BANGALORE, India-While the Indian cellular industry generally has been battling rough weather recently, one cellular operator in the country has adopted a strategy that seems to have paid off: focusing on quality rather than numbers. The carrier, BPL Mobile, may use that same strategy as...
At the end of each year, the RCR editorial staff looks back on the news events that made RCR headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting stories of the past 12 months. Here are our picks for 1999 in chronological order.1. Jan....
A U.S. bankruptcy court has given ICO Global Communications final approval for $500 million in financing from an investor group led by Craig McCaw and Indian media magnate Subhash Chandra, who had challenged McCaw with a competing financing bid.Under the agreement, McCaw will provide...
ICO Global Communications Ltd. received final commitments for the $1.2 billion in financing needed to finish building its satellite voice network from none other than cellular industry pioneer Craig McCaw.ICO announced at the end of October it had received letters of intent for the...
The Big Three handset manufacturers-Nokia Corp., L.M. Ericsson and Motorola Inc.-continue their reign over the global wireless handset arena, together controlling more than two-thirds of the market.Nokia has emerged as the clear leader of the three. Analyst firm Herschel Shosteck Associates Ltd. estimates Nokia...
NEW YORK-As the Internet accelerates the globalization of telecommunications, mergers and acquisitions among traditional and nontraditional players have eclipsed initial public offerings as the preferred strategy for retaining competitive advantage."In the United States, the Internet economy generated $301 billion in 1998 and will generate...
BANGALORE, India-Foreign investors are reconsidering their investments in India, with press reports naming several European and U.S. companies lining up to back out of operations there.Swisscom, the Switzerland-based telecommunications operator, decided to pull out of its joint venture with Essar group of India several...
SINGAPORE-After two years of bad debts and line terminations, wireless operators in the economically worst-hit Asian nations of Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia can finally look forward to better times ahead.Analysts say economic recovery combined with the growing acceptance of prepaid will help...
Wireless industry members agree smart phones will become a critical differentiating factor for handset vendors and mobile-phone operators within the next two years, but the proliferation of these devices remains relatively unknown.For handset providers, smart phones represent an opportunity to extend their products, boost...
China Unicom is working to oust foreign investors from its telecommunications projects this fall, and it appears investors may not leave quietly.The Chinese government has ordered China Unicom, the country's second telecommunications operator, to wind up all China-China-Foreign (CCF) partnerships by the end of...
A recent advertisement for HEAD tennis racquets shows a photo of tennis sensation Andre Aggasi and below it, the caption, "Long live the radicals."It's a cute slogan for tennis, but not one the wireless industry will covet. Nothing, radical or otherwise, seems long-lived in...
INDIANAPOLIS-Brightpoint Inc. is restructuring plan to better position the company for long-term success by eliminating or restructuring non-performing business activities and improving the company's cost structure.Brightpoint said it believes successful execution of the plan will significantly improve its profitability.Strategies of the plan include: Complete...
It was grand symbolism on the fourth floor of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last Monday morning. There they were, two birds of a feather, Nextel Communications Inc. and Microsoft Corp., in courtrooms side by side-one cutting a sweet deal...
NEW YORK-With the creation of San Francisco-based OffRoad Capital Corp., the realm of angels, those wealthy people who invest patient capital in promising start-ups, has moved into cyberspace.OffRoad describes itself as a "new kind of financial services company using the Internet to create the...
China Unicom, which received the go-ahead from the Chinese government earlier this year to deploy cdmaOne technology, will gain control of four experimental Code Division Multiple Access networks operated by China Telecom Great Wall.Great Wall was a source of concern for the Chinese government...
When Congress passed Section 309(j) of the Communications Act and the government developed rules to implement this law, the goal was to increase diversity in telecommunications by providing opportunities for small businesses, women and minorities.Diversity in telecommunications is beneficial because it provides opportunities for...
Metrocall Inc. reported revenues for the first quarter ended March 31 of $145.2 million, a substantial increase from the $96.3 million reported for first-quarter 1998.Net loss for the quarter was $46 million, or $1.15 per share, compared with a net loss of $28.2 million,...
LONDON-Hongkong Telecom announced a total of 403 staff members joined the company's voluntary exit program. A total of $49 million will be paid as ex-gratia payments and leaving service benefits.The voluntary exit program is one of several steps Hongkong Telecom is taking to consolidate...
DENVER, United States-Motorola and Glenayre Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding that, if fulfilled, will license Glenayre to manufacture all Motorola's paging infrastructure-and could effectively herald Motorola's exit from the paging infrastructure manufacturing business."We need to focus on the things we do best," said...
SAO PAULO, Brazil-A little more than one year after auctioning B-band cellular licenses and less than a year after the Telebras privatization, the Brazilian government already is dealing with agreements and acquisitions that will change the country's wireless market profile.The movement started early this...
LONDON-In response to staff requests and changes in company structure, Hongkong Telecom said it has begun a voluntary exit program for approximately 4,000 of its employees in the customer-service and network operations departments.Eligible employees who return their applications by May 3 and are approved...
Motorola Inc. and Glenayre Technologies Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding that, if fulfilled, will license Glenayre to manufacture all Motorola's paging infrastructure-effectively heralding Motorola's exit from the paging infrastructure manufacturing business."We need to focus on the things we do best," said Amanda Dahlke,...
WASHINGTON-The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials Inc. last week kicked off National Public Safety Telecommunications Week by honoring two 911 dispatchers involved in lifesaving emergency calls.Missey Hammack of the Knox County Emergency Communications District was honored for her role in rescuing a 19-year-old...
NEW YORK-Demands of the private placement and public issuance debt markets are likely to compel consolidation among lesser-known wireless companies as a condition of gaining access to this sorely needed capital."The current outlook is that very few have access," said Kingman D. Penniman, president...
