December 11 - 3:30pm EST   The incumbent White House administration today voiced public opposition to a measure that would require the winner of an FCC auction to offer free AWS Internet access across the US. A letter from Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez claims to represent the Bush administration in opposing the wireless plan and says the FCC should let bidders win without conditions, with "market forces" dictating the nature of any Internet service rather than government concerns for the public interest. [full story]

July 2 - 3:20pm EDT   T-Mobile on Wednesday resisted moves by the US Federal Communications Commission to hasten its moves towards a free wireless broadband. The carrier has requested that the FCC delay an auction for its 2,100MHz Advanced Wireless Spectrum 3 (AWS-3) band by 90 days past its July 9th deadline to allow for a longer comment period and let T-Mobile air its potential problems with any future service; filling the AWS-3 band may create interference that prevents T-Mobile from using space it wants for its 3G service, according to a filing sent to the FCC. [full story]

April 3 - 4:00pm EDT   Finland's Nokia has announced two new cellphones for North America, the 3606 and 1606. Built on CDMA, the phones are notable mainly for supporting Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) bands -- specifically, the 1,700 and 2,100MHz ranges. AWS is a spectrum opened up to American carriers in 2006, and owned primarily by T-Mobile, a GSM carrier. The 3606 is equipped with a 1.3-megapixel camera, and supports features such as music playback and Bluetooth 2.0, the latter allowing A2DP stereo. Media is kept primarily on microSD cards. [full story]

March 27 - 4:35pm EDT   Smaller American carrier Cricket has announced its second and third AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) phones, the MyShot and Spex by Samsung. AWS is a frequency band that was opened up to cellular carriers in 2006, and is used by primarily by T-Mobile. The MyShot is a clamshell phone, featuring a 1.3-megapixel camera, with options like a timer and multi-shot capability. Also present is expanded Bluetooth support, which enables sharing photos as well as contacts. Pricing is $150. [full story]