The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association likes to talk about safety. And why not? Thousands of 911 calls from mobile phones are made every day, millions each year. No doubt countless lives have been saved and serious injury averted by a device CTIA President Thomas...
DENVER, United States- BellSouth and SBC Communications finally ended weeks of speculation, announcing plans to create a wireless joint venture that will become the second-largest wireless operator in the United States, serving 16.2 million subscribers and reaching 175 million potential customers.And, with the exception...
STUTTGART, Germany-Debitel AG, which is 74-percent owned by Swisscom, reported robust 1999 earnings, and international press reports said it is in talks with potential partners for third-generation license bids.U.S.-based SBC Communications Inc. and Japan's NTT are both reported to be interested in taking a...
ISTANBUL, Turkey-All four consortia vying for Turkey's fourth Global System for Mobile communications license withdrew from the auction without bidding. A company owned by Telecom Italia and Turkey's Isbank grabbed the third license for US$2.52 billion last week.The third license bid was nearly double...
The Federal Communications Commission should lift the spectrum cap placed on companies bidding in the 700 MHz auction and the C- and F-block re-auction of PCS spectrum.It pains me to say that. From its infancy in the early 90s, I have rooted for the...
ANKARA, Turkey-Italy's Telecom Italia SpA and a leading Turkish bank, Turkiye Is Bankasi AS, won a license to operate Turkey's third mobile telephone network with a bid of more than $2.5 billion.Turkey's current 7 million wireless customers are split between Turkcell, a partnership between...
The Federal Communications Commission has approved 35 bidders to participate in this Wednesday's auction of licenses for the 39 GHz band. The 39 GHz band is located at 38.6-40 GHz. Some of the prominent bidders and their up front payments include WinStar Wireless Fiber...
A corporate merger is not unlike a marriage. Two separate parties enter the union with two individual identities, and emerge from the ceremony as one entity, committed to achieving common goals and bearing a common name.The wireless industry witnessed the engagement last week of...
WASHINGTON-NextWave Telecom Inc. appears to have gotten the attention of the House Judiciary Committee with a letter sent to its chairman last week complaining that the Federal Communications Commission is knowingly conducting a misinformation campaign."The March 23rd letter is designed to divert attention away...
The flurry of consolidation in the wireless industry leads the industry observer to believe a nationwide presence is a necessity to compete in this market going forward.AT&T Wireless Services Inc. raised the bar in 1998 offering its nationwide plan, the Digital One Rate plan....
It is a match made in heaven. BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications finally ended weeks of speculation, announcing plans to create a wireless joint venture that will become the second-largest wireless operator in the United States, serving 16.2 million subscribers and reaching 175 million...
ATLANTA-Speculation again surfaced that BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. will announce the merger of their U.S. wireless assets as early as this week, creating a competitive wireless footprint with more than 16.5 million customers.The possible merger deal comes on the heels of BellSouth's...
WASHINGTON-Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that controls the Federal Communications Commission's purse strings, last week signaled he would like the FCC to waive spectrum cap and small business eligibility rules for the re-auction of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s wireless licenses...
Since its exit from the highly competitive U.S. mobile handset market in late 1998, Siemens AG has vowed to return.The German manufacturer will make its comeback this summer, but to a mobile-phone market that is even more crowded and competitive than ever before. Rapidly...
NEW YORK-GTE Corp. is hopeful the Federal Communications Commission will approve its merger with Bell Atlantic Corp. before the 700 MHz spectrum auctions in May so the combined company can focus undivided attention on the bidding."The 700 MHz auction is something being very intensively...
The Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that Baby Bell telephone companies cannot resell long-distance service to local subscribers.Last June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a Federal Communications Commission decision to block partnerships between long-distance...
ANKARA, Turkey-The Turkish government announced the time frame for auctioning two new wireless telephone licenses. The tender for two Global System for Mobile communications licenses is scheduled for March, Reuters reported. Each is expected to bring $650 million.The government also plans in April to...
Speculation circulated last week that Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG is in talks with Qwest Communications International Inc. about a possible merger between the two, while SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. also were rumored to be in merger talks.There are signs that the pending...
Motorola and SkyTel announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand two-way wireless communications solutions to Latin America. In particular, SkyTel said it will make Motorola's PageWriter 2000X two-way pager available in Latin American markets. The pagers previously were available only in...
WASHINGTON-There is a split at the Federal Communications Commission regarding whether the agency should be lobbying for changes in the law that would protect radio-frequency licenses from bankruptcy.I "do not support the statements made by in his testimony before the Budget Committee...
NEW YORK-Aided by a federal regulatory regime that has leveled the playing field for newcomers, broadband telecommunications competitors are coming on strong in their efforts to wrest business customers from incumbents."There are significant opportunities, a $100 billion business marketplace that broadband is targeting with...
RICHARDSON, Texas-HighwayMaster Communications Inc., a provider of wireless voice and data communications services to the commercial trucking and service vehicle industries, has been chosen to provide Ameritech and other member companies of SBC Communications Inc. with more than 28,000 of the company's Series 5005S...
The Department of Justice last week said SBC Communications Inc. has not sufficiently opened its local exchange market in Texas to be allowed into the long-distance market in that state. The Federal Communications Commission will make the final determination, but must give weight to...
NEW YORK-Qualcomm's meteoric stock price appreciation in 1999 may well be a unique phenomenon that other companies are unlikely to replicate.Nonetheless, other established and new telecommunications players seem poised to offer substantial returns on investment, J. Michael Gallipo, portfolio manager of Monument Telecommunications Fund,...
