RCR Wireless News back issues from April 2006:
Infrastructure Awards.(Wireless Metrics)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Following are infrastructure contracts announced in March: Alcatel China With China Mobile subsidiary Shanxi Mobile Communication Co. Ltd. to expand the carrier's GSM network in Yuncheng, Luliang, Linfeng, Jincheng, Changzhi, Xinzhou and Jinzhong. A second contract ...
Stock Watch: March 23-March 30.(Wireless Metrics)
Apr 03, 2006 ... table: Stock Watch: March 23-March 30 * 3 graphs: ...
Wireless pitches up content for baseball.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... With Major League Baseball's spring training winding down, two wireless players are gearing up to bring baseball content to their subscribers in time for opening day. Mobile virtual network operator Mobile ESPN L.L.C. announced a suite of content focused on the 2006 baseball ...
Tecore targets MVNOs with new platform.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Tecore Wireless Systems, which has developed technology to provide voice, data and multimedia services from a common platform, introduced a service for mobile virtual network operators. The T-MVNO product provides mobile subscriber management and application services, uses an IP ...
Brightpoint to manage handset distribution for MVNO Helio.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Handset distribution company Brightpoint Inc. announced it will provide soon-to-launch mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. with wireless device distribution services, including inventory procurement and management, and custom packaging. Helio, a joint venture between ...
Amp'd extends distribution, lowers phone price.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: KELLY HILL Amp'd Mobile Inc. is ramping up its reach, with new distribution plans and content aimed at furthering its ambition of "liberating the digital tribe,'' in the words of Doug Dobie, the mobile virtual network operator's chief marketing officer. ...
MVNO XE Mobile to target students using Cingular network.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Mobile virtual network operator XE Mobile said it plans to launch its pay-as-you-go cellular service targeted at students during an event in Las Vegas this week. The company said it will launch the service at a party April 6 at the Tao Nightclub in the Venetian Hotel in Las ...
Too small, too slow, but paying off.(Opinion)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: Jeffrey Silva It has been about two-and-a-half years since Steve Largent took over the reins at CTIA, the cellular trade group hosting this week's big bash in Las Vegas. Just how is it that Largent won the well-endowed right to be kingpin lobbyist for this wildly ...
Industry cheers increases in Nokia's sales forecasts.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Nokia Corp. sent ripples through the mobile-device industry by raising its 2006 growth estimate for global handset sales from 10 percent to 15 percent "or more'' over last year. The statement was delivered by Jorma Olilla, Nokia's outgoing chairman and chief executive officer, at the ...
U.S. wireless market approaching turning point.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... This year could mark the beginning of important changes for the U.S. wireless industry, according to research from IDC. Last year was a stellar year for the industry, with about 21.8 million new subscribers activating service, propelling the industry to more than 200 million ...
CDMA Rev. A news met with war of words, yawns.
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: PHIL CARSON Sprint Nextel Corp. may have gotten a jump-at least in the rhetorical game of crafting perceptions-over its arch-rival and fellow CDMA carrier Verizon Wireless with its announced plans to implement CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A and its intent to be first to ...
411 directory proposal could doom Senate's phone-records bill.(News)(Directory)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER The Senate Commerce Committee last week passed the Protecting Consumer Phone Records Act of 2006, but only after adding an amendment that the chairman of the committee believes will doom the bill to failure. By voice vote, the Senate ...
Nokia dominates Latin American handset sales.(Global Wireless)
Apr 03, 2006 ... A national survey of Colombian wireless users found Nokia Corp. dominating the South American country's mobile handset market, which despite its modest size-at 43 million in population, the world's 30th largest country-provides a glance at a rapidly growing emerging market and battleground ...
Sweeping back the veil for a closer look at India's handset market.(Global Wireless)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: PHIL CARSON In the wireless universe, one outstanding fact about India trumps its ancient history, heterogeneous society and complex political and economic mix: With more than 1 billion people, India is the second-most-populous country in the world, and with rising ...
Public-safety must address funding, turf wars to combat interoperability concerns.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER With each significant manmade or natural disaster, the problem of public-safety communications networks not being able to interact with each other is underscored. Indeed, even as the public-safety community was fighting to gain access to 24 ...
Alcatel buy of Lucent would see intense scrutiny by feds.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Experts said a merger between French telecom giant Alcatel SA and U.S.-based Lucent Technologies Inc. likely would undergo intense scrutiny over national security implications, possibly delaying but not necessarily dooming a blockbuster vendor deal that ...
