WASHINGTON-As forecast in RCR on May 10, Susan Ness was nominated last week by President Clinton for a second six-year term on the Federal Communications Commission. Ness said she was "deeply honored ... I am proud to have spent the last five years working...
PORTLAND, Ore.-Metro One Telecommunications Inc. said it signed a multi-year contract to provide its enhanced directory assistance services to subscribers of Nextel Communications Inc.'s wireless service.Metro One expects to begin offering service in Nextel's and Nextel Partners Inc.'s markets starting in the third quarter...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Metrocall Inc. and Glenayre Technologies Inc. signed a multimillion dollar contract to upgrade Metrocall's nationwide paging network to support new Internet applications, two-way messaging and enhanced services.The upgrade of Metrocall's 150 GL3000 switches to V6.1 software will allow it to offer enhanced voice...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission saw its review of telecommunications mergers curtailed by a Senate committee last week just as it was succeeding in extracting 26 merger conditions from SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp., and it approved the transfer of Aliant Communications Inc.'s licenses...
ATLANTA-GTE Wireless announced a seven-week advertising campaign to introduce its lowest-priced $80 prepaid wireless service, which includes a phone and 30 minutes of airtime."One in every four new customers signing up for service with GTE chooses prepaid service. We expect that number to grow,"...
GREENVILLE, S.C.-Lucent Technologies Inc. has one of its first contracts in the United States for Global System for Mobile communications equipment.The company announced a $45 million supply contract with Carolina PCS I L.P. to build a personal communications services network in South Carolina, North...
SAN FRANCISCO-Saraide.com and APiON Ltd. have partnered to conduct Wireless Application Protocol Gateway trials, scheduled to begin this summer.According to the company, the trials will allow Saraide.com to integrate the APiON WAP Gateway into its global infrastructure and thereby make its Internet-based wireless data...
WASHINGTON-The big debate at last week's Federal Communication Commission enhanced 911 technology round table was not over the technical issues but rather over the policy issues.Still left to be decided is whether the Oct. 1, 2001, date for compliance with Phase II E911 will...
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico-TeleCorp PCS Inc. said it initiated service in Puerto Rico under the SunCom brand name. It is the company's largest market-3.8 million people.TeleCorp said it will sell the SunCom service through major retailers, including Office Max, Let's Talk Cellular and Farmacias...
DENVER - The boards of directors of U S West and Frontier Corp. both authorized their companies' management and advisers to enter into discussions with Qwest Communications International Inc.U S West and Frontier each had agreed to be acquired by Global Crossing Ltd. when...
MINNEAPOLIS-PCS.partners signed a contract with Samsung Telecommunications America Inc. to provide in-warranty repair and refurbishment services on Samsung's Code Division Multiple Access digital mobile phones, said PCS.partners.With this agreement, PCS.partners said it will act as an extension to Samsung's in-house repair facility.
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.-A survey conducted by International Data Corp. found penetration of personal communications services phones is growing faster than penetration of either cellular phones or pagers.According to IDC's "1999 Survey of Wireless Users, Former Users and Nonusers," perceived PCS penetration increased from only 4...
CHICAGO-Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems Inc., operating under the Cellular One brand name, introduced two new services to the Chicago market-Digital Edge SharePaks and Money Manager.Digital Edge SharePaks lets up to five people draw on the same pool of minutes, said the company. Customers also...
As the paging industry continues its transformation to narrowband personal communications services and engages in high-level consolidation, some have questioned the fate of the smaller, mom-and-pop paging carriers.In an industry expected to be dominated by two or three national players, where do the small,...
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp.'s Wireless Software Solutions division introduced the Nokia WAP Browser, a Wireless Application Protocol microbrowser designed for wireless handsets and personal digital assistants.The browser is featured in Nokia's previously released 7110 phone, but now is available to others wishing to integrate WAP...
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. completed its reorganization into five businesses and began operating under its new corporate structure July 1.The company split into three companies under the control of a single holding company. The new companies include two separate telephone companies covering east...
WASHINGTON-Congress sent the White House a bill on Thursday designed to limit liability stemming from the onset of the millennium bug. President Clinton is expected to sign the measure.The Personal Communications Industry Association hailed the bill's passage as a "victory for the wireless industry...
CHICAGO-U.S. Cellular announced the national rollout of BillTracker, an electronic billing solution that provides multi-service line and multi-account business customers with immediate access to monthly billing information, and enables them to track wireless service usage and expenses across multiple departments and users.BillTracker also provides...
The gap between large and small independent tower companies became wider last week as a pair of transactions added nearly 2,500 towers to the portfolios of two of the larger players in the tower industry.American Tower Corp. will add about 600 owned and operated...
BOSTON-A newly released report from the Yankee Group predicts the market for wireless telemetry services will grow to more than $6.6 billion in revenues by 2004.According the report, growth drivers for the market include the convergence of wireless, computing and Internet technology, as well...
CINCINNATI-Convergys Corp. said it signed an outsourcing agreement with AT&T Wireless Services Inc. to extend the current contract for inbound customer care and related services to 2006.Convergys handles many types of customer-care calls for AT&T Wireless, including general billing, credits and adjustments, account status...
Iridium L.L.C. announced the deadline for meeting certain customer and revenue thresholds, under the financial covenants of its $800 million senior secured credit facility, has been extended to Aug. 11.This marks the third extension of the deadline, originally set for March 31, first postponed...
Asia-Pacific countries are beginning to emerge from the severe economic problems that have gripped them for two years, and mobile phone carriers are finding they desperately need cash to expand services.Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines took the hardest economic hits after the Thai...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-"Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?" asked Alan Shark, president of the American Mobile Telecommunications Association, at the group's annual leadership conference last week. In Shark's reference, the chicken is specialized mobile radio and the egg is spectrum.SMR operators believe they...
