This year's holiday season promises to be an interesting one for wireless carriers and vendors offering their products to online buyers.Jupiter Communications, a new media research firm, predicts holiday shoppers will spend $2.3 billion online this season, up from $1.1 billion in 1997. According...
In a surprising letter to the International Telecommunication Union, Europe's standards body said it will consider harmonizing all CDMA-related third-generation proposals sent to the ITU, including cdma2000.The move is a positive sign for vendors and U.S. carriers that have pushed heavily for convergence of...
Alcatel to deliver network to PegasoSAN DIEGO-A subsidiary of Mexico's Pegaso Telecomunicaciones S.A. de C.V. and Alcatel Althsom signed an agreement that calls for Alcatel to provide up to $270 million in equipment, services and construction to build out Pegaso's nationwide personal communications services...
WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration will brief the Senate Finance Committee this week on mobile phone trade and standards policy, a meeting prompted by intensified lobbying by Global System for Mobile communications advocates and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute in response to Congress and the White...
Is this it?Is the wireless data market sitting on the runway to (finally) take off, offering instant text applications anywhere on the planet?Like a child before Christmas, I anticipate the day when wireless data applications make my life easier, when I easily can use...
China has been considered a mountain of opportunity for mobile phone infrastructure vendors, but signs today indicate a bleaker outlook as Chinese officials seem to have soured on cdmaOne technology and have banned certain foreign joint ventures in telecommunications projects.Vendors say China presents a...
The mere idea it may one day be possible to connect computers, mobile phones and other electronic devices to share voice and data transmissions without the need for cables has brought together some of the industry's heaviest hitters under the umbrella of the Bluetooth...
NEW YORK-Nickel cadmium batteries, long the mainstay of rechargeable power sources for wireless phones, are fading fast into handset history.Today, nickel metal hydride batteries are emerging at the top of the charts, but this ranking may not last too long. Lithium ion technology, a...
Analysts say the launch of Iridium L.L.C.'s mobile satellite service has positioned Globalstar L.L.P. to be a low-cost provider when it offers service around 2000.After losing 12 satellites in a rocket launch accident in September, Globalstar's general partner, Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd., has seen its...
WASHINGTON-Key lawmakers, amid stepped-up negotiations last week on third-generation mobile phone technology, are laying the groundwork to move legislation in 1999 if they conclude in crucial coming months that U.S. wireless interests in Europe and elsewhere have been compromised unfairly.3G was a major topic...
Frustrated by the lack of cooperation in Europe over convergence of third-generation technology, some U.S. cdmaOne operators have vowed to push ahead aggressively with cdma2000 technology."Negotiations have gone on long enough," said Keith Paglusch, senior vice president of technical services and network operations with...
Qualcomm Inc. and Microsoft Corp. plan to announce this week they are creating a new wireless communications company to focus on the integration of wireless data, information technology and computers.According to information leaked to the press last week, the venture aims to extend Microsoft's...
WASHINGTON-Qualcomm Inc. is waging a major court battle against the Federal Communications Commission to gain recognition of Code Division Multiple Access technology innovation in personal communications services and the potentially lucrative prize that comes with it. The Qualcomm case will be briefed in the...
The Argentine government, in an attempt to proceed with the PCS auctions currently in judicial limbo, is considering selling two PCS licenses each for the northern and southern regions of the country, excluding the greater Buenos Aires area. This maneuvering would speed up the...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-Second-generation cellular has not been an entirely satisfactory experience for the United States. "We pulled up the beaches and said we are Island America," said Tom Wheeler, chief executive officer of the U.S. Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. But since then the wireless...
MELBOURNE, Australia-The Australian communications industry has applauded Telstra Corp.'s decision to build its second national mobile phone network using CDMA technology.Industry groups, including the Australian Telecommunications Users Group and the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, have openly welcomed Telstra's move, hailing it as progressive and...
Argentina will adopt calling party pays for cellular as of 1 January. Trunking and paging also are expected to adopt the system in an attempt to develop these markets. The paging sector experienced a significant drop in subscribers as a result of competition with...
ERICSSONEricsson Inc. introduced a snap-on wireless modem that allows users to browse the Internet and send or receive faxes and e-mail without cable hookups or a phone line. The DI 27 eliminates the need to connect a personal computer modem card and telephone line...
The International Telecommunication Union has yet to decide on the air interface for third-generation mobile phone technology, but many vendors are pushing ahead anyway with GSM-based wideband CDMA technology.The Geneva-based international standards body is mulling through 15 different proposals, the majority based on CDMA...
A trial early next year could decide whether L.M. Ericsson owns key patents to Interim Standard-95 technology.Ericsson and Qualcomm Inc. are set to go to trial in February over eight patents Ericsson claims to own to cdmaOne technology. A hearing at the end of...
WASHINGTON-Frustrated with failing to make progress after months of negotiations with European officials, Qualcomm Inc. last week declared war by formally invoking intellectual property rights to five third-generation wireless standards pending before the International Telecommunication Union.Qualcomm said its action, taken in an Oct. 12...
SAN DIEGO-Willtech Inc. has licensed Qualcomm Inc.'s cdmaOne technology in a royalty-bearing agreement allowing the South Korea-based company to design and develop Code Division Multiple Access test equipment, said Qualcomm.Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
While many personal communications services licensees have become disillusioned with the PCS market in the United States and have opted to bow out of the game, Leap Wireless International Inc. sees a market with opportunities.Purchasing licenses "is certainly something we want to look at,...
Patents are a common thread running through the great debates of the day concerning strongest/adequate signal, E911 federal land antenna siting, 3G, prepaid calling and other telecom issues.This should come as no surprise. In a new report, the Commerce Department links the United States'...
