Nextel Communications Inc. will soon announce commercial availability of wireless Internet service, people close to the company say.According to the company's Web site, its Nextel Online service already is available in 44 markets. Nextel is offering three flat-rate pricing packages ranging from $15 per...
NEW YORK-VoiceStream Wireless Corp. is prepared to wage war on two fronts in the battle of the titans for transnational control of wireless telecommunications, John Stanton, VoiceStream's chairman and chief executive officer said.Although focused on expanding its domestic footprint through acquisitions of carriers and...
The CDMA Development Group said it expects handset makers to introduce commercial Code Division Multiple Access handsets with subscriber identity modules by the end of the year to allow for global roaming.The CDG announced late last month that the Telecommunications Industry Association will approve...
Sprint PCS last week announced its first voice call over 1XRTT technology, a third-generation solution for Code Division Multiple Access technology operators.The call is the first phase of a test between Sprint PCS, Samsung Telecommunications America Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. to evaluate 1X technology...
It's only been two weeks since Iridium L.L.C. shut off its network in disgrace, and already Globalstar L.P. is feeling the skepticism analysts and the media have heaped upon it as a result.The company's stock, which has fallen 75 percent so far this year,...
More mobile satellite service providers and distributors have developed promotional offers aimed at former Iridium L.L.C. subscribers now left without service after the company terminated service abruptly two weeks ago.American Mobile Satellite Corp. launched its "Instant Rebate" promotion offering up to $400 off its...
European regulators this year will auction, grant or selectively tender 70 to 80 licenses. It's a double-edged sword for the incumbent operators, which in many places have to compete for a license. If they don't win a license, their value as a company goes...
COSTA MESA, Calif.-The CDMA Development Group said the Telecommunications Industry Association will approve the Code Division Multiple Access Subscriber Identity Module standard, Removable-User Identity Module for publication.According to the CDG, this standardization represents a major step in the development of worldwide roaming as CDMA...
NEW YORK-Despite problems the written Chinese language poses for Internet communications, China may nevertheless become the largest wireless data market in the world.China Telecom Hong Kong, which had 38 million subscribers at the end of 1999, "is closely following and preparing for wireless data,"...
Nokia threw its support behind Motorola Inc.'s 1X Plus proposal last week and said it is evaluating making cdmaOne-based infrastructure equipment.Motorola announced earlier this month plans to challenge Qualcomm Inc.'s proprietary High Data Rate technology, introducing its own 1XRTT enhancement for cdmaOne carriers to...
The Operators Harmonization Group-which began work more than a year ago as a loosely tied consortium of four operators trying to end the global debate over third-generation technology standards-is now an official organization.Earlier this month, 26 operators from around the world approved an international...
WASHINGTON-With a little more than 18 months until the deadline for the implementation of enhanced 911 Phase II service, carriers are beginning to think about how they can make money from a government mandate that requires location technology.They are not alone. Vendors, too, are...
When launched in November 1998, Iridium L.L.C. hoped the glare from its low-earth-orbit satellites would catch the attention of earthbound eyes and cause a stir.It soon will succeed in ways it never imagined.The company Friday shut down its 66-satellite constellation and began the process...
Since its exit from the highly competitive U.S. mobile handset market in late 1998, Siemens AG has vowed to return.The German manufacturer will make its comeback this summer, but to a mobile-phone market that is even more crowded and competitive than ever before. Rapidly...
Leveraging its dominance in the enterprise computing market, IBM Corp. formed a string of partnerships with leading wireless industry players designed to speed the growth of wireless Internet and e-business solutions for enterprise customers.The core of the computing giant's strategy is to give its...
NEW YORK-To simulate third-generation wireless before its deployment, Finland's Sonera has just embarked on a new program, Sonera Mspace, said Kaj-Erik Relander, the company's executive vice president.In partnership with content, service and technology providers, Mspace will conduct in Finland "real life trials with consumers...
British Telecom plc unveiled its mobile Internet strategy last week, setting up a new unit to offer global mobile Internet services by extending its existing Genie Internet services to Wireless Application Protocol-enabled phones.BT said it will invest $250 million in WAP technology and form...
U S West Inc. has become the latest domestic carrier to join the wireless Internet revolution with the launch of BrowseNow, a Web-enabled phone service it said integrates the company's wireline and wireless Internet services into one package.BrowseNow is an HDML-based solution using network...
NEW ORLEANS-Siemens AG announced it will re-enter the U.S. mobile-phone market in 2001, about two years after it left the market unable to compete with rapidly falling handset prices in the United States.Siemens always has maintained its exit from the U.S. market was a...
Phone.com Inc. unveiled a new Wireless Application Protocol-based system that can change software settings and roaming configurations on handsets after they have been purchased using over-the-air provisioning technology.The system, Mobile Management Server 1.0, was designed to provision WAP gateways, applications and handsets across multiple...
America Online Inc. took its AOL Anywhere strategy further into the wireless space last week with the introduction of its AOL Mobile Messenger service, created through several strategic deals with several wireless carriers and device manufacturers.AOL's Mobile Messenger service is designed to extend access...
NEW YORK-The telecom/wireless sector of U.S. industry stood out last year, riding high on an overall rising tide of venture capital investments, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' "MoneyTree Survey."Taken in aggregate, venture-backed investments in domestic companies during 1999 shattered all previous records, with 4,006 firms receiving...
NEW ORLEANS-Amazon.com Inc. intensified its wireless presence last week, announcing a new Web address exclusively for mobile e-commerce customers as well as alliances with Bell Atlantic Mobile and Motorola Inc.The new site, located at www.amazon.com/phone/, is accessible from any Wireless Application Protocol-enabled phone and...
MELBOURNE, Australia-Telstra's new CDMA mobile phone network has come under fire from rural Australians following the closure of about 80 percent of the carrier's analog AMPS network on 31 December.Most of the criticisms of the new CDMA service surround difficulties with reception. The network,...
