Sen. Ernest Hollings is holding up Joel Klein's nomination to head the Justice Department's antitrust division because Hollings thinks Klein can't read-at least as far as deciphering the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Hollings claimed Klein interpreted the telecom act wrong because Klein didn't impose...
After network difficulties hampered Sprint Spectrum L.P.'s projected launch of "15 to 20 markets" by the end of 1996, the company last week finally launched its premiere New York market.Another key market, Dallas, launched May 15.The company had hoped to launch several Code Division...
PHILADELPHIA-Comcast Cellular Communications Inc. recently presented the city of Philadelphia's Office of Emergency Management with free cellular phones as part of its Disaster Relief and Preparedness Program.The Disaster Relief and Preparedness Program was created more than two years ago in an effort to provide...
WAYNE, Pa.-Comcast Cellular Communications Inc. offered free cellular phones to lifeguards on New Jersey and Delaware beaches in an effort to make the Memorial Day holiday a safe one, said the company.Comcast's Lifeline program began last summer in Ventnor, N.J., where more than a...
PHILADELPHIA-Storer Communications Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast Corp., has elected to redeem all of its outstanding 10 percent subordinated debentures due May 15, 2003.The debentures originally were issued in 1983. An aggregate principal amount of $139.3 million of the debentures will be...
NEW YORK-Key participants in a just-completed, 100-day trial of wide area enhanced 911 service in New Jersey pronounced the project a success at a teleconference held May 21 to coincide with Wireless Safety Week.On average, the pilot project-covering 350 square miles around the 50...
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...
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...
When billionaire John Kluge of Metromedia International Group Inc. sold his company's film and television properties last month, he said the transaction would allow Metromedia to focus on its new mobile phone and paging ventures in Eastern Europe and the Far East.This will be...
Industry is working to meet the first phase of new wireless 911 requirements this year to make an Oct. 1 government deadline."Working out the exchange of information is the lion's share of work right now for implementing Phase I," said Eric Sorensen, product marketing...
Frontier Cellular should have been included on RCR's Top 20 Cellular Carriers list. The company had 233,199 subscribers for year-end 1996. Also, Comcast Cellular Communications Inc.s markets are in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
NEW YORK-Comcast Cellular Holdings Inc., a newly formed holding company, plans to sell privately $900 million in senior unsecured notes that will be used to help repay the outstanding debt of Comcast Cellular Communications Inc.Comcast Cellular Communications, which has 762,000 subscribers in the mid-Atlantic...
More than a year after the Internet burst into the wireless space, the big story in mobile data continues to be how the industry is responding to this communications phenomenon.While circuit-switched cellular still is the standard for wireless data connectivity-offering near-universal access for dial-up...
Editor's Note: The companies listed below represent the 20 largest cellular carriers in the United States. Company rankings are based on the total number of subscribers for their majority-held or controlled markets. All subscriber numbers reflect year-end 1996 figures reported by each company.AirTouch Communications Inc....
WASHINGTON-The sale of 128 Wireless Communications Services licenses ended early Friday morning after a total of 29 rounds. The final four rounds contained no new bids, no new high bids and a spate of waivers. In this first auction of flexible-use spectrum, the Federal...
WCS auction slows, could end earlyWhile bidding started out with a bang last Tuesday for the Wireless Communications Services auction, pledges round by round since that time have been on a downhill slide, and the auction could end as early as this week. With...
PHILADELPHIA-Sprint Spectrum L.P. launched service in Philadelphia on April 3, now the 20th market in which the carrier offers service.The Philadelphia major trading area license actually is held by PhillieCo L.P., a consortium of three Sprint Spectrum L.P. owners-Sprint Corp., Tele-Communications Inc. and Cox...
The involvement of Tele-Communications Inc. in Sprint Spectrum L.P. is in a holding pattern, possibly awaiting stronger financial times for TCI.TCI shareholders voted overwhelmingly last month to create two new series of Telephony Group tracking stocks. Series A Telephony Group Common Stock contains TCI's...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission accepted 27 applications for participation in its Wireless Communications Services auction of 128 licenses, scheduled to begin April 15; 16 other applications have been returned for correction, and they are due no later than April 4. Also due April 4...
John Walier will manage customer sales accounts in Glenayre Western Multiplex's northeast region. He will focus on customers of the company's wireless interconnect products, primarily the Lynx family of spread spectrum microwave radios. Prior to joining Glenayre, Walier spent nine years with Microwave Data...
MCLEAN, Va.-Nextel Communications Inc. reached a definitive agreement with Comcast Corp. to acquire a previously issued and outstanding option covering 25 million Nextel shares.Terms of the repurchase transaction call for Nextel to acquire the outstanding option from an affiliate of Comcast, and Comcast's anti-dilutive...
USCI Inc. named Albert Bodamer senior vice president of Ameritel Communications Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of USCI. He will be responsible for all operational aspects of Ameritel. Bodamer previously served as vice president and general manager for PriCellular Corp.'s southern New York region....
As buildout battles blossom across the nation, many industry leaders are coming to recognize that success in site acquisition requires a comprehensive strategy for maintaining good relations with communities.The smart money is betting that front-end investments in community outreach always yield far greater dividends...
SAN DIEGO-An innovation in wireless data was announced last week that could answer CDPD's main problem: coverage.GTE Mobilnet Inc., Hughes Network Systems Inc. and Pacific Communications Sciences Inc. introduced Circuit Switched-Cellular Digital Packet Data, which will allow data users to access CDPD functionality across an...