NEW YORK-Promotional activity revved into high gear during the critical December holiday season, which accounts for about 40 percent of carriers' yearly gross customer additions, according to an informal but intensive survey by the wireless research consulting staff at The Yankee Group, Boston.Based on...
MADISON, Wis.-Cellular One of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois said it will provide cellular phones and airtime to homeless people again this Thanksgiving so they can speak with family and friends.More than 70 Cellular One employees volunteered for the fifth Annual Thanksgiving Day Phone Calling...
MADISON, Wis.-Cellular One of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois recently introduced Cellular ONE-4-U, a prepaid wireless service that allows consumers to purchase airtime without a credit check, contract, deposit or monthly bill.All prepaid calls are considered local and billed at one flat rate. Customers are...
Pre-Paid Solutions said it introduced a new debit conversion technology for the prepaid cellular market. The technology will be available this month under the name Pre-Cell Technology and Pre-Cell Chip. Pre-Cell Technology offers prepaid cellular through chip-based phone conversions. Pre-Cell Chip allows customers to...
Western Wireless Corp. announced the official opening of its customer service center in Albuquerque, N.M., increasing its capacity to respond to calls from its VoiceStream wireless and Cellular One customers.The 65,000-square-foot facility is expected to employ 500 people over the next three years. It...
DES MOINES, Iowa-Iowa Network Services Inc. and Western Wireless Corp. announced a joint venture formed to expand personal communications services throughout Iowa.Called Iowa Wireless Services L.P., the venture is planned to bring PCS to 2.3 million Iowa residents and will market under the VoiceStream...
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Triton PCS formed a joint venture agreement that will expand AT&T's digital coverage in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, the Washington-Baltimore corridor and Georgia.The agreement calls for Triton to obtain financing and build out a Time Division Multiple Access...
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Southwestco Wireless L.P. have agreed to settle their highly emotional dispute over in-market roaming in Phoenix.The companies have resumed reciprocal cellular roaming under a new agreement and entered into a tentative settlement to resolve differences over roaming in Phoenix,...
Editor's Note: The cities listed here represent U.S. cellular markets 21 through 40, ranked by total number of subscribers in each metropolitan statistical area.Most carriers are unwilling to reveal subscriber numbers because of the highly competitive nature of the business.Tallies for total market subscribers and...
Telecommunications Techniques Corp. and Clear Communications Corp. formed an alliance to jointly market customer network management, intelligent surveillance and testing solutions for competitive access providers and wireless communications providers. TTC's test and measurement capabilities will be combined with Clear's expertise in customer network management...
GTE Telecommunications Services Inc. has signed a contract for its wireless prepaid calling service with Cellular One of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, which will offer the service to more than 1 million consumers in a 31-county area in the two states. Cellular One's offering...
Telemac appointed Peter McCracken chief executive officer, with responsibility for overseeing the development of innovative software technology and formulating strategic alliances with wireless industry leaders. Previously, McCracken was president and CEO of VentureLine Database Corp., an Internet/intranet database company he founded.Dr. Ronald C. Maehl...
WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt has informed Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) that decisions are nearing on key wireless petitions seeking relief from antenna siting moratoria and taxation through federal pre-emption of state and local regulations.In a May 14 letter to...
SAN FRANCISCO-Pacific Bell Mobile Services established four new regional headquarters in California to manage the company's personal communications services markets.The new headquarters are located in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego.The office in the San Francisco Bay area will be headed by...
PriCellular group to acquire PalmerPrice Communications Corp. reached an agreement to acquire Palmer Wireless Inc. for an aggregate purchase price of $880 million, including debt repayment.The agreement, which is subject to Federal Communications Commission and other regulatory approvals, is expected to close during the...
NEWARK, N.J.-It's trade secrets vs. tell all as wireless telecommunications companies try to hide their strategies from competitors while seeking fast buildout approvals from municipalities that want full disclosure.Local government officials, accustomed to more than a decade of slow and orderly growth in wireless...
BOCA RATON, Fla.-American Tower Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Radio Systems, acquired the assets of B&E Associates and DB Consultants for $13 million.Both companies, located in Norwood, Mass., are premiere site acquisition firms, said American Tower Systems. The companies work primarily for...
Editor's Note: The cities listed here represent the 20 largest cellular markets in the United States. Ranking is based on the total number of subscribers in each metropolitan statistical area.Most carriers are unwilling to reveal subscriber numbers because of the highly competitive nature of the...
WHEATON, Md.-Cell site construction during 1996 increased 50 percent from 4,743 sites in 1995 to 7,392 last year, according to Herschel Shosteck Associates Ltd.'s recent report Cellular Market Forecasts.The report concludes the increased construction resulted from cellular carriers trying to build out their networks...
Cellular carriers in the city of Grand Forks, N.D., said their systems are faring well despite massive flooding that has forced most of the city's 50,000 residents to leave their homes for higher and dryer ground.Western Wireless Corp., operating a network under the Cellular...
Tough competition from other operators has led to increased costs for cellular carrier Palmer Wireless Inc., fueling speculation that the carrier is up for sale.Fort Myers, Fla.-based Palmer won't comment on what it calls "a market rumor" that it is looking for a buyer....
Comsat Corp. said its offer to repurchase 8.13 percent debentures due April 1, 2004, was concluded April 9. The company repurchased $89.5 million of the $160 million in principal amount of debentures outstanding.Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd.'s board of directors declared a two-for-one split on the...
STAMFORD, Conn.-Santa Cruz Cellular Telephone Inc. renewed its contract with International Data Systems Inc. through 2000 for service bureau billing services using the ITDS 10X integrated billing and customer management system.Santa Cruz Cellular offers cellular service under the Cellular One brand name in Santa...
A Western Wireless Corp. subsidiary has filed a lawsuit in Arizona U.S. district court against the city of Tucson, claiming the city's new zoning ordinance discriminates against the company and favors existing wireless providers.Western PCS BTA 1 Corp., which received its E- and F-block...