Beating other U.S. personal communications services carriers to the punch, Western Wireless Corp. announced Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd.'s intention to invest about $248 million in its Global System for Mobile communications PCS business.HTL, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. that holds a 49-percent...
PanaVise Products Inc. introduced a combination mounting kit designed to keep cellular phones secure while driving, but quickly release the phone for easy removal from the vehicle. The PortaGrip 2000 cellular phone holder can be used alone to prevent a phone from sliding around...
The personal communications services industry saw its second top management change in less than a month as Pacific Bell named John Polumbo president and chief executive officer of its PCS business, Pacific Bell Mobile Services.Polumbo replaces Lyndon Daniels, who was appointed chairman of the...
L.M. Ericsson signed three contracts valued at $223 million to expand Global System for Mobile communications and Total Access Communications System mobile networks in China. The first contract, signed with the Guangxi Posts and Telecommunications Administration of Guangxi Province, includes equipment to expand both...
To clarify the cost of airtime for Global System for Mobile communications subscribers who use their phones to roam on foreign networks, the GSM MoU Association's global membership voted to accept the principle of an Inter-Operator Tariff (IOT).The fee is effectively a wholesale tariff...
LISLE, Ill.-Tellabs said it won a contract to supply its MartisDXX managed access and transport network solution to EuroTel Bratislava, which provides Global System for Mobile communications, Nordic Mobile Telephone communications and packet data services throughout the Slovak Republic.The MartisDXX solution is being deployed...
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.-Motorola Inc.'s Cellular Infrastructure Group was awarded a contract to expand the Code Division Multiple Access cellular network in Peru, the company said.Valued by Motorola at $350 million, the contract with Peruvian operator Telefonica del Peru will have Motorola CIG installing its...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. announced two projects with Telebahia, the A-band cellular operator in Bahia, Brazil.Qualcomm announced a pioneering project with Nec Do Brasil S.A. and Telebahia to deploy a Code Division Multiple Access 800 MHz overlay system in Bahia. The system will use Qualcomm's...
WAKEFIELD, Mass.-Boston Technology Inc. and Panafon S.A. formed an agreement calling for Boston to supply its Access NP Network Services Platforms, software and value-added services to Panafon. The agreement with Panafon, a Global System for Mobile communications operator in Greece, is valued at $2...
TORONTO- Bell Mobility launched its PCS Plus personal communications services network in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City.Subscribers can use dual-mode analog/digital phones, by Sony Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. The operator deployed Code Division Multiple Access technology on its 1.9 GHz PCS Plus system."Clearly...
BATON ROUGE, La.-C-block license holder Meretel Communications L.P. is expected this week to launch personal communications services in Baton Rouge, La., using dual-mode, dual-band Code Division Multiple Access handsets.Eatel Inc., one of Meretel's owners, is introducing the CDMA service under the Eatel name. The...
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.-Motorola Inc.'s Cellular Infrastructure Group announced it will replace the existing analog cellular telephone network in Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hermosillo Sonora, Mexico, according to a contract it signed with Mexican telecom operator Movitel del Noroeste.The group said it also has begun deploying...
MILAN-Omnitel Pronto Italia, a private Global System for Mobile communications operator in Italy, introduced a rechargeable GSM Subscriber Identity Module card that will allow users to make international calls from Italy and in foreign countries, and does not have a recharge fee.The card, called...
ARLINGTON, Va.-Telecom Towers Inc. and Cox Enterprises announced they have formed a joint venture, called TeleCom Towers L.L.C, and through it bought Vista Telecom Ltd., a wireless tower operator in Las Vegas.The acquisition is integral in the joint venture's national expansion plans to provide...
Clearnet Communications Inc. launched its Mike enhanced specialized mobile radio network in Ottawa-Hull. The Ottawa-Hull, Ontario, network covers nearly 1 million people in the region-on the Ontario-Quebec border-including Aylmer, Barrhaven, Chelsea, Cumberland, Gatineau, Gloucester, Kanata, Manotick, Nepean, Orleans, St. Onge, Stittsville and Vanier as...
Despite the fact most private-radio attention is aimed at certain 800 MHz and 900 MHz operations and the industrial radio arena, 220 MHz to 222 MHz service is up and running, and its expansion channels soon will be up for auction.And it is that...
LONDON-U.K. operator Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd. launched Global System for Mobile communications roaming in Canada through an agreement with Microcell Connexions Inc.The Canada deal brings to 38 the number of countries where Orange has international roaming agreements. The company said it hopes to...
Startel, a wireless network operator in Chile, launched digital service on its network using Interim Standard 136 Digital Advanced Mobile Phone Service technology provided by L.M. Ericsson. The new digital services are being introduced initially in Santiago and later will be expanded to cover...
LONDON-Standard & Poor's Inc. assigned a double `B' long-term corporate credit rating to Polish cellular operator Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa. The ratings firm said it also expects to assign a single `B' rating to the senior subordinated notes to be issued by PTC International Finance...
DALLAS-Motorola Inc. won a contract from First International Telecom, a nationwide paging operator in Taiwan, to provide its Wireless Messaging System paging network infrastructure. Fitel plans to launch commercial service early next year.The system will allow Fitel to offer voice mail, emergency paging, confirmed...
In a move characterized by some as bowing to industry pressure and by others as seizing a golden opportunity, the Japanese government approved landmark legislation that paves the way for sweeping deregulation of the country's telecom industry.Japan's Parliament on June 13 passed three key...
DENVER-While presidents from eight countries discussed pertinent topics such as arms control, peace in Bosnia and the global economy, Denver-area wireless carriers worked behind the scenes to provide handsets and equipment to some 5,000 reporters and scores of others associated with the Denver Summit...
NEW YORK-McCaw International Inc., Seattle, plans to exchange for publicly traded debt securities about $461.5 million in 10-year, 13 percent senior discount notes it sold privately in March.The exchange, which doesn't involve an investment bank, will convert the privately sold debt units into one...
Now that many personal communications services providers are operating in several cities, most are advertising better call clarity than users received with cellular analog service. But will call clarity remain an issue once cellular carriers begin to aggressively market the same digital features?If customers...
