March 1999

WASHINGTON-Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), chairman of the Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, has introduced legislation to speed up Federal Communications Commission review of telecom mergers. Two deals before the FCC-the proposed $53 …

NEW YORK-Deloitte Consulting announced it has developed an evaluation system to help telecommunications carriers and equipment vendors think like portfolio managers before jumping at cross-border opportunities in the burgeoning but …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration last week formally opposed a bill to relax export restrictions on encryption products. Encryption is scrambling technology used to keep electronic communications, including wireless telephony, private. The …

STOCKHOLM-Ericsson Inc. said it received its third contract from Entel PCS in Chile to provide Global System for Mobile communications 1900 MHz network equipment to accommodate Entel’s rapidly expanding customer …

WASHINGTON-When children squabble about whether one is being nice to the other, a parent often must render a judgment about the situation. When members of the Federal Communications Commission squabble, …

MIAMI-WinStar Communications Inc. announced it is now offering its service to businesses in Miami. WinStar’s network uses high-frequency radio waves. The company said it will offer local phone service, long-distance, …

TOKYO-NEC Corp. and NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. have agreed to work together in technical trials of a wideband Code Division Multiple Access system with the Telephone Organization of Thailand. …

WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. lawyer Thomas Cullen, attempting to convince U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan last Friday to accept the dispatch giant’s request to vacate a 1995 antitrust consent decree, …

BASKING RIDGE, N.J.-AT&T Corp., Lucent Technologies Inc. and Motorola Inc., among others, have joined to create a standard that will allow users to access Web-based information via mobile or landline …

Royal Philips Electronics launched a hostile bid Friday to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of VLSI Technology Inc. after VLSI declined to respond to Philips’ merger proposal by …

NEW YORK-Venture capitalists are beating a path to the door of those who would build a better mousetrap for the burgeoning telecommunications/wireless sector, according to results of the quarterly PriceWaterhouseCoopers …

Like their counterparts in the wireless service and infrastructure arenas, telecom equipment vendors are consolidating and reorganizing at an increasing pace. Most segments seem to be affected, from tower companies …

SAN RAMON, Calif.-U.S. Wireless Corp. and Allen Telecom Inc. announced an agreement to form a joint venture that will offer an integrated line of geolocation equipment and solutions based on …

NEW YORK-Vodafone Group plc, based in Berkshire, England, announced it signed up its 10 millionth proportionate customer March 1. Vodafone, which is acquiring AirTouch Communications Inc., said the subscriber count …

KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint PCS engineers have developed standard specifications that enable interoperability between two major components of wireless networks-mobile switching centers and base station subsystems-from two different vendors of Code …

Helsinki-based Sonera Group plc, Finland’s largest telecommunications carrier, plans a $1.1 billion issue of medium term notes to help finance its expansion plans. The partially privatized carrier, owned 78 percent …

WASHINGTON-If the inside-the-beltway crowd thinks the issue of antenna siting is slowing down-or perhaps going away altogether-they should have attended a telecommunications forum on Feb. 28, sponsored by the National …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration is reviewing potential candidates to succeed National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Larry Irving, who is expected to leave his post by year’s end. One prospect, Greg …

WHEATON, Md.-A recent report from Herschel Shosteck Associates Ltd. examines the reasons why Motorola Inc.’s Cellular Subscriber Sector lost market share to Nokia Corp., which today is the leader in …

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Glenayre’s Wireless Access Group and Golden Eagle Credit Corp. have teamed to lease pagers directly to the end user. The new leasing arrangement will allow more companies to …

EMERYVILLE, Calif.-Several technology companies announced they have created an alliance to develop an interface connecting consumer and small-business appliances to Internet services, called the Open Service Gateway specification. Its backers …

NEW YORK-Orbcomm Global L.P., Dulles, Va., announced March 1 that Conatel, the Venezuelan government regulatory agency, has granted operating and frequency licenses to Telecomunicaciones de Caracas, the exclusive provider of …

CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J.-Omnipoint Communications Inc. became the first Global System for Mobile communications carrier to eliminate long-distance and roaming charges on GSM networks in the United States and Canada. The …

WASHINGTON-In the public forum, Nextel Communications Inc. speaks earnestly of a brave new wireless world in which it could compete more favorably against AT&T Corp., Sprint Corp. and others if …

Are today’s high-tech firms so different from companies of the Industrial Age as to make classic antitrust analysis archaic and no longer applicable? Top antitrust minds, like Federal Trade Commission …