Across most of the world's regions, carriers and analysts are claiming prepaid cellular a resounding success. Along with calling party pays, it is considered one of the leading contributors to current subscriber growth.Some carriers now are getting more than half of new subscribers through...
Bell Atlantic Mobile is expected to announce next month rate plans competitive with AT&T Wireless Services Inc.'s Digital One Rate plan-a move that could trigger price wars for valuable high-end users.Sources indicate BAM's airtime plans will eliminate roaming and long-distance charges like AT&T's plans,...
Tom Wheeler, president and chief executive officer of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, last week opened the Location Technology Implementation Conference in San Francisco by calling for cooperation in the public-safety communications community in addressing E911 requirements."Our goal should be to develop a plan...
L.M. Ericsson head Sven-Christer Nilsson told the Japanese press late last week his company will continue negotiations with Qualcomm Inc. and said it is ready to reach some form of compromise over intellectual property rights to third-generation technology.Ericsson spokeswoman Kathy Egan said the company...
The race is on for local multipoint distribution service carriers to launch service, but many players remain confused about which services to offer and which markets to target."One of the most influential factors in delaying the LMDS market is the actual conceptualization of what...
WASHINGTON-In comments filed late last week with the Federal Communications Commission, CTIA asked the regulator to provide nationwide liability protection for wireless service providers when their systems are used to connect callers to emergency services.The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association pointed out in its comments...
NEW YORK-As mergers among telecommunications giants tear around the track at breathtaking speed, it may seem that domestic deregulation, intended to promote competition, has instead achieved consolidation.However, a glance in the rear-view mirror reveals a bevy of new competitive wireline local and interexchange carriers...
WASHINGTON-A decision to allow law enforcement access to location information as part of the digital wiretap upgrade may have an impact on which technologies are deployed under the enhanced 911 mandate even though all players in the two dramas maintain the issues are separate."Both...
In what is no doubt the single-largest transaction in the history of the paging industry, Arch Communications Group Inc. and MobileMedia Corp. confirmed they have completed a definitive merger agreement under which Arch will acquire MobileMedia for a combination of cash, stock and the...
LONDON-Orange plc introduced a one-number service called Every Phone that allows Orange customers' phone numbers to follow them with a call-forwarding system.Orange's Talkplan customers can call 330 from their handset, or 0973 100 330 from any other phone to set up Every Phone to...
The industry's first cellular phone manufacturer has become another casualty of the highly competitive handset business. Oki Telecom Inc. has ceased manufacturing, sales and marketing all mobile phones in the United States.Suwanee, Ga.-based Oki was a pioneer in the cellular handset industry. Involved with...
The vast number of players coupled with loads of savvy Wall Street money has set the stage for mass consolidation within the tower industry.The rate of acquisitions has moved quickly within the last year, and industry executives and analysts say only a handful will...
ENCINITAS, Calif.-CommQuest Technologies has teamed with Hewlett-Packard Co. to provide a turnkey solution for in-line production testing of Code Division Multiple Access and Global System for Mobile communications wireless handsets.The production process combines HP's TS-5500 test platform and handset-fixture solution with CommQuest's customized test...
WASHINGTON-Saying he was responding to constituent complaints about non-itemized billing, Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.) recently introduced legislation requiring all commercial mobile radio service providers to itemize customer bills.This itemization is to include: the date, origination time, origination and destination numbers, length of call, charge for...
PageMart Wireless Inc. announced it will give up to two months of free airtime to customers who buy one-way numeric pagers in August at some 17,500 7-Eleven stores nationwide.7-Eleven stores sell Motorola Pronto Flex numeric pagers for a suggested retail price of about $40,...
Flexibility may be coming to a base station near you.Most base stations today are built to accommodate only one or two wireless technologies, but a relatively new concept may allow carriers to reconfigure base stations to support a variety of standards and applications.Software radios...
While many carriers and manufacturers are thinking about and preparing for third-generation wireless systems, buildout on first- and second-generation systems continues."Most carriers have built out their metropolitan markets, and now they are looking for solutions for rural markets," said John Chenoweth, product marketing manager...
JERSEY CITY, N.J.-As the International Telecommunication Union wound up its meeting in South Korea July 24 to consider 15 third-generation wireless proposals, Telecom Analysis Systems convened a media briefing to evaluate the need for this technology."2G is barely rolled out, and a lot of...
MARLBOROUGH, Mass.-Cerulean Technology introduced a new Year-2000 compliant version of its PacketCluster software for mobile public-safety information systems.PacketCluster 4.20 products-PacketCluster Patrol for law enforcement and PacketCluster Rescue for fire service agencies-feature support for more wireless communications infrastructures, new information collection capabilities and an enhanced...
MILPITAS, Calif.-Solectron Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. formed a manufacturing partnership to compete in the North American wireless market. Under the agreement, Mitsubishi will transfer to Solectron the wireless telephone manufacturing assets of Mitsubishi Consumer Electronics America Inc.'s Cellular Mobile Telephone division located in...
Total paging subscribers will reach 68.9 million by year-end 2002, according to The Strategis Group report, "The State of the U.S. Paging Industry: 1998."Of that number, 60.5 million are expected to be one-way subscribers and 8.4 million advanced messaging and narrowband personal communications services customers....
Tadiran Microwave Networks, which has made several structural changes designed to improve operating efficiencies, won a $4.2 million contract with the Maricopa County, Ariz., government to replace its analog network for public-safety communications.TMN was formed by Tadiran Ltd.'s April 21 acquisition of Microwave Networks,...
WASHINGTON-House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.), compromising with Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) on privacy, liability and cancer-research funding, won bipartisan approval last week on legislation to improve E911 wireless capability and foster antenna siting on federal land.The bill, which the House Commerce Committee...
Continuing his vision to build a worldwide telecom powerhouse, Craig McCaw and his gaggle of companies have agreed to share the cost of building Level 3 Communications' national fiber optic network by contributing $700 million.Newly formed Internext L.L.C., to be beneficially owned by competitive...
