed $41 billion purchase of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. has never really been in doubt, predictable consumer-group opposition notwithstanding.Now it is a near certainty. A veritable cakewalk. A done deal. The Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission can...
Mobile virtual network operator agreements sprung up on both sides of the Atlantic this morning, with two wireline providers overlooking their former wireless subsidiaries for the partnerships. AT&T Corp. reported a deal with Sprint Corp. to sell AT&T-branded wireless service during the next five...
LONDON-Virgin Mobile said it has 4 million U.K. customers, adding 1 million clients since August 2003.The mobile virtual network operator cited its "attractive services, excellent customer care and motivated workforce" for the strong growth. A Financial Times survey this week said Virgin Mobile was...
PLAINFIELD, Ind.-Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. extended its agreement with Brightpoint Inc. to be the exclusive master agent for Virgin Mobile through March 2006. The agreement calls for Brightpoint to provide Virgin Mobile USA's Pay As You Go wireless products and value-added support programs to...
PLAINFIELD, Ind.-Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. extended its agreement with Brightpoint Inc. to be the exclusive master agent for Virgin Mobile through March 2006. The agreement calls for Brightpoint to provide Virgin Mobile USA's Pay As You Go wireless products and value-added support programs to...
The next stop in the evolution of the wireless industry is customization. And it's expected to hit with all the subtlety of a tornado.This is not your father's faceplate. Not only will your ring tone and ring-back tone identify you, so will your preloaded...
LONDON-Officials for Virgin Mobile in the United Kingdom confirmed that the company's announcement of a new Sony Ericsson phone for left-handed users was in fact an April Fool's Day prank. The company said it had no plans for such a phone.A Virgin Mobile spokeswoman...
LONDON-Virgin Mobile in the United Kingdom said it will sell the first phone designed exclusively for left-handed users. The phone, a Sony Ericsson LH-Z200, will sell for about $220 starting in April."We have been approached by thousands of left-handed customers who told us they...
A testimony to how ingrained wireless has become in popular culture, today consumers can purchase advanced mobile content-ring tones, graphics, games-as easily as they can buy a Diet Coke or Milky Way bar from a vending machine. Recent news surrounding mobile kiosks, or vending...
After nearly six years of semi-autonomous trading on the open markets, Sprint Corp. decided last week to rein in its wayward wireless division by folding in Sprint PCS' tracking stock under the company's wireline-based FON common stock symbol. Sprint PCS' stock has been trading...
CANNES, France-Billing and Customer Relationship Management-related news is plentiful at this week's 3GSM World Congress.Amdocs launched an enhanced version of its partner relationship management product that helps operators enable and manage convergent support for multiple content and commerce partners.The company also announced that Canada's...
LONDON-Virgin Mobile U.K., a mobile virtual network operator, said it added more than half a million new customers in the fourth quarter of 2003. The quarter's 506,448 new clients, a 37-percent rise over quarter-fourth 2002 figures, brings the company's subscriber figures to more than...
Few wireless companies have been able to target the often sought-after youth market like Boost Mobile L.L.C. Despite being owned by business-focused Nextel Communications Inc. and being available only in a pair of states, Boost managed to sign up more than 250,000 prepaid customers...
Nextel Communications Inc.'s youth-oriented Boost Mobile L.L.C. subsidiary lost its top executive last week as Peter Adderton, former chief executive officer and founder, said he was leaving the venture due to disagreements with Nextel over strategy, direction and the failure of Nextel to keep...
LONDON-Virgin Mobile U.K. said it received the lowest number of complaints in the latest customer satisfaction report from U.K. telecom regulator Oftel compared with the other five U.K. mobile operators.Virgin Mobile offers a mobile virtual network operator service in the United Kingdom.From April through...
LONDON-Following impressive growth in the U.S. market announced earlier this week, Virgin Mobile said its U.K. subsidiary had its best third-quarter performance, adding 269,381 new customers to push its subscribers base to 3.13 million. The company said its low texting tariff and other "value-focused"...
With less than a month to go before the scheduled Nov. 24 implementation of wireless local number portability, few carriers have engaged in the cut-throat rate plan battles many expected and instead have taken more subtle approaches to retaining or acquiring customers.Late last month...
WARREN, N.J.-Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. reported its prepaid products and services are now available at more than 220 CompUSA Inc. stores nationwide, an expansion of its retail presence that includes Best Buy, Circuit City and Amazon.Com."Our partnership with CompUSA furthers our goal of making...