Alltel taking breather following 'busiest year'.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: KELLY HILL Alltel Corp. is on track to complete its wireline spinoff by mid-year, and the company plans to extend CDMA2000 1x EV-DO services to about 60 percent of its potential customers, Chief Financial Officer Sharilyn Gasaway told analysts at the Bank of America ...
Wireless losing ground in USF battle.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Cutting wireless out of the universal-service system seems to be gaining traction as legislation introduced in the House of Representatives that would make it much more difficult for mobile-phone carriers to qualify for universal-service support ....
Products.
Apr 03, 2006 ... RFS Radio Frequency Systems said it plans to demonstrate a fast bit-rate remote radio head unit that permits fiber connectivity direct to the towertop at CTIA Wireless 2006. The RHH system permits base transmitter station to antenna separation distances of up to 10 miles, which ...
Controversial 700 MHz plan aims to solve public-safety crisis; But DTV auction would be scrapped.
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Wireless industry veterans with access to significant financial and political resources soon intend to ask policymakers to scrap plans to auction a large swath of 700 MHz spectrum being surrendered by TV broadcasters and instead use 30 megahertz for a ...
Cingular releases Nokia 9300 into crowded market.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Being fashionably late to a party can cut two ways-it gets you noticed, but the assembled crowd inevitably registers a thumbs up or down on your appearance. So Nokia Corp., Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and market watchers will observe with keen interest how Nokia's 9300 smart phone ...
Mobile music content could be the answer to thinning margins for wireless operators.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Operators struggling with decreasing profits from basic services may want to look to mobile music, according to two new studies. The worldwide market for full-track mobile music downloads increased 2,000 percent from 2004 to last year, according to new figures from ABI Research ....
LimeLife grabs $10M in venture funding.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... LimeLife Inc. snared $10 million in Series B financing, the women's mobile content publisher said. U.S. Venture Partners led the round; other investors include Rustic Canyon Partners, i-Hatch Ventures and Monitor Ventures. LimeLife ...
MMA to tackle wireless video guidelines.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... The Mobile Marketing Association has created a committee to address the operational and technical guidelines surrounding wireless video. The committee, which is open to all MMA members, seeks to establish best practices for marketing through wireless video and create guidelines ...
Network-neutrality provision ignites protests in draft telecom bill.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Network neutrality has emerged as a key sticking point in the debate regarding a scaled-backed communications draft bill-tentatively dubbed the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006-released by the House Commerce ...
xMAX devices expected to be available by year-end.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: JONI MORSE XG Technology L.L.C. said its first consumer product, a Voice over Internet Protocol handset, will be available by the end of this year and that the device will work with low-cost xMAX-enabled base stations. The handsets are expected to be dual-mode, equipped ...
Wireless History; 12 years ago this month....(Wireless Metrics)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Regulators and the wireless industry began considering the challenges of handling emergency 911 calls on wireless phones as mobile subscriber growth continued and on average more than 550,000 ...
Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel expected to lead slowing 1Q growth.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: KELLY HILL Wireless operators largely are expected to maintain their market share in the first quarter, which is typically a weaker quarter than the holiday-fueled fourth quarter. However, the seasonality of the wireless sales cycle is expected to be flattening, with ...
ACE*Comm shows enterprise management app that includes flexible usage reporting.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Network business intelligence and operating support systems solutions provider ACE*Comm Corp. unveiled its Enterprise Patrol application that the company said allows enterprise communications managers to control company-owned mobile phone usage. ACE*Comm noted the solution allows for ...
Bango, Volantis ink content deals with Hearst publications.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Bango is powering three new mobile content portals for properties of publishing giant Hearst Publications. The U.K.-based provider of direct-to-consumer content launched mobile sites for Cosmopolitan, CosmoGirl and Seventeen, hawking ringtones, wallpapers and horoscopes for the ...
Disney hires ad agency, gears up for mobile launch.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: KELLY HILL All signs point to the Walt Disney Co. gearing up to jump into the wireless space soon. The company's mobile virtual network operator's Disney Mobile Web site has been stepping up efforts to lure would-be subscribers to the service, as well as offering hints ...
Will MSS spectrum holdings attract cellular carriers?(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: PHIL CARSON The advent of ancillary terrestrial component, or ATC, will revolutionize the mobile satellite services industry in the long run, according to a new report from Northern Sky Research, a market research firm that focuses on the mobile satellite sector. ...
Motorola to release iDEN/CDMA handset by the fall.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... In a move that could help it retain a core piece of business, Motorola Inc. is developing handsets for Sprint Nextel Corp. designed to work on both the carriers iDEN network that Motorola created for Nextel Communications Inc. in the 1990s as well as the carriers CDMA network. ...
