The Dutch government most likely will auction two mobile phone licenses in the spring, rather than the end of this year, because the European Commission blocked the government's plan to charge existing mobile phone operators for their licenses.The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation...
AT&T Corp.'s board of directors unanimously elected C. Michael Armstrong chairman and chief executive officer of the company, effective Nov. 1.AT&T was widely viewed to be under pressure to partner with someone after its nearest rival in the long-distance arena, MCI Communications Corp., became...
Espoo, FINLAND-The Quadrant Consortium, which is comprised of British Telecommunications plc, Nokia Corp., Motorola Inc. and TRW, has been authorized by the British government to begin work on the specification and definition of a new national digital radio service for use by the country's...
MCI Communications Corp., which last week found itself with a third suitor in GTE Corp., may finally have an opportunity to enter the wireless arena in more than a reseller role.GTE, which owns cellular licenses in several metropolitan statistical areas, last week made a...
NEW YORK-Competition, as intended, is causing the telecommunications pie to enlarge. But it also is creating numerous consolidation plays among carriers as they strive for dominance and economies of scale within and across borders."You have to wonder where it's all going to end up,"...
JACKSON, Miss.-The Federal Communications Commission extended the timetable for public comment on WorldCom's application to establish a voting trust in connection with the company's bid to acquire MCI Communications Corp.A voting trust would permit the WorldCom offer to be consummated prior to receiving final...
WorldCom Inc. last week made an unsolicited offer to merge with MCI Communications Corp. in a deal that would eclipse British Telecommunications plc's planned acquisition of MCI, which has been in the works for nearly a year.If approved, the deal would put the WorldCom-MCI...
Consolidation as a means to expansion has been the tradition in the wireless industry. Look no further than Craig McCaw, amassing a wireless fortune one cellular license at a time.Each merger, each alliance, each buyout, has been greeted with surprise, then understanding, and finally,...
Nearly two years after Airtel Movil SA became the second Global System for Mobile communications licensee in Spain, the company and its competitor, Telefonica Moviles, have resolved issues and created a level playing field, said AirTouch International, one Airtel partner.Specifics of the recent resolution...
The Portuguese government said it plans to open a tender for a personal communications services license this month and issue a third mobile phone license by the end of this or early next year."The specification of the bidding is practically concluded and will be...
NEW YORK-Barely finished with its acquisition of Pacific Telesis Group, SBC Communications Corp. is widely rumored to be exploring merger possibilities with AT&T Corp.Ruthlyn Newell, a spokesman for AT&T, headquartered in New York, declined to comment, citing company policy on "rumors or speculation about...
BONN, Germany-The partnership of British Telecommunications plc and Viag AG, called E2 Mobilfunk GmbH, received its license to operate a Digital Cellular System 1800 personal communications services network in Germany.The joint venture company received the concession in February, but the final award was delayed...
LISBON, Portugal-Concert plc, the company formed as part of the merger of British Telecommunications plc and MCI Communications Corp., and Portugal Telecom announced Portugal Telecom will exclusively distribute Concert's voice products in Portugal.Francisco Murteira Nabo, chairman of Portugal Telecom, said the alliance will allow...
WILKES-BARRE, Pa.-MCI Communications Corp. shareholders voted 77 percent in favor of the proposed merger with British Telecommunications plc during MCI's annual meeting.The merger still must be approved by BT shareholders and U.S. and European regulatory agencies. If approved, the new company will be named...
Like many wireless technologies, the motivation behind FLEX was to make more possible in less bandwidth. Such is the mastery of Bob Schwendeman, a career Motorola man who is proclaimed the "father of FLEX."The FLEX promise is one of improved speed, capacity and efficiency,...
If reports that Cable & Wireless plc is considering a takeover bid of Sprint Corp. are true, the wireless industry is seeing a sign of things to come.The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Cable & Wireless met with Sprint's 10-percent owner France...
German wireless phone operators continue to drop prices and restructure calling plans following the award of a fourth mobile phone license and growth in the consumer market.Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmbH, which operates the D2 Global System for Mobile communications 900 network, and E-Plus Mobilfunk, the...
NEW YORK-In a record-breaking year for domestic mergers and acquisitions, telecommunications transactions accounted for four of the five largest deals announced or concluded in 1996. This year also promises a great deal of M&A activity by carriers and other companies in related industry sectors,...
NEW YORK-Global telecommunications deregulation may be auspicious, but on behalf of bondholders, Moody's Investors Service Inc. remains suspicious.A day before negotiators at the World Trade Organization approved Feb. 15 a trail-blazing agreement to deregulate international telecommunications markets, the New York-based rating agency downgraded the...
As expected, the partnership of British Telecommunications plc and Viag AG, E2 Mobilfunk, received a license to operate a fourth mobile phone network in Germany.E2 Mobilfunk was the sole applicant for the Digital Cellular System 1800 personal communications network license.Luca Tassan, analyst with Strategis...
MEMPHIS, Tenn.-Celcore Inc. opened an office in Singapore to serve the Asia Pacific region and appointed Eric Greenop vice president of Asia Pacific to head the office.Greenop has more than 25 years of telecommunications experience including senior management positions with Ernst and Young Management...
NEW YORK-Moody's Investors Service Inc. announced Jan. 22 it may upgrade approximately $5.1 billion in MCI Communications Corp. outstanding debt and preferred stock because of the growing likelihood that MCI and British Telecommunications plc will complete their merger by the end of this year.Part...
Netro of Santa Clara, Calif., makes what it says telecommunications operators building networks in the new era of deregulation need-radio equipment that uses a wireless Asynchronous Transfer Mode protocol.Introduced about five years ago and driven by networking giant Cisco Systems-a Netro partner-ATM allows high-speed...
Israel's two cellular operators are working hard to sign up as many customers as possible while the government continues to ponder details for licensing a third cellular operator."The (technology) standard of the third license hasn't been determined yet. The ministry has had a lot...
