WASHINGTON (AP)-MCI Communications Corp. can continue its practice of not disclosing on monthly bills that it charges customers in full-minute increments, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower court's dismissal of a class-action...
LISBON, Portugal-Concert plc, the company formed as part of the merger of British Telecommunications plc and MCI Communications Corp., and Portugal Telecom announced Portugal Telecom will exclusively distribute Concert's voice products in Portugal.Francisco Murteira Nabo, chairman of Portugal Telecom, said the alliance will allow...
NEW YORK-MCI Communications Corp. and NextWave Telecom Inc. signed a master services agreement under which MCI will provide carrier services and back-office support to NextWave. MCI then will have access to NextWave's system to provide wireless local access.Part of the agreement calls for MCI...
WASHINGTON-In its 1996 annual report released last week, MCI Communications Corp. waxed eloquent on its successes in the local exchange, the international market, its partnership with British Telecom plc and the continued growth of its core businesses. However, the second-largest U.S. long-distance carrier gave...
WILKES-BARRE, Pa.-MCI Communications Corp. shareholders voted 77 percent in favor of the proposed merger with British Telecommunications plc during MCI's annual meeting.The merger still must be approved by BT shareholders and U.S. and European regulatory agencies. If approved, the new company will be named...
"This is a fight for the total telecommunication system, and we're not going to play defense," said John E. Rooney from his new office as president of Ameritech Consumer Services.Rooney has been president of Ameritech Cellular and Paging since 1992. But a recent, rapid...
The sixth largest PCS carrier (by pops) went bankrupt long before it ever got to market. Pocket Communications has $1.5 billion in liabilities, most of which is a large debt to the federal government.When people buy a typical business franchise, they pay an up-front...
SAN JOSE, Calif.-Digital Microwave Corp. received $4 million in orders from Avantel for microwave radios and related services in Mexico. The company said it has received a total of $10 million in orders from Avantel since July 1996.Digital Microwave will provide digital microwave radio...
There are times when RCR staffers stop chasing stories and just sit around to debate the state of telecommunications. When the rumors about a Cable & Wireless takeover of Sprint began surfacing, all we could do is lay back in our pontifical chairs and...
If reports that Cable & Wireless plc is considering a takeover bid of Sprint Corp. are true, the wireless industry is seeing a sign of things to come.The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Cable & Wireless met with Sprint's 10-percent owner France...
In between the land of resellers and the land of licensed wireless providers lies a place where MCI Telecommunications Corp. lives all by itself.The company prefers not to be called a reseller and was reluctant to be included on RCR's Top 20 Cellular Resellers'...
NEW YORK-As unlikely as it may seem at first glance today, an affinity marketing company and an airline reservation system offer a glimpse into the future landscape of the wireless telecommunications industry.Working Assets, a cause-related marketer, is a successful example and role model for...
JACKSON, Miss.-Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp.'s wholesale division, Destineer, signed 20 reseller agreements for its messaging services. The agreements allow resellers to market Mtel's interactive two-way messaging service as well as its advanced text messaging service due in April.New agreements were executed by AirTouch Paging,...
WASHINGTON-Vice President Gore's major-and questionably legal-role in Clinton administration fund raising raises more questions about whether telecommunications and trade policies continue to be compromised by campaign contributions from donors seeking a lane on the Information Superhighway.Gore, the most influential telecommunications policy voice in the...
NEW YORK-Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp. "is right on target for the (late) April introduction of its SkyWord Plus caller acknowledgement paging," John T. Stupka, president and chief executive officer, said Feb. 27.The new nationwide offering, provided over a proprietary narrowband personal communications services system,...
NEW YORK-In a record-breaking year for domestic mergers and acquisitions, telecommunications transactions accounted for four of the five largest deals announced or concluded in 1996. This year also promises a great deal of M&A activity by carriers and other companies in related industry sectors,...
NEW YORK-Global telecommunications deregulation may be auspicious, but on behalf of bondholders, Moody's Investors Service Inc. remains suspicious.A day before negotiators at the World Trade Organization approved Feb. 15 a trail-blazing agreement to deregulate international telecommunications markets, the New York-based rating agency downgraded the...
CORAL GABLES, Fla.-When it comes to customer service, Barry Winkle aspires to have the role of the lonely Maytag repairman.Winkle is executive vice president of marketing for Pocket Communications Inc., Washington, D.C., which plans a full-scale commercial launch of it personal communications services network...
Since the passage of the telecom act, telecommunications providers have taken significant steps toward offering bundled services on one bill.Nearly a year ago, regional Bell operating companies' cellular divisions began offering cellular long-distance service to their cellular customers and a few of the RBOCs...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.-"Until a few weeks ago, I was under the impression that the outlook for TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) was quite different than it is today," said investment banker Brad Peery at last week's TDMA Global Summit here."Qualcomm (Inc.) has done...
WASHINGTON-Several prominent wireless industry figures attended White House coffees, which along with telecom-related trade missions are tied to an escalating Democratic fund-raising scandal that last week prompted a flood of congressional subpoenas and threatened to sidetrack Senate confirmation of two Clinton cabinet nominees.The Senate...
Numeric paging service, which for years was the bread and butter for paging resellers, could be their doom in a market of increased competition, decreased rates and customer savvy.Industry disagrees about who is responsible-carriers, or resellers or both-for the drastic price drops, but agrees...
WASHINGTON-NextWave Telecom Inc. filed an amended S-1 registration statement Feb. 3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in hopes of jumpstarting its halted initial public offering that had been planned for last summer.Underwriters for the offering include Smith Barney Inc.; Bear, Stearns & Co....
WASHINGTON-"The Telecom Act was an act of Congress and not an act of God, so it will not be immediately perfect," commented AT&T's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Allen on the first anniversary last week of the landmark piece of 1996 legislation. "Telecom...
