January 2000

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration’s campaign to narrow the digital divide has come under attack by the American Electronics Association, the National Telephone Cooperative Association and some Republican presidential candidates. The digital …

HOUSTON-Crown Castle International Corp., a provider of communication sites and wireless network services, received a commitment for a new $1.2 billion credit facility to be led by Chase Securities Inc., …

NEW YORK-Bell Atlantic Corp. announced its fifth consecutive year of double-digit earnings growth. The company’s fourth quarter adjusted earnings per diluted share increased 11.6 percent from 69 cents per share …

SYDNEY, Australia-After four rounds and two days of bidding for Australia’s 1800 MHz wireless phone licenses, the total of standing high bids was $64.4 million. The licenses will provide extra …

LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc announced it will not trade its single-A credit ratings for Mannesmann AG control by offering downgrade protection on some outstanding debt. The company said it added covenants …

ATLANTA-BellSouth Corp. announced fourth-quarter earnings, excluding one-time charges, rose from 42 cents per share in 1998 to 53 cents per share in 1999, an increase of 26 percent. The company …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson reported 1999 pretax profit dropped 10 percent to $1.89 billion, ahead of analysts’ expectations. Sales for the fourth quarter increased 25 percent to $8.36 billion, with mobile …

SAN ANTONIO-SBC Communications Inc. reported increased revenues for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, which included the completion of its acquisition of Ameritech Corp. in December. For the …

WASHINGTON-The American Mobile Telecommunications Association has asked the Federal Communications Commission to change its rules as to when incumbents in the upper 800 MHz band can be paid for relocation …

VANCOUVER, British Columbia-Sierra Wireless announced it signed a multi-year, $24 million contract with Sprint PCS to supply Code Division Multiple Access data products to the operator. The deal calls for …

MURRAY HILL, N.J.-Thanks to Bell Atlantic Mobile and Bell Labs, people with speech or hearing disabilities will be able to make digital cellular phone calls-including 911 emergency calls-using text-telephone devices …

BELLEVUE, Wash.-VoiceStream Wireless Corp., Omnipoint Corp. and Aerial Communications Inc. filed joint proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week in connection with their planned merger. All three …

A division, not an exclusion, of interests seems to be emerging between cellular and paging services. Business customers are keeping the paging market in check while the cellular phone continues …

HOLLAND, Ohio-Sprint PCS announced it is teaming up with Virtual PC, a Holland, Ohio-based computer and software company to sell wireless services. The agreement calls for Virtual PC to sell …

Wireless carriers and Wall Street are excited about the huge revenue potential advertising via mobile phones could bring in the future, but just how to offer it to customers is …

Perhaps the greatest indicator of the wireless data industry’s rise to popularity is the way paging carriers are positioning themselves in the space today. Pioneering wireless data carriers like American …

NEW YORK-Siemens AG’s U.S. business units recorded increases in both sales and orders for the first quarter of fiscal 2000, ended Dec. 31, 1999, compared with the previous year. Sales …

WASHINGTON-Peter Angelos, the powerful Baltimore lawyer who has successfully litigated against the tobacco industry, asbestos manufacturers and others in personal injury cases, is looking into the mobile phone health issue. …

WASHINGTON-FreeSpace Communications and the Industrial Telecommunications Association are at it again. The two parties are each urging the Federal Communications Commission to let them have access to the guard bands …

In a marked shift in strategy, Datalink.net unveiled a new business unit called Net2Wireless Turnkey Business Solutions, designed to provide business-to-business wireless extension services. Originally, Datalink aimed its turnkey information …

A new survey that assessed the attitudes of Fortune 500 chief executives and chief information execs found only 12 percent of the people surveyed are very confident their firms have …

WASHINGTON-Two attempts to stop litigation involving bankrupt wireless operator NextWave Telecom Inc. failed last week as both a federal appeals court and a bankruptcy judge refused requests to interpret a …

Increasing its advertising efforts during the fourth quarter, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. added 440,000 subscribers the last three months of 1999, ending the year with about 12 million subscribers. The …

NEW YORK-Toronto-based 724 Solutions Inc., which permits banks to offer their services over wireless devices, made a blockbuster debut on Nasdaq Jan. 28. Its 6-million share initial public offering sold …

LUTHERVILLE, Md.-Hoping to more accurately describe the services it provides, Americom has changed its name to Americom Wireless Services. The company announced that the name change is a continuation of …