Vanguard Cellular Systems Inc. said it acquired all the cellular assets of the nonwireline West Virginia 6 rural service area for $16.7 million as part of a property swap agreement announced previously with PriCellular Corp. The RSA includes six counties with a population of about 186,720. It is contiguous with Vanguard’s Charleston, W.Va., and Huntington, W.Va./Ashland, Ky., properties.
Cincinnati Bell Information Systems announced it has acquired ICS Information Technologies of Reston, Va. ICS, which provides value added customized billing solutions, and its staff of 80 will become part of CBIS, the company said. The arrangement will add additional capabilities to ICS, which provides the Summit customer care and billing solutions and the Summit Call Manager.
PriCellular Corp. announced an agreement to exchange its Florence, Ala., metropolitan statistical area-with a population of 137,000-and its contiguous Alabama rural service area for the Wisconsin 4 RSA-with 118,000 pops. PriCellular will pay $18 million in cash, or approximately $215 per pop, for the balance of the pops being acquired by BellSouth Cellular Corp. If approved by the Federal Communications Commission, PriCellular will own and or operate around 4.1 million pops principally in clusters north of New York City, in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Minnesota.
ReCellular Inc., a remanufacturer of wireless equipment, announced Nokia Products Corp. has subcontracted ReCellular for Nokia phone repair services. ReCellular began repairing and remanufacturing cellular phones generated from Nokia’s Fast And Simple Turnaround program in August. ReCellular will remanufacture greater quantities of analog and digital phones as well as portable and 3 watt equipment. The contract is based on ReCellular’s Product Administration and Special Services program, a process by which returned, warranty repair or stockpile cellular phones are inventoried and tested for damage. ReCellular then restores the phones to manufacturer’s specifications.
Trimble Navigation Corp. announced it will lay off 10 percent of its work force and consolidate certain manufacturing facilities and service organizations as part of a corporate restructuring program, which will consolidate the company into three business units-Commercial Systems, Software and Component Technologies and Aerospace. The company said it expects to report a loss, including a charge related to the consolidation, for the third quarter ending Sept. 30 on revenues at or below second quarter levels. “It is necessary to consolidate our operations to bring expenses more in line with revenues and we will continue to evaluate these cost reduction measures based on market demand,” said Charles Trimble, chairman and chief executive officer of Trimble.
