ATLANTA-Northern Telecom Inc. received its first order for a 1900 MHz Time Division Multiple Access-based personal communications services network from Century Telephone Enterprises, said Nortel.Nortel's TDMA networks provide enhanced services including mobile sleep mode, short message service, authentication and one-button callback through Interim Standard-136...
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.-Metromedia International Group Inc. said it would pay in cash the previously announced dividend of about 91 cents per share on its 7.25-percent cumulative convertible preferred stock March 15 to shareholders of record March 10.Metromedia is involved in paging and various telephony...
FORT WORTH, Texas-Motorola Inc.'s Messaging Systems Products Group announced the latest upgrade to the FLEX protocol, called the FLEX G1.9.According to the company, the upgrade allows FLEX pagers to recognize geographic locations-so it can keep the correct time when moving through time zones-and enables...
WASHINGTON-Real competition will not succeed in the marketplace until "realistic rates" can be reached and subsidies cut back or restructured-including those earmarked for universal service, said three Wall Street analysts who testified before a Senate subcommittee last Wednesday.Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the...
WASHINGTON-Communications lawyers that practice before Federal Communications Commission's downtown headquarters have hired the powerful Patton Boggs lobbying firm to fight the agency's uncertain move to the Portals.Edward Newberry of Patton Boggs has been retained by the Federal Communications Bar Association on the FCC relocation....
MCLEAN, Va.-Nextel International Inc. has purchased a 21-percent interest in an unnamed Japanese wireless operator for approximately $32 million, according to its parent company, Nextel Communications Inc.According to Nextel reports, the Japanese company currently provides mobile radio services to approximately 40,000 subscriber units in...
HANNOVER, Germany-InterDigital Communications Corp. and Siemens AG said they are first to market with a broadband Code Division Multiple Access-based wireless local loop solution that delivers advanced broadband services.Both companies are displaying their version of the system at CeBIT '98 in Hannover, Germany, where...
Much hype has surrounded information services and what they mean to the future of the paging industry.By providing customers with information-such as news, sports scores and stock quotes-carriers hope to both change the perception of paging as a simple communications tool to that of...
WASHINGTON-With the number of new bids and new high bids dwindling down to nearly zero, the first sale of 986 local multipoint distribution services licenses may be over today. However, with some 128 B-block licenses languishing without so much as a minimum bid offer,...
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.-Rockwell Semiconductor Systems Inc. introduced a complete antenna-to-microphone system solution for 900 MHz Global System for Mobile communications, the first GSM products in its wireless telephony portfolio.Rockwell plans to offer solutions to support GSM at 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz as well...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Metrocall Inc. announced the nationwide rollout of its new Pager ID service, which identifies the name of the person placing the call to the pager, as well as a return telephone number for the paged party to call. The call back can go...
BOSTON-Omnipoint Communications Inc. expanded its wireless network coverage into Boston; Providence, R.I.; Manchester, N.H.; and the Interstate-95 corridor and other connecting routes.As part of the New England launch, Omnipoint opened a flagship retail store in Boston, and additional retail outlets in Natick, Mass., and...
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-Northern Telecom Ltd. said it will invest $20 million in Interwave Communications International Ltd. in a strategic alliance to integrate Interwave's radio and switching solutions into Nortel's Global System for Mobile communications product line.Interwave's products are optimized for corporate and rural community...
Paging carriers and industry analysts alike believe one of the biggest struggles facing the industry is that it needs to change its image in the mind of the consumer.For years, paging carriers marketed themselves as a cheap communications tool. Today, they want to market...
WASHINGTON-Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), one of several House Republican leaders caught on a radio scanner in 1996 plotting to limit damage of an ethics investigation of Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), has sued Rep. James McDermott (D-Wash.) for allegedly leaking a transcript of the conversation...
DULUTH, Ga.-Astronet Corp. said it accelerated the development schedule of its new Time Division Multiple Access wireless Private Branch Exchange product by selecting Isotel's call-processing engine software."The luxury of using Isotel software with our hardware is that it quickly and easily integrates with our...
SAN RAMON, Calif.-U.S. Wireless Corp. announced it completed the acquisition of the minority interest in its subsidiary, Labyrinth Communication Technologies Group Inc.The merger will be implemented exchanging approximately 4.5 million shares of U.S. Wireless' common stock for 490,000 shares of Labyrinth's-49 percent of the...
Like the ugly duckling that was teased and spurned in its younger years only to mature into a beautiful swan, the two-way paging market is expected to someday spread its wings and lift the paging industry to new heights of subscriber growth and increased...
NEW YORK-It has been said that where you stand depends on where you sit. And so it was earlier this month when representatives of four wireless carriers and four equipment vendors offered their views at a BT Alex. Brown forum on the interplay between...
NEW YORK-Telephone and Data Systems Inc. announced it completed the merger of its wholly owned subsidiary, API Merger Corp., with American Paging Inc., effective March 20.TDS announced March 18 that its buyback program for its paging subsidiary's publicly held stock had expired. Through API...
WASHINGTON-House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) will hold a hearing Tuesday on wireless enhanced 911 services in advance of upcoming legislation that would give states revenue from federal property antenna siting fees to upgrade emergency wireless calling systems.Among the witnesses expected to testify...
Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. initiated coverage on the paging industry last month, issuing a report titled "Where's the Beep?"-written by company vice president Cynthia Motz.In the report, the company stated its belief that the industry will not experience significant subscriber or revenue growth...
WASHINGTON-Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), in a fit of anger last week, threatened to eliminate the Federal Communications Commission if it continues to embrace Vice President Gore's goal of wiring all schools, libraries and rural hospitals to the Internet by 2000 at the expense of...
