Tritel Inc., a Jackson, Miss., personal communications services affiliate of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., raised $168.75 million Dec. 14 in an initial public offering of 9.375 million shares. Tritel registered Nov. 18 for the IPO with an expected price range of $15-$17 per share. The deal, lead managed by Goldman Sachs & Co., New York, debuted at $18 per share. The PCS carrier already has launched commercial service in five markets in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, and is rolling out service in five more.
Leap Wireless International Inc. said it entered into a memorandum of understanding to purchase personal communication services licenses in Macon, Columbus and Albany, Ga., for an undisclosed amount. The agreement will give Leap the right to add approximately 1.3 million pops to the company’s domestic subsidiary, Cricket Communication Inc. Leap and the seller expect to finish a binding agreement by Feb. 28.
Phone.com Inc. announced it has signed deals with Allaire Corp. and Comtex News Networks to provide additional content to phones equipped with its Wireless Application Protocol technology. In one agreement, Allaire said it will integrate its e-business platform with Phone.com’s WAP-compatible UP.SDK software developer kit to help create custom WAP e-business applications. The second agreement calls for Comtex to provide breaking domestic and international news content to Phone.com’s MyPhone wireless portal platform.
TeleCorp PCS Inc. announced the opening of its online store, www.SunComShop.com. “We recognize the importance of having not only an e-commerce presence on the Web, but one that actually closes sales,” said Julie Dobson, chief operating officer of TeleCorp PCS.
L.M. Ericsson announced trials for Wireless Application Protocol technology over a Time Division Multiple Access network with Rogers Cantel, a Canadian wireless provider. The announcement is the first WAP 1.1 system on a TDMA network, said Ericsson. The system being delivered is based on a scalable, fault-tolerant Jambala platform. The Jambala WAP Gateway is targeted at TDMA and cdmaOne operators.
