Lowell McAdam, president of Verizon, issued a statement saying: “This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorisation, accessed and viewed president-elect Barack Obama’s personal cell phone account.”

To read this report in The Guardian in full, see www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/21/obama-cell-phone.

It would be hard to believe Telstra has not already made up its mind, but it is saying it will “not enter the race unless the federal Government clearly stipulates that the winning bidder will not be forced to split its operations.”

To read this Australian IT article in full, see www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24685407-15306,00.html.

The idea is to create technical standards for devices and popularize the idea of using embedded packets, including chips and other technology required to send data over 3G wireless signals, in a range of products used in health care, transportation, utilities, energy and consumer electronics.

To read this IDG story in full, see computerworld.com.au/article/268222/, www.networkworld.com/news/2008/112008-mobile-group-to-lead-expansion.html or www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/154227/.html.

The mock-up smartphone, developed to showcase the screen, is styled like other smartphones and opens like a book turned on its side so when open the display is on the top half and the bottom half is the keyboard.

To read this IDG story in full, see www.pcworld.com/article/154307/.html.

To read this AP story in full, see www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/11/20/international/i134523S37.DTL.

Known for their ‘gift of the gab’ or talent for speaking, the Irish lead the way in the use of mobile phones, spending around 179 minutes per month on average on their mobiles.

To read this Reuters article in full, see uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKTRE4AJ01L20081120.

The kit–which includes equipment, support, and training for carriers and others to construct networks of 1 to 5 wireless broadband cells–will be marketed along with Intel’s World Ahead Program.

To read this Red Herring article in full, see redherring.com/home/25504.

The telco’s top-line revenues made their biggest jump for years, contributing to a small profit increase to $125 million for its first six months.

The company also confirmed that its consortium, Terria, would bid for the federal Government’s $10 billion-plus national broadband network.

To read this Australian IT article in full, see www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24645010-5013041,00.html.

The company reported Tuesday that VeriSign enabled more than 58.3 billion messages per day during the third quarter of 2008. This was up from about 52 billion messages sent during the second quarter of 2008.

To read this CNET article in full, see news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10101482-94.html.

The VeriSign news release is below:
Mobile Messaging Usage Continues to Grow Globally, VeriSign Messaging and Mobile Media Reports
Company Reports Growing Trend in Mobile Messaging for Political and Social Purposes; Increased Usage From Enterprises

Thanks to new avenues of growth for mobile messaging, VeriSign, Inc., the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world, announced today another record-breaking quarter for the technology, based on the latest quarterly index of mobile messaging statistics compiled by VeriSign’s Messaging and Mobile Media division.

Some fascinating mobile messaging trends emerged in the third quarter. These trends included the use of messaging for social and political change and marketing, as evidenced by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s successful mobile campaign, the use of mobile messaging for charitable donations, and a significant uptick in the use of mobile messaging by enterprises and financial institutions.

All told, VeriSign Messaging and Mobile Media Division’s combined mobile messaging networks enabled more than 58.3 billion messages in Q3 2008, nearly a 10 percent increase from the previous quarter. VeriSign facilitated an average of approximately 634 million messages per day in Q3 2008, compared to approximately 572 million messages per day in Q2 2008 and approximately 280 million messages per day in Q3 2007. These record-breaking numbers provide additional evidence to support VeriSign’s projection earlier this year that its combined mobile messaging networks will enable close to 200 billion total messages, worth more than $7 billion in revenue to VeriSign customers by the end of the year.

For the period of Jan. 1 - Sept. 30, 2008, VeriSign’s combined mobile messaging networks delivered 153 billion total messages while providing 100 percent network availability. This represents a 142 percent increase year-over-year and puts the company on track to more than double last year’s total of 95.9 billion mobile messages. VeriSign’s network also set a single-day record during Q3 2008 by enabling 702 million texts over a 24-hour period and a one-hour record of 48 million messages on Sept. 5, 2008.

“Mobile messaging isn’t just a technology, it’s a behavior — a cultural shift,” said Charles Landry, vice president and general manager, products and innovation, for VeriSign’s Messaging and Mobile Media division. “It has become an instrument of social and political change, philanthropy, and, to a growing extent, a great business practice for reaching out to customers. Enabling this cultural shift via VeriSign’s network is a great responsibility. We look forward to enabling continued growth.”

Among some noteworthy trends, charitable fundraising campaigns enabled by the Mobile Giving Foundation and powered by VeriSign have demonstrated new ways of leveraging the mobile channel to support a broad range of worthwhile causes including Stand Up 2 Cancer and Keep a Child Alive. The American Red Cross “Text 2HELP™” program, which helps provide food, shelter and other assistance to victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, has been another successful example of how organizations encourage charitable donations through the use of mobility. The “Text 2HELP” program is coordinated by The Wireless Foundation and powered by VeriSign. In addition, law enforcement organizations such as the Boston Police Department continue to utilize text messaging programs to encourage the public to report crimes more easily and anonymously and ensure public safety.

Enterprises and financial institutions continue to show growing interest in mobile messaging. From Q3 2007 to Q3 2008, the total number of messages delivered rose from 129 to 227 million, marking a 115 percent increase. As SMS continues to mature into the preferred medium for mobile banking, VeriSign’s Mobile Banking platform has seen a 35 percent increase in messaging traffic from Q2 2008 to Q3 2008. VeriSign expects to see these numbers grow significantly as its growing global mobile banking customer base now includes seven of the top 10 U.S. banking brands, three of the top five credit card issuers, and a global leader in online payment solutions.

Person-to-Person/Application-to-Person messages (P2P/A2P), such as news alerts, ring tones, promotional video clips, and enterprise messages sent to mobile users, also rose sharply in Q3 2008, from approximately 572 million messages in Q2 2008 to approximately 634 million messages per day, on average in Q3 2008, an increase of close to 10 percent.

VeriSign Messaging and Mobile Media offers one of the most robust, scalable and reliable mobile messaging delivery engines in the world, connecting to more than 600 carriers and reaching more than 2.4 billion wireless subscribers across carrier, enterprise, and media/entertainment networks. VeriSign’s combined mobile messaging networks power inter-carrier mobile messaging for seven of the top ten wireless carriers in North America and many other major operators throughout the world. The network generates billions of dollars in revenue for its customers.

To view the full index, please visit https://www.verisign.com/static/044324.pdf

This news release was sourced from here.