EU, phone makers sign deal on new single charger for mobile phones

October 1st, 2009 Court adviser says EU roaming cap law is validBRUSSELS — The EU was entitled to cap roaming rates in 2007 as network operators pocketed huge profits but resisted less drastic ways to cut the sky-high costs of using mobile phones in Europe, the EU advocate general said Thursday. The opinion by Advocate General Miguel Poiares Maduro now goes to the European Court of Justice, which often follows that advice.

September 10th, 2009 Sprint Nextel lowers mobile-to-mobile pricingKANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sprint is offering unlimited minutes for calls made between mobile phones as competition in wireless pricing continues to intensify.

August 25th, 2009 Sprint Nextel-Virgin Mobile USA deal gets FTC's OKWASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission has removed a regulatory hurdle to Sprint Nextel Corp.'s proposed $483 million acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA Inc. FTC regulators approved an early termination of the agency's antitrust review, indicating they have no objections to the deal, according to a posting Monday on the FTC's Web site.

August 6th, 2009 Telecom Italia 1H down 17 percentMILAN — Telecom Italia SpA says first-half net profit dropped 17 percent from a year earlier because of a shrinking customer base, lower handset sales and regulations limiting termination fees on mobile phones. Italy's largest telecommunication operator said Thursday that net profit in the period that ended June 30 was euro964 million ($1.38 billion), compared with a restated euro1.1 billion a year earlier.

June 29th, 2009 EU, phone makers agree on charging standardBRUSSELS — No more asking around the office for the right sort of charger. At least that's what European Union and cell phone makers are hoping.

June 17th, 2009 Greeks to register prepaid cell phonesATHENS, Greece — Greece's prepaid mobile phone users will now have to register their identities in a bid to tackle illegal immigration and other crime, the communications minister said Tuesday. Evripidis Stylianidis said widespread anonymous cell-phone ownership made crime-fighting more difficult.

May 17th, 2009 PANAJI - Fresh inconsistencies have surfaced in the police version regarding the death of Russian teenager Elena Sukhonova whose body was found along a railway track near here almost a fortnight ago. Contrary to earlier statements made by the police to the media that the 19-year-old's passport was found in her purse near her body, IANS has learnt that the passport was in fact recovered from her room at the resort Travellers Inn, Baga.

March 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In a daring night time robbery on a moving bus, three armed men boarded a Blueline, looted over 35 passengers and decamped with Rs.5,000 in cash as well as mobile phones, police in the Indian capital said Thursday. Passengers, however, claimed there were as many as six robbers.

March 3rd, 2009 SHIMLA - Mobile phones will ring trouble both for the invigilators and the students in Himachal Pradesh during the board examinations that commence Tuesday, an official here said Monday. 'To avoid disturbance during board examinations, we have decided to impose a ban on the use of mobile phones in the examination centres,' Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education chairman C.L.

February 24th, 2009 MUMBAI - Reliance Money, part of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG), Tuesday introduced a new facility that enables investors to trade equities and commodities through mobile phones. The new facility is available across all mobile platforms.

February 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rural population is the key growth driver of India's telecom industry though 'affordability still remains a key issue', said a study released here Thursday. According to the study by LIRNEasia, and information and communication technology policy organisation, 27 percent of the total mobile owners at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), or the poorest socio-economic group, were added last year, whereas the urban areas added only 19 percent.

January 27th, 2009 KOLKATA - The superintendent of the Alipore Central Jail here was issued a showcause notice after the police seized mobile phones, SIM cards and liquor from some prisoners, an official said Wednesday. It was Superintendent Kumaresh Roy's 'duty to keep a strict watch on the inmates.

January 24th, 2009 KOLKATA - At least six mobile phones and three SIM cards were seized by the police here Sunday from the inmates of the Alipore Central Jail, a police officer said. 'We have confiscated half a dozen mobile phones, three of them with SIM cards.

January 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Buoyed by the 3.8 million page views a month of NDTV Active, the mobile portal of the television channel, its content provider NDTV Convergence has now tied up to foray into cellular phone advertising. NDTV Convergence Monday announced its partnership with Affle, one of India's leading mobile media companies that would power advertising on NDTV Active.

January 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A 20-year-old man was arrested here for stoning a 10-year-old boy to death and robbing him of a mobile phone and Rs.50, the police said Saturday. Sonu was arrested Friday for murdering Vikas, near Madanpur Khadar in southeast Delhi late Monday, the police said.