L.M. Ericsson's offer to compromise on third-generation technology may not change the International Telecommunication Union's action on Dec. 31. The ITU is likely to halt any work on Code Division Multiple Access-based proposals unless intellectual-property-right issues are resolved by the end of the year.Sweden-based...
DENVER-Formus Communications Inc. said it was granted a field trial license by the Hungarian Telecommunications Authority to provide data services to a test group of businesses in Budapest.Formus will supply the service using a fixed-wireless technology that transmits voice, data, Internet and video traffic...
GREENBELT, Md.-Cellular One here announced it is now offering an Information Services feature to its new Digital Edge wireless phone customers.Information Services includes hundreds of options for updates on sports scores, financial markets, weather forecasts, maritime reports, world news and leisure.The Associated Press, Fox...
Ever since Nokia Mobile Phones Inc. introduced the first in a new class of mobile phones with its Nokia 9000 Communicator, the excitement surrounding the idea of devices that combine wireless voice and data has been growing.Nokia last week manufactured its 100 millionth mobile...
Supra Products Inc. won a contract from AT&T Wireless Services Inc. to provide its TRACcess electronic access control system at AT&T Wireless cell sites in its central region, said the companies.The contract follows a previous contract with AT&T Wireless covering the carrier's Western region...
The rapid growth of prepaid wireless services in Western Europe will not continue unchecked, according to a report published by Strategy Analytics.The availability and adoption of prepaid wireless services in Western Europe has increased dramatically during 1998, with an expected 15 million customers opting...
NEW YORK-The rapidly growing prepaid wireless sector offers carriers a means to reduce customer acquisition costs and capture market segments otherwise out of reach.Nevertheless, prepaid has its problems and its critics. Proponents of prepaid, however, argue solutions are readily available to smooth the bumps."The...
WASHINGTON-The current Federal Communications Commission plan for public-safety digital-only operations in the 700 MHz band (746-806 MHz) will lead to unused spectrum for as long as seven years, the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International warned last week.The FCC adopted rules in September...
"Consumers of third-generation wireless technology will be better served by marketplace competition than by a single government-mandated standard, according to a new economic white paper released today by the North American GSM Alliance," reads a news release from the alliance.Joseph Farrell, a University of...
WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association may use a recent economic study on wireless taxation to urge Congress to pass a Wireless Tax Freedom Act similar to the Internet Tax Freedom Act enacted earlier this year, said Mary McDermott, PCIA chief of staff and senior...
WASHINGTON-The telecommunications industry may have an easier time convincing Congress the grandfather date in the digital wiretap act should be changed now that Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) has been elected House Speaker.Livingston has been fully briefed on the issue and understands the telecom industry...
NEW YORK-The wireless telecommunications business may account for a minority of Bell Atlantic Corp.'s revenues, but its entrepreneurial example has influenced profoundly the incumbent carrier's entire strategy, according to Ivan G. Seidenberg, the company's president, chairman and chief executive officer.Seidenberg told attendees of Warburg...
WASHINGTON-The association representing wireless resellers last week submitted a detailed report to the Federal Communications Commission to support their claims wireless carriers can implement wireless number portability by the current deadline of March 31, 2000.This is significant because the FCC is slated to decide...
WASHINGTON-While consumer advocates and wireless lobbyists tie up the Federal Communications Commission in heated debate over 911 strongest-signal and text-telephone compatibility issues, Rome is burning.Phase I wireless enhanced 911 implementation is a disaster. And it appears the FCC does not have control of the...
NEW YORK-John T. Stupka, president and chief executive officer of SkyTel Communications Inc., said a BellSouth Wireless Data L.P. advertisement that's been running in the Wall Street Journal, as well as in other newspapers, is misleading but nevertheless welcome.The ad compares SkyTel's messaging service,...
LOS ANGELES-Nortel Networks said it is conducting live trials of cdmaOne circuit-switched data services with Bell Mobility and other selected customers and in the Nortel Networks Wireless Internet Lab in Dallas.The announcement was made in conjunction with the 1998 CDMA Americas Congress this week...
The mere idea it may one day be possible to connect computers, mobile phones and other electronic devices to share voice and data transmissions without the need for cables has brought together some of the industry's heaviest hitters under the umbrella of the Bluetooth...
NEW YORK-Nickel cadmium batteries, long the mainstay of rechargeable power sources for wireless phones, are fading fast into handset history.Today, nickel metal hydride batteries are emerging at the top of the charts, but this ranking may not last too long. Lithium ion technology, a...
While Iridium L.L.C. continues work to improve the technical prowess of its low-earth-orbit satellite-based global phone service, the company also must turn its attention to its global sales and marketing effort.In the first week following the system's commercial activation, several of Iridium L.L.C.'s international...
WASHINGTON-Franklin Haney, a Tennessee developer closely tied to Vice President Gore and a central figure in Portals investigations, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on charges of setting up straw donors to contribute to the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign and the campaigns...
NEW YORK-Conventional wisdom may hold that scale is superior when it comes to carriers and miniaturization is most desirable when it comes to handsets. However, neither attribute necessarily implies long-term profitability, said David A. Freedman, managing director of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., New...
WASHINGTON-In the post-telecom-act era, the cellular telephone industry continues to face intertwined challenges of policy and perception.On the one hand, the Federal Communications Commission wants to foster the local competition goal of the 1996 telecom law.To date, the only evidence of telecom service choice...
SAO PAULO, Brazil-Despite its drive for a competitive and liberalized market, Brazilian regulatory agency Anatel finally succumbed to market pressures and postponed to Jan. 15, the tender of licenses to operate one long-distance and three fixed-line "mirror," or competitive, companies because of the financial...
AirNet Communications Corp. has struck a chord with smaller personal communications services licensees and is working on grabbing the attention of A- and B-block PCS operators.Melbourne, Fla.-based AirNet, a Global System for Mobile communications infrastructure pro-vider, has four GSM-1900 deployments completed with five additional...
