MELBOURNE, Australia-Seven of the nine bidders won lots in Australia's PCS (Personal Communications Services) spectrum auction, which raised almost A$350 million (US$218.5 million) for the federal government. Four winners-AAPT Wireless, Hutchison Telephone, OzPhone and Catapult Communications-were first-time entrants into the Australian wireless market.The auction,...
CHINAL.M. Ericsson signed a $50 million framework agreement to expand capacity on SmarTone's Global System for Mobile communications network in Hong Kong during the next year. SmarTone acquired an 1800 MHz license when it bought the original holder, P Plus, said Ericsson.Glenayre and the...
MELBOURNE, Australia-Australia's long-awaited PCS spectrum auctions began at the tail end of April with nine bidders vying for 230 lots in the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum bands.Marking a key stage in Australia's long-term plans to establish a fully competitive market, the PCS...
British Aerospace plc, one of Europe's largest defense contractors, sold a 16.11-percent stake in U.K. personal communications network operator Orange plc to SBC Warburg Dillon Reed for about $1.3 billion, announced the company.British Aerospace, which originally acquired the Orange stake for about $92.1 million,...
Nine companies are set to bid in the Australian personal communications services spectrum auction April 14, amid uncertainties surrounding the auction process and an economic crisis gripping many nations in the Asia-Pacific region.The Australian Communications Authority will auction 10 PCS licenses in the 1800...
The new GSM licensee in Israel, Partner Communications Co., signed a letter of intent with L.M. Ericsson for the supply of equipment for the operator, a joint venture between Hutchison Telecommunications, Matav Cable Systems Media and Elbit, reported The Financial Times. The newspaper quoted...
WASHINGTON-Western Wireless Corp., parent company of personal communications services provider Western PCS Corp., was granted permission by the Federal Communications Commission to boost its foreign ownership to a possible 39.9 percent.The FCC's International Bureau ruled it "would serve the public interest" if an indirectly...
Players in the crowded Hong Kong market may finally get a little elbow room, as Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd. announced its wholly owned subsidiary, Hongkong Telecom CSL, plans to acquire full ownership of Pacific Link Communications Ltd.Hongkong Telecom signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding...
HAIFA, Israel-Elbit Ltd., a communications company in Israel, announced it has formed a joint company with Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd. and Matav-Cable Systems Media Ltd. to bid on a cellular license tender in Israel.The country's Ministry of Communications issued the tender to attract a third...
WASHINGTON-As the end of the first session of the 105th Congress nears, the wireless telecom industry is left hanging with key policy issues unresolved.In limbo are antenna siting moratoria, wireless privacy, digital wiretap funding and implementation, wireless cloning, encryption, regulatory reform, high-tech securities litigation...
NEW YORK-"Show me the money!"Flush with capital pouring in and looking for places to invest, that is exactly what Wall Street hopes to do for the wireless industry."There is a lot of money out there, so much money out there, more equity in stocks...
WASHINGTON-The federal pre-emption debate has become much bigger than antenna siting moratoria, with no clear political line on the explosive question of whether state and local regulators should be bypassed to further national policy objectives.As the issue gains steam generally, the politics differ from...
Beating other U.S. personal communications services carriers to the punch, Western Wireless Corp. announced Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd.'s intention to invest about $248 million in its Global System for Mobile communications PCS business.HTL, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. that holds a 49-percent...
NEW YORK-Competition, as intended, is causing the telecommunications pie to enlarge. But it also is creating numerous consolidation plays among carriers as they strive for dominance and economies of scale within and across borders."You have to wonder where it's all going to end up,"...
WASHINGTON-Having failed to secure antenna siting moratoria relief from Congress, the wireless telecom industry now faces the bitter prospect of legislation to limit federal intrusion into local zoning matters along with an unwanted battle with powerful organized labor.Warnings by Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)...
Mandarin Communications, a Hong Kong wireless operator, launched its new personal communications services offering, touted as the region's cheapest, featuring an $88 flat monthly charge for unlimited airtime.The company is the first of Hong Kong's eight mobile operators to offer such an unlimited deal....
WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee members sternly advised Federal Communications Commission chairman nominee William Kennard to rethink agency positions on federal pre-emption and wireless universal service funding and to stop dragging its feet on little low-earth orbit satellite licensing.But despite sharp criticism of the FCC's handling...
WASHINGTON-The Senate Commerce Committee last week rejected spectrum fees and toll-free telephone number auctions, but embraced lease fees for private wireless licensees in budget legislation lawmakers concede will fail to generate $26.3 billion from wireless license sales during the next five years.But spectrum fees...
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil-About 15 companies submitted bids last week for ten B-band cellular licenses in Brazil.One source reported that bids ranged from $200 million for more desolate Amazon basin states to at least $600 million for Sao Paulo city and Sao Paulo state.Foreign...
Brazil is in the wireless spotlight. Demand is high, penetration is low and growth in all sectors is being fueled by deregulation and a stronger economy.Brazil's current annual cellular growth rate is about 70 percent. The number of subscribers totaled 2.7 million last year,...
Four years ago Systems/Link Corp. introduced RoamEx, which "allowed carriers with fraud problems in big cities access to what was going on," said Diane Sammer, president of Systems/Link.Today RoamEx is rapidly becoming the ticket to global roaming.RoamEx exchanges caller data between different wireless carriers'...
Korean telephone service provider Shinsegi Telecomm Inc. awarded Lucent Technologies Inc. a contract to supply and install a Code Division Multiple Access-technology based cellular network in the southern cities of Pusan and Kyungnam. Lucent said it immediately will begin installing its 5ESS-2000 switch-based mobile...
The abundance of new wireless licenses in Indonesia could have as much to do with politics as market opportunity, said a Pennsylvania State University college professor who specializes in international telecommunications."Many of the ruling elite have recognized the value of wireless communications and want...
Nexus Telecommunication Systems Ltd. of Givatayim, Israel, announced it has signed an agreement with Academy D.O.O., a Yugoslavian security services company, to deploy Nexus' automatic vehicle location and tracking system in Yugoslavia. Deployment will begin during second quarter 1997, said Nexus. The first stage...
