WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission's inspector general last week cleared FCC Chairman William Kennard and his staff of any wrongdoing in connection with allegations by a high-ranking agency official last fall that Kennard bowed to political pressure so an unlicensed spectrum operator with business and...
NokiaNokia Corp. unveiled its new 8260 wireless phone that the company says blends colorful and stylish options into a small digital handset. The 8260 is Time Division Multiple Access 800 compatible, weighs 3.4 ounces, is approximately four inches tall and will include mobile originated...
NEW YORK-SkyBridge L.P. is building a network and a business model designed to sidestep the negatives associated with other land and space alternatives for local loop broadband communications delivery.The Bethesda, Md., company expects to launch commercial service covering temperate latitudes sometime during 2003, at...
WASHINGTON-House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) early this week plans to ask the Justice Department to investigate alleged lobbying violations by the Federal Communications Commission.The lobbying activity in question involves faxes sent by the FCC to congressional staff positioned against a bill passed...
The future is here, wherever that is these days.Welcome Ananova and Mafiaboy, poster punks for the Digital Age. As the wireless industry makes its uncertain foray into cyberspace, it may want to take note. These guys are the future, not to mention unreal.Ananova, green...
WASHINGTON-The White House is expected shortly to release a belated report advocating the integration of wireless technologies into the nation's Emergency Alert System, a policy that industry, federal regulators and Congress have not aggressively pushed despite the fact that millions of mobile phones today...
CARY, N.C.-SpectraSite Holdings Inc. reported two acquisitions and one development agreement as the company expands its outsourced antenna site and network services.The joint development agreement with Transco, the arm of the BG Group plc that runs Britain's gas network, involves developing a tower business...
PHILADELPHIA-ConneXus Corp. reported that its *CD technology, which lets listeners find out what song is playing on the radio with either a call from any phone or via the Internet, is now available to users of Palm Connected Organizers and two-way pagers.According to ConneXus,...
Aether Systems Inc. launched a $15 million national television and print advertising and branding campaign last week in support of its growing wireless data systems and services business.The "Wireless Solutions for a Portable Planet" campaign that began with print ads earlier in the year...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission's decision to delay until June 7 the auction of broadcast spectrum has raised questions about the agency's motives and intentions.The spectrum, freed up as a result of TV broadcasters transition from analog to digital technology, is known as 60-69 because...
Com-Net EricssonCom-Net Ericsson Critical Radio Systems Inc. will introduce several new products at the International Wireless Communications Expo in Las Vegas ranging from trunked and conventional radios to a new voice-over-Internet Protocol product. The Panther 300P portable and Panther 300M mobile conventional radios will...
DENVER-The communications industry lost a leader and a pioneer with the death of Bill Daniels on March 7.Daniels, known as the father of cable television, began his storied life in Greeley, Colo., in 1920.After attending various schools, Daniels graduated from the New Mexico Military...
NEW ORLEANS-Bidders in the upcoming 700 MHz auction should be able to negotiate with incumbent broadcasters to facilitate a quicker transition to digital TV and the faster rollout of wireless broadband, said William Kennard, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, in his CTIA 2000...
HandsetsPhilipsPhilips introduced several new handsets. The Ozeo GSM dual-band mobile phone offers a new user interface and a large LCD display with five text lines. The carousel icon screen feature simultaneously displays up to five visual icons representing the phone's functions and features. The...
NEW YORK-A federal appellate court handed the Federal Communications Commission a substantial victory Feb. 18 in a case that challenged the agency's health and safety standards and siting guidelines for microwave transceivers.In its unanimous decision, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. announced that Dr. Andrew Viterbi, co-founder and vice chairman of the company, will retire next month.Dr. Viterbi, who will remain as a member of Qualcomm's board of directors, intends to broaden his scope of interests, devoting more time as an adviser...
WASHINGTON-The `consensus' reached by a government-industry panel on a third-generation mobile phone position that the Clinton administration can take to the World Radiocommunication Conference this spring underscores the complexities faced by the United States in trying to craft a strategy that advances international business...
WASHINGTON-President Clinton last week proposed levying $200 million in analog broadcast spectrum lease fees this year to fund upgrades of federal public safety wireless systems as part of a technology-weighted, $1.84 trillion budget for 2001.The broadcast lease fee initiative drew a swift rebuke from...
Several telecommunications companies hooked up with auto makers to provide in-vehicle wireless capabilities at last week's 2000 Detroit Auto Show. General Motors Corp. is in talks with Bell Atlantic Corp. to put at least 1 million cellular phones in its vehicles this year.The alliance...
BOSTON-American Tower Corp., Boston, has obtained amended credit facilities, arranged by four financial institutions, that will permit it to take out revolving loans of up to $2 billion."The new facilities will be used in part to provide financing for previously announced transactions scheduled to...
WASHINGTON-With only a month until President Clinton sends his 2001 budget plan to Congress, White House and congressional number crunchers face the daunting task of putting a dollar figure on spectrum whose value is increasingly determined by factors other than market forces.Bankruptcies, litigation, legislation,...
The European paging industry is in the midst of another makeover as it struggles to compete with mobile telephony as a mass-market communications medium. Devices that can send and receive e-mail, link to security systems and encrypt messages are being developed, while network operators...
NEW YORK-Stratos Global Corp., Toronto, has begun obtaining presale purchase agreements from customers for its new Inmarsat-M4 service, which will provide Integrated Services Digital Network communications by satellite.Stratos said M4 will fill a gap in existing Inmarsat services, whose equipment lacks the ISDN connectivity...
Arch Communications Group Inc. said it will offer weather updates to paging customers through a strategic marketing relationship with The Weather Channel's weather.com Internet site. The weather.com site offers a Wireless Weather service to customers using a text-enabled messaging device. The agreement is its...
