F.C.C. Backs Verizon Sale in 3 States
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Regulators  cleared the way for Verizon Communications to sell its phone lines in three New England states for $2.7 billion to FairPoint Communications Inc.
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(InfoWorld) - BroadcomÂ and Verizon Wireless have reached a deal that will allow Verizon to continue importing and selling phones that are the subject of continuing litigation between Broadcom and Qualcomm. On June 7, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)Â banned the importation of new models of phones and PDAs that hit the market after that day and include certain Qualcomm chips. Broadcom had sued the rival mobile chip vendor over alleged patent infringement. Under a licensing agreement, Verizon will pay Broadcom $6 for every handset, PDA, or data card that uses EvDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) mobile broadband technology. The carrier will make the payments up to a ceiling of $40 million per calendar quarter and a lifetime maximum of $200 million. As part of the deal, Verizon also will drop an effort to overturn the ruling. Other terms are confidential, according to a statement released by the two companies. The move is a blow to Qualcomm, which pioneered the CDMAÂ technology on which EvDO is based. Verizon is the largest carrier in the U.S. using EvDO. It will pay Broadcom to license technology that Qualcomm has argued does not belong to Broadcom in the first place. Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment. In addition to the licensing deal, Broadcom has entered a strategic alliance with Verizon Communications, the parent company of Verizon Wireless. That deal covers new mobile device chipsets as well as Bluetooth, wireless LAN, optical network, GPS, DSL, fiber, set-top box, and home network equipment components. Broadcom, in Irvine, California, makes chips for a wide range of wired and wireless network products. Qualcomm, in nearby San Diego, is focused on wireless technology. Qualcomm said last month it would try to convince President George Bush to overturn the June 7 ruling, which was effective immediately. Bush has 60 days to decide whether to take action. If he doesn't, Qualcomm could appeal the ruling in federal court. The June 7 ruling came after the ITC ruled last year that Qualcomm had infringed on a Broadcom patent for power management technology. Broadcom had said the system is used in essentially all EvDO and Wideband CDMA phones.
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By Josh Mitchell, The Baltimore Sun  Mar. 6--The final obstacle to cable television competition in Baltimore  County was removed last night when the County Council approved a deal with  Verizon Communications.
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Broadcom and Verizon Wireless have reached a deal that will allow Verizon to continue to import and sell phones involved in continuing litigation.
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Circuit City Stores Inc. and Verizon Wireless signed an agreement to install Verizon Wireless stores in more than 570 Circuit City Superstores around the country, they said Monday.
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The extra licenses will give Verizon Wireless, the country's second-largest mobile phone provider, room to grow in 23 markets.
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The Montgomery and Prince George's county councils  approved agreements yesterday allowing Verizon Communications Inc. to begin selling its fiber-optic television service, ushering in competition and the possibility of lower prices for thousands of cable viewers in suburban Maryland.
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(InfoWorld) - T-Mobile USA Inc. came out the biggest spender in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Advanced Wireless Services spectrum auction, which ended Monday. Participants bid a total of nearly US$13.9 billion on 1,087 licenses to offer 3G (third-generation) mobile services in areas across the U.S. The auction began Aug. 9 and went on for 161 rounds. The radio frequencies could be used for services including data, voice and video on mobile devices. The auction is the first of two that should roughly double the amount of radio spectrum available in the U.S. for mobile services. The FCC is also preparing to auction frequencies around 700 MHz that have been used for TV broadcasts. Moving those to mobile use could take years. T-Mobile is playing catch-up against bigger carriers in introducing 3G services. Its bidding company, T-Mobile License LLC, had the winning bids on 120 licenses and will pay almost $4.2 billion for its spectrum. All told, the licenses it won could reach almost 475 million people, a number greater than the U.S. population. There was a wide variety of licenses up for auction, ranging from local to regional coverage. The five biggest bidders, led by T-Mobile, represented the country's biggest cellular companies. Cellco Partnership, representing Verizon Wireless Inc., came in second place with $2.8 billion in bids for 13 licenses. SpectrumCo LLC, representing Sprint Nextel Corp. and cable partners, bid almost $2.4 billion for 137 licenses and Metro PCS AWS LLC bid almost $1.4 billion for eight licenses. Cingular Wireless LLC, represented by Cingular AWS LLC, came in fifth with bids of more than $1.3 billion for 48 licenses. Overall, more than half of the 104 winning bidders that participated were certified as small businesses, according to the FCC. The agency put 1,122 licenses up for auction. The unsold licenses will be made available again in a future auction. The winners need to make down payments within ten days after the FCC puts out a public notice on the close of the auction. In the same time period, they have to submit long-form applications for the licenses.
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Verizon Wireless said on Tuesday it would not oppose a plan that would give Nextel Communications Inc. (NXTL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) valuable new wireless airwaves, sending Nextel&#39;s shares up more than 3 percent.
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Verizon Wireless of Bedminster, NJ, announced a partnership with Circuit City Stores Inc. of Richmond, Va., to create Verizon Wireless shops in 570 of its Circuit City superstores.
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Verizon Wireless is buying cellular capacity for 23 markets from bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. for $3 billion, ending the government&#39;s long tug-of-war over the never-used licenses and bolstering Verizon against
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IRVING, Texas, Sept. 14  /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon has expanded the availability of its FiOS TV service to eight additional cities in the Dallas- Fort Worth area.
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Verizon Wireless is buying wireless spectrum licenses covering 23 U.S. markets from bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. for &#36;3 billion, bolstering the cell phone company's ability to compete with the big new rival created by the merger of Cingular Wireless and AT&amp;T Wireless.
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Verizon Wireless announced yesterday that it plans to buy airwave licenses in 23 markets from NextWave Telecom Inc. for &#36;3 billion in cash, giving the cellular phone giant the ability to carry more calls in some of the nation's largest cities.
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FairPoint Communications reached an agreement with the Vermont Public Service Department that would allow it to buy Verizon phone lines in the state.
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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Vodafone has given Verizon Wireless the green-light to make a bid to buy Sprint. &quot;Verizon Communications Inc.
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Scoring a major victory in offering its television services to a broader segment of the population, Verizon disclosed Friday that it had been the first to gain approval for a statewide video franchise in the state of California.