WASHINGTON-A new book describes top cellular lobbyist Thomas Wheeler as obsessed with controlling public relations for industry-funded mobile phone-cancer research conducted in the 1990s and claims he attempted extraordinary measures to downplay suspected health risks.In "Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age," Dr. George...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission made good on its plans to require wireless carriers to have the ability to pool telephone numbers as of November 2002-a move the wireless industry finds disconcerting.The commission also said it would seek comment on whether market-based mechanisms should be...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission may propose charging carriers for telephone numbers.Also at its open meeting on Thursday, the FCC is expected to tell the wireless industry that in addition to being ready to convert to local number portability by Nov. 24, 2002, the industry...
WASHINGTON-A French court's decision to regulate the Internet could have repercussions for the wireless Web in the United States at a time when carriers are excited mobile commerce will help them increase revenues.A French court recently told Yahoo! Inc. it has three months to...
WASHINGTON-While most believe the specialized mobile radio industry seems to be disappearing along with its companion regulatory issues, one SMR operator believes that if this is true, it is the fault of the Federal Communications Commission."Why is there less spectrum allocated for SMR? There...
CHICAGO, United States-One of the first commercial deployments of Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) technology could be in Mexico next year based on presentations and interviews at the PCIA GlobalXchange event in late September. Mexico's largest wireless carrier, Telcel, plans to roll...
CHICAGO-More antenna sites and towers will be needed as the wireless industry begins to address the data market, said Malcolm Wood, president and chief executive officer of San Diego-based Littlefeet Inc."It is OK in voice to lose a few words. The real challenge is...
CHICAGO-Was last week's Personal Communications Industry Association GlobalXChange show a success?It depends on who you ask. While some exhibitors complained loudly about the lack of traffic, others said they received more attention since some traditional large vendors opted out of the show.Before the event,...
CHICAGO-One of the first commercial deployments of EDGE technology could be in Mexico next year based on presentations and interviews at the PCIA GlobalXchange event. Mexico's largest wireless carrier, Telcel, plans to roll out commercial EDGE service in the country's three largest cities in...
CHICAGO-In a wireless data environment increasingly cluttered with multiple email addresses and multiple wireless devices, Postini Corp. is hoping to score with a simple solution-enabling end users to read emails on wireless devices.Postini plans to do this using the customer's existing email address and...
CHICAGO-Telcordia Technologies Inc. said last week it will now offer the Telcordia Service Management Gateway for Wireless Number Portability.The announcement comes two years before wireless carriers must begin wireless number portability functions. While wireline carriers began phasing in local number portability years ago, the...
WASHINGTON-In a move with major implications for the future of mobile commerce and the $183 billion merger between America Online Inc. and Time Warner Inc., the Federal Communications Commission last week launched an inquiry into whether high-speed Internet open access should be mandated for...
CHICAGO-Partnerships are the key to success in the wireless Internet space, was the resounding theme at last week's PCIA GlobalXChange convention keynote session."The wireless Internet is like the proverbial wild West or the first blast off into space," Janiece Webb, senior vice president and...
CHICAGO-At previous wireless industry trade shows, NeoPoint Inc. could be counted on to make significant announcements, guaranteeing throngs of foot traffic around their booth and an overall buzz of excitement.First it was the introduction of its groundbreaking NeoPoint 1000 smart phone. Then it was...
While the convergence of computing and communications may be the future, and the future may be now, the convergence of ideas to actual product line takes longer to reach fruition.This could leave the wireless industry a little discombobulated as it journeys to a world...
CHICAGO-The Personal Communications Industry Association Foundation honored individuals and companies with its PCIA Foundation Leadership Awards during last week's PCIA GlobalXChange show.The awards included the Albert Gore Jr. LifePage Achievement Award, presented to companies or individuals who exemplify the program's standards of leadership and...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-After spending the spring revamping his organization and moving it in a new direction with a new show, Jay Kitchen, president of the Personal Communications Industry Association, is upbeat about PCIA Global Xchange, which begins tomorrow in Chicago.In preparation for the show, RCR...
WASHINGTON-Telecom firms-including those with major wireless properties-have contributed nearly $18 million so far in soft money in the 2000 election cycle, according to a new report.Overall, Common Cause said the telecom industry ranked second only to Wall Street in this season of record, unregulated...
WASHINGTON-A little more than a year ago, Nextel Communications Inc. shocked the telecom world by announcing it had reached an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission to buy the licenses of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.A year later, the FCC says it will re-auction NextWave's...
The Personal Communications Industry Association made another move designed to evolve the association into one that serves the global mobile Internet market.PCIA last week announced the PCIA Global Initiative, a new PCIA division designed to provide consumer and market data for the mobile Internet...
WASHINGTON-The argument over which trade association should represent the wireless data industry could peak next September when two large trade shows overlap.The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's Wireless IT show is set for Sept. 10-12, 2001, in San Diego. The Personal Communications Industry Association's GlobalXChange...
WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association plans to file documents this week asking a federal court to allow it to join in a lawsuit that could have a substantial impact on antenna sitings near historic properties.The lawsuit goes to the heart of the process carriers...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Personal Communications Industry Association reported that Christopher Galvin, chairman and chief executive officer of Motorola Inc., will be the opening keynote speaker at PCIA's GlobalXChange."As one of our longstanding industry leaders and supporters, Mr. Galvin has a unique vantage point from which...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission on June 8 adopted rules and policies aimed at increasing teledensity on tribal lands but did not address requests from the wireless industry to obtain universal-service funds to serve these areas."The FCC needs to take more concrete actions regarding the...
