February 1999

NEW ORLEANS-Imagine you are in a horrible accident on a dark road, late at night. Your airbag deploys but you are unconscious, alone, so how will emergency personnel-or anyone for …

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.-CommNet Cellular Inc. reported results for the three months ended Dec. 31, 1998. The company added 36,865 subscribers during the period, 19,622 from increased penetration and 17,243 through certain …

BALTIMORE-At press time Friday, Judge E. Stephen Derby told parties in the Pocket Communications Inc. bankruptcy case he would make a decision in the latest round of this convoluted case …

NEW YORK-The approximately 70 field engineers for PageMart Wireless Inc. feared a St. Valentine’s Day massacre last week after receiving a company Human Resources Department memorandum Feb. 8 advising them …

NEW ORLEANS-Convergys Corp. said its information management solutions supported the acquisition of 2 million new wireless subscribers nationwide during the holiday season. The company also said its information management solutions …

WASHINGTON-Wireless E911 and privacy bills breezed through the House Commerce Committee last week, setting the stage for votes on the House floor by month’s end. The bills, passed by the …

MALVERN, Pa.-Triton Cellular Partners LP reached an agreement to acquire the Alabama 5 Rural Service Area cellular operating system from Cranford Cellular Communications L.L.C. The transaction will bring Triton’s total …

PRINCETON, N.J.-Nettech Systems Inc. announced an expansion plan that included establishing a Professional Services consulting division to help software developers deploy wireless data solutions and opening three regional sales offices …

NEW YORK-Metromedia International Group Inc. announced that on March 15 the company will pay its regularly scheduled dividend of 91 cents per share on its 7.25-percent cumulative convertible preferred stock …

PROVO, Utah-Big Planet announced its national network of independent sales representatives will begin selling the BeepwearPRO pager, made jointly by Motorola Inc. and Timex, with regular and prepaid airtime made …

TOKYO-Standard & Poor’s Corp. said it downgraded the investment grade corporate ratings of nine Japanese industrial companies. The ratings of NEC Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. both were lowered a …

NEW ORLEANS-Following a trend of convergence between the wireless and Internet industries, Motorola Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. last week announced the first phase of a strategic alliance to develop …

ARLINGTON, Va.-The Telecommunications Industry Association released figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce that state sales of telecommunications equipment rose to $78.8 billion at the close of 1998, an 11-percent …

NEW ORLEANS-Lucent Technologies Inc.’s Microelectronics Group introduced a Code Division Multiple Access chip that uses technology with origins in the airline industry to make it easier to understand cellular phone …

VANCOUVER, Wash.-WesTower Corp. announced a build-to-suit agreement with Houston Cellular Telephone Co. WesTower will build a portion of Houston Cellular’s towers in the Houston area in 1999 and 2000 under …

NEW ORLEANS-The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium, which represents the interests of Time Division Multiple Access technology proponents, demonstrated interoperability between 850 MHz and 1900 MHz networks at the Cellular Telecommunications …

PALO ALTO, Calif.-Watkins-Johnson Co.’s unaudited results for 1998 showed revenue of $212.2 million, down from $291.3 million reported in revenue for 1997. The company experienced a net loss for the …

ROGERS, Conn.-Rogers Corp. reported 1998 sales of $216.6 million, an increase of 14 percent over 1997 sales of $189.7 million. The company’s net income for 1998 was $13.7 million, or …

NEW ORLEANS-The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium and the GSM North American Alliance announced plans to work to achieve interoperability between TDMA and GSM technology, a move that could facilitate national …

MONTVALE, N.J.-Geotek Communications Inc. Friday said it plans to sell to Nextel Communications Inc. its portfolio of 191 specialized mobile radio 900 MHz licenses. The deal is valued at $150 …

BURLINGTON, Mass.-Lightbridge Inc. announced TMTouch, the digital cellular network service and product of Telekom Cellular Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, deployed Lightbridge’s FraudBuster to detect and reduce impact of fraud. “FraudBuster’s …

SWINDON, U.K.-Cellnet announced it will build a General Packet Radio Service wireless data network supplied by Motorola Inc.’s Network Solutions Sector, in a $50 million deal. The GPRS capability will …

NEW ORLEANS-Spyglass Inc. released version 2.2 of its Prism platform for converting Internet content into formats that can be displayed on mobile phones. The most significant advancement of Prism 2.2 …

WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court here rejected a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of 800 MHz specialized mobile radio licenses in 1997, but struck down rules imposing tighter buildout …

WILSONVILLE, Ore.-Tektronix Inc. announced an agreement to buy the Network Monitoring and Mobile Test Systems business of Necsy Network Control Systems S.p.A., based in Padova, Italy, for an undisclosed amount. …