A group of cdmaOne operators are making another push to harmonize third-generation technology and avoid a potential deadlock within the International Telecommunication Union over intellectual property rights.The CDMA Development Group last week released a proposal based on technical work done within U.S. standards group...
The reauction of C-block personal communications services spectrum is expected to be a dismal affair in March, and most small entrepreneurial businesses-which the auction was designed for-are likely to forgo bidding altogether.The Federal Communications Commission plans to reauction 134 15-megahertz and 208 30-megahertz C-block...
WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commissioner Susan Ness last week added her voice to the growing drumbeat of U.S. opposition to European Union moves that could block the import of third-generation mobile phone technologies and limit harmonization of similar standards."A major concern I share with other U.S....
Unwired Planet Inc. took another step toward making its vision of Wireless Application Protocol devices and services a commercial reality by providing interoperability testing between its WAP-enabled UP.Link Server and WAP-encoded browsers produced by handset manufacturers.The first company to begin testing its proprietary browser...
Qualcomm Inc. may be ready to sell off its handset division as competition in the cdmaOne handset business intensifies and costs increase.Sources say Qualcomm is in discussions with Siemens Wireless Terminals concerning the sale of Qualcomm's cdmaOne handset division. Qualcomm and Siemens declined to...
The clock is ticking away for Leap Wireless International Inc. as it awaits Federal Communications Commission approval to bid in the reauction of C-block personal communications services spectrum.Five entities have filed comments or petitions to deny with the FCC protesting Leap's desire to qualify...
The International Telecommunication Union said it may look for a way to work around the
intellectual-property-right stalemate caused by Qualcomm Inc. and L.M. Ericsson over third-generation
technology.
Fabio Leite, counselor in the Radiocommunications Bureau of Geneva-based ITU, said for now Code
Division Multiple Access proposals that have unresolved...
DENVER-U S West Wireless said it plans to expand its personal communications services into Salt Lake City and other markets this year. The company, working with U S West !nterprise and with Qualcomm Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s Wireless Knowledge product, will integrate data and...
The State Department late last month urged the European Commission to allow U.S. third-generation wireless equipment and service providers a fair opportunity to compete in Europe.In a letter sent to EC Commissioner Martin Bangemann Dec. 19, the United States expressed concern Europe may be...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Competition in the South African wireless telecommunications sector is likely to be fierce this year, with two new cellular operators scheduled to enter the arena. This will delve a blow to existing operators MTN and Vodacom, which have had exclusive preserve of...
MEXICO CITY-Imagine the following scenario: A company enters into a government auction to obtain spectrum. After an extremely long process, it wins frequencies because other participants couldn't follow the pace of its high bids. Everything seems OK, until the deadline to pay for the spectrum...
SEOUL, South Korea-Despite the financial crisis in Asia, the wireless telephony market has performed better than expected in South Korea. The number of cellular and PCS subscribers in the country more than doubled from 5.6 million at the end October 1997 to more than...
The International Telecommunication Union's 31 December deadline passed without resolution in the intellectual-property-right stand-off over third-generation technology, but the ITU has indicated it may push ahead anyway.The ITU warned the wireless industry in December it may only consider proposals for 3G technologies based on...
COPENHAGEN, Denmark-Reaching agreement on a single work item within a standards organization can be a long and laborious process. Reaching an agreement between five standards organizations across the world is nothing less than a minor miracle.The miracle happened on 4 December 1998 in Copenhagen,...
At the end of each year, the RCR editorial staff looks back on the news events that made RCR headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting stories of the past 12 months. Here are our picks for 1998.1. March 16IPR issues spark...
Sierra Wireless said it has brought together 17 other companies in an alliance formed to work together to offer more complete solutions so the general public will adopt wireless data devices more quickly.The WirelessReady Alliance is an invitation-only collaborative venture of hardware vendors, software...
Research companies predicting wireless handset market share have ruffled a few industry feathers.Qualcomm last week issued a statement disputing Dataquest research that had Qualcomm's market share dropping from 17.4 percent in 1997 to 8.2 percent for the first three months of this year."Although Qualcomm...
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.-Amica Wireless Phone Service said it expects to begin offering digital wireless calling Dec. 14 in Bloomington, Champaign, Dectaur and Springfield, Ill., using Code Division Multiple Access technology.Among other services, Amica Wireless offers pay-per-use minutes, voice mail and caller ID with basic monthly...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. said it signed a contract with Mauritius Telecom to supply and install a cdmaOne wireless local loop network. The network, using Interim Standard-95 Code Division Multiple Access technology, initially is expected to add 50,000 subscribers nationwide to Mauritius Telecom's modern wireline...
Ever since Nokia Mobile Phones Inc. introduced the first in a new class of mobile phones with its Nokia 9000 Communicator, the excitement surrounding the idea of devices that combine wireless voice and data has been growing.Nokia last week manufactured its 100 millionth mobile...
SpainThe government of Spain reportedly may award its fourth mobile phone license to a consortium made up of two formerly separate consortia-Lince and Uni2. Both companies submitted failed bids during Spain's third tender for a Global System for Mobile communications 1800 MHz license earlier...
WASHINGTON-Richard Bliss, the Qualcomm Inc. field technician detained on espionage charges last November but conditionally freed by Russian authorities a month later, sued the San Diego firm last week for failing to secure proper authorization for Global Positioning System equipment he brought into the...
As I debate again this year whether to actually make mashed potatoes to bring to the family Thanksgiving dinner or whether to buy them and pretend I made them (you cannot use this to blackmail me because my husband already spilled the beans to...
WASHINGTON-A critical European Parliament vote last week, which could effectively mandate a third-generation mobile phone standard dominated by Sweden's L.M. Ericsson and Finland's Nokia Corp. and lock out American technology, will ratchet up the stakes in upcoming negotiations here among U.S., European Union and...
