Ameritech Corp. said it plans to invest $3 billion in capital in its communications networks in
1999. Approximately $2 billion will be targeted at enhancing the company’s core communications networks, with half
of the total supporting data networks. An additional $1 billion will be devoted to infrastructure to provide wireless
communications, cable TV, security monitoring, advanced data and Internet services, said Ameritech.
Esso, an
Exxon Corp. subsidiary, wants drivers in Finland to make their cellular phone calls far away from the gas pumps as
some experts believe electronic impulses from the phones could help ignite fires. A cell phone-sparked fire hasn’t
happened yet, but as a precaution Esso is banning mobile phones at its stations in Finland by the end of the month.
Exxon itself is mulling over the idea on a company-wide scale. An estimated 56 percent of Finns have cell phones.
(AP)
Attorney General Janet Reno late last week declined to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate lobbyist and
former Clinton-Gore campaign manager Peter Knight’s role in helping Tennessee developer Franklin Haney secure a
20-year, $400,000 lease to house the Federal Communications Commission in a new building known as the Portals.
The action sparked an angry response from Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-Va.), whose House Commerce Committee
concluded-among other things-that Knight and others broke the law by accepting $1 million contingency fees from
Haney for securing the federal lease.
Brightpoint Inc. said it was appointed the primary provider of inventory
management, fulfillment, programming, special packaging and other services to the Cellular Telecommunications
Industry Association’s ClassLink, Call to Protect and Communities on Phone Patrol programs for the next two years.
