HandsetsNokiaNokia announced a new NMT 450 analog handset, to be available in the third quarter, that features true 3-volt technology and the Nokia NaviKey concept. The Nokia 640 weighs 195 grams and has a standby time of up to 80 hours and talk time...
FALLS CHURCH, Va.-Spectrum Resources Towers L.P. and Towercom L.L.C. announced a joint venture to develop new towers for carrier collocation.Under terms of the partnership, Spectrum will finance, own and manage the towers developed by Towercom, in return for an equity stake in Spectrum.Towercom develops...
NEW YORK-Companion bills to enact the Wireless Facilities Siting Act never made it out of New York State Assembly and Senate committees before the Legislature adjourned Aug. 6 for summer recess.The proposed legislation, some believe, would have been the first in the nation to...
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.-The government late Friday was granted a last-minute emergency stay in its appeal against the bankruptcy reorganization of NextWave Personal Communications Inc., despite a stinging rebuke from another judge earlier in the week that blocked FCC appeal plans.The stay, signed by Chief...
BOCA RATON, Fla.-SBA Communications Corp. entered a definitive agreement to acquire 56 wireless towers from Horizon Telecom Inc.The agreement also calls for SBA to provide exclusive site acquisition, development, collocation, build-to-suit and equipment installation services in selected regions for Horizon Personal Communications and its...
NEW YORK-LCC International Inc., McLean, Va., attributed its 26-percent decline in second-quarter revenues to an "early quarter ramp-down" in its current radio-frequency engineering and system deployment contracts, coupled with domestic and overseas investments intended to provide new business opportunities.Earlier this month, the company reported...
BOSTON-American Tower Corp. reported revenues for the first quarter ended June 30 of $59.2 million, more than double the $23.1 million in revenues the company reported for first-quarter 1998.American Tower said it had net losses of $9.9 million, or 6 cents per share, compared...
FALLS CHURCH, Va.-Spectrum Resources Towers L.P. said it acquired four towers from Tyris Corp. based in Reno, Nev.With this acquisition, Spectrum Resources Towers said it now owns 13 towers in the Reno market, and towers in 10 states across the country.
Wireless construction company Berliner Communications Inc. said it has begun negotiating with underwriters to commence an initial public offering."We see geographic expansion and further offerings via acquisition of selected companies as the best way for us to continue on the path we have chosen,"...
American Tower Corp. last week made its first large carrier transaction through a master sublease agreement with Vodafone AirTouch plc.The deal gives American Tower the sublease rights to 2,100 AirTouch towers in the United States for $800 million in cash, which works out to...
LucentLucent Technologies Inc. introduced software that will turn down transmitter power levels when the user is not speaking into the handset, effectively increasing talk time by extending battery life up to 30 percent. The discontinuous transmission feature will be generally available for network operators...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry scored on public safety, liability protection, federal-land antenna siting and sales commissions in Congress last week, while fending off a Pentagon assault on federal spectrum management and a pro-state challenge to federal numbering policy.Wireless gains on Capitol Hill came after a...
HOUSTON-Crown Castle International Corp. announced it filed a preliminary prospectus supplement covering up to 5 million shares, worth approximately $115 million, of its common stock owned by Robert and Barbara Crown.Additionally, Crown Castle said it closed on two notes offerings and has received combined...
Lucent Technologies Inc. announced a feature enhancement that increases the battery life of Time Division Multiple Access digital mobile phones. The software, refined by Bell Labs, turns down transmitter power levels when the user is not speaking into the handset, which effectively increases talk...
WASHINGTON-SiteSafe L.L.C., a company that specializes in telecommunications site compliance, introduced an interactive training product designed to help companies comply with Federal Communications Commission and Occupational Safety & Health Administration regulations.Called PeopleSafe, the CD ROM training program provides instruction on how nonionizing radio waves...
WEST POINT, Ga.-Powertel Inc. reported revenues for the second quarter ended June 30 of $63.9 million, a significant increase over the $40.8 million reported for second-quarter 1998.Powertel recorded net earnings of $60.6 million, or $2.19 per basic share, compared with a net loss of...
MANCHESTER, N.H.-Transcept Inc., previously the telecommunications business unit of Sanders, announced last week its inception as an independent, privately held company.Transcept's focus is on offering equipment that helps carries deploy and improve their networks while building fewer towers by using surplus bandwidth on cable,...
WASHINGTON-The pace of technological change-rapid and frenzied-will have an impact on regulation, and in turn, how regulation impacts the wireless industry in the next millennium, most policy makers agree.The Federal Communications Commission already is changing the way it conducts business; that is, the way...
CoherentThe Coherent original equipment manufacturer division of Tellabs launched a complete design verification kit for its CEC-128 Integrated Echo Canceller multichip module. The kit consists of a CEC-128 plug-in module and a CD with full operating software, application notes and data book. The module...
TeleCorp PCSTeleCorp PCS Inc. hired Raul Burgos as vice president and general manager of its Puerto Rican operations. He most recently served as general manager and vice president of operations for Nextel International Inc. in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a 10-year veteran of...
WASHINGTON-As industry, congressional and administration officials struggled to craft a compromise on Pentagon spectrum priority legislation late last week, a new controversy erupted as the House telecommunications subcommittee voted to overhaul the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.Lawmakers, mindful of the coming August recess, scrambled...
Poor Tom Daschle.First, the Senate minority leader from South Dakota is handily rebuffed by the GOP in a high-profile fight over managed health-care reform. A big sticking point: Liability protection for HMOs. Sound familiar?Then Daschle gets deluged with criticism from D.C. and surrounding local governments,...
WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. was dealt a major blow last week by the Federal Communications Commission, which told the nation's top dispatch operator it cannot use private wireless spectrum to build out its nationwide network."This portion of Nextel's request would require a fundamental change...
BOSTON-American Tower Corp. signed a definitive agreement to acquire 192 towers located in the South from Triton PCS, an AT&T Wireless Services Inc. affiliate.The towers are located in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. American Tower developed and constructed many of the towers,...
