WEST POINT, Ga.-Powertel Inc. is offering its handsets and wireless services via an e-commerce section on its redesigned Web site-www.powertel.com.Mike Bashaw, vice president of marketing and product development for Powertel, said e-commerce shoppers will be able to select from a variety of handsets and...
Microsoft Corp. launched its MSN Mobile service, a wireless extension of its MSN.com Internet portal that allows customers to receive their information services on pagers, cell phones and other wireless devices.To make this possible, Microsoft May 20 acquired OmniBrowse Inc., a wireless data company...
WASHINGTON-The United States and Japan are at a standoff over renewal of the 1980 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone procurement agreement, which governs fair telecom procurement practice by the Japanese government. The NTT pact between the U.S. and Japan is scheduled to end on July...
WASHINGTON-Iridium L.L.C. is expected to unveil a new marketing plan and pricing structure this week, following news that it has laid off 15 percent of its work force.According to the company, the layoffs were enacted throughout all departments, not confined to marketing as originally...
NEW YORK-In a move that will give it 1,000-megahertz local multipoint communication systems licenses in nearly every Canadian city, the MaxLink Communications Group of Companies has acquired two divisions of Western International Communications, Vancouver, B.C."We will be the first and only national (fixed) broadband...
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-Frontier Corp.'s board of directors last week decided not to act on an unsolicited bid made by Qwest Communications International Inc. to buy the company, electing instead to move forward with its merger agreement with Global Crossing Ltd.Frontier's board said it would continue...
WASHINGTON-As industry opposition to Pentagon spectrum bills mounts, the Federal Communications Commission confirmed last week it is prepared to suspend the normal regulatory process for deciding how to auction 36 megahertz from TV channels 60-69 if Congress votes to hold the wireless license sale...
Now that the Federal Communications Commission has completed the re-auction of 365 C-, D-, E- and F-block personal communications services licenses, it still could be months or even years before service in many of the markets is deployed.All the winners had met their payment...
WOODBURY, N.Y.-Comverse Network Systems said it will supply enhanced messaging systems for ICO Global Communications, a low-earth-orbit satellite-based communications carrier.According to the agreement, Comverse will provide platforms enabling advanced messaging services like voice mail, fax mail, short text messaging and unified messaging. Comverse said...
HONG KONG-The CDMA Development Group said Ericsson Inc. has joined the association as a member."The CDG welcomes the addition of Ericsson into the organization and looks forward to their participation as on of the many CDMA equipment manufacturers," said Perry LaForge, executive director of...
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-3Com Corp. and Aether Technologies Inc. have formed a new company called OpenSky, created to extend corporate intranet and Internet-based information to wireless devices using the Palm Computing platform, Windows CE or the Wireless Application Protocol, as well as pagers.The new company...
SAN FRANCISCO-3Com Corp. and Sun Microsystems outlined plans to develop a reference port for the Java 2 Platform Micro Edition, Sun's Java runtime environment for consumer products, for 3Com's Palm operating system software later this year.The companies also agreed to make Sun's K Virtual...
LONDON-Symbian introduced the latest version of its EPOC technology to developers and licensees with several new features and architectural advances.EPOC Release 5 features messaging, e-mail and SMS capabilities as well as multiple user folders, integration with new contact databases and synchronization abilities. It also...
KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint PCS will offer both dual-mode and single-mode Web-capable handsets from Nokia Corp., according to a contract the two signed that could be worth up to $500 million.Under terms of the agreement, Sprint will buy $360 million of dual-mode Nokia 6185 and...
WASHINGTON-A technical committee for Code Division Multiple Access technology development is working on an adjunct standard of the technology that could be used for Phase II enhanced 911.The specification would "put part of the global positioning system receiver in the phone and part on...
BASKING RIDGE, N.J.-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. announced Group Calling, a business offer with unlimited calling among a wireless group of five to 50 subscribers and unlimited airtime to as many as five landline numbers at three fixed rates within a designated group calling area.The...
NEW YORK-Globalstar L.P. announced the successful launch of four low-earth-orbit satellites, bringing the total in-orbit count to 24.The June 10 launch occurred aboard a Boeing Delta II launch rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida. Globalstar said it needs only two more successful...
WASHINGTON-Outspoken Federal Communications Commission member Harold Furchtgott-Roth joined the wireless industry on June 4 in blasting the agency's latest plan to fund discounted Internet connections for schools and libraries and in criticizing the overall administration of the universal service program."There will be no offsetting...
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's Wireless Foundation hosted its annual Industry Achievement Awards Dinner at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, D.C.The dinner brought together key leaders in the wireless industry along with members of Congress and government officials to honor...
WASHINGTON-Noting competition abounds in the wireless industry, FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth said the Federal Communications Commission should put itself out of business."It's competitive. There's no better words that a regulator can say. It means it's time to get out of business," Furchtgott-Roth said.Furchtgott-Roth went...
ATLANTA-Two companies last week introduced mapping products designed to give carriers the ability to view the physical layout of their networks on maps and as a result improve service quality and reduce churn.Smallworld SystemsSmallworld Systems Inc., which develops software products that model real-world assets...
ATLANTA-LHS Group Inc. announced it completed the acquisition of Priority Call Management Inc.Under terms of the merger agreement, all shares and options of Priority Call will be exchanged for approximately 5.2 million fully diluted LHS shares. Based on LHS' June 9 closing price of...
GERMANTOWN, Md.-Hughes Network Systems announced it formed a strategic marketing agreement with Rogers Cantel Inc. to provide the next generation of the Cantel AT&T Wireless Office Service nationwide.Under terms of the agreement, Rogers Cantel will provide the airtime while HNS provides the hardware, software...
WASHINGTON-A Senate Appropriations subcommittee has included language in the Federal Communications Commission's funding bill that would allow it to take back licenses tied up in bankruptcy, including licenses held by NextWave Telecom and General Wireless Inc.Both NextWave and GWI have had the value of...
