Editor’s Note: The RCR Wireless News Time Machine is a way to take advantage of our extensive history in covering the wireless space to fire up the DeLorean and take a trip back in time to re-visit some of the more interesting headlines from this week in history. Enjoy the ride!
Texas Instruments, Sun to give phones more function with Java
Texas Instruments Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. want to keep things comparatively simple within the handset as demands on its capabilities grow more complex. With that goal in mind, the two companies announced an agreement last week that will permit delivery of Sun’s Java capabilities on any of Texas Instruments’ processor platforms-including the TMS320 family of digital signal processors-for digital cellular phones, pagers, wireless local loop terminals and other end-user equipment. Dallas-based Texas Instruments, whose digital base platform is incorporated into half the digital cellular phones manufactured this year, is working with customers and third parties to define how Java technology will be packaged and delivered. Next year, TI plans to offer Java-enabled wireless communications products based on its digital baseband platform. … Read More
Cellular carriers narrow gap between PCS and cellular prices
Overall wireless pricing has decreased between 4.4% and 20.3% in the United States since the end of the second quarter, according to a survey conducted by Robinson-Humphrey Co. L.L.C. “I think the reason for that is some of the cellular carriers are now reacting to the PCS pricing plans and offering plans with larger numbers of bundled minutes,” said Perry Walter, a telecom analyst with Robinson-Humphrey. Of the four regions studied by Robinson-Humphrey, the West logged price decreases of as much as 33.9% during the third quarter, the largest decrease of any of the regions. The heaviest discounts came from cellular providers, particularly AirTouch Cellular and AT&T Wireless Services Inc., said the company. … Read More
CDMA faithfuls talk future technologies
It was only fitting that the future of Code Division Multiple Access technology was discussed in South Korea at the 2nd CDMA International Conference. Since SK Telecom launched the country’s first CDMA system in January 1996, South Korea now has five CDMA operators and about 4 million CDMA subscribers-more than 80 percent of the worldwide CDMA customers. “In the early ’90s, there had been a lot of skepticism about the prospects of whether we could succeed in developing and implementing a commercial CDMA system by ourselves because we did not have any prior experiences, nor was there any commercial precedence of CDMA in spite of the technological advantages and possibilities of CDMA technology,” said Sung-Deuk Park, vice minister of Korea’s Ministry of Information and Communication. “But with the joint efforts from the research institute (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute), manufacturers and the government, we have managed to have the commercial CDMA mobile system, and to initiate CDMA service for the first time in the world from January 1996. Now there are more than 4 million subscribers enjoying the good quality of CDMA cellular and PCS services in Korea.” … Read More
Wall Street eager to invest in wireless if business plan is solid
”Show me the money!” Flush with capital pouring in and looking for places to invest, that is exactly what Wall Street hopes to do for the wireless industry. “There is a lot of money out there, so much money out there, more equity in stocks than in homes (according to some estimates),” said Sharon Armbrust, senior analyst for Paul Kagan Associates Inc., Carmel, Calif., at a recent Kagan conference on Wireless Telecom Values and Finance. “How do the financial markets plan to play the next round of wireless? It’s opportunistic. If you give them the opportunity, they will invest,” said Robert Moore, managing director of media and communications for Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., New York. … Read More
PageMart adds coverage in three more countries
PageMart Wireless Inc. announced its international paging network is now operational, as a result of recent agreements with telecom companies in Mexico, Panama and El Salvador. These agreements-added to those established in Canada, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas-flesh out the international network the company has sought since 1993 to establish among North American Free Trade Agreement countries. PageMart plans to incorporate other Central and Latin American countries like Haiti, Nicaragua and Costa Rica by the end of the year, and Guatemala by early 1998. The most recent agreements were signed with Telefonos de Mexico’s wholly owned subsidiary, Buscatel, Mobilephone de Panama and TeleVip S.A. de C.V. of El Salvador. All countries in the network operate within certain guidelines-such as being a leading telecom provider operating on the same 900 MHz frequency as PageMart-and have signed intercountry rate agreements, said PageMart. … Read More
