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!
Setting sights on satellites
Satellite-based communications is all the buzz in the telecom industry today, with hopeful mobile satellite services providers and terrestrial-based telcos alike shooting satellites into orbit with unprecedented regularity. Yet the rush of commercial satellite launches has placed the current presidential administration in hot water with critics, the beef being that many of these satellites were carried by Chinese rockets and that the U.S. corporations paying for said launches may have given the communist megalith a few pointers on rocket accuracy. These companies cite the exorbitant cost of U.S. launches as the main factor behind eschewing American taxpayer-funded launch pads in favor of foreign ports. Politics aside, there is a need for a cheaper launch solution. One venture is answering that need. A consortium called Sea Launch Co.-a $500 million international project funded by companies in Norway, Russia, Ukraine and the United States-aims to launch a rocket from a modified oil rig in the middle of the Pacific. The purpose is to launch rockets from the Equator, rather than at higher latitudes. Apparently, launching from the Equator allows a rocket to take better advantage of the earth’s rotational pull, like the children’s game crack-the-whip, and also travel a shorter distance to its orbital location. … Read more
E911 bill winds through Congress
WASHINGTON-House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.), compromising with Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) on privacy, liability and cancer-research funding, won bipartisan approval last week on legislation to improve E911 wireless capability and foster antenna siting on federal land. The bill, which the House Commerce Committee may take up before Congress breaks for its August recess, would pay for E911 upgrades through matching state grants with fees paid by wireless carriers to site antennas on U.S. property. Changes to the bill in Tauzin’s amendment would ban states from using federal funds for carrier cost recovery, allowing money to flow strictly to public-safety dispatchers to defray costs of handling E911 calls. Wireless carriers would have limited liability from E911 lawsuits such as that enjoyed by wireline carriers today, though states would have the option of enacting a different 911 wireless liability standard within two years after the Tauzin bill becomes effective. Markey, before compromising, argued wireless carriers should not have the same level of liability protection as wireline carriers because of holes in wireless services. States would be prohibited from imposing surcharges or taxes on carriers and subscribers to further E911 deployment, an enhanced version of emergency wireless calling that does not entirely exist today. … Read more
Audiovox jumps into GSM
Signing one of its largest ever pacts, CommQuest Technologies Inc. said it will supply its GSM-XL chipset to Audiovox Communications Corp. for a new Global System for Mobile communications handset. Terms of the agreement call for CommQuest, a recent IBM Corp. acquisition, to supply its Total System Solution to Shintom Co. Ltd., which will manufacture the GSM handsets to be distributed under the Audiovox brand name. Immediate plans call for the development of a 900 MHz GSM handset, which should enter production during the fourth quarter. The agreement also includes TALK Corp., a joint venture of Audiovox and Shintom, which is the exclusive development and marketing arm for products manufactured by Shintom. Future plans for developing next-generation dual-band and tri-band handsets also are included in the agreement. Since being acquired by IBM in February, CommQuest has signed a series of agreements for its Total System Solution, including deals with SOS Wireless Communications, Korean electronics manufacturer Sewon Telecom and Truly Telecommunications Co. Ltd. CommQuest also signed a strategic support center agreement with Hong Kong-based Telecom Technology Centre. A tier-two handset player, Audiovox has had success in the analog phone market, with more than 10 million analog handsets sold to date. … Read more
CTIA works on number portability (while hoping it won’t have to happen)
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association is taking the lead on implementing wireless number portability at the same time it waits for the Federal Communications Commission to rule on its request that the wireless number portability rules be delayed or eliminated early next century. Earlier this month, CTIA released a consensus white paper on wireless number portability stressing the wireless industry should be treated differently than the wireline industry. And, next month CTIA will sponsor a forum here that will focus on both regulatory and technical issues involved with implementing wireless number portability. The 100-plus page document applies to Advanced Mobile Phone Service, Time Division Multiple Access, Code Division Multiple Access, and Global System for Mobile communications technologies. Included in the technical document are enhanced details about switch processing, provisioning and porting processes, further delineation of the mobile station identifier and mobile directory number, as well as roaming and billing impacts. The MSID is either a 15-digit international mobile station identification or a 10-digit mobile identification number. The wireless industry continues to be concerned the wireless local number portability implementation requirement will stunt the amazing growth of the industry. … Read more
Paging hopes to reinvent itself
The paging industry experienced some greater-than-usual excitement in the second quarter that securities analysts at Toronto Dominion Securities Inc. believe will set the tone for the next stage of the market’s transformation. Second-quarter highlights include: Arch Communications Group’s operational restructuring and financial recapitalization, Metrocall Inc.’s acquisition of AT&T Corp.’s Advanced Messaging Division and PageMart Wireless Inc.’s launch of the second facilities-based 1.5-way service in the country-the first based on ReFLEX 25 technology. “We view these developments as positive signs that the industry is moving toward continued consolidation, which would enable companies to further realize selling, distribution and operating efficiencies as well as maintain stable” average monthly revenues per unit, the report read. These developments “portend an increasing degree of market segmentation and differentiation through the provision of value-added services.” “Apart from consolidation factors, we applaud the recent paging industry announcements because they all suggest … that management teams are refining their operating strategies and progressing along the path of offering higher-value, differentiated services,” the report continued. … Analysts gave recommended “buy” ratings for SkyTel Communications Inc. and PageMart, while maintaining a “hold” rating on Arch, Metrocall and PageNet. Its continued bullishness toward SkyTel stems from recent conversations with management that indicate the company will report second-quarter net domestic adds of up to 90,000, in line with expectations, and cash flow of about $27.5 million. Also, SkyTel did not leverage itself further to make its cash interest payments of $14 million on its 12.5 percent notes. Toronto Dominion also saw as positive the new 1.5-way guaranteed messaging devices from Wireless Access and expects similar new products from Motorola Inc. These sleeker products are expected to increase subscriber growth for the rest of the year, the company said. … Read more
Private wireless users press for spectrum
WASHINGTON-The users of private wireless communications recently stressed their support for more spectrum. The reply comments were in response to a petition filed by the Land Mobile Communications Council on April 22 asking the Federal Communications Commission to allow them access to various blocks of spectrum. The specific spectrum requests LMCC made in its petition are not set in stone but rather were a starting point for discussion, said John M. Kneuer, executive director for government relations for the Industrial Telecommunications Association. ITA often speaks for LMCC. “I am worried we will debate this [on the petition]over the [specific spectrum]bands instead of core issues,” Kneuer said. Other issues include the needs of private wireless users and whether private wireless users should be assessed lease fees for any additional spectrum assigned to them. In the current reply comment cycle, ITA urged the FCC to issue a formal statement of its views on private wireless spectrum needs by issuing a notice of inquiry or a notice of proposed rule making. It is hoped more debate and discussion will lead to a compromise with the amateur radio community, aeronautical radio users and the federal government. Each of these groups expressed some opposition in the initial comment cycle completed early last month. “ITA believes that the opposition expressed by the amateur radio enthusiasts is indicative of the spectrum shortage that prompted the request for spectrum. In the commercial services there is a tremendous surplus of spectrum, while the private services, as well as amateurs, continue to struggle to maintain access to existing allocations,” said ITA in a statement. The LMCC petition asks for a total of 125 megahertz of spectrum by 2010 beginning with an immediate allocation of 15 megahertz. This spectrum would serve the needs of private wireless users that cannot be met by commercial providers. The spectrum shortage for private wireless occurred after large blocks of spectrum were auctioned for commercial purposes. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
