April 1996

PARK RIDGE, N.J.-The Hertz Corp. car rental company announced the rollout of a system that uses wireless technology to improve the speed and accuracy of communications between Hertz shuttle bus …

MONTVALE, N.J.-Geotek Communications Inc. and RWE Telliance AG announced they have executed a memorandum of understanding to merge their German public access mobile radio networks, RegioNet and Terrafon Bundelfunk. The …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration is set to intervene shortly in a Democratic Party power struggle for leadership of the new Telecommunications Development Fund, a potentially huge pool of money small businesses …

NEW YORK-While wireless and wireline carriers assess and respond to the effects of the 1996 Telecom Reform Act on their business, the Federal Communications Commission also must adapt quickly to …

WASHINGTON-Capitol Hill insiders once again are playing the name game, this time regarding who will be nominated to replace former Federal Communications Commissioner Andrew Barrett, who left the agency for …

Consolidation in the cellular industry is galloping ahead-now spurred faster by the 1996 Telecom Reform Act-but toward an uncertain future. The ten largest cellular carriers served nearly 27 million subscribers …

SEATTLE-Cellular Technical Services Company Inc. announced an agreement with Authentix Network Inc. to form a strategic alliance that will grant CTS rights to jointly market and support Authentix nationwide roamer …

The C-block auction isn’t just for large companies-not if your strategic goal is the 53,000 pops of McAlester, Okla. That’s the site of Oklahoma’s most notorious prison, as well as …

APRIL 14-16 Technology Forecasting for the Telecom Industry, by Technology Futures Inc. Grand Kempinski, Dallas. Call David Solomon at (800) 835-3887. 16-18 Universal Wireless Communications International Conference, Singapore International Convention …

OKLAHOMA CITY-A lawsuit stemming from the rural service area lotteries of the late 1980s was resolved recently when United States Cellular Corp. won a $9.5 million award from Southwestern Bell …

President Clinton late Friday appointed U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor the new Secretary of Commerce. Kantor replaces Ron Brown who was buried last week following an airplane crash that killed …

Telephone and Data Systems Inc. and Darien Telephone Co. announced that TDS’ Camden Telephone Co. affiliate of St. Mary’s, Ga., has acquired controlling interest in the Georgia rural service area …

Investment bankers expect to see more vertical marriages this year withing the wireless industry family, rather than the entrance of non-traditional players into the marketplace. Mark Kington, managing director of …

PHILADELPHIA-Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile said it is offering TalkDial voice-activated dialing service to its Philadelphia tri-state region customers. The company said customers will be able to place cellular phone calls …

ATLANTA-Preferred Networks Inc. announced three senior officers have purchased more than a half million shares of the company’s stock in a private transaction. Mark Dunaway, chairman and chief executive officer, …

After three enterprising decades at Motorola Inc.-during which he pioneered high-capacity paging and the first radiotelephone-succeeded by several telecom start-up firms, Martin Cooper was ready to hang up his spurs. …

NEW YORK-Three-sixty Communications Co. and Alltell Mobile Communications Inc. announced a signed agreement for a joint marketing and technology alliance in the Carolinas and Georgia. The new alliance is designed …

NEW YORK-The urge to merge struck again with an Easter weekend announcement that AirTouch Communications Inc. would pay about $1.65 billion to buy the 60 percent of Cellular Communications Inc. …

Fujian Posts and Telecommunications Administration of China will trial Motorola Inc.’s fixed wireless telephone system using Fujitsu Ltd.’s switching system, announced Motorola’s Wireless Access Systems Division. The trial will be …

The arrival of spring weather in the nation’s capital seemed to coincide with the conclusion of a week filled with grief from the tragic deaths of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, …

Prepaid cellular represents a huge opportunity for carriers, as demonstrated by the flood of prepaid services inundating the marketplace. More significantly, however, prepaid cellular may prove in itself a new …

WASHINGTON-If a newly released notice of proposed rulemaking is adopted, private and commercial wireless telecommunications carriers will be subject to no change in their 1996 regulatory fee structure; figures have …

Linda Noda Hobbs has been named president of The National Dispatch Center Inc. Hobbs will oversee all aspects of NDC’s day-to-day operations, including implementation of policies, systems and procedures. Since …

On the same day last week, the nation was a painful witness to high technology’s fork in the road. In some remote hills of spacious Montana, federal agents picked up …

NEW YORK-Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp. announced that Microsoft Corp. has purchased $25 million of its preferred stock. The sale of $50 million to $60 million in Mtel Cumulative Convertible Accruing …