WASHINGTON-Brazilian Minister of Communications Luis Carlos Mendonca de Barros set the minimum price for the 12 Telebras system holding companies of US$11.7 billion for the 18.2-percent stake owned by the government. He expects the eight cellular companies to draw a high premium, up to...
MCI Communications Corp. apparently is selling cellular service to residential customers once again after customer service representatives had told potential customers MCI wasn't taking on new cellular subscribers after June 1.Kelly Seacrist, an MCI spokeswoman, said the company, which resells cellular service nationwide, never...
WASHINGTON-Four of the five members of the Federal Communications Commission have chosen to ignore wireless carriers in the ongoing debate over universal service funding. The one exception is FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, who again last week stated emphatically that any reductions in universal-service fees...
WASHINGTON-A seemingly parochial fight between a small San Diego firm and two European manufacturing giants over next-generation wireless technology could foreshadow a larger confrontation between the United States and the European Union and offer a glimpse into a future where transnational companies dominate the...
WASHINGTON-Telecom mergers, traditionally seen as threatening by organized labor, have become major platforms for unions and civil-rights groups to push their agendas and try to leverage concessions.As the Communications Workers of America and Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/Push Coalition weigh in on telecom mega mergers, wireless...
WASHINGTON-In a stunning setback for the Clinton administration that bodes well for the wireless industry, a bipartisan group of top telecom lawmakers last week ordered the Federal Communications Commission to scrap plans to subsidize Internet connections for schools, libraries and rural health-care providers and...
LONDON-Cable & Wireless plc announced plans to purchase MCI Communications Corp.'s Internet backbone service business for $625 million, which should help clear the way for the European Commission to approve the proposed MCI-WorldCom Inc. merger.GTE Corp. in early May filed a private antitrust lawsuit...
Sprint Corp. is expected to announce this week a plan that would restructure its ownership in Sprint Spectrum L.P. and allow its cable partners to exit the business.Sprint confirmed that it has made substantial progress in negotiating with its three cable partners-Tele-Communications Inc., Comcast...
NEW YORK-Pathnet Inc. hopes to raise $100 million by going public to help finance its goal of becoming a national carrier's carrier in smaller markets by upgrading existing wireless infrastructure to develop a synchronous optical network (SONET) system.Pathnet intends to provide a high-capacity, dedicated...
WASHINGTON-The decision whether to approve the proposed $62 billion merger between SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. could be driven as much by politics as by antitrust scrutiny, judging from the hostile reception the deal received here last week.The announcement of the deal, which...
WASHINGTON-GTE Corp. filed a private antitrust lawsuit at a U.S. federal district court here last week in an attempt to block the planned $38 billion merger of WorldCom Inc. and MCI Communications Corp.The lawsuit alleges the merger would allow the combined company to monopolize...
OXFORD, England-In March, shareholders of the privatized Spanish operator Telefonica approved a new group structure as well as a proposal to raise Pta 600 billion (US$3.97 billion) through the largest-ever rights issue by a Spanish company. Approval was granted at the shortest-ever meeting in...
As the popularity and penetration of wireless communications spreads throughout North America, wireless carriers increasingly will use mass-market retail outlets and their own direct channels to distribute handsets and services. Wireless consumers might put a cellular phone on their shopping list along with a...
NEW YORK-GTE Corp. announced a series of asset sales and other actions April 2 that the company said are "designed to further sharpen its strategic focus and improve its competitive position."GTE said it expects to generate after-tax proceeds of $2 billion to $3 billion...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-In response to MCI Communication Corp.'s "Ivan" ads, which portray American consumers as oppressed due to the lack of freedom to choose from more than one local phone service provider, the Personal Communications Industry Association launched its own parody ad, "Ivan's Search for...
The wireless industry, having been defeated on Capitol Hill and Bunker Hill by environmentalists, organized labor and soccer moms, has turned to John Q. Public, Marcus Welby, M.D. and Ivan to makes its case. And what a wonderful strategy shift it is. Better late...
The recent merger activity involving second-tier cellular companies has touched off speculation about which companies may be next to tie the knot.Alltel Corp. and 3600 Communications Co. last week announced they will merge in a transaction valued at more than $6 billion. Just a...
WASHINGTON-As the Justice Department broadens its antitrust probe of WorldCom Inc.'s proposed $37 billion purchase of MCI Communications Corp., Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/Push Coalition is using the mega-merger as a springboard to advocate increased diversification in the booming telecommunications industry.Last week, Jackson, Federal Communications...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission denied a waiver request forwarded last December by AirTouch Communications Inc. that would have stayed any per-call pay-phone compensation until pay-phone service providers are able to provide pay-phone-specific coding digits to facilitate blocking.In an order released March 9, the commission...
Twelve of the carriers featured in RCR's Top 20 Cellular operators list in 1987 either no longer exist or have substantially changed. It's not really that surprising since the list is more than a decade old.What is surprising is how next year's Top 20...
WASHINGTON-Telefonica, WorldCom Inc. and MCI Communications Corp. said they plan to partner in strategic business ventures to leverage the three companies' network and geographic strengths as they enter new telecommunications markets in Europe and the Americas.The agreement extends the terms of the Pan-American joint...
NEW YORK-The number of issuers defaulting on publicly held corporate debt more than doubled from 1996 to 1997, Moody's Investors Service reported in a new study.Moody's said that 64 issuers defaulted on $8.56 billion of long-term publicly held corporate debt last year, up from...
