Consumers are aware of increased competition within the wireless industry, according to a report conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates Inc., released at Wireless '98 last week in Atlanta.Seventy-one percent of the survey's respondents said they perceived more competition among wireless companies today...
More than 83,000 calls were made to 911 from wireless telephones every day last year, according to figures released by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.During 1996, wireless phone calls to 911 dispatchers averaged 59,180 per day.CTIA highlighted safety as one of its themes last...
ALEXANDRIA, Minn.-Rural Cellular Corp. announced it entered a definitive agreement to purchase the outstanding stock of Western Maine Cellular Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Utilities Inc., for $7.5 million.The acquisition of Western Maine Cellular, which serves more than 2,400 customers in western Maine,...
WASHINGTON-Senate communications subcommittee Chairman Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) have asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Bill Kennard to reconsider rules they believe hurt emergency road service communications, such as those relied on by the American Automobile Association and others."We are concerned...
The Telecommunications Resellers Association has filed comments urging the Federal Communications Commission to reject a petition filed by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association requesting a five-year delay in the wireless number portability implementation deadline.CTIA's petition, filed in December following its previous request for a...
In a jointly published report, the Telecommunications Industry Association and the MultiMedia Telecommunications Association estimate the mobile and wireless communications market reached $41.6 billion in 1997, and predicted the market will continue to grow to $70.1 billion by 2001.The "1998 MultiMedia Market Review and...
WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) are expected shortly to introduce legislation to use federal antenna siting fees to upgrade local and state wireless 911 systems, an approach that will require lawmakers to beef up...
WASHINGTON-The General Accounting Office told Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) last week the Federal Communications Commission's move to the Portals "is in the best financial interest of the government and is preferable to the FCC's staying in its current locations."At the same...
RICHARDSON, Texas- Ericsson Inc. has created the Network Solutions division to develop products, solutions and services for the Internet, and has named Jan-Anders Dalenstam its executive vice president and general manager. Howard "Skip" Speaks was promoted to Dalenstam's former position as executive vice president...
GOLDEN, Colo.-Superconducting Core Technologies Inc., in partnership with Ball Wireless Communications, announced plans to debut an integrated antenna and tower-top amplifier at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's Wireless '98 convention this week in Atlanta.The antenna/amplifier combination is designed to provide additional coverage and improved...
INDIANAPOLIS-Brightpoint Inc. said it closed the acquisition of the wireless phone distribution business and certain net assets of Matel-Tecnologia de Teleinformatica S.A.-Matec. Matec is located in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Last June, RCR asked me what I thought would be the biggest problem facing the wireless industry in 1998. My answer comprised one word: Education. What I was referring to was training and educating industry employees, educating the public about cellular towers and, particularly, educating...
Bob Hope made a lot of money telling jokes, but he made a great deal more in the real-estate business. Asked to explain his real-estate investment strategy, he said, "I just went out to where the streets stopped and bought the property."This is the...
1998 may be the year for introductions of next-generation wireless office systems that allow for seamless handoffs between the office system and a carrier's macrocellular system.Hughes Network Systems Inc. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. announced a strategic marketing agreement last week calling for AT&T...
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif.-Harris Corp. said it has provided an operational Synchronous Digital Hierarchy system to Mexico. The MegaStar 155 radio will supply the backbone of the wireless infrastructure for Iusacell, Alestra and Telcel, three of the largest telecom companies in Mexico.Alestra's SDH digital radio...
WASHINGTON-Labor Secretary Alexis Herman last week reiterated her innocence in connection with a Justice Department probe into whether she profited from helping Mobile Communications Holdings Inc. obtain a global satellite phone license last year."As I said, first of all, the allegations aren't true, and...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Election Commission earlier this month gave Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) the go-ahead to use campaign funds to sue Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) for allegedly leaking politically sensitive contents of an intercepted cell phone call to the news media.The House Ethics Committee previously...
In the summer of 1989, one of my favorite bands, the B-52s, released an album with the big hit-tune "Roam," in which singer Kate Pierson encouraged listeners to "roam around the world." Well, it took me nine years, Kate, but I finally took you...
ATLANTA-BellSouth Mobility DCS said it is offering its Prepaid To Go phone and service package to customers in the Carolinas, eastern Tennessee and coastal Georgia.Priced at $150, Prepaid to Go includes a handset, $50 of airtime, service and an enrollment fee, said the company....
SEATTLE-Tegic Communications said it signed a licensing agreement with Fujitsu Network Communications, in which Fujitsu will incorporate Tegic's T9 intelligent text input technology into its newest Code Division Multiple Access handsets, the Personna Series.Unveiled in August, T9 employs an intelligent software protocol enabling users...
WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. and the Washington, D.C., law firm of Brown & Schwaninger once again have taken their running battle to the Federal Communications Commission, with Nextel this time fighting an application for review filed last month by the attorneys.The FCC dismissed a petition...
RICHARDSON, Texas-Ericsson Inc. demonstrated the capability of its local number portability database solution to provide range updates of up to 1,000 location routing number records and 2,000 global title translation types in one second or less, said the company.Ericsson's LNP database solution contains both...
Dutch PTT using Glenayre's MVPCHARLOTTE, N.C.-Glenayre Technologies Inc. announced that Dutch telecom operator PTT Telecom is using the company's modular voice processing system to provide a voice-activated dialing service on its Global System for Mobile communications network.Called VoiceDialing, the PTT service allows subscribers to...
SAN DIEGO, Calif.-Qualcomm Inc. and AirTouch Communications Inc. announced they will participate in a trial of Code Division Multiple Access data technologies for information services with Lucent Technologies Inc. and 3Com.The companies will test new CDMA data technologies and evaluate CDMA data-capable phones, information...
