NEW YORK-For bond investors, high-yield debt deals by telecommunications and media companies are hard to ignore since they have constituted 30 percent to 40 percent of all new dollar-denominated issues in the last several years.Of the $617 billion in this type of debt outstanding...
After MCI WorldCom Inc. made news with its plans to acquire paging carrier SkyTel Communications Inc., the first question on everyone's mind was, "Why?"In a recently released update, Strategy Analytics said it believes "the acquisition ... represents an attempt by MCI WorldCom to appease...
Iridium World Communications Ltd.'s stock plunged last week after an announcement that parent company Iridium L.L.C. had hired Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette to restructure its debt and the company announced it would not meet the subscriber and revenue figures needed to comply with its...
In recent months, several alliances and partnerships have been formed among paging carriers that traditionally have been fierce competitors. But both analysts and carriers say this new teamwork in no way diminishes the competitive spirit among the industry players, but rather is a unified...
In the May 10 issue of RCR, the device used with American Mobile Satellite Corp.'s new eLink service should have been identified as the RIM 850 from Research In Motion Ltd.RIM makes both the 950 Interactive Pager and the 850, essentially the same device...
American Mobile Satellite Corp. introduced a service called eLink, a two-way wireless messaging application with integrated personal information manager functions.Using a modified version of the RIM 950 pager from Research In Motion Ltd., the eLink service will use AMSC's Ardis wireless packet data network.Other...
RESTON, Va.-American Mobile Satellite Corp. announced revenues for the first quarter ended March 31 of $20.2 million, a more than 100-percent increase from the $10 million in revenues reported for first-quarter 1998.The company reported a net loss of $39.6 million, or $1.23 per share,...
Faced with an uncertain future and many difficult questions, members of the Paging Leadership Association met last month in Florida to determine how the industry should position itself in a game that is moving in an increasing number of new directions."The big question is...
HOUSTON-Seven Seas Communications announced it will unveil a new line of satellite communications products at the Offshore Technology Conference this week, which will include products from Iridium L.L.C., Inmarsat and American Mobile Satellite Corp.'s Oceancell venture.Devices include Iridium handsets made by Motorola Inc. and...
GERMANTOWN, Md.-Hughes Network Systems announced it has prepared a mobile satellite radio interface standard for mobile satellite services using geosynchronous-earth-orbit satellites.The company said the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and the Telecommunications Institute of America are carrying out the standardization work together. The ETSI standard...
DENVER, United States-The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should narrow down in about six months which frequency bands it could allocate for third-generation mobile phone services.The World Administrative Radiocommunication Conference is 14 months away, and the United States wants to forge a position on additional...
WASHINGTON-Congress last week continued taking steps to strengthen a weak and noncompetitive U.S. commercial space launch industry that has forced mobile satellite firms to contract overseas, a trend contributing to the export of American jobs and to alleged technology transfers to China and Russia.On...
Advanced Fox WirelessAdvanced Fox Wireless introduced the OEM Style Mini Twin Charger for Nokia Corp. 5100 Series and Nextel Communications Inc. i1000 handsets. The device will charge the battery on the phone while charging a second battery. It is compatible with Nickel Cadmium, Nickel...
The Federal Communications Commission should narrow down in six months which frequency bands it could allocate for third-generation mobile phone services.The World Administrative Radiocommunication Conference is 14 months away, and the United States wants to forge a position on additional spectrum and which frequency...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission was given some advice on FCC reform last week as Michael Kennedy of Motorola Inc. suggested the FCC create a spectrum management board comprised of bureau chiefs to examine the "impact of domestic and international spectrum allocation issues."The suggestion of...
Motorola Inc.'s Worldwide Information Network Services group confirmed the Defense Information Systems Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense awarded it a three-year contract valued at up to $219 million for the purchase of Iridium phones, pagers and airtime.Under the contract, Motorola will provide...
Amid speculation that it could be a takeover target by MCI WorldCom Inc., SkyTel Communications Inc. announced a new pricing plan and a major strategic alliance last week, both designed to better position it for the wireless messaging battle ahead.Most significantly, the company announced...
Sprint PCSSprint PCS named Steve Geldmacher president of its new north central region. Prior to this position, Geldmacher was area vice president for north Texas and Oklahoma. He joined Sprint PCS as the company's first area vice president in 1996, having just served as...
Early cellular carriers did it. Early paging carriers did it. Mobile data carriers are doing it now, and according to analyst Tim O'Neil of SoundView Technology Group Inc., Iridium L.L.C. should do it as well.That is-subsidize handsets to promote network usage. It's a standard...
HANNOVER, Germany-Comsat Corp. introduced a mobile communications service designed to provide Integrated Services Digital Network capabilities at 64 kilobits per second from remote locations using a lightweight, portable satellite terminal."The service will open up mobile satellite communications to a new category of customers who...
While it would be woefully premature to call 1999 "the year of wireless data," few would disagree the industry has come a long way in the last year.In 1998, several new devices were introduced that met the form factor and price requirements needed for...
WASHINGTON-Just when it appeared the United States and China were on the verge of a major trade agreement promising huge wireless export opportunities and Chinese membership in the World Trade Organization, a high-tech espionage controversy has erupted that throws both would-be breakthroughs into doubt...
WASHINGTON-The fallout over alleged technology transfers, increasingly testing the mettle of fledgling mobile satellite firms, has prompted new bills to aid the U.S. space launch industry and to ban satellite exports to China altogether.Sens. John Breaux (D-La.) and Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the...
Diablo Research Company said it plans to use Motorola Inc.'s ReFLEX chipset to extend two-way paging transmission to utility-related applications by integrating the technology into computers, consumer devices and industrial equipment.BellSouth Cellular Corp. said it selected Compass Telecom Services L.L.C. as its vendor for...
