Frost & Sullivan, in its recent analysis, U.S. Premium Mobile Downloadable Content and Applications, selected Motricity, Inc. as the recipient of the 2005 Premium Mobile Content Platform of the Year Award for its end-to-end content management platform, Fuel.

Motricity has effectively addressed all the key concerns of mobile operators through Fuel and has emerged as a key platform partner for mobile operators in their premium mobile data initiatives.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this Award to the company that has made the maximum impact in driving the premium mobile content business in the United States.  The Award acknowledges the technological and functional capabilities of the company's platform, and also highlights the ability of the solution to successfully address mobile operators' key requirements of sourcing, managing and delivering content across multiple technologies effectively.

http://carolinanewswire.com/news/News.cgi?database=headlines%2edb&command=viewone&id=5972&op=t

Tap Root Raises $6.5M: News & Observer, 9/13
TapRoot Systems, a Morrisville developer of software for cell phones, won its second infusion of venture capital, this time to help adapt cell phones to make calls over the Internet. The $6.5 million comes on top of an earlier commitment up to $7 million last year. TapRoot tapped into only $4 million of last year's venture capital, leaving $3 million untouched. TapRoot, founded in 2000, plans to double its staff to about 100 people by mid-2006. Most will be based at the Aerial Center business park in Morrisville; between 20 and 30 will work in London and Taiwan. Internet calling already exists for landline phones, popularized by companies such as Vonage, but the wireless version of Internet calling is still in the umbilical stage. The appeal of Internet calling -- called Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP -- is the ability to send phone calls by the same route as e-mail, thereby reducing the cost.  "If you can bypass the wireless network, then you can make phone calls almost for free," said TapRoot chief executive Hugh Thomas.  About 80 percent of all advanced cell phones -- models with e-mail and Web browsing capability -- run on an operating system called Symbian, for which TapRoot specializes in writing software.  "TapRoot has the largest collection of Symbian-based programmers in North America," said Mitch Mumma, a TapRoot board member and general partner with Intersouth Partners, a Durham venture capital firm that invested in TapRoot last year. "They're building on that expertise."    
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/2794489p-9235042c.html

Alltell Swaps Rural Markets W/ US Cellular in $50M Deal: RCR Wireless, 9/13
Alltel Corp. reported a deal with U.S. Cellular Corp. to swap 15 rural markets in Nebraska and Kansas that Alltel acquired when it purchased Western Wireless Corp. for two Rural Service Area markets in Idaho currently operated by U.S. Cellular and $50 million in cash.  Alltel will receive cellular licenses covering 500,000 potential customers in Idaho RSAs 5 and 6; 91,000 retail customers; 84 cell sites; six company-owned retail locations; and 32 authorized agents. The carrier said the pair of markets include 20 counties in southeastern Idaho that are adjacent to current operations.
http://rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=24100

Technology
Oracle to Buy Rival Siebel Systems: News & Observer, 9/13
Oracle is buying hobbled Siebel Systems for about $5.85 billion, eliminating another competitor in its campaign to grab market share from business applications software leader SAP. Under the terms of the deal, Oracle will pay $10.66 a share in cash or stock for Siebel, whose products help manage companies' relations with customers. The price represented a 17 percent premium from Siebel's market value entering Monday. Despite four years of flagging fortunes, Siebel still has $2.24 billion in cash, reducing Oracle's net takeover cost to $3.6 billion.
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/2794477p-9234919c.html

Events
TechJournal Fall Deck Party
10/20, NCSU Centennial Campus
The DeckParty is the largest pure technology business networking event in North Carolina with over 500 senior executives and professionals from the regional technology and investment community expected to attend this free event.
http://triangletechjournal.com/calendar/view_entry.php?id=52&date=20051020

 Coral Wireless, a new provider of wireless services in Hawaii, will use Nortel (NYSE: NT) hardware and services for its forthcoming wireless broadband network.

Coral’s personal communication service (PCS) network will utilize CDMA2000 1X infrastructure offerings from Nortel. The network is scheduled to go online early in 2006. The CDMA (code division multiple access) network offerings data speeds up to 144 KBPS per second.

Coral plans to offer “unlimited” voice and data plans starting around $50 per month.
http://localtechwire.com/article.cfm?u=12206

Motorola Heads Straight For Mobile WiMax: TechWorld, 9/2
Motorola is moving aggressively toward the next generation of WiMax wireless broadband, gearing up to introduce two product lines without waiting for the WiMax Forum to finish specifications for the technology. The vendor is bypassing completely the first form of WiMax, intended solely for broadband services to fixed client devices, and is already developing a portfolio called Moto Wi4 based on the IEEE 802.16e standard, which ultimately will allow mobile access, said senior marketing manager Paul Sergeant.
http://www.techworld.com/mobility/news/index.cfm?NewsID=4326&Page=1&pagePos=12&inkc=0

MCI Unit To Launch Car Tracking Device For Parents of Teen Drivers: Potomac Tech, 9/6

Ashburn-based MCI said on Tuesday that its SkyTel unit has launched a new vehicle-tracking device marketed to parents of teenage drivers. The device, which is priced at $300-$350, uses wireless and GPS technologies to automatically collect location, speed and other vehicle information and relay that information to a web site.

http://www.skytel.com/products/skyguard_home.htm

Sprint to Sponsor Half TIme Show: Media Buyer Planner, 9/6
Sprint will sponsor this year's Super Bowl halftime show, as the newly merged telecom giant looks to build on a recent $600 million NFL deal, Mediaweek reports. Ameriquest Mortgage, sponsor of last year's Super Bowl halftime show, had a one year deal with a two-year option, which sources said was not picked up this season by mutual agreement. Halftime sponsorship rights, which this year was valued about $10 million, were likely part of the $300 million in the "rights fees" portion of Sprint's NFL deal, said analysts. The pact already includes sponsorship of the Sept. 8 Opening Kickoff fest on ABC, which will also televise the big game.
http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/2005/09/06/sprint_to_sponsor_super_bowl/index.php

