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!
Telematics products take the stage at Detroit Auto Show
Several telecommunications companies hooked up with automakers to provide in-vehicle wireless capabilities at last week’s 2000 Detroit Auto Show. General Motors Corp. is in talks with Bell Atlantic Corp. to put at least 1 million cellular phones in its vehicles this year. The alliance would further GM’s efforts to offer online entertainment via its OnStar system. GM and Bell Atlantic Mobile would split a monthly fee for the service, possibly generating $40 per month in revenue per vehicle, GM said. Eventually, GM will install the hardware for the service in almost all of the 9 million vehicles it makes annually. … Read More
MCI WorldCom-Sprint dwarfs other M&A activity
Communications companies dominated merger and acquisition activity in 1999, accounting for $304.8 billion in transactions and 21.5 percent of the dollar amount of deals whose dollar values were disclosed. The communications sector also moved up a notch to first place from its 1998 ranking, when it was second only to the financial services industry. During 1998, merger and acquisition activity involving U.S. communications companies accounted for $170.1 billion, or 14.3 percent of the overall total. Communications also accounted for three of the largest 10 mergers in 1999, according to Mergerstat, a division of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, a Los Angeles-based investment bank, including: MCI WorldCom Inc.’s $116 billion bid for Sprint Corp.; Vodafone Group plc’s $62.8 billion acquisition of AirTouch Communications Inc.; and Qwest Communications’ $34.7 billion offer for U S West Inc. … Read More
Nextlink, Concentric merge to offer businesses more broadband options
Nextlink Communications Inc. and Concentric Network Corp. entered into a $2.9 billion merger agreement to create a new broadband communications company providing a variety of voice, data and Internet services, the companies announced. Under terms of the agreement, each share of Concentric common stock will be exchanged for $45 of Nextlink common stock. The actual number of Nextlink shares to be exchanged for each Concentric share will be based on the 20-day average trading prices of Nextlink stock, prior to closing.
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13 groups vie for U.K. 3G licenses
Thirteen groups have applied to bid in the United Kingdom’s auction of third-generation mobile-phone licenses. The U.K. government by March plans to auction five licenses, with one license exclusively reserved for a player currently not represented in the U.K. market. Each bidder was required to submit a deposit of about $82.3 million. The U.K. Radiocommunications Agency in February is expected to announce the applicants that qualify to take part in the auction, along with the auction start date. … Read More
Vodafone AirTouch charts Internet plan
In what has been called primarily a preening gesture for Mannesmann AG shareholders, Vodafone AirTouch plc announced plans last week to launch an Internet portal designed for wireless Internet and mobile data services, delivering data, audio, graphics and video to wireless devices. The company expects to release version 1.0 of the portal in July in North America, Europe and Australia. It will carry its own individual brand, to be announced upon commercial launch. Vodafone AirTouch said it would make the portal available to all network operator partners, as well as license it to carriers in other markets where applicable. … Read More
WAP interoperability increasing concern
As the United States gears up for the commercial launch of Wireless Application Protocol services, the question of interoperability between WAP vendors has become an increasing concern to carriers looking to offer Internet-based services on a variety of handsets. WAP exists as a standard that should allow a phone equipped with a Nokia Corp. microbrowser to access services through a WAP server from Phone.com. At one point, analysts and carriers said there was some difficulty achieving this. Nokia and Phone.com said that problem has been solved. Phone.com said Australian carrier Telstra, which uses a Phone.com WAP server, has deployed Nokia phones with no glitches. … Read More
Kennard: Building access needs to be addressed
Policy-makers need to address the issue of building access if competition is to fully develop, said William Kennard, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, as he laid out his vision for the year 2000. “I personally believe policy-makers, be it Congress or the FCC, [need to resolve this issue],” Kennard said. The FCC tentatively concluded last June that the Communications Act requires that fixed wireless carriers have access to all buildings. The notice of proposed rule making sought comment on whether building owners who give access to any telecommunications provider must give access to all providers. … Read More
Carriers give customers more free features as competition intensifies
It is a generally accepted fact that today’s dollar doesn’t buy as much as it used to, but in the case of wireless airtime, it may actually buy more. “Since the introduction of PCS, there is a whole new paradigm of wireless pricing. In most markets there are at least four providers, and that’s not including Nextel (Communications Inc.). Competition and enhanced technology are forcing prices downward,” said Charles Mahla, senior economist at Econ One Research Inc. in Sacramento, Calif. Mahla said he has seen a consistent drop every month in the cost of cellular service. The increased number of providers has sparked a pricing war where subscribers not only are getting lower per-minute rates, but also are receiving features such as voice mail and caller ID for free. … Read More
Calif. consultant may get millions for wireless name
A $100 investment in 1992 could turn into a million-dollar profit for a Silicon Valley businessman, as bidding began last week for the Internet domain name “wireless.com.” Bids are starting at $1 million, said SiteJockey.com, the broker for the auction and the domain name. Mike Cheponis, president of California Wireless Inc., a consulting firm in the Bay Area, reluctantly registered “wireless.com” for his company in December 1992 when he realized the Internet was going to become very important. … Read More
Spectrum scarcity `near-term’ problem due to cap
With the exception of some very large carriers in some very large markets, cellular carriers today are not starved for spectrum capacity, but they expect to be in the future. Spectrum scarcity “is a near-term problem. It is not a current problem, but it is not a long-term problem. It is a two- to three-year problem,” said Donald C. Brittingham, government relations director of wireless matters for Bell Atlantic Corp. Notwithstanding a current need, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association continues to wage a campaign to urge the Federal Communications Commission to lift the spectrum cap that restricts carriers from controlling more than 45 megahertz of spectrum in urban areas and 55 megahertz in rural areas. … Read More
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