ComTel Ltd., a United Kingdom-based cable TV company, said it plans to offer its customers mobile telephone service through an agreement with U.K. cellular carrier Cellnet.ComTel business customers will be able to purchase mobile phones at competitive prices, said the company, which also will...
NEW YORK-Anyone who has tried to find a wireline pay phone or use a wireless handset at crowded public entertainment events can understand why International CellComm Corp. has found a lucrative niche providing portable cellular pay phone services.The Titusville, Fla., company was founded in...
BERKSHIRE, England-Vodafone Group plc announced its parent company, Vodafone Europe Holdings BV, acquired 8.5 percent of CV Gemeenschappelijk Bezit Libertel from ING Bank Corporate Investments BV.The transaction gives Vodafone a 70-percent stake in Libertel, while ING will keep the remaining 30 percent. Libertel controls...
BOSTON-Sprint Spectrum L.P. said it launched Code Division Multiple Access personal communications services in Washington, D.C./Baltimore alongside the company's Global System for Mobile communications network.Customers can trade in their existing GSM handsets for $25 credit toward a CDMA handset, said Sprint PCS. The company...
WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Bill Kennard responded March 30 to a congressional letter questioning the commission on its recent C-block personal communications services financial-restructuring reconsideration order and on its pending deal with one bankrupt C-blocker's creditors.Reps. Thomas Bliley (R-Va.), Billy Tauzin (R-La.) and John...
To the Editor: Before the advent of the brave new wireless world, I used to regularly read and identify with the opinion offered by Jeff Silva on numerous topics surrounding wireless regulation and the politics that control many of our futures. I quit paying attention...
HollandTelesystem International Wireless acquired an additional 28-percent interest in the Dutch paging operator CallMax from Deustche Telecom MobilNet GmbH, bringing its participation in CallMax to 88 percent, said TIW. "The Dutch paging market has one of the highest penetration rates in Europe and is...
British Aerospace plc, one of Europe's largest defense contractors, sold a 16.11-percent stake in U.K. personal communications network operator Orange plc to SBC Warburg Dillon Reed for about $1.3 billion, announced the company.British Aerospace, which originally acquired the Orange stake for about $92.1 million,...
Shares of Superconductor Technologies Inc. last week rose 54 percent from $3.44 on March 30 to $5.28 on March 31 following news that it received a round of financing and will begin field trials with several domestic wireless carriers. The company was one of...
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...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Iridium L.L.C. has 75 percent of its planned satellite constellation deployed after it successfully launched two more satellites into orbit, bringing the total number of operational satellites to 51, said Iridium.The two satellites were launched on a Chinese Long March 2C/SD rocket from...
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...
PrimeCo Personal Communications L.P. awarded Lucent Technologies Inc. a $500 million three-year exclusive contract to supply personal communications services equipment and services for the next phase of its network development.The announcement is a blow to Motorola Inc., which was in discussions with PrimeCo in...
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...
Vendors and carriers have renewed hope that the world could have one standard in place for third-generation systems, but Europe holds one of the keys in making it a reality.The situation is as political as ever as vendors, carriers and interest groups work within...
PAIGNTON, United Kingdom-Northern Telecom Inc. said it successfully demonstrated Integrated Services Digital Network capability via fixed wireless access.The company said it plans to begin field tests and customer implementation of ISDN on Nortel Proximity fixed wireless access systems later this year."An operator using Proximity...
The good news: Competition is rampant in at least 50 of the top markets. The bad news: Churn is on the rise. This time around, however, applications developers say they have perfected customer-service and tracking software that can help a carrier keep good customers before they...
SAN FRANCISCO-A consortium in which AirTouch Communications Inc. holds a 30-percent interest won a nationwide cellular license in Egypt, expanding AirTouch's reach into the Middle East for the first time, the company said.The consortium, called Misrfone-meaning Egypt phone-expects to launch service using Global System...
B-band cellular licenses don't appear to be a wireless Mardi Gras for the Brazilian government any longer.Though raking in billions so far from four of the 10 licenses it already has awarded, the Brazilian Ministry of Communications most likely won't see bids rivaling the...
Worldwide mobile telephony subscriber numbers will climb at triple the compound annual growth rate expected from the landline side between 1996 and 2002, according to a recently published report from the Yankee Group, "Global Trends of Cellular/PCS Markets."In 1995, global mobile telephony subscribers stood...
MCLEAN, Va.-Nextel Communications Inc. reported its total revenue during 1997 increased by 122 percent to $739 million compared with $332.9 million for 1996.Fourth-quarter total revenue increased 187 percent to $275 million compared with $96 million the previous year. Radio service revenue increased 139 percent...
PERUComsat International said it received a license to provide voice, data and multimedia wireless communications services for businesses operating in Lima, Peru. Using both fiber-optic cable and microwave technologies, Comsat Peru plans to build a local digital network in Lima, where 80 percent of...
Ericsson forms office mobility unitATLANTA-Ericsson Inc. announced the formation of the Wireless Services unit in response to the increasing need for wireless communications in the workplace.Ericsson said the new unit will provide a wireless office solution based on the Interim Standard-136 Time Division Multiple...
ATHENS-According to sources at OTE, the Greek telephone company's subsidiary Cosmote will begin activating personal communications services customers this week as scheduled, becoming the country's third mobile phone operator.OTE, which was awarded the third license in 1996, owns the majority stake in Cosmote, the...
