February 2000

CANNES, France-Motorola Inc. and Turkish Global System for Mobile communications operator Telsim announced they signed a $1.5 billion contract calling for Motorola to provide infrastructure, handsets and associated services to …

Metrocall Inc. took the latest step in the paging industry’s evolutionary journey last week, unveiling an acquisition, a new joint venture, a recapitalization plan and a strong financial partner tapped …

SAN FRANCISCO-The auction for Internet domain name “wireless.com” officially closed Jan. 31, but lack of serious interest is keeping the auction open indefinitely until a reasonable offer is accepted. Alex …

ESPOO, Finland-Nokia Corp. reported its strongest annual operating results in the company’s history for the 1999 fourth quarter and year. Net sales grew 48 percent for the year from $13.4 …

Agilent Technologies Inc. acquired The Silicon Valley Networking Lab Inc., an independent, third-party test lab for the networking industry based in San Jose, Calif. Financial terms of the acquisition were …

SEATTLE-AirTouch Cellular launched a new nationwide digital calling plan that eliminates roaming and long-distance charges throughout the United States. The new calling plans include a $30 plan with 100 included …

NEW YORK-Alamosa PCS Holdings Inc., a Sprint PCS affiliate, raised $182.1 million Feb. 3 in a 10.71 million-share initial public offering priced at $17 each, $2 above the maximum it …

NEW YORK-AT&T Corp. emerged on Groundhog Day from its longstanding ruminations about tracking stocks and, apparently seeing no shadows, registered to take its wireless telecommunications business public in spring. AT&T …

NEW YORK-Bell Atlantic Corp., GTE Corp. and Alltel Corp. signed an agreement last week to exchange wireless interests in 13 states, eliminating the overlapping cellular properties that would result from …

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.-Bell Atlantic Mobile and TruePosition Inc. said they have completed field trials of Code Division Multiple Access location technology. The field trial was conducted over series 2 …

WASHINGTON-Richard Blumenthal, the high-profile Connecticut attorney general who played key roles in successful lawsuits against Microsoft Corp. and the tobacco industry, has joined his counterparts in California and Wisconsin in …

CANNES, France-Several well-known firms in the Internet and wireless industries have come together to form the Mobile Wireless Internet Forum with the intent to accelerate the deployment of open, Internet-based …

I came to the wireless communications industry several years ago from the world of geographic information systems-an industry I thoroughly enjoyed because of its vast applications but which I always …

MINNEAPOLIS-ADC Telecommunications Inc. announced it received two new contracts to provide its NewNet OTAserver over-the-air activation and SMserver short message technologies to regional wireless operators in North and South America. …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission’s decision to grant Nokia Corp.-the world’s largest mobile phone vendor-a four-month extension to comply with new 911 call-processing rules prompted protests last week by the Wireless …

CANNES, France-As European governments craft plans to grant third-generation licenses, some GSM and future UMTS carriers fear a few of the stipulations regulators are putting on potential 3G licensees. Representatives …

BEIJING-Nortel Networks said it won awards totaling $132 million to build or significantly expand Global System for Mobile communications networks in six of China’s provinces during the next year. When …

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-Omnipoint Technologies Inc. introduced Global System for Mobile communications modules for Europe supporting the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz bands. The Redhawk II and Eagle II …

WASHINGTON-Rather than granting a spectrum-cap waiver requested by Arch Communications Group Inc., the Federal Communications Commission should remove the cap altogether, said Metrocall Inc. in comments filed last week. Meanwhile, …

WEST POINT, Ga.-Powertel Inc., a wireless personal communications services provider in the southeastern United States, announced its financial results for the fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31. Company revenue and sales …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. and L.M. Ericsson said they have agreed to jointly develop and market a wireless technology solution supporting both Code Division Multiple Access and Bluetooth standards. According to …

BOSTON-American Tower Corp. is having a busy start to the new millennium, announcing a new merger and adding more towers to its portfolio. The merger, with Galaxy Engineering Services, will …

CANNES, France-RangeStar Wireless introduced three new antennas for wireless handsets that the company said it believes will revolutionize antenna technology. RangeStar unveiled a wideband Code Division Multiple Access embedded antenna …

ARLINGTON, Va.-The Third-Generation Partnership Project 2, a group created to speed the development of global 3G wireless standards, announced it expanded its organization to include the CDMA Development Group as …