Wireless data pros converge in Seattle
Could this be “the” year? The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, with the CDPD Forum and Andrew Seybold’s Outlook, will hold the Wireless APPS ’97 Convention and Exhibition Product Showcase this week in the technological mecca of Seattle. The show is in its third year focusing on the wireless data field. “I think it’s taking on a life of its own,” said Tom Wheeler, CTIA president and chief executive officer. Indeed, it seems to be a life that closely reflects the evolving state of its industry, in sometimes striking ways. As the field of wireless data has grown significantly this past year, so has the show’s size. Some 56 presenters have spaces reserved in the 13,000-square-foot exhibition space, almost double that of last year. … Read More
Insiders say Nextel set to sweep auction
With an upfront payment of more than $12.7 million, enhanced specialized mobile radio provider Nextel Communications Inc. stands to walk away with the lion’s share of licenses when the auction of 800 MHz SMR economic area licenses, scheduled to begin tomorrow, concludes in what some industry insiders say will be a week. What this means for other auction participants is unknown at this time, but a few may have dropped out of the bidding once they discovered who their competitors were going to be and the prices they were willing to pay. Others say openly that the handwriting is on the wall. “Frankly, this auction has been tailored to Nextel, from the upfront payments to the rulings,” said Wilfred Miranda of North Sight Communications Inc. in Puerto Rico. “I think they will win it all, unless some other big companies like Southern Co. can fight for their regions.” While Miranda still plans to approach the auction full steam ahead, he added, “Small businesses will be wiped out one way or the other. If any group goes after Nextel for antitrust or monopoly, I’ll be the first to join.” … Read More
Putting intelligence on network, Inferno to make phones smart; Lucent, Neo Networks explore distributed intelligence design
Changing things inside a network is about to get easier by orders of magnitude, according to NEO Networks Inc. and Lucent Technologies Inc. NEO Networks, Minnetonka, Minn., will integrate Lucent’s Inferno, a distributed inter-networking operating system, into its StreamProcessor, a network forwarding product line. StreamProcessor uses what NEO Networks terms “massively parallel” supercomputer technology for very high speed and high efficiency forwarding of data in a network environment. Inferno will allow Stream Processor “to distribute intelligence throughout the network, across devices,” said Mark Cree, vice president of marketing for NEO Networks. … Read More
Bell Atlantic, Nynex merger brings more savings than expected
Two months into Bell Atlantic Corp.’s completed acquisition of Nynex Corp., company executives told the investment community they expect greater savings and higher earnings growth than originally envisioned for the merged company. “Unlike dilutive mergers, this was an accretive merger, and we expect double-digit increases on a larger base,” said Raymond W. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer. “We expect sustainable 10 (percent) to 12% shareholder growth.” Cost savings are so significant from the merger that Fred Salerno, chief financial officer, said Bell Atlantic can finance completely from its own internal capital its entry into new businesses, like long-distance telecommunications, and its expansion of marketing and other efforts for its existing services. … Read More
Ericsson builds CyberLab East to aid Internet, wireless links
The New York City Investment Fund and Ericsson Inc. announced plans to establish CyberLab East, the first collaborative laboratory for testing the commercial potential of ideas conceived by the city’s “Silicon Alley” Internet content creator companies. CyberLab East is scheduled to open early next year in a 5,000-square-foot facility inside the New York Information Technology Center, located on Broad Street just a few blocks south of the New York Stock Exchange. Ericsson opened a similar facility, called CyberLab, in California’s Silicon Valley earlier this year. “The West Coast facility deals with core infrastructure technologies, while the East Coast facility will deal with content and applications,” said Gary Pinkham, vice president of business development for Ericsson, Richardson, Texas. “By having them operate as one, we have a conduit from the Alley to the Valley.” … Read More
