Bankrupt Amp'd Mobile shut down its customer service Monday and may suspend its U.S. operations altogether today (Tuesday). Amp'd announced its possible demise Monday through text messages and its Web site, which provides an end-of-service Q&A. The company is in discussion with several carriers about a takeover, it said. Amp'd did not comment. Amp'd filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. At the time of filing, the company was more than $100 million in debt and owed $41 million in network use fees to Verizon Wireless, which created Amp'd in a joint venture with Vodafone. Amp'd has since added more than $15.6 million to its Verizon debt. Last Tuesday, Verizon asked the Wilmington court to let it cut off service to Amp'd, which it said had failed to secure “debtor-in-possession” financing. The judge set Monday for a hearing, which a Verizon spokeswoman said was still in progress at our deadline. Amp'd customers must still pay their outstanding bills, the company said on its Web site. “Failure to pay a delinquent balance may result in reporting to a credit agency,” the company said on its Web site. Customers awaiting a rebate, refund or other unpaid credit must file a claim, it said. There will be no termination fee owed to move to another carrier, and purchased Amp'd songs, ringtones and videos will still be accessible on the customer’s memory card, it said. Amp'd was still advertising its plans and phones on its Web site Monday. A link to the end-of-business notice labeled “Amp'd Customer Q&A” appeared at the bottom of the page.
The U.S. Appeals Court, Federal Circuit, dismissed a petition by Qualcomm and carriers and handset makers to stay an International Trade Commission ban on Qualcomm chips that infringe on Broadcom patents. The court lacks jurisdiction to review the June 21 ITC order until the presidential review period ends Aug. 6, it said.
A vulnerability in the iPhone’s Safari Web browser could open the device to malicious attacks, SPI labs said. Hackers could exploit an iPhone Safari feature letting users enter digits appearing on Web sites by tapping them, it said. Hackers could spoof numbers so the tap instead send users to a different phone number, or manipulate the phone to track calls made on it, to place calls without a confirmation dialog, to enter the phone into infinite loop of call attempts or to lock the phone from making calls altogether, it said. Attacks can be done from a malicious Web site or a legitimate one hacked with a worm, it said. SPI has not heard reports of attacks “in the wild,” but someone is bound to figure it out, said SPI researcher Billy Hoffman. SPI reported the problem to Apple on July 6. Last week Apple worked with SPI on the problem and a fix in on the way, SPI development manager Bryan Sullivan said. It is a software problem unrelated to AT&T’s network, Sullivan said. Palm Treos and Windows smart phones may have similar vulnerabilities; SPI plans to look into those devices next, Sullivan said. Apple did not comment.
Sprint Nextel and Clearwire will partner to build a nationwide WiMAX mobile broadband network, launching commercial service the first half of 2008, the companies said Thursday. No cash was exchanged, and the companies did not comment on whether an acquisition or similar deal was on the horizon. The arrangement is positive for both companies, with Clearwire benefiting most, analysts said.
The FCC should hold a series of E-911 hearings before deciding whether to impose tougher location accuracy standards, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said at an E-911 Institute roundtable Thursday. “Our ultimate goal of advancing 911 may not be well served if the proceeding, regardless of how well intentioned, rushes to judgment by issuing a series of tentative conclusions without even beginning to conduct necessary due diligence,” he said. “The FCC needs to make a more collaborative approach… We need to listen to what those who are closer to the issue say.”
The European Commission (EC) picked Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H) to be the single European mobile TV standard Wednesday, enraging supporters of rival mobile broadcast formats. The EC will add DVB-H to the European Union’s official standards list in the coming weeks, and may propose to mandate the technology’s use next year, it said. The Commission said it chose a single standard to tackle technological fragmentation and boost mobile TV deployment, but opponents said the non-technology-neutral approach could cripple Europe’s competitive marketplace.
SunRocket turned down acquisition offers from VoIP company Nuvio and a “couple other firms” in the weeks before it shut down Monday, Nuvio CEO Jason Talley said in an interview. SunRocket instead brought in Sherwood consulting to help wind up the business. “SunRocket investors and the board were looking to move on,” he said. Sherwood spokesman Martin Pichinson did not comment.
Almost 200 SunRocket employees found themselves jobless when the VoIP company shut down with only a short internal memo for explanation. And the company’s more than 200,000 customers received no notice beyond a curt message on SunRocket’s customer service line: “We are no longer taking customer service or sales calls. Goodbye.” Unfavorable regulatory decisions, the unfortunate timing of Vonage developments and an exodus of talent after the departure of SunRocket’s founders contributed to the VoIP company’s demise, said Brian Lustig, who was SunRocket’s media relations director from 2004 until April 2007. SunRocket did not return requests for comment.
A $160 billion Vodafone purchase of Verizon is unlikely, UBS analysts said Monday. The Financial Times reported Monday that European mobile phone company Vodafone was considering an all-stock buy of Verizon, after which it would spin off its wireline business to a private equity consortium. The paper cited “well placed financiers” as providing insights. Not so, said Vodafone. “Vodafone wishes to make it clear that it has no plans to make such an offer,” it said. Verizon declined to comment. But even if Vodafone is eyeing Verizon, regulatory hurdles and transaction structure would be problematic, UBS said.
T-Mobile may be onto something with HotSpot@Home, a service that lets users switch voice calls seamlessly between Wi-Fi and the T-Mobile network, analysts said. Using Wi-Fi increases T-Mobile’s reach to homes and will save the company “billions” long term, said ThinkEquity analyst Anton Wahlman. He called it the “exact right architectural approach” and “one of the most genius moves of all time in cellular.” Jupiter Research analyst Julie Ask agreed that the service is a “good fit” for 3G-less T-Mobile, but said it may not make sense for rival carriers.