DUBLIN, Ireland-In any international cellular tender, carriers must determine whether the price paid represents true value for the money or a sizable gamble. On the other side of the coin, wireless license fees can be the equivalent of a gift from the gods for...
WASHINGTON-In some respects, the Main Event was a non-event.Wireless stocks did not go into free fall. Major dailies did not go wild with follow-up stories on ABC's "20/20" broadcast on mobile-phone health concerns last Wednesday evening. Congress did not call for hearings, although Sen....
GENEVA-Globalstar officially announced at Telecom '99 a phased launch of its mobile satellite service. The phased launch begins with user trials, followed by a soft launch that will allow the company to work out quality issues. Commercial service should begin in early 2000.User trials...
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association last week attempted to delay ABC's "20/20" broadcast on mobile phones and attacked the credibility of the man who led CTIA-funded health research.ABC said it plans to air the segment on mobile phone health concerns, possibly this week. "60...
Dear Bernie,Congratulations on your promotion into the wireless industry. While I admired your foray into wireless with MCI WorldCom's acquisition of SkyTel, I admit I was surprised at your company's coup in picking up Sprint's PCS licenses.You obviously are a savvy businessman with a...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission "does not know if all required fees are being paid," according to a study released last week by the General Accounting Office at the direction of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations."It is troubling and sadly ironic that the -an...
If you want clout in Washington, the only thing better than being a top board member of either of the two largest wireless trade associations is not being a member of the two largest wireless trade associationsAsk Nextel Communications Inc. It's not a member...
WASHINGTON-Sprint Corp. was forced last month to clarify its position on the use of number pooling as a way to preserve telephone numbers after many in the wireless industry believed its position changed to favor number pooling for all industries.The wireless industry contends number...
Concerned about the risks associated with aggressively pushing traditional prepaid service, Sprint PCS last week unveiled its own version of prepaid service that allows customers to monitor their spending with all calling plans and features, not special prepaid plans."The whole prepaid issue has gotten...
SINGAPORE-As Vietnam's mobile phone market tries to recover from the effects of the Asian economic downturn, increasing damage is being caused by regulations and business practices that heavily favor national carrier Vietnam Posts & Telecommunications (VNPT) at the expense of foreign competitors, industry observers...
PCS carriers can be credited with spurring huge demand for wireless service in the United States, but they continue to struggle with brand awareness and perceptions customers have about coverage.
"It's a brand game and a consumer-marketing game," said Andrew Sukawaty, president of nationwide carrier...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission this week is expected to start struggling with the definition of competition as it reviews comments submitted in its competitive networks docket.Is it competition that allows a renter to choose between different apartment buildings based on what telecommunications services are...
The economy is rolling along, wireless subscriber additions are climbing and merger and acquisition activity is heating up.This is good news for the personal communications services industry, which last year found itself suffering from tight financing and a general underperformance in small capitalized stocks....
Personal communications services carriers can be credited with spurring huge demand for wireless service, but they continue to struggle with brand awareness and perceptions customers have about coverage."It's a brand game and a consumer-marketing game," said Andrew Sukawaty, president of nationwide carrier Sprint PCS,...
KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint Corp. released second-quarter earnings results for the period ended June 30, reporting a $1.25 loss per share and subscriber additions of 617,000 in its Sprint PCS Group.The loss per share was slightly less than analysts' expectations of $1.28 per share. Sprint...
ATLANTA-Broadband Internet service provider Advanced Radio Telecom Corp. announced plans to test Triton Network Systems Inc.'s consecutive point 100 Mbps radio as part of a trial broadband network platform providing Internet access to selected businesses in Silicon Valley.The study will evaluate reliability, quality and...
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's board of directors elected new officers for fiscal-year 2000 at its first meeting June 8.The new officers for the board include Chairman Stan Sigman, president and chief executive officer for SBC Wireless; Vice Chairman Andrew Sukawaty, CEO of Sprint...
AndrewAndrew Corp. elected Guy Campbell group president of wireless products and distributed communications systems. Campbell joined Andrew from Ericsson Inc., where most recently he was vice president of wireless business systems.Alaska DigiTelAlaska DigiTel selected Kris Perry as general manager. She will supervise all sales,...
Another U.S. mobile phone carrier has announced definitive plans to commercially launch Internet access during the fourth quarter.Code Division Multiple Access operator Sprint PCS said it has signed an agreement with Yahoo! Inc. to deliver Web content and services to Sprint PCS customers in...
NEW YORK-The $5 billion Internet backbone upgrade that Teleglobe Communications Corp., Reston, Va., announced last week is intended to meet the growing cross-border data communications needs of its wireless and wireline carrier customers.The five-year project, called GlobeSystem, will be comprised of new and newly...
As you may recall, Vice President Gore's name was floated here recently for wireless industry poster child in recognition of his staff's cache of mobile phones. Remember, Al, fund raising is your first call.Well, Gore has competition. And not from Bill Bradley. Try the...
WASHINGTON-Perhaps denoting that local multipoint distribution service and the tremendous data possibilities it affords may be the wave of the future, the LMDS re-auction already seems more successful than the recently concluded PCS re-auction.While the PCS sale left some licenses still unclaimed after many...
WASHINGTON-The General Accounting Office, the investigative unit of Congress, is looking into the internal controls of how the Federal Communications Commission collects regulatory fees, the GAO confirmed last week.Regulatory fees are a separate assessment from filing fees. Regulatory fees go to offset congressional appropriations,...
While many of their counterparts in the high-flying build-to-suit industry are prospering, tower manufacturers are finding the road ahead may be a difficult one. Likewise, recent siting decisions do not bode well for carriers trying to build their networks.Late last month, Rohn Industries Inc....
