WASHINGTON-American Mobile Satellite Corp. may be in enough financial trouble that bankruptcy has been added to the list of possible solutions.The five-year-old, Reston, Va.-based mobile satellite concern filed its annual Form 10-K at the Securities and Exchange Commission April 1, but it was not...
WASHINGTON-Iridium Inc., the international consortium of telecommunications companies funding the development of the Iridium system, has become a charter mobile satellite services member of the Global System for Mobile communications MoU Association, Iridium announced.Through its affiliation, Iridium said it will work to establish roaming...
The assembly of the International Mobile Satellite Organization announced that structural changes must be made if the organization is to remain commercially successful in the long run.The Inmarsat Assembly, which meets once every two years, recently outlined items that should be examined by the...
DENVER-ICG Satellite Services said it plans to acquire about 90 percent of Maritime Cellular Tele-Network Inc., a West Palm Beach, Fla.-based provider of cellular communications for commercial shipping.MCN will allow ICG to provide mobile satellite communications services to freighters, yachts, tankers and off-shore platforms...
WASHINGTON-The wireless telecommunications industry is at a crossroads.Either the ever-popular mobile phone used by more than 35 million people today will remain forever a nice little extra for business people and safety-conscious citizens or it will evolve into something much bigger and revolutionary: the telephone...
MARCH25-27 Wireless '96, by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. Dallas Convention Center, Dallas. Call Mary Claire Murphy at (202) 785-0081.25-29 Third Annual Portable by Design Conference and Exposition. Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, Calif. (201) 393-6075.27 Microwave Negotiation and Relocatio*...*Strategies for Success, by...
Celsat America Inc. is awaiting permission from the Federal Communications Commission to launch its vision of a mobile satellite system in 1999.The company filed a pioneer's preference license application with the FCC in February 1992. Celsat uses a geosynchronous satellite capable of covering the...
WASHINGTON-The panels and format for the Federal Communications Commission's March 5 en banc hearing on spectrum policy have been set, with the agenda and most of the questioning determined by the four commissioners and Chairman Reed Hundt.Concurrent with the hearing, demonstrations of new technologies...
WASHINGTON-Where mobile satellite service policymaking is concerned, federal regulators are not promoting the friendly skies. Far from it.Competition is the name of the game at the Federal Communications Commission. The heavenly stage is being set for wireless Star Wars-close encounters of the unfriendly kind...
A galaxy of new wireless services may soon beam down on the telephony-poor regions of the world.Mobile satellite systems-just like terrestrial-based wireless networks-are evolving from serving specialized markets to providing consumer pocket telephony as well as plain old telephone service. Right now, many of...
NEW YORK-Get ready for "PSC"-not to be confused with PCS, and for the "information sky way"-not to be mistaken for the information superhighway. Comsat Mobile Communications announced last week that it will launch the first two-way "personal satellite communications" system by mid-year.Known by the...
WASHINGTON-After five years of research and development, and three tries on the keypad, the inaugural call on American Mobile Satellite Corp.'s SkyCell satellite telephone service was made Jan. 24 between a Red Cross flood-disaster site in Harrisburg, Pa., and Washington, D.C."Five years ago, I...
WASHINGTON-Former Rep. Mike Synar (D-Okla.), who had been named to head the U.S. delegation to the International Telecommunications Union's World Radiocommunications Conference '95 meeting on mobile satellite communications, died from brain cancer Jan. 9 at his home in Muskogee, Okla. He was 45.Synar had...
Working Ventures Canadian Fund Inc., sponsored by the Canadian Federation of Labour, announced it completed a $3 million equity investment as part of a $15 million financing package with co-investors Helix Inc. of Quebec and AT&T Wireless Services in LanSer Wireless Inc. of Montreal...
Securicor Wireless Networks has named Greg Kleven vice president of worldwide sales. Kleven will plan, implement and head all global sales programs for the company. Previously, Kleven worked for Sequent Computer Systems where he created its Telecommunications American Operation, which consists of major account...
WASHINGTON-The United States had mixed success in securing more spectrum for next-generation global satellite systems at the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva, an event unexpectedly preoccupied with the mammoth Teledesic Corp. network planned by high-tech billionaires Craig McCaw and Bill Gates."I think this conference...
BRUSSELS, Belgium-The European Commission has adopted a proposal to coordinate the selection of mobile satellite communications systems due to spectrum limitations and the economic, industrial and social implications of the services."There is a significant opportunity for European mobile and space industry in both equipment...
RESTON, Va.-American Mobile Satellite Corp. signed a contract for Tessco Technologies Inc. to act as the exclusive equipment sales agent for AMSC's Skycell satellite telephone service.AMSC said Tessco will sell and facilitate the shipment of mobile satellite telephones for land mobile, maritime and fixed...
While neophytes view the commercial vehicle industry as a homogeneous market, Norcom Networks Corp. sees a way to provide a high-speed, packet-data communications network to transportation companies in a way that treats each segment as unique."We are pioneering a new generation of wireless mobile...
Fearing fratricide in the sky, Wall Street is losing its ardor for backing risky telecommunications ventures with junk bonds. In recent weeks, mobile satellite service developers Iridium Inc. and Globalstar L.P. have had to scrap high-yield, high-risk debt offerings after meeting resistance from the...
Globalstar L.P. has landed three separate agreements to deliver mobile satellite service in 18 African nations. The company expects its global roaming services will benefit intercontinental travelers and rural fixed-site and mobile users in areas lacking landline or mobile coverage.Warwickshire, U.K.-based Globaltouch Communications Holdings...
WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration has signaled problems with Comsat Corp.'s planned investment in a global pocket telephone system developed by the International Mobile Satellite Organization, but said it is still willing to support the firm's participation in the telecommunications venture."The Executive Branch believes that the...
The success of wireless communications presents a double-edged blade for mobile satellite service. On one hand, the continued acceptance of wireless communications and the development of wider applications represents large potential demand. On the other hand, the growth of terrestrial cellular systems reduces the...
SAN DIEGO- Qualcomm Inc. announced that Amtrak signed a contract to purchase 80 OmniTracs mobile satellite communications units. The systems will be used aboard about half of the rail company's diesel locomotive fleet.Qualcomm said the OmniTracs system will allow Amtrak to have two-way communications...
