U.S. utility companies could become significant players in the wireless telecommunications industry in coming years if they can figure out the right strategy to enter the business.Analysts indicate utilities seriously are evaluating opportunities to branch out into the telecommunications arena in light of deregulation...
AT&T Corp. last week stepped outside of the telecommunications industry to buy the nation's second-largest cable company, Tele-Communications Inc. The move is the latest in a string of mega-mergers involving communications companies.The stock transaction, valued at $48 billion including debt, is thought mainly to...
MCI Communications Corp. apparently is selling cellular service to residential customers once again after customer service representatives had told potential customers MCI wasn't taking on new cellular subscribers after June 1.Kelly Seacrist, an MCI spokeswoman, said the company, which resells cellular service nationwide, never...
NEW YORK-After receiving "Big Daddy" T-shirts from BT Alex. Brown Inc. telecommunications analyst Jeffrey L. Hines June 10, top executives of four of the world's largest wireless carriers offered an expansive vision of their companies and their industry."There are accelerating growth rates in all...
NEW YORK-BEA Systems Inc., a major player in providing mission-critical middleware solutions, announced BEA M3, which it said is the first and only production-ready Object Transaction Manager.Among other things, M3 will make it "easier for carriers who want to bundle services," said Frederick A....
WASHINGTON-In an action that provides insight into the complex policy issues simmering beneath the surface of the fiery debate on local competition, the Federal Communications Commission quietly has rejected a bureau-level proposal to pre-empt states from heavily regulating fixed wireless local loop service provided...
The number of digital wireless subscribers is expected to increase rapidly this year as more cellular carriers begin to push digital service aggressively.While many cellular carriers last year offered digital service as a way to offer products similar to what their personal communications services...
Pricing has stabilized in the majority of U.S. markets, say analysts.While the name of the game last summer was to get the phone in the hand of the user with price offerings like $50 for 1,000 minutes per month, carriers this year are likely...
NEW YORK-The California State Board of Equalization decided April 30 to postpone voting until at least late June on a permanent extension of the state sales taxes to wireless devices sold in a bundle with services.The proposal would require retailers to pay sales, or...
BellSouth Cellular Corp. signed an agreement with PageMart Wireless Inc., which will allow the cellular carrier to add paging to a mix of bundled services it plans to offer.Under the agreement, BellSouth will offer paging service initially through its company-owned retail stores and kiosks....
Aggressive growth rates for cellular in Central and Eastern Europe are predicted in a new report from United Kingdom-based consulting firm Analysys.During the next five years, according to "European Cellular Market Forecasts: 1998-2003," compound annual growth rates (CAGR) of 23 percent can be expected in...
What does wireless have in common with toothpaste? Maybe not much now, but perhaps the toothpaste industry has learned a marketing secret that wireless carriers could benefit from.Toothpaste companies have learned to pick a customer segment they want and market their brand to that...
Price Communications Corp. announced Feb. 25 its board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to 500,000 shares of the company's common stock in the open market or in private transactions. Price Communications, headquartered in New York, provides cellular services covering a population of...
1998 may be the year for introductions of next-generation wireless office systems that allow for seamless handoffs between the office system and a carrier's macrocellular system.Hughes Network Systems Inc. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. announced a strategic marketing agreement last week calling for AT&T...
NEW YORK-In response to high levels of customer growth and usage, Nextel Communications Inc., McLean, Va., plans to accelerate construction of its nationwide network this year with at least $1.3 billion in privately issued debt securities.Nextel is an enhanced specialized mobile radio carrier targeting...
Bundling cellular equipment with a service plan played a significant role in the success of the wireless industry. People could justify penny phones, even if it meant signing up for two years of cellular service. No one can pass up a bargain and most...
Coverage is king, says Iridium North America, which is aiming to help cellular and personal communications services operators offer wireless coverage anywhere in the world.Iridium L.L.C. is a Motorola Inc.-led consortium expected to offer global voice, paging and fax services via a constellation of...
Many telecommunications companies are banking on the fact that consumers want their long-distance, local, Internet, wireless and cable TV services-or some combination of these-bundled on one bill.Regional Bell operating companies, as well as long-distance and wireless companies slowly are moving toward the process, offering...
NEW YORK-AT&T Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings announcement last week was notable both for what the company said about its recent past and about its plans for the near future.The country's largest telecommunications carrier, working to streamline operations in the highly competitive marketplace, reported surprisingly strong...
AT&T Corp. is expected to announce to analysts today its operating strategy for the year that will include as many as 19,000 layoffs, management restructuring and the integration of its wireless business with its long-distance, local and Internet service divisions, reported the Wall Street...
NEW YORK-Despite a positive outlook for wireless telecommunications over the next eight years, "our concern is about getting from here to there," said Timothy E. Caffrey, director of corporate ratings for Standard & Poor's."The industry has continued to surprise us. It keeps growing faster...
NEW YORK-Some interesting twists are ahead on the road to roaming for personal communications services carriers as they seek to emulate their cellular counterparts, which reap between 15 percent and 20 percent of their gross revenues from long-distance wireless calls.Last year, subscribers of all...
CHICAGO-Competitive local exchange carrier USN Communications Inc. has increased the size of its initial public offering to 8 million shares, and plans to use some of the proceeds to add cellular services to its local and long-distance product bundle with the acquisition of Connecticut...
MCI Telecommunications, the communications services unit of MCI Communications Corp., has indicated some of its wireless employees in the Dallas/Fort Worth area may soon be looking for new jobs.In a letter obtained by RCR written to Dallas-area wireless companies, the wireless reseller giant announced...
