Vodafone Spain, Openwave

Vodafone Spain has chosen Openwave Systems to provide its phones with a Web browser that formats Web sites for mobiles.

Verizon Wireless, ESPN, CBS, Fox

These giants have all teamed up to provide college football bowl games in full-length broadcast to mobiles through Verizon’s V CAST Mobile TV. They are covering 24 bowl games this season.

Streamezzo

Streamezzo, a Paris-based provider of mobile entertainment applications, has raised over $22 million in financing this round, thanks to the Kuwaiti group NTEC. This brings the company’s total funding to $48 million.

Juice Wireless

Juice Wireless, players in the mobile social networking market raised $6 million to fund the development of their JuiceCaster mobile community product. This funding increase was led by 21Ventures.

UMG and XM Resolve Legal Battle

Universal Music Group and XM Satellite Radio have resolved their legal battle over the Pioneer Inno portable satellite receiver.

The suit began in the spring of 2006, when the RIAA deemed an XM receiver made by Pioneer a form of copyright infringement. The device in question was the Inno, which is capable of recording up to 50 hours of XM content in MP3 or WMA formats. It also works in conjunction with Napster to bookmark songs for purchase, schedule recordings or get artist information.

UMG argued that this capability was outside the original music licensing deals it struck with XM, and that such “timeshifting” capabilities were similar to a download, thereby resulting in the loss of a potential sale.

Universal Music Group has become the first RIAA member involved with this ongoing lawsuit to have reached a multi-year agreement with XM, making its music available for recording on current and future hardware. Further, UMG withdrew itself from the RIAAcomplaint against XM.

In trying to establish a licensing deal, the RIAA issued a suit against XM for the Inno, seeking $150,000 in damages for every song copied onto this device by XM subscribers. The satellite company alleged the RIAA was just using the lawsuit as leverage in the negotiations.

Now that UMG has reached an agreement with the satellite company over licensing, and with rumors of major label Warner Music soon doing the same, it will soon become evident whether this suit was, in fact, a success for the RIAA.

“We look forward to continuing our discussions with the other music companies in hopes of reaching a resolution that benefits everyone,” said a spokesman for XM.

This Week in Finance Deals

Zeugma Systems

Zeugma, which is developing a telecom system for next-generation high-speed broadband networks, has completed a $22.5 million Series B round of financing. New investor Vertex Venture Capital led the round. Prior funders Granite Ventures, Ventures West, Yaletown Venture Partners, GrowthWorks Capital and BDC Venture Capital as well as new investors GTD Capital and BC Advantage Funds also participated.

Google Confirms It Will Bid on Wireless Spectrum

– Will Bid Alone

Google this week confirmed that it will indeed bid on wireless spectrum in the US on January 28, starting at $4.6 billion. The spectrum could be used to build an open access wireless network that would compete with the more closed cellular networks that the likes of AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile operate. The bidding could continue into March before one or more winners are determined.

Google’s announcement this week is that it will try to assemble a national block of wireless spectrum.

Estimates are that actually building a wireless network could cost another $17 billion to $20 billion. Google has not said, if it wins of course, whether it will build the network or turn it over to a more experienced network operator.

Google, as we have said often, wants to make sure the ads it carries on its global advertising network can be seen on any device that has Internet access. To that end, it has launched a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices, not just handsets, which mobile device makers can use for free.

The FCC will auction the spectrum in six regional chunks of the continental US. Another six regions cover Alaska, Hawaii, offshore areas and territories. Different bidders could win different regions.

Local TV stations currently use the spectrum for over-the-air analog broadcasts. The government has mandated that the TV stations switch 100% to digital broadcasts, which use less spectrum than analog broadcasts, by February 2009. That’s when the winning bidder can start using the spectrum.

“We could enter into partnerships with other companies, we could lease the spectrum and become a wholesaler or we could operate our own wireless network,” said Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich. Google said it will bid alone, with no bidding partners.

Google chairman Eric Schmidt promised in a written statement that, if it wins, the company will use the spectrum to increase Americans’ wireless choices.

“We believe it’s important to put our money where our principles are,” Schmidt said. “Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today’s wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet.”

The FCC has mandated that some of the spectrum that’s going up for bid be kept open to any devices or software compatible with the network technology the auction winner chooses. Google was the biggest supporter of the open access provision.

Google hasn’t said which wireless network technology it would use. WiMAX technology, which is almost completely developed, would seem to be a possible choice. However, Sprint and Clearwire have committed to building WiMAX networks. Verizon Wireless said last week that it will use LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology for its high-speed wireless network.

“We haven’t said anything about what network technology Google will use,” Kovacevich said. “We would consider that question premature because we don’t know how the auction is going to unfold.”

Cox, AT&T and Frontline Wireless have indicated they will also bid on the 700 Mhz. Verizon Wireless is believed to have bidding intentions as well. Sprint, Time Warner Cable, Sprint and Comcast have said they will not bid. The deadline for submitting bid applications has passed so no one else is allowed to say whether or not they intend to bid until after the FCC announces who the bidders will be.