March 1999

LONDON-Vodafone Group plc said 11 banks have agreed to underwrite and arrange the facility required to finance the company’s merger with AirTouch Communications Inc. The banks include Bank of America, …

As Telecom Italia Spa shareholders prepare to vote April 16 on the company’s proposed new corporate plan, Olivetti Spa outlined its own plans for the company should its hostile takeover …

South Korea Centigram Communications Corp. announced it signed a $2.4 million agreement with South Korea-based Shinsegi Telecomm Inc. to expand the voice-messaging capabilities on Shinsegi’s Code Division Multiple Access network. …

HANNOVER, Germany-From the CeBIT ’99 show in Germany, L.M. Ericsson made several announcements. Ericsson unveiled the R380 dual-band mobile phone with built-in personal digital assistant functionality including address book, calendar, …

HANNOVER, Germany-Orange plc made several announcements from CeBIT ’99, the European trade show. Orange signed an agreement with Nokia Corp. to begin a major trial of its Wireless Application Protocol …

HANNOVER, Germany-Iridium L.L.C. announced at the CeBIT show it entered into a joint marketing agreement with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. Under the agreement, the two companies will promote …

NEW YORK- Triton Cellular Partners L.P., Malverne, Pa., completed the acquisition of Blue Mountain Cellular Telephone, which offers wireless telecommunications in south-central and eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. Triton did …

CHICAGO-Personal communications services operator Aerial Communications Inc. announced its board of directors approved a tax settlement agreement with Telephone and Data Systems Inc. TDS owns 82.3 percent of Aerial. The …

MobileMedia Corp. said it filed a stipulation to its reorganization plan with the U.S. bankruptcy court in order to appease certain unsecured creditors who have objected to it. The reorganization …

Sun Microsystems Inc. last week signed two separate memorandums of understanding designed to further its presence in the wireless industry. The first MoU calls for Japan’s NTT DoCoMo to deploy …

STOCKHOLM-L.M. Ericsson is testing a wireless financial information and transaction service with Dagens Industri AB, a leading business daily publication in Sweden. The test involves about 40 selected Internet brokerage …

NEW YORK-The disappearing boundaries between the Internet and internal corporate computer networks pose a security threat that can undermine the business opportunities and efficiencies this new era of data communications …

WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court has rejected an assertion by the wireless industry it should not have to pay into individual state universal service funds. “Today’s [March 16] decision is a …

HANNOVER, Germany-Motorola Inc. introduced a portfolio of digital wireless devices at the CeBIT exhibition and promised to offer Internet-browsing capability on its entire line of digital mobile phones by 2000. …

HELSINKI-Nokia Corp.’s board of directors elected Nokia’s Chief Executive Officer Jorma Ollila chairman, and Iiro Viinanen vice chairman. Ollila joined Nokia in 1985, became president and CEO in 1992, and …

3Com Corp. and Microsoft Corp. announced they plan to develop co-branded home networking products that initially will include traditional ethernet and home-phone-line networking kits, with radio-frequency and power-line kits to …

LAS VEGAS-Chadmoore Wireless Group Inc. announced it closed a $13.5 million secured financing transaction with GATX Capital Corp. Per the agreement, GATX Capital has the option of making available an …

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia announced an agreement to supply its General Packet Radio Service network solution to KG Telecom in Taiwan. KG Telecom will be able to provide mobile Internet access to …

Frontier Corp., one of the parents of Frontier Cellular, announced plans to merge with Global Crossing Ltd., an independent global fiber-optic network operator. The transaction is valued at about $11.2 …

PHILADELPHIA-Angels flocked to the City of Brotherly Love last week for what was billed as a first-of-its-kind meeting. The event was organized to foster increased networking among high net-worth individuals …

LONDON-NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. and Symbian announced their agreement to create research and development programs, specifically to establish and expand the wireless information devices market and provide broad support …

BOCA RATON, Fla.-Siemens Information and Communication Networks Inc. joined the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium in support of the Time Division Multiple Access-Global System for Mobile communications interoperability agreement made between …

NEW YORK-Montreal-based Telesystem International Wireless Inc. has wandered far from its home base and original paging strategy as it pursues emerging opportunities in developed and developing markets in Europe, Latin …

MUNICH, Germany-Siemens Semiconductors will spin off from Siemens AG on April 1, forming a separate legal entity-Infineon Technologies AG, said the company. According to Siemens, the move is an important …