2000

SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc. reached a definitive agreement to acquire personal communications services operating licenses in Macon, Columbus and Albany, Ga., from Zuma PCS L.L.C. covering 1.3 million potential …

WASHINGTON-A major controversy with national implications has erupted in Massachusetts over draft legislation that would promote antenna siting collocation and streamline siting approval for carriers throughout the state, despite protests …

Speculation continues about Metrocall’s stated intention to participate further in the paging industry’s consolidation. The quintupling of Metrocall stock to more than $10 a share-along with the $75 million in …

NEW YORK-Qualcomm’s meteoric stock price appreciation in 1999 may well be a unique phenomenon that other companies are unlikely to replicate. Nonetheless, other established and new telecommunications players seem poised …

WASHINGTON-Last Thursday was a bad day for bankrupt personal communications services operator NextWave Telecom Inc. Not only did a federal appeals court deny its petition for rehearing but a United …

WASHINGTON-The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, growing increasingly concerned about the use of mobile phones and other high-tech gadgets in vehicles, plans to expand its review of driver distractions to …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson announced that Per-Arne Sandstrom, currently head of the business unit for Global System for Mobile communications systems, has been appointed executive vice president, head of the North …

After resisting a hostile takeover attempt by Vodafone AirTouch plc for more than two months, Germany’s Mannesmann AG last week agreed to a revised friendly offer just days shy of …

CANNES, France-Vodafone Ltd. said it bought CMG Telecommunications Inc.’s WAP Service Broker solution to bolster its Wireless Application Protocol services.

Although some rumblings continue over Geoworks Corp.’s licensing program for Wireless Application Protocol technology, WAP-related announcements continued making news at last week’s GSM World Congress in Cannes. Phone.com Inc. announced …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …