• The global recession will make the next two years unusually difficult for the cell phone industry, reports In-Stat. Subscription growth is slowing, so roughly three-quarters of handset unit sales are expected to be replacement models, a discretionary purchase that can be delayed in times of economic hardship. The market’s eventual recovery will be influenced by technical advances, In-Stat says.
• Cincinnati Bell reports its first-quarter wireless service revenue was $71 million compared with $72 million in the prior year quarter. Higher data revenue driven by smartphone subscriber growth was more than offset by lower voice revenue, resulting from a year-over-year decline in postpaid voice minutes per subscriber. Cincinnati Bell’s focus on smartphone subscriber growth resulted in the addition of 10,000 smartphone activations in the first quarter of 2009.
• Sprint announced plans to launch BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (MVS) as the next generation of Sprint Mobile Extension. BlackBerry MVS enables businesses to give users a converged desk phone and mobile device experience on BlackBerry smartphones.
• KORE Telematics has teamed with LoJack Supply Chain Integrity (LoJack SCI) to provide GSM wireless services to power its advanced supply chain monitoring and security solutions for the global transportation industry.
• Modiv Media and Motorola announced that the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company is now using the Modiv Shopper personal shopping solution in 250 Stop & Shop and Giant Food stores. Branded as “Scan It!” at Stop & Shop and Giant supermarkets, Modiv Shopper, powered by Motorola’s MC17 mobile computer, delivers relevant coupons and promotions based on individual shopping histories and enables customers to scan and bag their items while they shop.
• iPass announced an enterprise-configurable Wi-Fi hot spot solution for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. The company also announced availability of new versions of its iPassConnect mobility manager software for devices running Apple Mac OS X and Nokia S60 operating systems.
• Comverse says TELE2 Russia has selected Comverse Multimedia Messaging Center (MMSC) and Mobile Internet Gateway (MIG) to optimize the messaging and browsing experience for its more than 10 million subscribers.
• Mobile Streams is using Bango’s mobile payments services for the U.S. launch of m.Ringtones.com, part of its mobile megastore, www.Ringtones.com.
• Rove, developer of system administration software that provides mobile management of IT systems and infrastructure, announced that its flagship product, Mobile Admin, supports the newly launched Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.
• Nobuyuki Yanaginuma has been appointed president and CEO of NEC Europe. His new role will see Yanaginuma overseeing the operation of NEC Europe’s business lines, including mobile and fixed line network systems and IT solutions, and acting as NEC Corporation’s representative in Europe. Yanaginuma succeeds Toshiyuki Mineno, who will return to Japan to take up new executive responsibilities for the International Sales and Operations Business Unit at NEC Corporation.
• Tetherball, a mobile loyalty and rewards solutions provider, announced that Jay Highley has joined the company’s executive team as President and COO. Highley was formerly the chief marketing and sales officer at ChaCha.
• SeaMobile named Jonathan Weintraub as CEO. Previous to this appointment, he served as the company’s CFO and acting chief executive.
Filed Under: Infrastructure
