NEW YORK-Qualcomm Financial Trust I, wholly owned by Qualcomm Inc., San Diego, plans to sell a $450 million issue of convertible preferred stock due 2012 to help finance the parent company's expansion.In an announcement Feb. 18, Moody's Investors Service Inc., New York, assigned a...
Several low-earth-orbit satellite systems will have initial launches this year, marking the beginning of services that a Washington, D.C., consulting firm says "will fill the gaps other wireless systems don't cover."Big LEOs and medium earth orbit systems will not only be viable but will...
If demand for dual-band handsets can be measured by vendor contracts, carriers must only now be finalizing plans for multi-frequency roaming.The industry's most prolific terminal manufacturers have yet to announce volume contracts for these expensive new phones, although some expect to have agreements in...
NEW YORK-Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. plans additional financing to help build and launch 56 low-earth-orbit satellites for digital wireless voice and data service covering most of the world by mid-to-late 1998.Headquartered in New York, Globalstar is a limited partnership led by Loral Space & Communications...
BURNABY, B.C.-BC TEL Mobility announced plans to launch digital 800 MHz service based on Code Division Multiple Access technology in British Columbia, Canada, early next month.The company completed field trials of Northern Telecom Ltd.'s network in September. Nortel has a five-year $80 million agreement...
WASHINGTON-According to company spokeswoman Jennifer Walsh, NextWave Telecom Inc. plans to amend its current S-1 filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission soon to get its stalled initial public offering off the ground. On Jan. 20, news agency Reuters America Inc. quoted a source...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile launched its DigitalChoice cellular phone service in Washington/Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C. DigitalChoice uses 13-kilobit Code Division Multiple Access technology.The DigitalChoice service includes caller ID, voice mail with message indicator, free first minute on incoming calls, TalkDial, call waiting,...
SEATTLE-AirTouch Communications Inc. announced large business customers in western Washington now have access to Code Division Multiple Access cellular service."In the past, we have launched new services to business and retail customers simultaneously," said Julie Dexter Berg, executive vice president and general manager for...
While Old Man Winter dumps mercilessly on everyone else, the sun shines brighter than ever these days on Irwin Jacobs. A big target for skeptics ever since taking the road less traveled instead the one the taken by the rest of the wireless herd,...
WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court last week overturned the Federal Communications Commission's rejection of Qualcomm Inc.'s pioneer's preference application, saying the agency was inconsistent in awarding licenses for innovative broadband personal communications services technologies.The court said there was disparate treatment of Omnipoint Corp., which received...
Metawave Communications Corp. appointed Kathryn Surace-Smith general counsel for the company. She will provide legal support for Metawave's business development activities including customer contracts, licensing agreements, strategic partnerships and financial, operational and corporate matters. Previously, Surace-Smith was international counsel for Alcatel Telecom.Glenayre Technologies Inc....
WASHINGTON-In a decision almost surely headed for the appeals court, the Federal Communications Commission last Friday conditionally awarded NextWave Personal Communications Inc. its C-block licenses after NextWave submitted a plan to bring its foreign-ownership percentages into compliance with federal rules.Wireless Telecommunications Bureau chief Michele...
The Secretary of Communications in Argentina announced concrete plans to award two personal communications services licenses in early to mid-1997.Initially, the two PCS licenses will be granted for 30 megahertz, with an option for an additional 5 megahertz, but a total of 120 megahertz...
Editor's Note: No other debate has ignited the wireless telecommunications industry like the one that rages between TDMA and CDMA technology. For several years, the greatest argument against CDMA technology was that it was not commercially available. That changed in 1996 as both cellular and...
SAN DIEGO-Cellular One launched Arizona's first Code Division Multiple Access digital service in the Phoenix area using Qualcomm Personal Electronics' handsets.The system covers most of the Phoenix metropolitan area, serving around 90 percent of the populated areas."We are pleased to supply Cellular One with...
Sprint PCS service is available in six cities, and just two days remain for Sprint Spectrum L.P. to meet its goal of launching 1900 MHz personal comm-unications services in two more of its 29 A- and B-block markets.Sprint's Code Division Multiple Access service is...
WASHINGTON-C-block personal communications services bidders Antigone Communications L.P. and PCS Devco Inc. continued to put NextWave Personal Communications Inc.'s feet into the fire regarding its pending C-block licenses. This time it asked the Federal Communications Commission Dec. 6 to force the PCS hopeful to...
Qualcomm Inc. has made a double-barrel response to claims by L.M. Ericsson that Qualcomm's Code Division Multiple Access products infringe on Ericsson technology patents.Both Qualcomm and Ericsson hold CDMA U.S. patents. Qualcomm has designed and is building commercial CDMA infrastructure and handset equipment for...
NEW YORK-Although Ericsson Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc. for alleged patent infringement, Ericsson said it believes the two manufacturers will work out their differences without the threat of litigation."We seek reasonable compensation for the use of our technology, and we'd rather...
Sprint PCS said software problems by one of its two equipment vendors will delay the launch of personal communications service in some markets by year's end, but the company still intends to roll out service in five to 10 markets by the end of...
Lucent Technologies Inc. has agreed to finance infrastructure equipment for NextWave Telecom Inc., in a deal the companies value at $200 million for the first two years.Lucent will not receive an equity position for the investment. Payment terms will run for a number of...
WASHINGTON-NextWave Personal Communications Inc. categorically denied it surpassed the federal rules regarding foreign ownership caps and outside control in a letter answering questions regarding its fitness to become a personal communications services licensee.In an effort to clear up the award of the remaining C-block...
SAN DIEGO-Sony/Qualcomm CDMA sales, a division of Qualcomm Personal Electronics, will supply Sony CM-D500 handsets for GTE Inc.'s launch of Code Division Multiple Access digital service in Austin, Texas.The dual-mode phones use Sony's lithium ion battery technology to increase talk and standby times. The...
NEW YORK-Qualcomm Inc. announced Nov. 18 a drop in net income for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year, accompanied by a sharp increase in revenues for the same period.Net income for the last quarter of fiscal 1996 was $8 million, compared with $11...
