A delay in the PCS auction proceedings drew mixed reactions from designated entities, while Ericsson posted US-fueled growth
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!
New PCS auction date prompts mixed bag of responses from DEs
While the two-month delay of the entrepreneur block auction gave some designated-entity companies more time to wheel and deal for funding and allies, one businesswoman said investors slipped away from her in favor of small-business designated companies. The DE personal communications services auction, originally scheduled for June, was rescheduled for Aug. 2. The stumbling block was a lawsuit filed in February by Telephone Electronics Corp., which challenged auction rules that give financial preferences to minority- and female-owned businesses. The case was dropped voluntarily last month and the court stay on the auction lifted. … Read More
Ericsson posts 65 percent gain in first quarter 1995 earnings
Boasting a 65 percent increase in first quarter earnings, Ericsson Inc. reported its radio communications sector is largely accountable for the company’s financial results. For the period ended March 31, Ericsson’s net income totaled $114 million, compared with $69 million for the same period in 1994. Net revenue also soared, reaching $2.7 billion, up 23.9 percent from $2.2 billion last year, reported the Stockholm, Sweden-based company. Radio communications, dominated by mobile telephony, is responsible for $1.4 billion of those revenues, increasing 41.3 percent from $977.8 million in 1994. The United States remains Ericsson’s largest single market, claiming slightly more than 10 percent of net sales. Combined, Ericsson’s European interests account for about 52 percent of net sales, most heavily concentrated in Sweden. Sales in Asia collectively represent 22 percent of total sales, derived primarily from China. … Read More
Paging evolves into messaging with technological innovations
As the onset of narrowband personal communications services nears, the industry is abuzz about what promises to be the next wave of wireless wonder. But for many narrowband providers-to-be, it is only a natural extension of one-way paging. Two camps have emerged among advanced messaging providers, according to Roberta Wiggins, director of wireless/mobile communications for Boston-based Yankee Group. Paging giants Paging Network Inc. and Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp. acquired enough bandwidth that they have “nothing to lose and everything to gain,” remarked Wiggins. The companies’ networks and messaging features are extensive. … Read More
Paging not threatened by PCS, nationwide growth predicted
Growth in the paging industry exploded this year, led by public companies that have pushed boldly across market borders, stepped confidently into marriages of convenience and reaped tremendous opportunities from serving a new consumer-oriented market. The result is a 38 percent industry growth rate at the end of 1994, according to Economic & Management Consultants International Inc.-a 9 percent increase when compared with 29 percent growth at year-end 1993. Industry leaders say that as paging companies grow, they tend to attract more investors. With narrowband personal communications services networks gearing up to offer advanced messaging services, traditional one-way paging companies must have their feet firmly in place-or at least firmly in offering their own type of PCS. … Read More
Bill would create federal site guidelines
The House telecommunications subcommittee last week approved creating an industry-government panel to craft federal antenna siting guidelines and temporarily derailed a wireless resale proposal to regulate commercial mobile radio carriers like regional Bell telephone companies. The antenna siting measure, offered by Scott Klug, R-Wis., and cosponsored by Thomas Manton, D-N.Y., was added to telecommunications reform legislation that passed the subcommittee 24-5. The bill, spearheaded by Commerce Committee head Thomas Bliley, R-Va., and designed to allow local telephone companies, cable TV operators and long-distance carriers to compete against one another, goes before the full committee this Wednesday. … Read More
Companies pushing or pausing with plans for enhanced paging
As one company fine-tunes its debut for narrowband personal communications services, others bide their time by determining market position and devising rollout strategies. SkyTel Corp.-through its PCS bidding entity Destineer Corp.-plans to activate its nationwide two-way advanced messaging service during the second half of the year. But AirTouch Paging, BellSouth Corp.’s MobileComm and others express no hurry, possibly waiting an additional year before initiating services. Along with its pioneer’s preference license awarded by the Federal Communications Commission, SkyTel, a subsidiary of Jackson, Miss.-based Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp., won two other nationwide narrowband licenses in last fall’s auction. SkyTel will operate its two-way service using Motorola Inc.’s ReFLEX 50 protocol and Tango pager unit. ReFLEX 50 transmits outbound data at up to 25,600 bits per second, 11 times the speed of POCSAG. … Read More
Motorola takes equity positions in three Asian wireless markets
Although Motorola Inc. has been actively refining its worldwide focus to be solely an equipment manufacturer, the Schaumburg, Ill.-based company holds ownership interests in cellular operating companies in three blooming Asian markets-Pakistan, Thailand and Hong Kong. Motorola reported last year that transactions in Asia collectively accounted for about 26 percent of the company’s market sales. Comparatively, the European region accounted for 21 percent and U.S. sales were 44 percent. … Read More
Judge dismisses lawsuit that alleged relationship between phones, cancer
The Florida brain-cancer lawsuit that questioned the safety of cellular phones was dismissed May 17 by a federal court judge on grounds that the claim was not supported by adequate scientific research. H. David Reynard of Madeira Beach filed a wrongful death lawsuit in late 1992 against cellular phone manufacturer NEC Corp. and service provider GTE Mobilnet of Tampa, alleging the cellular phone used by his wife contributed to her fatal brain tumor. The case received exorbitant media attention after Reynard appeared on the high-profile TV program “Larry King Live.” The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association responded by decrying any relationship between cellular phone use and brain cancer. Industry sources pooled financial support and CTIA established the Wireless Technology Research L.L.C. to research the potential public health impact of wireless instruments and infrastructure equipment. … Read More
Sun introduces Solstice family to enable system management
Targeting a wireless industry with complicated network management needs, Sun Microsystems Inc. said it has introduced its Solstice family of products to wireless manufacturers and operators as an easier way to manage their networks. Sun said it plans to offer network management via software-based solutions that combine centralized and distributed computing control and support open standard-based protocols. Sun’s Solstice products decrease the complexity of managing extensive networks and lower operating costs, according to the Mountain View, Calif.-based company. … Read More
Bells’ long-distance chains loosened
The telecommunications reform bill introduced in the House last week would give the seven regional Bell telephone companies more freedom to offer wireless long-distance service than offered by the waiver granted late last month by U.S. District Judge Harold Greene. The House measure, sponsored by Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley, R-Va., and a handful of Democrats, would let Bells offer wireless long distance immediately with few strings attached. The Senate telecommunications bill would do much the same. Telecommunications bills in both houses leave commercial wireless carriers largely deregulated. Nevertheless, Greene’s ruling is seen as a big victory for the Baby Bells in light of the uncertain fate of telecommunications legislation in the 104th Congress. … Read More
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