WASHINGTON-Iridium LLC launched a Delta II rocket carrying five more Iridium satellites into orbit March 30, bringing its total number of operational satellites to 56.The launch of the satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California had to be rescheduled after low ground-level winds...
WASHINGTON-The House Commerce Committee last week passed a pro-competitive international satellite reform bill that lawmakers predict will save American consumers billions of dollars.The bill, co-sponsored by Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-Va.) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), would privatize the International Maritime Satellite Organization and...
WASHINGTON-In the most explosive and potentially damning allegation of its kind to date, a former business associate of late Commerce secretary Ron Brown testified in court last week that seats on trade missions-some with lucrative telecom contracts at stake-were awarded in exchange for Democratic...
HALLANDALE, Fla.-Omnipoint Communications Inc. announced it expanded its Global System for Mobile communications network coverage to include Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Fla., and opened a flagship retail store in Coral Gables, Fla.Pricing plans start at $10 per month and handsets with...
WASHINGTON-House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) voiced strong support last week for emergency wireless services, but concerns over funding and privacy could hurt legislation expected to be introduced shortly that would convert federal property antenna siting fees into state and local grants for...
SAN JOSE, Calif.-Digital Microwave Corp. has completed its merger with MAS Technology Ltd.Digital Microwave makes advanced wireless solutions for worldwide telephone network interconnection and access.
SAN MATEO, Calif.-Data Broadcasting Corp. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. announced a new wireless service that the companies said will provide real-time financial information and access to online trading.Customers can purchase Sierra Wireless Inc.'s AirCard modem to connect their laptop computers to AT&T's wireless...
HOUSTON-The State of New York awarded Crown Castle International Corp. a contract to manage existing towers and construct new towers for the state.Crown Castle formed a new company called Crown Communication New York Inc. to facilitate the management of existing state-owned towers, property and...
Eliminates the requirement that a licensee elect the same restructuring option for all its licenses. Instead, the licensee must elect the same option for all the licenses it holds within a given MTA. Allows licensees to disaggregate and prepay the remaining outstanding balance due...
IRVINE, Calif.-Subscriber Computing Inc. introduced a wireless intelligent network-based prepaid billing solution, which uses Oracle Corp.'s scalable RDBMS technology on a Sun Microsystems Inc. Sun Solaris platform.SCI's first installation of the PrePay Metered Billing solution, for "one of the largest wireless prepaid carriers in...
WASHINGTON-House Commerce appropriations subcommittee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) last week threatened to block a Federal Communications Commission budget bill and vowed not to fund the relocation of agency headquarters to the Portals.Rogers, echoing sentiments of Senate appropriators, said he will not act on a...
NEW YORK-Price Communications Wireless Inc. said its service revenues increased 22 percent to a record $40.1 million during the fourth quarter, compared with service revenues of $32.8 million during the fourth quarter of 1996.Service revenues for the year totaled $152.2 million, 19.6 percent more...
HACKENSACK, N.J.-GoAmerica Communications Corp. introduced a new pricing plan that offers unlimited wireless data access for PalmPilot users with Novatel Wireless Inc.'s new Minstrel wireless IP (Internet Protocol) modem and GoAmerica's Go.Mail and Go.Web service features.The plan is priced at $50 per month to...
WASHINGTON-Unless it receives as-yet-undefined "higher and better alternatives" from potential buyers who would like to purchase the Dallas and Chicago C-block licenses from bankrupt Pocket Communications Inc., a group of Pocket's creditors may end up with those properties, with Pocket's remaining 41 licenses returning...
The Federal Communications Commission's Phase I E911 deadline is set for Wednesday, but that doesn't mean that dispatchers across the nation this week will begin receiving the extra information called for in the mandate.Phase I requires carriers to relay the Automatic Number Identification of...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-In response to MCI Communication Corp.'s "Ivan" ads, which portray American consumers as oppressed due to the lack of freedom to choose from more than one local phone service provider, the Personal Communications Industry Association launched its own parody ad, "Ivan's Search for...
Initially used as a tool to tap into the credit-challenged market, many carriers are finding that prepaid service is attracting more than those with bad credit.Many personal communications services carriers are reporting that as much as 50 percent of their subscriber bases are made...
DULLES, Va.-Orbcomm Global L.P., which provides commercial low-earth-orbit satellite data and messaging communications services, said it awarded Pro IV Ltd. of Great Britain a multiyear contract to install a Little LEO customer-care and billing system to serve clients and licensees worldwide.Pro IV also will...
This year's El Nino phenomenon has brought unseasonably mild weather to some parts of the nation while slamming others with sudden bizarre weather, including flooding in California, ice storms in the Northeast and tornadoes in the South.The strange weather has effected some wireless systems....
WASHINGTON-In a major victory for the wireless industry, the Justice Department last week approved an antenna siting collocation plan crafted by the Personal Communications Industry Association.The PCIA approach includes an information exchange, known as the Site Search Clearinghouse, which will allow wireless carriers to...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Personal Communications Industry Association received approval from the U.S. Department of Justice on planned efforts to help wireless communications carriers develop a seamless nationwide network by launching a clearinghouse to organize tower collocation efforts.The Collocation Clearinghouse is designed to help carriers identify...
NEW YORK-Aspiring to reorganize its data services capabilities, Bell Atlantic Corp. announced the formation of the Bell Atlantic Data Solutions Group and named Joseph Farina president and chief executive officer of the new company.Once regulatory approval is received, the new company intends to become...
RESTON, Va.-American Mobile Satellite Corp. announced two new customers for its Multi-Mode Mobile Messaging Service-Dart Transit Co. and J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.AMSC's messaging service provides seamless nationwide coverage and combines the ARDIS wireless data network-which it purchased from Motorola Inc. earlier this year-with...
SALT LAKE CITY-World Wireless Communications Inc. said it received initial orders from Cirque Corp. to manufacture a variety of Cirque GlidePoint touchpad products.The orders are for labor-only contract services totaling $40,000 monthly with the potential to transition into a full turnkey operation by June....
