AT&T Corp.'s board of directors unanimously elected C. Michael Armstrong chairman and chief executive officer of the company, effective Nov. 1.AT&T was widely viewed to be under pressure to partner with someone after its nearest rival in the long-distance arena, MCI Communications Corp., became...
Tectonic Engineering Consultants P.C. named Robert E. Lister a supervising engineer, with responsibility for the structural design and analysis of buildings, infrastructure projects and wireless communication facilities. A licensed professional engineer, Lister most recently was responsible for the construction buildout of NextWave Telecom Inc.'s...
"The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry."(Maybe not for the mice, in this case. I doubt they were consulted).Wireless Technology Research head Dr. George Carlo has said he will not be conducting short-term or long-term animal exposure studies during the...
MCI Communications Corp., which last week found itself with a third suitor in GTE Corp., may finally have an opportunity to enter the wireless arena in more than a reseller role.GTE, which owns cellular licenses in several metropolitan statistical areas, last week made a...
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-Wireless resellers have interconnection rights that have been ignored by carriers and federal regulators said an industry coalition, including surprise MCI Communications Corp. suitor WorldCom Inc., in a brief filed in federal appeals court.The Federal Communications Commission "has inexplicably refused to acknowledge the right...
JACKSON, Miss.-The Federal Communications Commission extended the timetable for public comment on WorldCom's application to establish a voting trust in connection with the company's bid to acquire MCI Communications Corp.A voting trust would permit the WorldCom offer to be consummated prior to receiving final...
WorldCom Inc.'s surprise bid to acquire MCI Communications Corp. has touched off speculation of other possible mergers, including widely reported talks between AT&T Corp. and GTE Corp.Neither GTE nor AT&T would comment on the speculation, but several analysts said the two companies have at...
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...
WorldCom Inc. last week made an unsolicited offer to merge with MCI Communications Corp. in a deal that would eclipse British Telecommunications plc's planned acquisition of MCI, which has been in the works for nearly a year.If approved, the deal would put the WorldCom-MCI...
WASHINGTON-With industry consolidation increasing and prospects for greater facilities-based competition diminishing, new life has been breathed into the wireless resale debate.Most recently, San Francisco-based AirTouch Communications Inc. has come under fire for a new wireless resale program that critics call illegal, anti-consumer and anti-competitive.AirTouch's...
Consolidation as a means to expansion has been the tradition in the wireless industry. Look no further than Craig McCaw, amassing a wireless fortune one cellular license at a time.Each merger, each alliance, each buyout, has been greeted with surprise, then understanding, and finally,...
Since the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, it seems rarely a week goes by without the announcement-or rumor-of another blockbuster telecom deal.The recent flurry of merger and acquisition activity clearly is changing the face of the telecom landscape and prompting debate about where...
NEW YORK-Like late night talk show host David Letterman, Jerome Lucas, president of Telestrategies Inc., McLean, Va., has a top 10 list-this one for wireless telecommunications industry trends.In the near term, the biggest winners won't be the behemoths. Instead, they will be the small...
The Portuguese government said it plans to open a tender for a personal communications services license this month and issue a third mobile phone license by the end of this or early next year."The specification of the bidding is practically concluded and will be...
NEW YORK-Barely finished with its acquisition of Pacific Telesis Group, SBC Communications Corp. is widely rumored to be exploring merger possibilities with AT&T Corp.Ruthlyn Newell, a spokesman for AT&T, headquartered in New York, declined to comment, citing company policy on "rumors or speculation about...
My husband and I were vacationing in Mexico when a newspaper peddler cried out for us to read all about O.J. Simpson accused in the brutal murder of his ex-wife.I marveled to myself at how Mexican tabloids must be even more outrageous than their...
Affordable Message Center is introducing Simplicity One today, a prepaid one-number service that offers users protection from over-calls on their cellular phone bill."You are protecting your cellular number," explained Alexander Ott, president of Next Century Communications Inc., AMC's parent. "No other (one-number) service does...
MCI Communications Corp. kicked off networkMCI Interactive Paging two-way service, using the AccessLink pager by Wireless Access Inc. and SkyTel Corp.'s ReFLEX 50 network.The complete service, with reply capability that ensures message delivery, is available in 16 markets. However, networkMCI Interactive Paging service is...
C.J. Silas resigned as a member of Comsat Corp.'s board of directors for health reasons. He recently had open-heart surgery. Edwin Colodny was appointed to serve as chairman. Colodny has been a director of Comsat since 1992. He has served as both chairman and...
WASHINGTON-Noting the financial community has turned its back for the most part on entrepreneurs seeking funds to build their wireless networks, MCI Telecommunications Corp. has floated new license payment terms at the Federal Communications Commission in hopes the agency will restructure debt repayment.The proposal...
WASHINGTON-Overarching economic, trade and political policies evolving in the United States and abroad are likely to eclipse telecommunications policy as the key drivers of wireless commerce in the next century.The trend toward telecommunications deregulation around the world is making telecom policymakers less relevant and...
No shortage of wireless wonking this week.On Tuesday, Chairman John McCain's (R-Ariz.) Senate Commerce Committee will hear about antenna siting moratoria, RF and wireless taxation as local and state government officials square off with industry on federalism and preemption.Early read: It's a set up. Look...
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. President Steve Hooper and Vice Chairman Wayne Perry resigned last week, but the duo will remain kissing cousins with the old regime through a new venture into the local exchange business.Hooper and Perry will lead OneComm L.L.C., a start up...