Sprint, Verizon Face off on High Speed Wireless Pricing, Kansas City Star, 9/6
Sprint Nextel Corp. has lower prices for high-speed wireless Internet connections that counter a new initiative by rival Verizon Wireless. A week ago, Verizon said it had expanded its broadband access to a total of 62 markets across the country and lowered prices by 25 percent to $59.99 a month for unlimited usage. In its announcement a few days later about a new branding campaign and a new lineup of services, Sprint said it was offering free connection cards to some customers and the same lowered prices as Verizon for a similar high-speed Internet service. In addition, Sprint executives said, a plan that offers varying prices depending on service usage was launched about three months ago.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/12568193.htm

Sprint Nextel Can Roll W/ New Brand:Wireless Week, 9/6
Sprint Nextel recorded a partial victory in its battle with Nextel Partners after an arbitration panel denied Nextel Partners' request to block Sprint Nextel's rollout of its new Sprint brand nationally.  Nextel Partners is not completely defeated, however, in that the panel suggested a Sprint Nextel decision to roll out the brand without the inclusion of Nextel Partners could violate non-discrimination provisions of the companies' joint venture agreement, a Nextel Partners' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing says.
http://www.wirelessweek.com/article/CA6254217.html

 Japan and China have signed an agreement to develop and standardize 4G mobile phones, according to Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC).

The agreement was signed by Feng Jichun, director-general of the China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and Kazuhiro Suda, director-general of the Japanese agency. Though MIC has collaborated previously with China's Ministry of Information Industry, this is the first time the two agencies have worked together. MOST has jurisdiction over new technology development in China, according to a Japanese official.

4G standardization efforts are expected to increase after 2007. In anticipation, Japan and China intend to collaborate, said the Japanese official.

The memorandum of understanding also includes an annual information exchange meeting and an annual forum bringing together industrial, academic and government sectors from Japan, China and South Korea

http://www.internetweek.com/news/170101497;jsessionid=SOAJY5MP4PNBGQSNDBCCKH0CJUMEKJVN

Next Web Buys Fixed-Wireless Provider: Wireless Week, 8/30

California-based fixed-wireless Internet provider NextWeb is strengthening its position in the pre-WiMAX broadband sector with the purchase of rival 1st Universe.

Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, NextWeb believes the acquisition represents the "largest cash acquisition in the fixed-wireless broadband industry."  NextWeb was attracted to 1st Universe because it serves Orange County, Calif., which when combined with Los Angeles, represents the largest business market in the country, according to the 2001 U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns report.

The acquisition comes on the heels of recently secured funds. Last week, the company said it planned to use a portion of its $3.5 million infusion to finance additional purchases. The company also named Steve Button as CFO last week. http://www.wirelessweek.com/article/CA6252640.html

Sprint Nextel Buys Affiliates: Wireless Week, 8/30
Sprint Nextel Corporation has successfully wiped out another pending lawsuit against the company by snatching up Gulf Coast Wireless. The company also is buying another affiliate, IWO Holdings. Gulf Coast Wireless' assets will cost Sprint Nextel roughly $287.5 million, which includes the assumption of the affiliate's debt. The deal will bring more than 95,000 PCS customers into the Sprint Nextel fold as direct subscribers.   As part of the agreement, Gulf Coast Wireless has requested a stay of litigation pending against Sprint in Louisiana. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close before the end of the year.  Separately, Sprint Nextel made a deal to acquire IWO Holdings for approximately $427 million. IWO's 237,000 PCS customers will become direct subscribers of Sprint Nextel as a result of the acquisition. The $427 million purchase price includes the assumption of $208 million in debt. IWO serves PCS customers in upstate New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and pockets of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/article/CA6252642.html

Verizon Slashes Wireless Costs : Red Herring, 8/30
Verizon  Wireless joined its parent Verizon on Monday in cutting the price of broadband services and effectively blunting the charge of competitive technologies, which in this case would be municipal Wi-Fi and WiMAX.  Verizon Wireless, which is owned by Verizon, the largest landline carrier in the United States, and Vodafone, one of the world’s largest wireless carriers, is cutting the price of its evolution-data optimized (EV-DO) service by 25 percent.  The company will also add seven new markets to its coverage area. That would bring the carrier closer to its goal of covering half of the U.S. by the end of the year.

 http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=13366&hed=Verizon+Slashes+Wireless+Costs&sector=Industries&subsector=Communications

AOL Adopts Broadband Strategy: Black Enterprise,
Using dial-up to surf the Web may soon go the way of the floppy disk. Just like durable memory devices such as flash drives and CD-ROMs have lessened reliance on floppies; lower-priced digital subscriber line service for home use is threatening the dominance of dial-up service.  AOL isn't sitting on the sidelines as cheaper and faster technology threatens to erode its market share. In June, the company launched a prototype of AOL.com-a Web portal that gives visitors access to thousands of videos, XM Satellite Radio stations, concert feeds, and online communities like Black Voices.

“What separates AOL.com from other sites is that it was built for a broadband audience,” says Tricia Primrose, AOL's vice president of corporate communications. “We want people to spend more time on our site, which is really significant for us to increase traffic and increase our ad revenue.”
http://www.blackenterprise.com/exclusivesekopen.asp?id=1291