Kansai Tele-Message and Hokkaido Telemessage became the latest victims in Japan's declining paging industry. Kansai Tele-Message filed for liquidation with US$183 million in debts, and Hokkaido had US$6.3 million in debt in excess of assets at the end of 1999, according to a Kyodo...
MELBOURNE, Australia-In a part of the world that still relies on word of mouth as a means to keep in touch, cellular communications-both digital and analog-is continuing to spread through the Pacific Islands as greater numbers of people in the region adjust to using...
NEW YORK-Though not for those impatient or faint of heart, satellite-sector investing has reaped handsome rewards overall in recent years and promises better days ahead."Last year's stumblers have addressed their issues and are coming on strong," Thomas W. Watts, first vice president of Merrill...
In a move designed to put the takeover of Iridium L.L.C.'s assets on the fast track, as well as appease disgruntled Iridium creditors, Craig McCaw and his team of investors have withdrawn the $74.6 million financing package submitted last week for the financially struggling...
Crown Castle InternationalCrown Castle International Corp. announced Michael G. Ramke has been named vice president of business development for the United States and Philip M. Kelley has been named vice president of business development internationally. Ramke served as vice president since April 1998 and...
Globalstar L.P.'s worldwide service rollout took another step last week, bolstering its presence in Mexico where Globalstar de Mexico and Mexican cellular operator Iusacell formed a marketing agreement.According to the deal, Iusacell, Mexico's second-largest carrier, will sell Globalstar satellite phone services to its customers-on...
NEW YORK-Publicly held long-term debt set an unwelcome record in 1999 as 147 corporate and sovereign issuers defaulted on $44.6 billion in bonds, more than double the $21.2 billion of defaults during 1999.Moody's Investors Service Inc., which released its year-end 1999 bond default report...
Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's Craig McCaw, swooping in to rescue yet another struggling satellite wireless phone company-leading a group of investors to provide $74.6 million in interim financing for the bankrupt Iridium L.L.C.This is McCaw's second performance in his satellite...
NEW YORK-Despite continuing paging and satellite sector laggards, Motorola Inc. maintained significant forward momentum in the last quarter of 1999. Earnings rose by 233 percent to $514 million, or 82 cents per share, compared with $159 million, or 26 cents per share, a year...
It seems the dark cloud that settled over the mobile satellite services industry when Iridium L.L.C. and ICO Global Communications went bankrupt last August has begun to lift, reflected by a stock rally from Globalstar L.P. indicating renewed investor confidence.Globalstar USA, Globalstar L.P.'s exclusive...
LAS VEGAS-Last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas saw Motorola Inc. introduce a number of wireless products, including a satellite phone and devices to make accessing the Internet easier, while manufacturer L.M. Ericsson introduced several handset accessories.Motorola's new V. Series phones are Web-ready,...
Kyocera Corp. hopes to do what no Japanese handset manufacturer has been able to do to date. It wants to become a dominate global vendor.To do that, Kyocera needs to gain a significant share of the market in North America, analysts say. Kyocera has...
1999 is behind us, although it won't soon be forgotten. The last year of the 20th century brought tragedy to many locations around the world. It's comforting to know that our industry did its part to lessen the impact of such events on many...
BANGALORE, India-While the Indian cellular industry generally has been battling rough weather recently, one cellular operator in the country has adopted a strategy that seems to have paid off: focusing on quality rather than numbers. The carrier, BPL Mobile, may use that same strategy as...
Kyocera Corp. hopes to do what no Japanese handset manufacturer has done to date. It wants to become a dominate global vendor.Kyocera needs to gain a significant share of the market in North America to accomplish this goal, analysts say. Kyocera has made some...
At the end of each year, the RCR editorial staff looks back on the news events that made RCR headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting stories of the past 12 months. Here are our picks for 1999 in chronological order.1. Jan....
NEW YORK-Iridium L.L.C. said it received funding commitments for $20 million from current investors, led by Motorola Inc., allowing it to continue operations while conducting a financial restructuring under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.Motorola is looking for others to participate in the funding commitment. John...
A U.S. bankruptcy court has given ICO Global Communications final approval for $500 million in financing from an investor group led by Craig McCaw and Indian media magnate Subhash Chandra, who had challenged McCaw with a competing financing bid.Under the agreement, McCaw will provide...
Just weeks after a bankruptcy court approved the first part of his plan to bail out the financially struggling ICO Global Communications, Craig McCaw reportedly is close to completing a similar deal to save another bankrupt satellite-based global voice provider-Iridium L.L.C.While officials at Iridium...
Nextel Communications Inc. finally found another vendor willing to manufacture handsets incorporating Motorola Inc.'s proprietary iDEN technology.Nextel and Kyocera Corp. signed a letter of intent last week calling for the Japanese vendor to produce a small high-end integrated Digital Enhanced Network phone by late...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Iridium World Communications said its stock was de-listed from the Nasdaq Stock Market Nov. 19, following the suspension of trading Aug. 13 when the company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.Nasdaq said Iridium's bankruptcy status caused it to fail to meet the requirements of...
Fear over Y2K effects has become quite a boon for the satellite telecommunications industry, even during a time when a negative cloud looms over the industry in light of Iridium L.L.C.'s bankruptcy woes.The blessing came by accident. Satellite companies stumbled upon this new market...
ICO Global Communications Ltd. received final commitments for the $1.2 billion in financing needed to finish building its satellite voice network from none other than cellular industry pioneer Craig McCaw.ICO announced at the end of October it had received letters of intent for the...
TEMPE, Ariz.-Iridium North America announced the availability of a broad array of maritime-specific communication devices suitable for virtually any vessel.The single- and multi-channel equipment offers boaters various configurations from multiple manufacturers, including Motorola Inc. and Kyocera Corp. Handheld and portable versions of the phones...
