Cars.com, an auto information site, is reporting record visits to its mobile site for the first workweek of this year.

The Chicago-based company claims vehicle searches through mobile devices on its Cars.com mobile site were up 30 percent from December. By contrast, searches on its wired Web site are up 19 percent.

"While it is still early to tell if this trend will continue, we are encouraged to see such solid year-over-year gains, especially since last January was a strong month," said Cars.com president Mitch Golub in a statement.

A recent survey conducted by the brand showed that 39 percent of consumers who visited Cars.com on mobile were on a dealer lot shopping for a car at the time.

The uptick in both online and mobile searches on Cars.com may give dealers some hope after a tough 2008.

"We see all of these measures as positive signs for the automotive business as we head into the New Year," he said.

MobiTV to air Presidential Inauguration live on mobile
Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the United States will be broadcast live on mobile devices by MobiTV.

Starting 6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, MobiTV's 5 million-plus can tune in live to CNBC, C-Span, Fox News, MSNBC and ABC News Now to watch the Inauguration ceremony on their mobile phones.

In addition to the swearing-in ceremony, MobiTV subscribers will also be able to see live coverage of the Inaugural Ball.

MobiTV expects to see a spike in viewing based on the increase in viewing during the 2008 presidential campaign.

The Emeryville, CA-based company's service can be viewed on more than 350 mobile devices, powering the mobile television offerings of carriers such as Sprint, AT&T and Verizon Wireless' Alltel.

GSMA calls for scrapping spectrum caps in Latin America
A new study claims that tight spectrum caps in some Latin American countries are artificially curbing intake and usage of broadband in the region.

Rigid restrictions on the amount of spectrum available to wireless carriers are undermining their ability to offer mobile broadband services for Internet, email or other online services through computers and mobile devices. The findings were published in a study conducted by Arthur D. Little for wireless trade association GSMA, London.

"If mobile broadband is to fulfill its promise to connect the unconnected in Latin America, spectrum caps need to be scrapped and new spectrum immediately made available for mobile operators in the region," said Ricardo Tavares, senior vice president for public policy at the GSMA, in a statement.

"At a time when the global economy is in crisis, the wider availability of broadband services would help individuals and businesses to become more efficient and productive, driving economic growth and generating new jobs," he said.

The GSMA claims the spectrum caps in Latin America are the most restrictive in the world.

For example, a maximum of 40MHz is allowed per carrier in Colombia, 50MHz in Argentina, 60MHz in Chile, 65MHz in Mexico and 80MHz in Brazil.

The total amount of spectrum for carriers in each of these markets is less than 200MHz.

The International Telecommunications Union estimates than 840MHz per national market will be required by 2010 to handle demand for mobile broadband services.

Spectrum caps are not used in the United States and Western Europe.

AT&T Mobility, for example, holds a national average of 96MHz, Verizon Wireless 90MHz and T-Mobile USA 75MHz.

The European Union average is 96.2MHz.

Most countries across North America and Europe have more than 300MHz of spectrum available for commercial use by carriers, according to the GSMA.

The association said new bands available in Latin America for mobile broadband expansion include the AWS band (1.7 to 2.1GHz), 2.6GHz and the 700MHz band, which will soon be available by the migration from analog to digital television signals.

"Spectrum caps were introduced in the 1990s to ensure competition in the early stages of the mobile industry," said Marcelo Erlich, CEO of Antel in Uruguay and chairman of GSMA Latin America, in a statement.

"Today, most countries have eliminated spectrum caps as markets have become more competitive and forecasts of demand for spectrum for mobile broadband technologies such as HSPA and LTE have increased significantly," he said.