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!
Verizon chief discusses challenges of being largest wireless carrier: Improved customer service is focus
Telecommunications is like chess, because the grand masters emerge as victors by controlling the center of the board, Ivan Seidenberg, president and co-chief executive officer of Verizon Communications Inc., said. “In our case, the move to center means four platforms: robust local access, local broadband, wireless and Internet backbone. Our focus is to be one of the tier-one companies in this geographic area (North and Latin America),” he said recently at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ “2000 Global Entertainment, Media & Communications Summit.” … Read More
Furchtgott-Roth calls for more transparency in C-block
The lack of transparency in the processes at the Federal Communications Commission is exemplified by the litigation strategy and auction scheduling in the personal communications services C-block, said FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth. While Furchtgott-Roth believes the FCC’s Office of General Counsel should have discretion as it deploys its litigation strategy, it is often unclear what avenue OGC will take, he said. … Read More
Fourth-generation services take shape at AT&T Labs
AT&T Labs, Florham Park, N.J., is peering into the future of wireless communications and working on ways to enhance the next generation of services, researchers said at a recent media and analyst briefing. Closest to fruition is the Location-Aware Information Services research project. The project’s commercial product, a location server, is expected in about six months. … Within the next few years, AT&T Labs hopes to have available in stages various editions of space-time coding for GSM/EDGE, said Robert Calderbank, research vice president. … Read More
LG TeleCom collaborates with AppStream for Java handset solution
Korea-based LG TeleCom Co. Ltd. moved one step closer to Java-enabled handsets last week, announcing a collaboration with AppStream Inc. to use AppStream’s Java software technology solution in its next generation of ez-i CDMA handsets. AppStream’s agreement with LG TeleCom will increase the adoption rate of Java technology on wireless devices, the company said. … Read More
Bluetooth at the gate; ready to run: SIG works through testing issues, standards setting and early hype
Bluetooth seemed like a simple idea when introduced in 1998 as a low-cost, cable-replacement technology designed to be embedded in wireless devices. Early forecasts had Bluetooth-enabled products on the market as early as mid-1999. Those early predictions seemed believable at the time. Who would not want a product that did away with the multitude of wires needed to connect electronic devices together? L.M. Ericsson, which started a feasibility study on Bluetooth in 1994, signed up Intel Corp., IBM Corp., Nokia Corp. and Toshiba Corp. as the original founding members of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group in 1997 in an attempt to set standards for the technology’s interoperability. Other companies, including Motorola Inc., Qualcomm Inc., 3Com Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., Dell and Lucent Technologies Inc. quickly joined in. … Read More
Wireless Internet content providers struggle to find comfort spot
Being the new kid on the block is always a challenge. Besides trying to keep your own sense of identity, there is the pressure of trying to fit in to an unnatural surrounding that may or may not receive you graciously. A few years ago, wireless portals were new on the scene. While the wired Internet was exploding with innovations, the wireless Internet was seen as an outsider with limited potential as an auxiliary outlet for more conventional wired Internet sites. Two of the heavy hitters in the conventional Internet market, and Atlanta-based neighbors, CNN.com and the Weather Channels’ Weather.com, saw the wireless space as more than a side service for their online offerings. They saw wireless as a way of getting information to people when they needed it. … Read More
Metrocall receives additional funding for PageNet acquisition
Metrocall Inc.’s underdog efforts to acquire Paging Network Inc. from under the nose of current suitor Arch Communications Group Inc. gained some momentum last week in the form of $337.5 million in additional financial commitments to pay for its competing bid. Of the $337.5 million, Metrocall generated $105 million by selling off even more equity stakes in the company, including adding Nextel Communications Inc. as an equity investor. Nextel bought $75 million of equity, while existing equity holders Aether Systems Inc. and PSINet Inc. increased their holdings by $20 million and $10 million respectively. … Read More
Metricom prepares for launch in 21 major cities by the end of the month
Metricom Inc. is on track to launch its new Ricochet service with data speeds up to 128 kilobits per second in New York and several other cities markets by the end of September, Timothy A. Dreisbach, chairman and chief executive officer, said. Positioning itself as both a mobile and fixed wireless data carrier, Metricom rolled out the next-generation Ricochet service in Atlanta and San Diego this summer. By early next year, the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company expects it to be available in a total of 21 cities. These include Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Mo., Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. … Read More
Intel issues stock warning, sell-off ensues
Intel Corp.’s stock took a beating early Friday after the world’s largest silicon chip manufacturer reported third-quarter sales would fall short of analysts’ expectations. The company’s stock lost about 22 percent of its value, dropping more than $14 per share as soon as the market opened, starting the day at around $47 per share. The sell-off leaves Intel’s stock well off its 52-week high, set earlier this month, of almost $76 per share, but still above its 52-week low of $32.50. … Read More
Guard-band auction ends after 66 rounds, nets $519.9 million
The auction of 700 MHz guard-band manager licenses ended on Thursday after 66 rounds. The auction raised $519.9 million. The FCC began auctioning off six megahertz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band (TV channels 60-69) on Sept. 6 to entities that will then lease the spectrum to private-wireless entities or other entities that will employ systems that will not interfere with adjacent public-safety operations. The six megahertz has been split into two licenses of four and two megahertz respectively. A total of 104 licenses were offered in 52 major economic areas. Of these, 96 were sold to nine bidders. The eight unsold licenses will be part of a future auction, the FCC said. … Read More
