MELBOURNE, Australia-Someone is just settling into a film or play, conversing intimately in a restaurant or addressing the ball at the first hole-and a mobile phone ring interrupts. While usually a fine tool for keeping in touch, the mobile phone all of a sudden...
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados-When the time came for the Dominica government minister to address Caribbean telecommunications executives at the annual conference of the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO) in May in Aruba, he dropped a quip about his country expecting to enter the new...
PCS carriers can be credited with spurring huge demand for wireless service in the United States, but they continue to struggle with brand awareness and perceptions customers have about coverage.
"It's a brand game and a consumer-marketing game," said Andrew Sukawaty, president of nationwide carrier...
AustraliaLeap Wireless International announced that it is selling its wholly owned Australian subsidiary, OzPhone Pty. Ltd., to an affiliate of AAPT Ltd., Australia's third-largest telecommunications company, for Australian $25 million (US$16.3 million). OzPhone holds licenses covering 6 million potential customers in numerous regions. The...
SEATTLE-Tegic Communications and Optimay GmbH, a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies Inc., announced they signed a licensing agreement that allows Optimay to integrate the Chinese language version of Tegic's T9 Text Input software with Optimay's Global System for Mobile communications Phase 2 Protocol Stack and...
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...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Bell Atlantic Mobile has launched an initiative to collect unused wireless phones from its customers and reprogram the handsets for emergency calls by community-based public-safety groups in Delaware, southern New Jersey and the greater Philadelphia area."The evolution of wireless phones from analog to...
BASINGTOKES, England-Dolphin Telecom, Basingstokes, England, has launched commercially its enhanced specialized mobile radio service in the United Kingdom.A subsidiary of Montreal-based Telesystem International Wireless Inc., Dolphin said it started taking deliveries of handsets early this month from its two suppliers, Motorola Inc. and Nokia...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. announced its participation in high-speed packet data trials on Korea Telecom Freetel's Interim Standard-95B Code Division Multiple Access technology network.Qualcomm's MSM3000-based CDMA handsets will transfer data over KT Freetel's advanced network at speeds of up to 64 kilobits per second. The...
Sprint PCS's awaited introduction of nationwide commercial Internet-access services will begin in late September, announced the company.Targeting business users and a wide range of consumer customers that are heavy Internet and e-mail users, Sprint PCS will hit the market with Sprint PCS Wireless Web,...
Mobile phones offer freedom, convenience and portability-as long as the battery works. In Cupertino, Calif., Tropian Inc. is developing technologies it hopes will breath new life into the problem of the dying cellular phone."Tropian has fundamentally redesigned key radio-frequency circuits of cell phones to...
CARROLLTON, Texas-CellStar Corp. acquired the business and certain net assets of Mobicall, a wholesale distributor of wireless handsets and accessory products throughout the Netherlands, said CellStar."This acquisition provides CellStar with an excellent opportunity to expand our presence in Europe and to combine CellStar's expertise...
Personal communications services carriers can be credited with spurring huge demand for wireless service, but they continue to struggle with brand awareness and perceptions customers have about coverage."It's a brand game and a consumer-marketing game," said Andrew Sukawaty, president of nationwide carrier Sprint PCS,...
INDIANAPOLIS-Brightpoint Inc. reported revenues for the second quarter ended June 30 increased from $329.8 million in second-quarter 1998 to $414 million this year.The company recorded a net loss of $90.5 million, or $1.70 per share, compared with a net gain of $9.06 million, or...
NEW YORK-Since the launch of carrier competition in the duopoly wireless market, third-party distributors have had to work hard to manage increasingly complex distribution issues. Carriers, meanwhile, are dealing with this same level of complexity-trying to improve sales processes for existing distribution channels while...
The Federal Communications Commission has delayed until fall its truth-in-billing rules because the Office of Management and Budget did not approve of the information collections portion of the rules. The rules were adopted April 15, but now will not be effective until at least...
The popularity of prepaid wireless services has skyrocketed in the United States, but carriers are experiencing a not-so-pleasant side effect- high churn-and many are challenged by the need to expand prepaid offerings without exposing themselves to this phenomenon.Prepaid wireless service has become an important...
CUPERTINO, Calif.-Morphics Technology Inc., a privately held company that designs and sells software-programmable/hardware-configurable semiconductor products for the wireless industry, raised $13.5 million in its second round of equity financing.The funds raised through the latest round of financing will be used to complete initial product...
LUTHERVILLE, Md.-Americom Wireless Services opened its fourth wireless handset repair and refurbishment center located in Hartford County, Md.The 33,000-square-foot facility in the Lakeside Business Park just north of Baltimore will provide testing, dispositioning, refurbishment and repair of wireless handsets for multiple technologies, said Americom....
Since opening its initial public offering at $16 on July 9, Phone.com Inc.'s stock price recently has been closing in the $70 range, with sales during the day breaking $80.Whether this success will stand the test of time remains to be seen, but for...
SAN JOSE, Calif.-Code Division Multiple Access handsets were the No. 1 selling handset in the United States during the first quarter with sales of 3.2 million units, said Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group Inc.First-quarter sales of CDMA handsets surpassed the more established...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. and Lucent Technologies Inc. announced an agreement to jointly develop and promote standardization of a technology for locating the point of origin of an emergency wireless phone call.The technique is based on Qualcomm's advancements in Code Division Multiple Access handsets and...
ELite Logistic ServicesElite Logistic Services Inc. introduced its PageTrack control module, a wireless automotive security, control and monitoring solution. The system uses SkyTel Communications Inc.'s two-way ReFLEX network, the ReFLEX CreataLink 2 XT two-way data transceiver from Motorola Inc. and global positioning system technology....
CARROLLTON, Texas-CellStar Corp. said it agreed to provide a variety of value-added services to Telerj Celular S.A. and Telest Celular S.A., two wireless operators in the Brazilian states of Rio de Janiero and Espirito Santo. CellStar sells wireless handsets in bulk to the carriers.CellStar...
