Look out, Craig McCaw! A low-earth-orbiting pie in the eye-Bill Gates a la mode-could be in your future once the world finds out you've joined forces with McCaw expatriates and Nextel mobile moguls to pummel bidders in the LMDS auction a la 800 MHz...
Just less than a month before the Philippine government plans to hold an auction for new mobile phone licenses, Isla Communications Co. and Globe Telecom Gmcr both launched prepaid Global System for Mobile communications services.The launches represent the first shots of an aggressive nationwide...
Bundling cellular equipment with a service plan played a significant role in the success of the wireless industry. People could justify penny phones, even if it meant signing up for two years of cellular service. No one can pass up a bargain and most...
Safety has long been a selling point for the wireless industry and customers historically have pointed to safety as a primary reason for purchasing a wireless phone.Now several automobile manufacturers are deploying systems in their vehicles that can summon emergency help to accident victims,...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission ruled last week that a personal communications services operator cannot necessarily be considered a facilities-based local competitor when determining whether a regional Bell telephone company can enter the long-distance market.The ruling was part of the FCC's rejection of BellSouth Corp.'s...
AirTouch Communications Inc. and U S West Media Group announced a new $5.7 billion definitive agreement to merge U S West Media's U.S. cellular and personal communications services interests into AirTouch.The agreement replaces a 1994 multiphased joint venture agreement, under which Media Group was...
SINGAPORE-At the initial launch of dual-band services in the Asia-Pacific, Singapore and Taiwan reached the starting line simultaneously.Singapore Telecom Mobile Pte. Ltd. on Jan. 20 launched dual-band service between its Global System for Mobile communications 900 and GSM 1800 networks. The same day, Far...
HIGHTSTOWN, N.J.-Systems/Link Corp. announced it has signed an agreement with Telecom Personal to provide the Argentine cellular operator with FraudTec 2000.Systems/Link said FraudTec will be operating in Argentina sometime this quarter and Telecom Personal subsequently plans to extend coverage to its networks in Paraguay....
While the personal communications services industry is characterized as up and running, a host of PCS carriers have yet to launch service, raising questions about whether they will survive in the marketplace.Twenty-six out of RCR's 40 top PCS operators (ranked by pops) have yet...
WOODBURY, N.Y.-Comverse Technology Inc. and Boston Technology Inc. have merged in a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction. As a result of the merger, each share of Boston Technology common stock was converted into 0.65 of a share of Comverse Technology common stock.The combined company will operate...
SmartLink Development L.P. and Transcrypt International Inc., which recently acquired E.F. Johnson Co., reached an agreement allowing SmartLink to implement Transcrypt's enhanced LTR-Net protocol into its SMRLink multi-protocol trunking and networking system.The SmartLink/Transcrypt solution is an enhancement to the existing LTR protocol, said Craig...
WASHINGTON-To say there is rancor in the ranks of C-block personal communications services licensees regarding the structure and timing of possible financial restructuring plans is akin to saying Maine residents are upset at several weeks with no power following a devastating ice storm. All...
QuickWord, a new product introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show by Motorola Inc.'s Paging Products Group, is designed to keep families safe and in touch and encourage the use of paging for personal use.The counter-top word entry device sends alphanumeric messages directly to word...
LISLE, Ill.-Tellabs won a contract to supply its MartisDXX managed access and transport network solution to Indian mobile network operator Spice Telecom for its Global System for Mobile communications cellular networks in Karnataka and Punjab states, announced Tellabs.The initial contract, valued at $1 million,...
WASHINGTON-With the federal deficit giving way to an anticipated surplus, congressional and White House number crunchers are less apt to be as preoccupied with spectrum budget policy as they have been in recent years.Spectrum auctions became a hot topic of debate during budget battles...
LEXINGTON, Mass.-Wildfire Communications Inc. announced that Century Telephone Enterprises Inc. will begin consumer trials of its Network Wildfire service with residential, business and wireless customers in Louisiana and Wisconsin.Century will be the first carrier to install the Wildfire service using Compaq Corp.'s ProLiant servers...
Matrix Systems introduced the Model 7000 Series Coaxial Relay Modules, designed to maintain coaxial switching continuity over a wide range of critical and severe environments and applications. The relay modules feature two to 24 throws, and offer DC up to 800 MHz depending on...
Manufacturers are under pressure to finance independent personal communications services companies, but recent financial turmoil surrounding some C-block carriers highlights the risk involved in extending credit to companies whose only assets sometimes are licenses not yet paid for."There is an inordinate amount of pressure...
With a second round of financing in hand along with a strategic purchase and a name change, Comspace Corp., formerly Unique Technologies International Inc., plans to jump-start the specialized mobile radio industry.Irving, Texas-based Comspace has been working since 1994 to develop Dynamic Channel Multicarrier...
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association has completed work on a calling-party-pays standard scheduled for presentation to "appropriate industry standards bodies" this month and next in an effort to end the collect-call mentality under which wireless subscribers have had to function in most U.S. markets...
ArrayComm Inc. announced its next-generation IntelliCell-enhanced Personal Handyphone System cell stations are operating in Tokyo's PHS network, following months of field trials conducted with DDI Pocket Telephone. DDI holds a nationwide license in Japan to provide mobile PHS service and is the largest PHS...
PageMart Wireless Inc. has announced it will be the next carrier to offer acknowledgement paging using its own network, joining SkyTel Corp.'s 2-Way Network."We're going to have the second NPCS (Narrowband Personal Communications Services) network," said Wayne Stargardt, PageMart's vice president of marketing. "We...
NEW YORK-Global TeleSystems Group Inc., an American carrier providing wireless and wireline phone service in the former Soviet Republic and Eastern Europe, plans to go public.With Merrill Lynch & Co., New York, as lead underwriter, the company has registered with the Securities and Exchange...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson has received an order for Intelligent Networks services and infrastructure from Euskatel, a fixed telecom operator in Spain, Ericsson announced. Euskatel plans to use Access Screening, one of Ericsson's IN services, to pre-approve calls made on its network. "The Access Screening...
