SAN JUAN, P.R.-In a move that could become a role model for other pocket phone carriers struggling to activate their cell sites, Centennial Cellular Corp. has executed an end-run around the state-run Puerto Rico Telephone Co. monopoly in its bid to deploy personal communications...
ATLANTA-GTE Mobilnet has launched its first commercial Code Division Multiple Access cellular service in Austin, Texas.The company is offering a dual-mode Sony-branded handset, the CM-D500, manufactured by Qualcomm Personal Electronics through its retail stores and direct sales. GTE said it eventually plans to expand...
DALLAS-Paging Network Inc. has agreed to provide its services to Benefits For Business members at discounts normally reserved for large corporations. No activation fees will be charged to members, and they will receive discounts of 30 percent or more off retail rates, PageNet said.Benefits...
When Metrocall Inc. reported third quarter earnings, the company also said it has shifted its course toward increasing revenue per unit and away from expansion in the reseller channel.For the last several years, Metrocall has pursued an aggressive course of acquiring carriers and signing...
NEW YORK-As Omnipoint Communications Inc. sprints toward the Nov. 14 commercial launch of its personal communications service in the New York City metropolitan area, two hurdles remain: Nynex and NIMBY.But when Omnipoint opens for business this week, there will be no disclaimers and no fine...
Frequencies and technologies may not matter much in the scramble to capture the wireless consumer market. Instead, wireless carriers plan to compete in marketing and customer service."Everyone has a different edge or weakness" when it comes to price, coverage, technology and features, said Bukasa...
AUSTIN, Texas-More than half of all cellular and broadband personal communications services are sold through the retail channel, said IDC/Link Resources of Austin, Texas, in a recent report on distribution channels. The study grouped cellular and PCS offerings together.IDC reported the current average channel...
NEW YORK-Will hardware yield to software for prepaid wireless services? Tecore, a Columbia, Md., technology company, is in business to facilitate the transition, which it believes is inevitable.The euphemistically named class of customers called "credit challenged" comprises as much as one-third of the wireless...
When Pacific Bell Mobile Services launches commercial GSM-based personal communications services this Friday in San Diego, it will do so alongside a quiet competitor. AirTouch Communications Inc. said it will launch its Code Division Multiple Access cellular network on the same day and in...
Andres Link and Richard Swerdlow met three years ago playing basketball in Miami, and began discussing business opportunities. Last month, the University of Florida named the pair's partnership, Cellular Works, the fastest growing company in the state.Based in Hollywood, Fla., Cellular Works sells cellular...
Tektronix Inc. announced a new capability for the R3465 Modulation Spectrum Analyzer, which is made by Japan-based Advantest Corp. and marketed in North America by Tektronix. The new tool, called Option 61, adds Code Division Multiple Access base station test features to the R3465....
The wireless industry is primed to woo holiday shoppers this season to their stable of products, offering service that is inexpensive and easy to use, with no strings attached.In the past, a shopper trying to decide between a pager and a blouse, or a...
CLEVELAND-Reltec Corp. obtained a $450 million senior credit facility provided by several financial institutions led by Chase Manhattan Bank. The company said it will use the facility to fund strategic growth initiatives targeted at the global communications market.The facility replaces a previous $300 million...
LAS VEGAS-Telemetry applications made a strong showing at last week's Wireless Apps '96 show hosted by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.Skywire Corp. announced a trial to monitor several hundred soda vending machines throughout Southern Nevada for J.W. Costello Beverage Co. in partnership with cellular...
With its purchase of 355 kiosks in Sam's Club stores nationwide, MCI Communications Corp. has hands-on access to the consumer customer it seeks.Before obtaining entrance into Sam's, MCI's retail presence as a wireless reseller consisted of 37 storefronts. The stores originally belonged to Nationwide...
IRVINE, Calif.-One-Stop Wireless of America said it plans to offer wireless and prepaid cellular products beginning Nov. 15 in Los Angeles. The company said it plans to acquire retail stores in eight U.S. cities.The company also has acquired Internet Paging Systems, a wholesale and...
Canadians may be giving Fido to their loved ones this Christmas.But Fido is not a dog. It's the spunky brand name for Microcell Telecommunications Inc.'s personal communications service scheduled to be available in Montreal in time for the holidays."We wanted to find a word...
Canadians may be giving Fido to their loved ones this Christmas.But Fido is not a dog. It's the spunky brand name for Microcell Telecommunications Inc.'s personal communications service scheduled to be available in Montreal in time for the holidays."We wanted to find a word...
NEW YORK-TSR Paging Inc. announced last week it closed on a new $125 million bank credit facility, arranged by First National Bank of Chicago acting as agent.The increased credit line will allow TSR to sustain its current pace of system buildout while allowing it...
Glenayre Technologies Inc. installed its Modular Voice Processing system for PennSel Communication Services, a division of R.F. Communications. PennSel will offer MVP services to its customers in Pennsylvania and the Northeast, the company said. The MVP system provides paging users with voice and fax...
HighwayMaster Communications Inc. announced it reached an agreement with SBC Communications Inc. for a $20 million equity investment in HighwayMaster. The company said SBC's initial investment will be in preferred stock, which is convertible into common stock at the rate of $12.50 per share....
The option to pay in advance for wireless service is booming in the cellular industry. The same trend may soon spread in paging.Grab 'n Go is a prepaid beeper package unveiled by SkyTel Corp. and Sony Wireless Telecommunications Co. at PCS '96 earlier this...
SBC Communications Inc. has made the latest move in the battle for prepaid cellular customers in Chicago.In June, SBC, operating under the franchise name Cellular One, began offering its Chicago-area customers a prepaid card called the AccessCard. Last month, Ameritech Cellular Services followed by...
