KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Sprint Spectrum L.P. formed affiliation agreements that will bring Sprint PCS personal communications services to key cities in Georgia, Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and West Virginia.Each of the new affiliates will operate and market their Code Division Multiple...
A request by Connecticut's attorney general and state utility regulators that a combined SBC Communications Inc./Southern New England Telecommunications Corp. reduce its local telephone rates could put the planned merger in jeopardy.SBC reportedly said it might scrap the planned merger if regulators approve the...
BOULDER, Colo.-SCC Communications announced the first two-state wireless Phase 1 E911 deployment is up and routing E911 calls to public-safety agencies in Washington County, Ore., and in the Clark County area of southwest Washington.As of April 15, a 911 call made by an AT&T...
ATHENS, Ga.-Powertel Inc. said it launched commercial personal communications services in Athens, Ga.Powertel provides commercial service in 26 metropolitan areas and major highway corridors throughout its 12-state license area in the Southeast. The company provides a Global System for Mobile communications network spanning Georgia,...
JACKSON, Miss.-MobileMedia Communications Inc. announced it will close its retail activation center in Jackson, Miss., and consolidate its functions at the Dallas-based call center by Oct. 31.The move will affect 100 employees, the company said, all of whom were notified of the action June...
DALLAS-PageMart Wireless Inc. announced it will provide customers with a two-day airtime credit for the downed service time that occurred during the PanAmSat Galaxy IV failure May 19.The company estimated the satellite failure will cause it to record a one-time charge of $3.8 million...
SecurFone America Inc., a company specializing in prepaid communications, said it plans a major market expansion of its Buy-the-Minute prepaid cellular handset solution. Bill Stueber, president and chief executive officer of SecurFone, said the company during the next 45 days plans to add markets...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week did its part to improve the nation's roads by proposing that 75 megahertz be set aside for so-called smart highway technologies such as automated toll booths and traffic jam monitoring.The action at last Thursday's public meeting followed by...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The North American GSM Alliance L.L.C., a consortium of U.S. and Canadian GSM personal communications services carriers, filed reply comments with the Federal Communications Commission, saying a decision to disqualify regional mobile satellite systems would shortchange Global System for Mobile communications customers in...
WASHINGTON-Four of the five members of the Federal Communications Commission have chosen to ignore wireless carriers in the ongoing debate over universal service funding. The one exception is FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, who again last week stated emphatically that any reductions in universal-service fees...
WASHINGTON-A seemingly parochial fight between a small San Diego firm and two European manufacturing giants over next-generation wireless technology could foreshadow a larger confrontation between the United States and the European Union and offer a glimpse into a future where transnational companies dominate the...
WASHINGTON-A hearing on an E911 bill backed by a cellular industry-public-safety coalition and championed by House telecom committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) backfired last week when the measure's supporters were forced to defend their opposition to independent cancer research and to a consumer-group proposal...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission needs to rule on when call-identifying information is "reasonably available" to be given to law enforcement by carriers implementing the digital wiretap act, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association was expected to tell the FCC in comments due at press time.A...
Moves made by the top 10 paging carriers in the last six months dramatically illustrate how paging carriers are changing to remain in the game.The sun has set on the age of the cheap-beep model and is rising on a new era of value-added...
Arch Communications Group Inc. announced a major restructuring plan for its U.S. business units-which includes cutting about 10 percent of its 2,800-strong work force-and initiated a new capital structure plan aimed at strengthening the company's financial flexibility for future growth.The work-force reduction is a...
With paging systems and devices moving evermore toward FLEX-based equipment, a debate is heating up about the future of second-hand POCSAG-based gear.The nation's top 10 paging carriers are migrating their networks and customers primarily to FLEX equipment, devices and enhanced services. Their one-way numeric...
SEATTLE-Xypoint Corp. announced a new certification program designed to help wireless carriers comply with Phase II of the Federal Communications Commission's Enhanced 911 mandate.The mandate requires carriers to be able to provide public-safety answering points with information about a caller's location that are accurate...
ATLANTA, Ga.-The Transport and Access Systems Group of World Access Inc. announced at Supercomm last week its WavePLEX spread spectrum family of digital microwave radios and said it will resell Glenayre Technologies Inc.'s Western Multiplex LYNX.sc line of point-to-point spread spectrum radios as part...
VLSI Technology Inc. today announced it is shipping samples of its new Code Division Multiple Access chip solution, which it is calling the first real alternative to Qualcomm Inc.'s CDMA chip products.The CDMA+ product is about the size of a dime and includes the...
SAN JOSE, Calif.-VLSI Technology Inc. joined the team of computer and telecommunications companies supporting Bluetooth, a technology that would allow a variety of mobile devices to be connected wirelessly.The Bluetooth Special Interest Group includes Intel Corp., IBM Corp., Toshiba Corp., Nokia Corp. and L.M....
The shakeout continues.NextWave Telecom Inc.-which had the potential to be the nation's largest PCS operator-followed two of its C-block counterparts last week and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.It seems these bidders believe they can get more relief from the judicial system than they...
NORCROSS, Ga.-Ameritel Communications Inc. obtained a $20 million credit facility, consisting of both revolving and term loans, with Foothill Capital Corp., a Norwest company, according to USCI Inc."Our customer base has expanded to approximately 90,000 subscribers-65,000 cellular subscribers and 25,000 paging subscribers. The bank...
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.-InterDigital Communications Corp. announced InterDigital Technology Corp. entered into a worldwide, royalty-bearing Time Division Multiple Access patent license agreement with Toshiba Corp.For an upfront payment of $15 million, ITC granted Toshiba a paid-up license for Personal Handyphone Systems and Personal Digital...
WASHINGTON-Labor Secretary Alexis Herman last week again denied allegations of influence peddling and related campaign-finance violations that are being investigated by an independent counsel.Herman is accused of using her political clout as a former White House aide and profiting from helping Mobile Communications Holdings...
