A new San Diego-based company has begun developing subscriber communicators for low-speed, two-way global data communications over Orbcomm's low-earth-orbit satellite network. Quake Wireless Inc. expects to have its first commercial LEOlink product this summer.Quake got into the subscriber communicator business through acquisition. It purchased...
MarketwaveRichard Bryan is the new senior vice president of sales and marketing at Marketwave Corp. Bryan previously worked for AT&T Wireless Services Inc. as its vice president of sales and marketing, in charge of staff, national accounts and retail sales.Kansas CellularKansas Cellular announced several...
The third-generation technology debate is beginning to have a negative impact on the valuation of the world's largest wireless carrier, Japan's NTT Mobile Communications, which plans to become the first carrier in the world to deploy wideband Code Division Multiple Access technology.Dresdner Kleinwort Benson...
Power ProductsPower Products Unlimited Inc. selected Ken Donofrio as its new marketing director. He will orchestrate all aspects of the company's marketing and carrier services program. Donofrio previously was director of marketing and carrier support for Cliffco Wireless.WirelessNorthWirelessNorth promoted its market development coordinator, Heidi...
The 3G debate these days could be characterized as a global poker game-no one is quite sure who's bluffing, who holds the winning cards or who plans to fold. Whether convergence of two primary CDMA-based proposals-W-CDMA and cdma2000-is achieved depends on the actions of...
SAN DIEGO - Qualcomm Inc. said it has begun production shipping its integrated fifth-generation Code Division Multiple Access chipset and system software for use in cdmaOne handsets.The chipset and software solution provides wireless data rates as high as 86.4 kilobits per second, said Qualcomm....
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. today introduced the Qualcomm Thin Phone featuring an ultra-thin design with an internal battery that supports up to 10 hours of talk time and eight days of stand-by time.Weighing about 4 ounces, the Thin Phone also features an external battery option...
Companies already are feeling the pinch from Brazil's falling currency, which, at RCR press time, had lost about 20 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar since Brazil's central bank first moved to devalue the real.BellSouth Corp. said it will record a foreign...
WirelessKnowledge L.L.C., a joint venture between Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc., introduced Revolv, its first service offering since forming in November.The service will allow users remote access to e-mail, calendars, contact lists and information content via the Internet, as well as access to Microsoft...
WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration, invoking powerful references to the World Trade Organization, competition and convergence, last week said the European Commission's response to U.S. concerns about potential trade barriers to third-generation mobile phone standards fell short, and urged Europe not to implement 3G before the...
SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc. announced that as of the end of its first quarter of fiscal year 1999, ended Nov. 30, two of its networks initiated commercial operation and had added about 20,500 customers. Leap's equity share is about 8,500 subscribers.Leap, which spun...
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...
