T-Mobile USA Inc. continued to chug along as the industry’s No. 4 carrier, but the third fastest-growing operator during the second quarter adding 857,000 new customers to its network and ending the period with nearly 27 million total customers. The growth fell short of the big 2, AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, but easily outdistanced No. 3 carrier Sprint Nextel Corp., which posted 400,000 net customer additions for the quarter.

T-Mobile USA’s second-quarter growth outpaced the 613,000 subscribers it added during Q2 2006, but fell short of the nearly 1 million subscribers added during …

Electronic Arts Inc. named its second general manager of EA Mobile in five months, appointing Barry Cottle to direct the business.

Cottle, who will oversee EA Mobile’s global operations, had most recently served as CEO at Quickoffice Inc., which develops mobile business software and content-rendering technology for handset manufacturers. Cottle’s resume also includes stints as COO and chief Internet officer at Palm Computing Inc. and a 10-year term as senior vice president of marketing for Disney TeleVentures, a video programming joint venture.

Mitch Lasky served as CEO at Jamdat …

Verizon Wireless said it purchased the operating assets of regional wireless services provider Ramcell in Kentucky and Oregon for an undisclosed sum.

The nation’s second-largest carrier picked up Ramcell’s 51 cell sites as well as spectrum licenses that cover a population of nearly 600,000 in the Kentucky markets of Clay and Madison and Coos, Ore. Verizon Wireless said it will convert Ramcell’s TDMA network in Kentucky to CDMA technology, adding capacity and EV-DO Revision A technology, and will enhance the existing CDMA network in Oregon with EV-DO Rev. A.

Ramcell closed its retail …

Vodafone Group plc has made a somewhat surprising move by joining the WiMAX Forum as a principal member.

“For a company that has historically been perceived as hostile toward the technology, does this mean that their attitude toward WiMAX has now thawed?” IMS Research queried in a report following the announcement.

Vodafone, which has already moved through the GSM to UMTS evolution path in Europe, was, like similar providers, expected to make its next step in LTE, not WiMAX. However, LTE appears to be running behind as standards are not yet fully developed.

“Indeed Vodafone’s …

Dobson Communications Corp., which recently announced plans to be acquired by AT&T Inc., posted a 15% jump in second-quarter revenues from $312.1 million in 2006 to $360.2 million this year. Net income also improved from a loss of $8.4 million in 2006, a loss of 5 cents per share, to a return of $16.1 million this year, a return of 9 cents per share.

The carrier’s strong financial results were boosted by an increase in net customer additions from 17,300 subscribers during the second quarter of 2006 to 41,700 subscribers this year. The subscriber growth was helped by an increase in reseller …