WASHINGTON-While this week's election of Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston (R-La.) to speaker of the House is not expected to dramatically change the course of telecom policy making in Congress, a wholesale shakeup in GOP leadership could alter the political dynamics of that process."We...
SEATTLE-Qualcomm Inc. and Microsoft Corp. made good on their promise to converge the computing and wireless industries when they announced the formation of WirelessKnowledge L.L.C. last week, a joint venture many say will revolutionize the wireless data industry.WirelessKnowledge aims to provide an airlink-independent end-to-end...
NEWBURY, Berskshire, England-Vodafone Group plc said it purchased from BellSouth New Zealand the national New Zealand GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) cellular network and related assets. BellSouth New Zealand is a partnership of BellSouth Corp. and Singapore Technologies.The deal also includes the whole...
NEW YORK-Nickel cadmium batteries, long the mainstay of rechargeable power sources for wireless phones, are fading fast into handset history.Today, nickel metal hydride batteries are emerging at the top of the charts, but this ranking may not last too long. Lithium ion technology, a...
KIRKLAND, Wash.-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. said it plans to brand the AT&T name in Los Angeles by next year.The company recently gained management control of Los Angeles Cellular under an agreement with BellSouth Cellular Corp. to consolidate ownership of their jointly owned cellular properties...
KIRKLAND, Wash.-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. said it plans to brand the AT&T name in Los Angeles by next year.The company recently gained management control of Los Angeles Cellular under an agreement with BellSouth Cellular Corp. to consolidate ownership of their jointly owned cellular properties...
Rural Cellular Corp. Rural Cellular's revenues increased 103 percent to $34 million from $16.8 million during last year's third quarter. Net loss for the quarter totaled $4.5 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with net income of $621,000, or 7 cents per share,...
PENSACOLA, Fla.-BellSouth Mobility Inc. launched personal communications services in northwest Florida, including Panama City, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Ocala and Tampa.The company's licenses in northwest Florida include Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties.The expansion will allow BellSouth Mobility customers to use their package minutes in...
Cellular carriers have made significant progress in their efforts to upgrade their 800 MHz analog networks to digital technology.Consumers' appetite for digital features is demonstrated by the success of digital pricing plans such as AT&T Wireless Services Inc.'s Digital One Rate plan, said industry...
Aggressive digital pricing plans are quickly driving the migration of customers from analog service to digital service, say analysts."We attribute today's successful migration directly to rate plans combined with solid products," said Richard Siber, head of Andersen Consulting's wireless practice in Boston. "The features...
SAO PAULO, Brazil-Despite its drive for a competitive and liberalized market, Brazilian regulatory agency Anatel finally succumbed to market pressures and postponed to Jan. 15, the tender of licenses to operate one long-distance and three fixed-line "mirror," or competitive, companies because of the financial...
BellSouth Mobility Inc. introduced text and alphanumeric pagers with unlimited local service for as low as $10 per month in BMI's one-stop-shop retail stores. "By adding paging to our product mix, we are able to combine a variety of telecommunications services on one, easy...
NEW ORLEANS-Independent tower companies hoping to cash in on the anticipated sale of tower assets by wireless carriers still are waiting for the first big deal to set the standard for future purchase/lease-back arrangements.Many attendees at last week's 1998 Tower Industry Summit & Trade...
EDI Telecom Ltd. and Tadiran Telecommunications Ltd. announced they signed an agreement under which the two will merge in a stock-for-stock transaction.Mobile Systems International, United Kingdom, and U.S.-based Metapath Software Corp. announced the two companies are merging. Both companies provide software-based applications and services...
The Argentine government, in an attempt to proceed with the PCS auctions currently in judicial limbo, is considering selling two PCS licenses each for the northern and southern regions of the country, excluding the greater Buenos Aires area. This maneuvering would speed up the...
WASHINGTON-The old adage maintains it's all about location, that the success of an investment depends on locale. And Latin America has been the locale of choice for investors looking for incredible growth rates and high demand for service. With several countries in the region...
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and BellSouth Cellular Corp. have agreed to consolidate ownership of their jointly owned cellular properties in Los Angeles, Houston and Galveston, Texas, and have created a new management structure that will streamline operations, said the companies.The new agreement calls for...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week said personal communications services is a facilities-based competitor to wireline services. However, in an order rejecting BellSouth Corp.'s application to offer long-distance service in Louisiana, the FCC said PCS in Louisiana has not risen to the level of...
ATLANTA-Eric Ensor has resigned as president of BellSouth Mobility DCS, BellSouth Corp.'s Global System for Mobile communications operation, effective Oct. 31.Ensor will become president and chief operating officer of TWS Inc., an engineering and software company that is working to obtain wireless licenses and...
WASHINGTON-The telecommunications industry, while failing to get the digital wiretap grandfather date statutorily changed, appears to have been successful in getting written assurances included in the end-of-the-year spending bill that this date should be changed to correspond to the compliance date of June 30,...
WASHINGTON-Cellular operators last week overwhelmingly opposed a revised consumer-group proposal to route 911 analog calls to the cellular carrier most likely to complete the call, but it remains unclear whether carriers are ready to embrace a new Telecommunications Industry Association plan to handle emergency...
In comments that may reflect competitive positions in today's mobile phone market, mobile phone and mobile satellite service industries told the Federal Communications Commission more spectrum will be needed for third-generation services.Industry comments are in response to a Notice of Inquiry the FCC released...
WASHINGTON-A confluence of factors are converging that may force the Federal Communications Commission to relax the commercial wireless 45 megahertz spectrum cap, an antitrust check that some feel has outlived its intended purpose and even may be hindering wireless industry development.The emergence of mobile...
WASHINGTON-Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, has added his voice to those who believe that wireless, specifically personal communications services, is a substitute for wireline.Indeed, McCain said, "Congress intended that PCS networks could satisfy the requirements of Track A," referring to...