Motorola Q to debut this month.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... The Moto Q, Motorola Inc.'s flagship smart phone, will be available in April, missing by a hair the company's initial forecast for a first-quarter release. A Motorola spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on the timing of the Q's release. The device ...
Hotxt's SMS service could ruffle feathers.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: COLIN GIBBS British wireless subscribers can send and receive text messages at bargain-basement rates thanks to an IP-based messaging service released last week. But-unlike Voice over IP-analysts say the new offering poses little threat to mobile operators in the United ...
Alcatel/Lucent deal could be first of many for vendors.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: JONI MORSE As Alcatel Corp.'s board of directors met last Thursday to review its "merger of equals'' with long-time rival telecom equipment vendor Lucent Technologies Inc., analysts were pounding out reports and talking up a storm, delving into the merger's many angles ....
Powerwave deploys system for CTA.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Powerwave Technologies Inc. said it deployed a multitechnology, multicarrier wireless coverage system for the Chicago Transit Authority. In cooperation with Aldrige Electric, Powerwave installed its fiber-based indoor distributed antenna system along 11.4 miles of subway ...
Tier 2 handset makers scramble for shrinking market share.
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: PHIL CARSON The squeeze is on, the stakes are high and the options few. Second-tier handset makers-their exact numbers globally are unclear, but there may be more than 100 players-are scrambling to survive, let alone thrive, as the top six vendors increased ...
Groove Mobile drums up $8.5 million in financing.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Mobile music company Groove Mobile announced it closed $8.5 million in new venture funding. Egan-Managed Capital led the round, while Charles River Ventures, Kodiak Venture Partners and Star Ventures also participated. Groove has so far raised more than $20 million in funding. ...
Wireless: Tomorrow's emergency-alert system.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: Jeff Silva The global war on terrorism and natural disasters here and abroad are forcing policymakers to rethink-and redesign-public warning systems that take advantage of wireless and other technologies used by billions of people around the world today. The undertaking ...
Handmark giving away content for two weeks.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Handmark Inc. is hoping to raise its profile by giving away service. The Kansas City, Mo.-based company mobile media company this week will begin offering free content in an effort to raise consumer awareness of its Pocket Express offering. Users with smart phones from Research ...
AOL service makes Web pages better for mobile use.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... AOL will join the crowded mobile browser playing field this week, unveiling a service that automatically adapts Web pages for mobile-phone use. The Internet service provider introduced technology from InfoGin Ltd. that transcodes Web sites, optimizing content for the small ...
Mercora offers music 'placeshifting' with streaming broadcast service.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Mercora Inc. plans to bring more attention to the hot topic of placeshifting this week with the launch of a second version of its Radio 2.0. The offering, billed as "MySpace for music lovers,'' allows members to become digital DJs, creating their ...
Wireless services making progress in Iraq despite myriad of internal issues.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: JEFFREY SILVA Siyamend Zaid Othman is helping lay the foundation for a new Iraq where information flows freer than it did under the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein and where ordinary people can chat on cell phones like billions of others do around the world everyday ....
Congress wades into digital copyrights fray.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER Technology may be the only way to solve the centuries-old battle between copyright owners and consumers who want authorization to make copies of protected works. "We don't have a political solution, but if we could come up with a ...
People.
Apr 03, 2006 ... Versent Versent Mobile appointed Chris Rechtsteiner executive director of market development and Richard Gaski director of product management to help the company's private-label wireless efforts in the mobile virtual network operator space. Prior to joining the company, ...
Networks In Motion locates $10 million in VC funds.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Location-services company Networks In Motion announced it scored $10 million in its latest round of venture funding. Sutter Hill led the round, while the company's existing investors Redpoint Ventures and Mission Ventures also participated. Networks In Motion said it would use ...
Prepaid vs. family plan debate hinges on ARPU.
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: KELLY HILL Sprint Nextel Corp. has been trying the past several months to convince Wall Street that it needs to shift its perception on the value of prepaid vs. postpaid subscribers, arguing that the carrier's youth-oriented Boost Mobile L.L.C. brand deserves new math ....
Alltel offers kid-friendly Web filter.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Alltel Corp. has made a free mobile Web content filter available to parents to help them keep their children from accessing inappropriate content through wireless phones. The content filter can be added to any Alltel wireless account by calling a toll-free technical support ...
