WASHINGTON-After a two-year process, the Federal Communications Commission established the Family Radio Service, a short-range two-way consumer system first proposed by the Radio Shack division of Ft. Worth, Texas-based Tandy Corp.According to the commission, the service will provide an "affordable and convenient means" for...
How 'bout the attendees at President Clinton's White House Corporate Citizenship Conference last Thursday here: Robert Allen, chairman of AT&T Corp.; Charles Lee, chairman of GTE Corp.; Richard Notebaert, chairman of Ameritech Corp.; Bert Roberts, chairman of MCI Communications Corp., Bernard Schwartz, chairman of Loral...
WASHINGTON-In a May 10 letter to Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, the National Telephone Cooperative Association requested his help to ensure that small businesses and rural telcos are not left out of the auction mix during...
NEW YORK-Preferred Networks Inc., a paging wholesaler that went public in March, experienced net losses of $1.5 million during the first quarter of 1996, the price for investment in rapid expansion, company officials said.At the same time, revenues increased by $1 million to $2.4...
WASHINGTON-"Auctions have revolutionized the way governments will distribute valuable resources and assets," said Jerry Vaughan, deputy chief of the Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. "This will transfer to the states and then will go international.""Sometimes auctions create an artificial scarcity," countered Washington, D.C.-based...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission announced it has agreed to reduce bid withdrawal penalties faced by Atlanta Trunking and MAP Wireless, bidders in the recent 900 MHz specialized mobile radio auction.The commission reduced Atlanta Trunking's fine to $45,594-twice the minimum bid increment for the license...
As it was pointed out to me time and time again during the aftermath of last week's C-block broadband personal communications services auction, in every game there are winners and losers. The winners held their press conferences, sent their press releases, made themselves available...
Sprint Spectrum L.P. has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Seattle challenging a six-month moratorium on tower building put in place in February by the city council of Medina, Wash., calling it a violation of the new federal telecommunications law.Medina, which...
WASHINGTON-The spectrum reform draft bill unveiled by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) last week would privatize much of the nation's airwaves, a fundamental deregulatory policy shift that combined with the new telecommunications law could lead to the overhaul of the Federal Communications...
DALLAS-ProNet Inc. announced it has signed a letter of intent to purchase all of the outstanding capital stock of Georgialina Communications Co. and affiliates for about $11.6 million.The company also signed a letter of intent to purchase substantially all of the assets of Oklahoma-based...
WASHINGTON-The dust has settled only slightly since the bidding for C-block personal communications services licenses ended May 6 after 184 rounds strung out over 4 1/2 months. The entrepreneurial block saw 15 women-owned companies win 95 of the licenses; rural telcos won 22.The release...
WASHINGTON-Spectrum politics took center stage last week in Congress as the golden airwaves surfaced in a new, scaled-back GOP balanced budget plan, a gas tax repeal-minimum wage deal mulled by two presidential contenders, a 888 toll-free number defense and a grand plan to overhaul...
WASHINGTON-Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), chairman of the House commerce appropriations subcommittee, said the Federal Communications Commission will not receive the $223 million requested for fiscal 1997 and blasted FCC Chairman Reed Hundt for delays in addressing long-term public safety needs and in implementing a...
Sprint Spectrum L.P. has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Seattle challenging a six-month moratorium on tower building put in place in February by the city council of Medina, Wash., calling it a violation of the new federal telecommunications law.Medina, which...
Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was signed last February, you can't pick up a publication without reading about a panel, white paper, TV roundtable or congressional hearing geared toward coping with or rethinking parts of the new bill. The ink was barely dry...
WASHINGTON-"This is the most exciting day of my life," exclaimed Allen Salmasi, chairman and chief executive officer of NextWave Personal Communications Inc., which by all unofficial accounts was the winner of 56 30 megahertz C-block broadband personal communications services markets (Chart on p. 11).Hedging...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to expedite the entry of public utility holding companies into the telecommunications industry.The NPRM seeks to implement part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which adds a new section to the Public Utility...
How much is too much for specialized mobile radio spectrum?Once again, deep pockets prevailed in the recent government auction for 900 MHz SMR spectrum. The biggest license winners were Geotek (181 licenses for $31 million), Nextel (177 licenses for $29 million), and PageNet (126...
WASHINGTON-Incumbent microwave operators who have been less than forthcoming in their relocation negotiations with A- and B-block personal communications services licensees will be subject to third-party inspections of their facilities to assess true relocation costs.In action taken April Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission adopted...
WASHINGTON-President Clinton signed appropriations legislation Friday to fund the Federal Communications Commission and scores of other government agencies for the rest of fiscal 1996, ending a bloody budget battle between the White House and the GOP-led Congress that caused two partial government shutdowns and...
WASHINGTON-The recently signed Contract with America Advancement Act (H.R. 3136) has made some waves at the Federal Communications Commission because it could push the D-, E- and F-block personal communications auctions, and all other auctions planned for the future, back at least 60 days...
WASHINGTON-Local and regional paging operators lambasted the Federal Communications Commission for declining to completely lift the three-month-old paging application freeze last week, and vowed to redouble lobbying efforts in hopes of getting legislation or persuading the agency to reconsider its action."This battle just started,"...
WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court's consideration of whether manufacturers of medical devices that malfunction can be sued in state court potentially adds a new twist to the wireless interference issue.Up to now, the issue has been largely framed by consumer advocates in terms of what digital...
If only Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber suspect accused of blowing up those he believes responsible for polluting America with high technology, had gotten out of his wooden shack in Montana, he would have discovered good people doing good things with technology.The Personal Communications Industry...
