January 2000

Cable & Wireless plc announced it is in discussions regarding a proposed merger between Cable & Wireless HKT Ltd. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. Such a merger would create the largest …

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 …

United Kingdom Britain-based Marconi plc announced it has sold its Network Components & Services business in Europe and China to Viasystems Group Inc. for $115 million in cash. The sale …

WASHINGTON-With predictions that data-particularly e-commerce-will shape the industry’s future, the big question is which enterprise network will handle the most wireless traffic in the New Millennium. Will it be a …

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 …

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 …

NEW YORK-Smart cards must overcome a chicken-and-egg problem before they can expand their use in wireless devices beyond their established role as subscriber identification modules in Global System for Mobile …

France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom made significant moves to part ways last week with France Telecom agreeing to purchase Deutsche Telekom’s and Sprint Corp.’s stakes in the Global One joint …

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 …

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 …

Qualcomm Inc. on Friday officially asked the Federal Communications Commission to grant it spectrum in the upcoming channel 60-69 auctions. Qualcomm wants the commission to quickly award it spectrum to …

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., …

LUFKIN, Texas-US Unwired launched service in Lufkin and Nacogdoches, Texas. US Unwired, a Sprint PCS Network Partner, currently offers service in Beaumont, Nederland, Tyler, Longview and Texarkana, covering east Texas …

DALLAS-PrimeCo Personal Communications L.P. plans to enhance the capacity and reach of its existing network through a $210 million infrastructure equipment contract with Lucent Technologies Inc. The new equipment allows …

TORONTO-Canada’s telecommunications industry was shaken up with the announcement that Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. plans to distribute its 37-percent interest in Nortel Networks to its nearly 500,000 shareholders. BCE at …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The big question on Wall Street last week seemed to be “What’s up with PageNet?” After falling steadily all year, Paging Network Inc. enjoyed a stock market rally last week …

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-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 …

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 …

GIVATAYIM, Israel-Nexus Telocation Systems Ltd. announced it signed a $20 million blanket purchase order with its principal global marketing partner, Global Wireless Holdings Inc. The order calls for infrastructure and …

SAN RAMON, Calif.-How can California-based U.S. Wireless Corp. help traffic congestion in Virginia? By supplying its location-enhanced digital traffic and congestion information to the Virginia Department of Transportation as part …

MUNICH, Germany-Siemens announced an agreement with Phone.com Inc. that will allow commercial deployment of Wireless Application Protocol-based services by more than 10 wireless operators in Europe and Asia. Siemens said …