Finally, there’s some good news for Motorola. The U.S.-based cell phone maker reported today that its mobile device unit posted an operating profit for the first time since 2006. The company had not expected this unit to turn a profit until next year. Motorola, which announced third quarter earnings, also posted better-than-expected sales of its …

The Federal Communications Commission scored a major political win today as it announced a $25 million settlement with Verizon Wireless over so-called mystery charges. While critics complain that the FCC has been dragging its feet on issues such as Net neutrality, the agency announced that it has not only forced Verizon Wireless to refund more than $50 million to consumers …

Sprint Nextel added more wireless customers in the third quarter than it has since 2006, which boosted revenue. But it still saw losses widen as customer spending declined and the carrier spent more to subsidize smartphones. During the third quarter, Sprint added 644,000 net customers of which 354,000 were new subscribers with contracts. The company also reported a churn rate–or …

Two years ago, casino giant Harrah’s Entertainment needed to cut costs. One of the first places managers looked was cell phones. As the company evaluated its business, one of the quickest and least painful ways to reduce its yearly budget by more than $1 million a year was to change its cell phone policy. Specifically, the company started allowing its …

T-Mobile USA wireless subscribers will soon be allowed to use their smartphones as modems to bring Internet access to other devices including laptops, a T-Mobile representative confirmed today. The blog the Boy Genius Report first reported the news, citing an internal memo from T-Mobile that outlined the new plan. According to the memo, starting November 3, smartphone subscribers with an …

The Federal Communications Commission is laying the groundwork for freeing up wireless spectrum. Last week, the FCC held a workshop that examined the looming spectrum crisis. In a report published as part of the meeting, the FCC indicated that over the next five years, data usage will increase 35 times, compared to rates of today. While the wireless industry is …

Verizon Communications saw revenue slip in the third quarter of 2010 as it experienced a decline in wireless subscribers. For the third quarter of 2010, Verizon today reported a profit of $881 million, or 31 cents a share. This was down from $1.18 billion, or 41 cents a share, during the same quarter a year earlier. Excluding certain items, such …

A tech consumer’s worst nightmare is buying a hot new device today only to find that it’s obsolete or outdated within a few months or a year. With the quick pace of innovation in wireless technology these days, it’s a dilemma that is hard to avoid. This week I break the hard news to a reader that 3G phones of …

CHICAGO–Telecom policy experts say it is time for the Federal Communications Commission to put Net neutrality issues to rest so that the agency can move on to addressing other items on its agenda, such as implementing the National Broadband plan. A representative from AT&T was joined by former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and other policy wonks here on a panel …

CHICAGO – Two of the most popular next generation wireless technologies are close to getting their official 4G moniker from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The ITU, which is an agency within the United Nations, is the International standards body that officially designates wireless technologies as 1G, 2G, 3G and now 4G. This week at a meeting in China the …