Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Sprint PCS blames hold-up on software
Sprint PCS said software problems by one of its two equipment vendors will delay the launch of personal communications service in some markets by year’s end, but the company still intends to roll out service in five to 10 markets by the end of the year. “We have experienced delays associated with administrative and maintenance software,” said Sprint PCS spokesman Tom Murphy. Parent company Sprint Spectrum L.P. is licensed to offer PCS in 29 major trading areas nationwide. The carrier is using Code Division Multiple Access technology to deploy the service. The delay will be in markets being built by equipment manufacturers Northern Telecom Ltd. and Qualcomm Inc. of San Diego. The two companies have jointly developed the software at issue, which manages operation, administrative and maintenance functions. … Read More
FCC’s PCS auction will likely linger through holiday season
Despite it being the No. 1 wish on bidders’ holiday lists, there probably is little chance that the D-, E- and F-block personal communications services auction will conclude before the end of the year, unless the Federal Communications Commission kicks the pace up to six or eight rounds per day. As of today, five rounds of bidding will be the norm. “With 40-plus bids per round, that pace would be too hectic for some bidders,” commented analyst Taylor Simmons of Simmons Associates. The auction could wind up, however, during the first few days of 1997, he added. The commission currently is considering how it will handle downtime during the holiday period, with options ranging from “short mini-recesses” on Dec. 24, 25 and 31 plus Jan. 1, (with some bidding on weekends) to a full-blown two-week hiatus from Dec. 21 to Jan. 5. … Read More
Mapping products illustrate RF data in ‘comfortable format
Mapping software, such as that offered by MapInfo Corp., has become a core component in many radio frequency monitoring and propagation modeling programs. “Since our product is being used as a key component in their products, we want to make sure we are addressing the telecom industry,” said Tom Holec, telecom marketing manager for MapInfo. MapInfo has introduced MapX, an open standard mapping object that developers can integrate into any business application that uses standard programming languages such as Visual Basic, Visual C++, Delphi or PowerBuilder. Once MapX has been customized, developers can reuse and deploy the code across multiple applications, MapInfo said. … Read More
NextWave answers ownership questions
NextWave Personal Communications Inc. categorically denied it surpassed the federal rules regarding foreign ownership caps and outside control in a letter answering questions regarding its fitness to become a personal communications services licensee. In an effort to clear up the award of the remaining C-block licenses, the Federal Communications Commission’s Commercial Wireless Division sent a laundry list of questions to NextWave Executive Vice President Janice Obuchowski and to Kevin Kelley, senior vice president of external affairs for Qualcomm Inc., whose company is a major NextWave investor. As of July 1, one petition to deny NextWave’s licenses had been filed, charging the company with exceeding the foreign-ownership cap by at least 10 points and of allowing Qualcomm too much control. According to Wireless Telecommunications Bureau chief Michele Farquhar, Antigone Communications L.P. and PCS Devco Inc., the petitioners to deny, will have a chance to respond to NextWave’s submission. Once all the paperwork is received, the bureau will complete its investigation with an eye toward a decision by Christmas. Attorneys for Antigone and PCS Devco could not be reached for comment at press time. … Read More
Horizon sunsets cellular to take part in PCS play
Horizon Cellular Group, a Malvern, Pa., wireless carrier, is getting out of the cellular business, but its top management is seeking a new play in personal communications services. Backed by many of the same investors who cashed out of Horizon through staged liquidation this year, Horizon’s chief executives have formed Triton Communications, headquartered in Horizon’s old offices in Malvern. Triton’s mission is to acquire PCS licenses in rural areas that might not otherwise get built out quickly. In exchange, Triton would finance, construct and operate the new PCS systems. Horizon announced Nov. 22 it had signed a definitive agreement to sell the last of its properties, covering a population of 410,000 in Maryland and Pennsylvania, to Dobson Communications Corp. of Oklahoma City for $75 million in cash. The sale, which is subject to Federal Communications Commission approval, is expected to close during the first quarter of 1997. … Read More
Smaller PCS players starting to sign orders for low-tier PCS
Companies offering microcellular systems are starting to receive contract orders, and expect more when the D-, E- and F-block auctions are over in the next couple of months. Ericsson Inc. has signed its first U.S. contract for a SuperCordless portable phone network, with ComScape Telecommunications Inc. of Columbus, Ohio. ComScape holds the C-block license for the Charleston, W.V., basic trading area. ComScape hopes to begin DECT service in some Charleston clusters by next year’s second quarter, with other areas going on line in late 1997. The SuperCordless system is based on the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephone standard of Europe, with roots in Time Division Multiple Access technology. … Read More
Some FCC staff found to be abusing cellular phone privileges
Despite recent findings that some Federal Communications Commission employees have been using commission-owned cellular phones for their personal use at taxpayer expense, apparently none will be charged for hundreds of dollars of non-business calls made between October 1995 and May 1996. At the beginning of fiscal year 1993, the FCC had only six cellular phones for its use; by September 1995, that number had grown to more than 130. Bills that previously totaled only $1,731 per month during fiscal year 1994 rose to $7,580 per month during fiscal year 1995. That’s when the FCC’s Office of the Inspector General got involved. … Read More
CTIA presses Clinton on gov’t tower sites
The Clinton administration’s 15-month-old executive memorandum mandating tower siting on federal lands not only is not being implemented quickly, it is being filibustered by land-management agencies, according to a Dec. 2 letter to President Clinton from Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association President Tom Wheeler. On the same day, the California Public Service Commission held a siting round table in San Francisco to discuss the problems in that state between government agencies, and cellular and personal communications services providers. Despite presidential assurance only seven months ago that the General Services Administration had issued such federal antenna-siting procedures, Wheeler’s letter pointed out to the president that “the wireless telecommunications industry continues to experience significant antenna-siting resistance from far too many federal agencies in defiance of your order and the law.” … Read More
A combined Concert vows more competition if allowed to merge
If allowed to merge, British Telecommunications plc and MCI Communications Corp. promised to jump start local competition, keep interconnection prices low and promote the use of wireless technology for both fixed and mobile global service, according to its application for a merger. The joint company, which will be called Concert plc, told the Federal Communications Commission that it “will be a strong competitor in local, national and international markets with direct benefits to American consumers through service innovations, efficiencies and lower prices.” MCI currently provides global long-distance service, local service in 34 U.S. cities and wireless services nationwide; BT covers Great Britain with the same services in addition to providing wireless services to customers in many other European countries. According to the document, “MCI will benefit from BT’s successful participation in the wireless business through BT’s interest in Cellnet, a U.K. cellular carrier, and through BT’s paging operations.” … Read More
Preference winners have years to deploy
Cox Enterprises Inc. and Omnipoint Corp. seem likely to meet their December 1999 deadlines to deploy new technologies, a condition of their Federal Communications Commission pioneer’s preference licenses for 2 GHz broadband personal communications services. “Cox has said it will be operational by the end of 1996, and we still believe that to be the case,” said Marty Zajik, director of public affairs for Cox California PCS. “At that time, we will be able to share more information about our cable-based personal communications services.” Cox Enterprises, headquartered in Atlanta, received a pioneer’s preference award in late 1994 for the San Diego-Los Angeles major trading area. Its new technology is designed to integrate PCS technology into the cable television infrastructure in order to deliver personal communications services over cable television networks. … Read More
Check out RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
