Over the past 10 years the wireless industry has witnessed dozens of mergers or acquisitions that has whittled down a number of industry segments and opened up others. This consolidation is most telling in the mobile carrier space where at one time there were...
Good news for Sprint Nextel Corp. employees: the carrier stated in its fourth-quarter conference call that does not anticipate any more job cuts for the year. Things are not so great for people employed in the wireline sector, however, as Verizon Communications Inc. said...
Globalstar Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Spot L.L.C., have acquired substantially all of the assets of Axonn L.L.C., which makes satellite GPS asset-tracking and messaging products including Globalstar's Spot Satellite GPS Messenger for consumers, and the AXTracker and Smartone asset-tracking solutions, geared to...
Iridium Satellite L.L.C. is relaunching a program in an effort to score customers from struggling rival Globalstar.The company has announced it will once again offer Trade-Up to Iridium because of the much-publicized degradation of Globalstar's voice service. The program provides pricing incentives for customers...
Rural provider Open Range Communications can now fund its launch of WiMAX-based wireless broadband and voice, thanks to a new $100 million investment from One Equity Partners.In March of 2008, the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Utilities Program approved a $267 million...
The Federal Communications Commission agreed to allow Globalstar Inc. to make greater use of land-based wireless facilities in mobile satellite service frequencies licensed to the company."This action will allow greater capacity and flexibility for MSS/ATC , and will allow CDMA Big LEO MSS/ATC...
Globalstar Inc.'s bid to secure additional mobile satellite service spectrum for land-based networks - including a possible WiMAX system covering hundreds of rural communities - is drawing criticism based on fears of interference to wireless broadband licensees. Competitive concerns could be at work as...
SkyTerra Communications Inc., Mobile Satellite Ventures L.P. and Inmarsat plc said they reached a major pact to resolve complex technical, regulatory and business issues, a move they believe will better enable each to offer L-band hybrid mobile satellite services in North America. ...
Welcome to our Friday feature, Week in Review. Every Friday, RCR Wireless News runs through the major events of the past week, outlining what happened and speculating on what to look for in the coming weeks, months and years. Check below for news about...
The Federal Communications Commission agreed to divide mobile satellite service L-band spectrum between CDMA operator Globalstar Inc. and TDMA operator Iridium Satellite L.L.C., while soliciting public comment on a plan to give Globalstar ancillary terrestrial component authority on most of its MSS frequencies.The agency's...
Federal regulators appear poised to take actions that could enable Globalstar Inc. to integrate terrestrial wireless facilities in most of its mobile satellite service frequencies and allow Iridium Satellite L.L.C. to share more of Globalstar's MSS frequencies, possible outcomes that could bolster both companies-as...
The wireless broadband industry opposes on interference grounds Globalstar Inc.'s push to have federal regulators consider an ancillary terrestrial component rule change that the mobile satellite service operator claims would put it on equal footing with competitors. Globalstar last year petitioned the Federal Communications...
The Federal Communications Commission agreed to reserve a spectrum block for mobile satellite services provider TerreStar Networks Inc., one of a handful of firms trying to avoid past mistakes that nearly wiped out the MSS sector in the previous decade.How does TerreStar expect to...
The following list details this week's infrastructure awards for the cellular, Wi-Fi and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available. CellularChina: Alcatel-Lucent and Datang Mobile won contracts with China...
WASHINGTON-Top mobile-phone carriers, having bid the lion's share of the $13.9 billion for advanced wireless services licenses auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission, now face the potentially time-consuming and costly process of negotiating to relocate commercial and government users off of the 2110-2155 MHz...
WASHINGTON-The unsuccessful proxy fight lodged by Highland Capital Management L.P. against Motient Corp. has given way to another nasty skirmish over proposed ownership changes in mobile satellite assets whose value may have been a factor in the exit of a high-rolling satellite TV bidding...
Welcome to Hedgehogging. As you know from your own jobs, something is always happening in the wireless space. Some of it makes us stop what we're doing to clap, boo or question these developments. This week's column is a roundup of some of the...
Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCR Wireless News to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the...
Motient Corp. scored a solid win against Highland Capital Management L.P. and its president, James Dondero, with news that Motient stockholders voted to elect all of the company's six nominees to the board of directors at its annual stockholder's meeting. "Today's vote is a...
Inmarsat plc may have raised the ante for mobile satellite services by launching land-based "broadband" voice and data service in the United States, close on the heels of launches in Europe and Asia. The London-based MSS provider's BGAN service, enabled by the launch of...
NEW YORK—London-based Inmarsat plc last week received permission from the Federal Communications Commission to begin offering satellite-based broadband service in the United States, where the company said it will focus initially on emergency workers dealing with the fallout from the upcoming hurricane season and...
The advent of ancillary terrestrial component, or ATC, will revolutionize the mobile satellite services industry in the long run, according to a new report from Northern Sky Research, a market research firm that focuses on the mobile satellite sector. The prospects have brought renewed...
RESTON, Va.-Wireless Matrix Corp., which provides enterprise wireless data services, extended its contract with satellite provider Mobile Satellite Ventures through January 2008.Wireless Matrix uses satellite services as part of its wide area wireless communications network, which also makes use of terrestrial wireless services to...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission authorized Globalstar L.L.C. to operate land-based cell phone networks to augment its existing mobile satellite services, a significant enhancement that should allow the company to reduce the size of its satellite phones. Globalstar is the second MSS operator to win...