Smart SMS acquires film library from Omni Film Distribution.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Smart SMS Corp. is looking to expand its mobile marketing offerings, acquiring a film library of more than 100 feature films, short clips, animated videos and documentaries. The company bought the portfolio of Omni Film Distribution for an undisclosed sum in an effort to deliver ...
Nortel execs barred from stock trading, troubles may affect merger landscape.(Global Wireless)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: JONI MORSE Current and former directors, officers and employees of Nortel Networks Ltd. have been forbidden by the Ontario Securities Commission to trade shares of the company's stock, Nortel said in a statement. Nortel said the temporary cease trade order ...
Bluetooth SIG chooses WiMedia Alliance for next-gen evolution.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: JONI MORSE The Bluetooth Special Interest Group picked the WiMedia Alliance version of an ultra-wideband standard to integrate with Bluetooth technology, thus taking the next step in its plan to create a high-speed data rate version of Bluetooth capable of transferring ...
Content vendor ZIM to acquire AIS in $1.1M deal.(Global Wireless)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Canadian mobile data company ZIM said it will pay $1.1 million in cash and stock to acquire U.S.-based content provider Advanced Internet Services Inc. ZIM hopes to use the acquisition as an "immediate entry'' point to the mobile content market. AIS was founded in 2002 as a ...
MBlox goes off-deck with music download offering.(Global Wireless)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Mobile transaction provider mBlox Inc. is trying to spur full-track mobile music download sales with an off-deck service that allows users to download songs without paying operator data charges. MBlox has teamed with New-Visions, a mobile marketing company that works with record ...
Clickatell moving to U.S. following MultiMode merger.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Clickatell Inc. said it plans to move its corporate headquarters to the United States following its merger with application service provider MultiMode Inc. The South Africa-based mobile messaging company said it hopes to address the growing demand for mobile messaging services ...
BeVocal lines up partners for self-service provision.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... BeVocal, which provides hosted customer self-service solutions, announced that it integrated its solution with several telecom solution providers to create a multichannel self-service solution for wireless carriers. The company said its integration partners include iLoop Mobile ...
T-Mobile, iPass ink roaming deal throughout Europe.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... iPass Inc. said it has partnered with T-Mobile International to incorporate the carrier's European hot-spot network into its global broadband roaming network. The partnership gives iPass users access to more than 8,000 T-Mobile and T-Com hot spots in Germany, the United Kingdom, ...
Alcatel expands microwave portfolio.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Alcatel said it expanded its microwave product portfolio to include its new 9500 Microwave Cross Connect solution. The company said the product requires no external peripherals and provides an architecture to transport Internet Protocol and TDM ...
Opportunities and threats.(Opinion)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: Tracy Ford Even as wireless celebrates another illustrious year of record customer additions and handset sales, the industry, perhaps more than ever, faces serious internal and external threats to its continued success. Didn't you think it would have been ...
Obopay unveils wireless fund transfer service.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: COLIN GIBBS Obopay officially came out of stealth mode, unveiling a mobile service that allows users to make purchases and send and receive funds from their handsets. The startup outlined a downloadable application that offers real-time purchases and ...
Cingular, Verizon Wireless duel on laptop access pricing options.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: KELLY HILL Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and Verizon Wireless announced developments in their respective offerings of wireless data service via laptop computers. Verizon Wireless unveiled a pay-as-you-go pricing option for its CDMA2000 1x EV-DO-based ...
European regulators attempting to control EU roaming rates.(Global Wireless)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: KELLY HILL European Union telecom regulators announced plans to force wireless operators to lower their international roaming rates within EU countries, with the goal that subscribers would be charged for calls made while traveling within the EU at the same rates that ...
Cool Mobile minus Motorola, a CEO.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: KELLY HILL Mobile virtual network operator Cool Mobile has had a volatile couple of weeks, apparently running into troubles with Motorola Inc. and subsequently announcing several major leadership changes. The Illinois-based handset manufacturer ended its relationship ...
Qualcomm fires another IPR lawsuit at Broadcom.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Byline: PHIL CARSON Qualcomm Inc. announced it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against chipmaker Broadcom Corp., the third in a running dispute over what Qualcomm alleges is misuse of its intellectual property. The latest allegation focuses on what Qualcomm ...
Oasys Mobile sinks farther into the red.(News)
Apr 03, 2006 ... Oasys Mobile Inc.'s makeover has been expensive. The company formerly known as Summus Inc. reported a net loss of $1.82 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, up more than threefold from its net loss during the final quarter of 2004. The company lost $4.4 million in 2005, marking ...