WASHINGTON-The Congressional Budget Office has informed House telecom subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) that his 911 federal land antenna-siting bill will not generate the huge windfall projected by the cellular industry and promised early on to public-safety and health-care professionals who support the measure."We...
WASHINGTON-The American novelist Edith Wharton once noted the only thing that distinguishes vice from virtue is point of view. Some might say her comment is an apt description of the current debate about whether the U.S. wireless market should adopt Calling Party Pays (CPP)...
DUBLIN, Ireland-As mobile phone technology continues to develop rapidly, users continually are encouraged by operators and manufacturers to upgrade their phones to the latest models to take advantage of advanced network services. This, however, leaves the question of what should be done with old...
BANGLADORE, India-Bangladesh is one of the world's least-developed countries, and most of the rural heartland lacks roads and electricity, as well as telephones. For its 140 million people, Bangladesh has just 500,000 phones, nearly all in the urban centers of Dhaka and Chittagong.Grameen Telecom...
MELBOURNE, Australia-Seven of the nine bidders won lots in Australia's PCS (Personal Communications Services) spectrum auction, which raised almost A$350 million (US$218.5 million) for the federal government. Four winners-AAPT Wireless, Hutchison Telephone, OzPhone and Catapult Communications-were first-time entrants into the Australian wireless market.The auction,...
WASHINGTON-They announced it, delayed it, set deadlines and then extended them-each one of these at least once and often amid accusations of scandal and preferential treatment. Currently, the tender process for two 1.9 GHz PCS (Personal Communications Services) licenses to serve a 100-kilometer area...
DENVER, United States-L.M. Ericsson, Nokia Corp. and United Kingdom-based Psion Computers plc conditionally have agreed to form a joint venture called Symbian, and Motorola Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding to join, said Ericsson.Symbian aims to drive the convergence of mobile computing and...
WASHINGTON-Federal E911 legislation has yet to be introduced in the Senate and is on hold in the House.A bill introduced by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the House telecommunications subcommittee, was supposed to be marked up last week but was postponed. Part of...
Lucent Technologies Inc. added several new applications to its Cooperative Innovations alliance program, which is meant to supplement Lucent-developed and -branded solutions.Lucent tests applications marketed through Cooperative Innovations for compatibility with its wireless infrastructure. Testing takes place at the company's Wireless Innovation Lab in...
Wireless companies heavily involved in the Asia-Pacific region have renewed confidence that China will not succumb to devaluing its currency.As the Japanese yen dropped last week to an eight-year low against the dollar, Chinese officials warned if Japan's currency continued to fall, China may...
PRINCETON, N.J.-WolfeTech Corp. announced it will offer NewsAlert's real-time news service to two-way pagers, wireless phones and other wireless devices equipped with the PocketGenie application.Users who enter a company's ticker symbol in their device will activate the NewsAlert search engine, which then retrieves the...
Direct Wireless Corp., a new company based in Houston, has filed patent applications for a wireless communications system that would allow handsets to communicate directly with each other without signals first being routed through switches and cellular infrastructure.The Direct Wireless Communication System reduces switching...
The New York Society for the Deaf signed a contract with BellSouth Wireless Data to deploy BellSouth's Interactive Paging Service to allow NYSD's employees, half of whom are deaf, to communicate with each other via the real-time messaging device.The NYSD is a non-profit organization...
COLUMBUS, Ohio-SmarTalk TeleServices Inc. acquired Worldwide Direct, a direct-to-consumer prepaid cellular phone distributor, in a stock-for-stock transaction that provides it with terminal-based prepaid capability.Combined with SmarTalk's alliance with Boston Communications Group and the recent acquisition of Debit Cellular Network Technology, the Worldwide Direct acquisition...
An indoor solution to wireless electronic asset tracking that uses digital radio-frequency technology to locate personnel and property has been developed by PinPoint Corp., a fledgling company based in Bedford, Mass.Outdoor tracking of vehicles, personnel and equipment has long been available using global positioning...
NEW YORK-Electric Fuel Corp. completed a prototype zinc-air disposable battery it said is lighter and delivers more talk and standby time than comparable rechargeable batteries.Developed by the company's Consumer Battery Division, the new disposable has demonstrated in laboratory tests the ability to provide more...
SAN JOSE, Calif.-VLSI Technology Inc. joined the team of computer and telecommunications companies supporting Bluetooth, a technology that would allow a variety of mobile devices to be connected wirelessly.The Bluetooth Special Interest Group includes Intel Corp., IBM Corp., Toshiba Corp., Nokia Corp. and L.M....
ATLANTA-Harris Corp. said it will demonstrate its new Access Device 2000 at Supercomm this week in Atlanta. The work force wireless/ wireline tool combines field work force connectivity with ease of use and reduced learning curves, said the company.AD2000 lets field technicians assess corporate...
NEW YORK-Wireless telephony providers are hemorrhaging revenues from organized activity by criminals drawn to the low risk and easy money of subscription fraud.Thieves are exploiting a particularly lucrative window of opportunity right now, one that is likely to remain open for a few years....
TOKYO-NTT, Japan's largest telecommunications company, is consolidating its Personal Handyphone System business with its cellular phone company, say published reports.NTT DoCoMo group companies took a non-recurring charge this fiscal year of about $852 million for losses associated with NTT Personal Communications Network, the comapny's...
WASHINGTON-The Telecommunications Industry Association rejected the strongest-signal proposal for completing E911 calls, saying it was not technically feasible.The strongest-signal proposal would require cellular carriers to program cell phones to send 911 calls to the A- or B-side system that offers the best signal, regardless...
Despite uncertainties surrounding the process, the Brazilian government is pushing ahead with plans to sell its stake in telecommunications giant Telebras.The sell-off, originally slated for July 15, now has been pushed to July 29. Telebras is scheduled to split into 12 regional holding companies...
DENVER-Investors in two start-up prepaid cellular phone businesses have filed a class-action lawsuit against the businesses' promotors, claiming they bilked investors out of more than $58 million.The lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, alleges that 12 individuals and 10 businesses conspired to cheat investors...
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico-Puerto Rico Telephone Co. plans to expand its prepaid services offered by its wireless services division, Celulares Telefonica, as well as its paging network from Motorola Inc. to accommodate high-capacity digital paging services.Brite Voice Systems plans to expand PRTC's prepaid offering...
