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Teligent Inc.'s board of directors authorized a two-for-one stock split subject to shareholder approval of an amendment to the company's certificate of incorporation authorizing an increase in the number of shares of Teligent common stock. The proposed amendment will be presented to shareholders at...

U S West shareholders file lawsuit against Qwest

An unspecified number of U S West shareholders filed a lawsuit against Qwest Communications International Inc. March 17, alleging Qwest deflated U S West stock prices through its recent merger negotiations with Deutsche Telekom AG, which are now defunct.The suit, filed in U.S. District...

Sonera to conduct `3G-like’ trials

NEW YORK-To simulate third-generation wireless before its deployment, Finland's Sonera has just embarked on a new program, Sonera Mspace, said Kaj-Erik Relander, the company's executive vice president.In partnership with content, service and technology providers, Mspace will conduct in Finland "real life trials with consumers...

Trujillo says Qwest deal is airtight

NEW YORK-The March 16 announcement that Qwest International Inc. will sell some of its properties to The Montana Power Co. complies with a major condition for final Federal Communications Commission approval of the Qwest-U S West Inc. merger.Touch America, the telecommunications subsidiary of Montana...

GTE-Bell Atlantic ready to face opportunities

NEW YORK-GTE Corp. is hopeful the Federal Communications Commission will approve its merger with Bell Atlantic Corp. before the 700 MHz spectrum auctions in May so the combined company can focus undivided attention on the bidding."The 700 MHz auction is something being very intensively...

Iridium’s flickering star may go dark by end of week

After spending 10 years and $5.8 billion building and launching a constellation of 66 low-earth-orbit satellites to provide mobile voice and paging services worldwide, Iridium L.L.C. is facing a new countdown-toward extinction.If the company doesn't find someone to replace Craig McCaw as its financial...

“Broad” is key word in definition of broadband wireless

Broadband. It is a familiar term being tossed around the wireless industry like a hot potato, but its relatively new status is making its definition, applications and implications elusive to many.At the most basic level, wireless broadband-also known as fixed wireless, Broadband Wireless Local...

Satellite stumblers expected to come on strong in 2000

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...

Expanded services make broadband carriers strong players

NEW YORK-Aided by a federal regulatory regime that has leveled the playing field for newcomers, broadband telecommunications competitors are coming on strong in their efforts to wrest business customers from incumbents."There are significant opportunities, a $100 billion business marketplace that broadband is targeting with...

SEC approves RCC’s follow-on offering

ALEXANDRIA, Minn.-The Securities and Exchange Commission declared effective Rural Cellular Corp.'s registration statement for a follow-on offering of 2.39 million shares of the company's class A common stock to be offered to the public at $61.88 per share.The underwriters of the issuance include Donaldson,...

Qualcomm stock drops on warning of slower chip sales

Qualcomm Inc. shares dropped 16 percent last Wednesday after the cdmaOne innovator warned of slower chip sales this quarter.This warning eclipsed Qualcomm's higher-than-expected first fiscal quarter earnings. Merrill Lynch cut its near-term rating to "neutral" from "accumulate." Salomon Smith Barney lowered its rating from...

Geotek licenses may be back on block

WASHINGTON-With the legal and regulatory actions behind them, creditors for bankrupt Geotek Communications Inc. now must decide what to do with a bundle of major-market specialized mobile radio licenses it planned to sell to Nextel Communications Inc. before a federal judge here ruled otherwise...

Elevated earnings expectations send Motorola stock soaring

Expectations among industry financial analysts that Motorola Inc.'s fourth quarter earnings will exceed consensus estimates of 81 cents per share caused the company's stock to skyrocket Friday to $150 a share.Motorola is expected to release fourth quarter earnings today.Lehman Brothers analyst Tim Luke raised...

Ebbers aims to keep Internet play as part of Sprint buy

WASHINGTON-With a culture that has resulted in 65 mergers since 1985 with increasingly larger companies, Bernie Ebbers, the chief executive officer of MCI WorldCom Inc., does not believe he will have to divest his Internet backbone to acquire Sprint Corp.'s wireless properties."The wireless thing...

NeoPoint, i3 Mobile plan public offerings

NEW YORK-i3 Mobile Inc., which distributes customized information to wireless devices, and NeoPoint Inc., which does double duty as a handset maker and Internet portal, both plan their debuts as public companies.i3 Mobile, formerly known as Intelligent Information Inc., has distribution agreements with 15...

Globalstar stock rally indicates investor confidence in MSS

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...

TeleCorp raises $184M in IPO

AT&T Wireless Services Inc.'s largest affiliate, TeleCorp PCS Inc., raised $184 million last Tuesday from its initial public offering.TeleCorp priced its IPO offering of 9.2 million shares of class A common stock at $20 per share, which includes about 1.6 million shares offered to...

RIM HITS FINANCIAL SPEED BUMP, BUT INVESTORS, ANALYSTS CONFIDENT

Speculation that BellSouth Wireless Data Ltd. would not immediately renew its supply contract with Research In Motion Ltd. has proven accurate, expected to result in lower third-quarter earnings for RIM. But the drop is expected to be short-term as more customers sign on to...

QUALCOMM STOCK STUMBLES A BIT AMID MOBILE-PHONE EARNINGS CONCERNS

Intense pricing competition in the Code Division Multiple Access handset market may put the squeeze on Qualcomm Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter results, some analysts said last week.Qualcomm's stock fell $23.50 to $168.69 Wednesday amid concerns over margins in its mobile-phone business. Shares rebounded somewhat Thursday...

GEOTEK BACKERS COMPLAIN NEXTEL IS TOO LIMITED BY DOJ

WASHINGTON-Geotek Communications Inc. creditors blasted the proposed antitrust settlement between the Justice Department and Nextel Comm-unications Inc., while government lawyers continued to fight to limit the creditors' participation in the matter.Unlike small- and medium-sized dispatch radio operators, which claim the DOJ-Nextel deal does not...

ONE-2-ONE BIDDERS DROP OUT

NEW YORK-All bidders for the United Kingdom's One-2-One have reportedly dropped out, so Cable & Wireless plc and MediaOne Group, which own the personal communications services carrier, will have to go back to the drawing board."We remain interested in the UK market, which is...

GEOTEK CREDITORS MUST DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH SMR LICENSES

WASHINGTON-Just days before going to trial last month, high-level Justice Department officials may have overruled government antitrust lawyers who appeared ready to make a strong case in federal court against lifting a 1995 consent decree imposed on Nextel Communications Inc.Charles James, a lawyer for...

DESPITE VACILLATING MARKET, MSS LURES INVESTMENT INTEREST

NEW YORK-"The best news I will present today is that, for the first time in more than a year, there is significant interest by institutional investors" in private equity investments in satellite companies, said Hoyt Davidson, managing director of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities...

MSS DEMAND IS THERE, ANALYSTS CONTEND

NEW YORK-It is true billions of people have never made a phone call, but that fact is worthless in determining actual demand for mobile satellite telephony services, according to Larry Alletto, senior managing director of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc."Far more important are the...