Skype expected to be available to Verizon Soon

According to a Bloomberg report, Verizon Wireless is planning to pre-load their lineup of mobile phones with Skype in the near future. The moves comes as more and more consumers on the nation’s largest carrier are using less and less of their minutes — moving more toward data usage.

According to  BusinessWeek, “The service will let customers make Skype calls over the company’s 3G data network.”  The deal would allow Verizon Wireless subscribers to make low-cost or no-cost voice calls while Verizon would concentrate on marketing highly profitable data services.

Skype started working on a 3G iPhone app after the upgraded SDK for the iPad removed restrictions for calling over 3G. If Verizon has been directly working with Skype, it could mean Verizon smartphones  could get a jump on the iPhone version, which is still in development. (A Wi-Fi version is already available.)

 

Study:No Increase in Brain Tumors from Cell Phone Use

New findings published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute support evidence that cell phones don’t cause brain cancer. The 30-year Scandinavian study found that there was no substantial rise in brain tumors, even after widespread use of cell phones.

A group from the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology at the Danish Cancer Center in Copenhagen collected data on 60,000 people diagnosed with glioma and meningioma between 1974 and 2003. Study subjects were from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Incidences of tumors over the 30-year period were stable, decreased or gradually increased, starting before cell phones gained popularity.

However, the researchers cautioned that cell phones may have not been around long enough to see an increase in brain tumors. The increase might be too small to be noticed in the population, one of the lead researchers said.

 

Motorola eyes home/networks unit sale

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Motorola Inc. is seeking to sell its largest division, which makes equipment for cable and wireless companies, according to a report Wednesday.

The Schaumburg, Ill., company is exploring a sale worth about $4.5 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal's Web site, which cited "people familiar with the matter."

For years, Motorola has been weighing the possibility of splitting up its three main businesses: mobile phones, enterprise mobility, and home and networks mobility. The company had hoped to spin off the mobile business once before, but that effort failed.

Potential buyers of the "Home and Network Mobility" unit include private-equity firms and makers of telecommunications equipment like Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea and Huawei Technologies Co. of China, the Journal said.

 

ATT Wireles buying some Verizon assets for 2.35B
AT&T, which has approximately 1,500 workers in the Dayton-region, said Friday it will pay $2.35 billion in cash to buy wireless assets from Verizon Wireless in 18 states.

The purchase covers licenses, network assets and 1.5 million Verizon subscribers who are primarily in rural areas in California, Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.

The transaction primarily represents former Alltel assets, but also includes assets from Verizon and the former Rural Cellular Corp. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

AT&T (NYSE:T) said it expects network conversion and operations transition to take no more than 12 months from closing and to result in an additional planned capital investment of about $400 million over 2009 and 2010.

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