Cellular

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday formalized its plans to auction off a section of wireless spectrum to buyers who promise to provide free Internet service that filters out pornography and other inappropriate content, and offers open access to third-party devices and applications.

The agency is seeking public comment on the plan details, of which are posted here. Winning bidders of the 25 megahertz of spectrum in the 2155MHz band would also be required to provide free wireless coverage to at least half of the United States within four years, and to at least 95 percent of the population by … Read more

Verizon Wireless has certified the first device that will operate on its Open Development network, the company said Friday during a conference call to update developers participating in the program.

Anthony Lewis, vice president for open development at Verizon, said that at least one device developer has completed the certification process that was first launched in March. The device that has been certified was already in the works when Verizon made details of the Open Development Initiative public just a few months ago.

Lewis said he was unable to provide details about the new handset. He wouldn't even name … Read more

Three former Nortel Networks executives are being criminally charged in Canada for misstating the company's financial results in 2002 and 2003.

Nortel's former CEO Frank Dunn along with former CFO Douglas Beatty, and former controller Michael Gollogly have been charged with fraud, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The executives were fired in 2004 as part of a massive accounting scandal at the company. As a result of the scandal, Nortel, which makes and sells equipment to phone companies, was forced to restate earnings as far back as 2001. In 2005, the company admitted it had overstated revenue by $3.4 billion.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Sun Microsystems co-founder and Chairman Scott McNealy wants to help phone companies become "destinations," he said during a speech at the NXTcomm trade show here Wednesday.

Specifically, he wants to help these companies develop their businesses around services and content rather than simply providing connectivity to other Web sites on the Net. Sun provides the server technology and data center management services necessary to distribute content on the Web.

As part of its ongoing effort to help phone companies evolve their businesses in the next generation of the Internet, Sun announced on Wednesday a new version of … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Sprint Nextel will launch its first commercial WiMax service in Baltimore in September, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said Wednesday during a speech at the NxtComm trade show.

Sprint will turn up WiMax service in two other cities, Chicago and Washington, before the end of the year, Hesse added. But he didn't give a specific time frame for these deployments.

The much-anticipated WiMax service has been delayed several times. Initially, the company had said it would launch the service in the first half of the year. More recently, it has been vague about when it would deploy the service. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Executives from AT&T and Verizon Communications defended early termination fees for wireless customers Tuesday, but said they wouldn't oppose Federal Communications Commission rules that required these fees to be "reasonable."

Jim Cicconi, AT&T senior executive and vice president for legislative affairs for AT&T, and Tom Tauke, executive vice president of public affairs and policy for Verizon, said following a panel discussion at the NxtComm tradeshow here, that their companies are justified in charging early termination fees for wireless contracts, which often top out at $200.

The battle over early termination … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Mobility will be the key driver of growth for phone companies in the coming years as they expand their businesses to include new services like TV and broadband, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told attendees at an industry trade show here Tuesday.

AT&T and the entire telecom industry have been transforming themselves over the past few years as traditional phone business slowly dies. No longer are these companies simply offering telephony, but they also offer TV, high-speed Internet, and wireless services. But it will be the mobilization of new services that will drive growth for companies … Read more

T-Mobile is gearing up to offer a 3G iPhone in Germany for only 1 euro, provided users sign up for its monthly 69-euro service plan, according to a Reuters report on Monday.

That translates into an iPhone purchase of roughly $1.55, and a monthly service plan of $107.

Under T-Mobile's offering, the telecom provider will sell the phones with 8GB of memory, while a 16GB phone will go for 19.95 euros, or nearly $31.

T-Mobile's announcement of its 3G iPhone offering comes a week after Apple rolled out the latest version of its popular cell phone. … Read more

Correction at 10 a.m. PDT: The story incorrectly listed which push e-mail solutions the E71 works with. It does not work with BlackBerry Connect or GoodLink.

It may be that the Nokia E series sometimes suffers from Jan Brady syndrome as it gets overshadowed by a flashier member of its family--the Nokia N series (aka Marcia Brady). But the E series is just as bright and deserves some recognition too.

Traditionally, the E series devices have been very corporate centric and serious in design, but now Nokia is updating the line with the introduction of the Nokia E66 and … Read more