WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission needs a "shot clock" when reviewing mergers, said Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.)Kohl, who owns NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, has sponsored a bill with Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) to require the FCC to make a decision on proposed mergers within seven months.The...
WASHINGTON-The chief executive officers of Ameritech Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. agreed last week to FCC Chairman William Kennard's request for a 90-day negotiation period to craft Federal Communications Commission conditions for the approval of their merger.The negotiations may be hampered, however, by a...
GTE Corp. last week announced plans to purchase 20 Ameritech Corp. wireless properties in the Midwest, ending months of speculation about who would acquire the lucrative Chicago and St. Louis markets that became available when SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech announced their merger last...
WASHINGTON-Two telecommunications mega-mergers hit snags last week as the Federal Communications Commission said it had serious concerns about the SBC/Ameritech combination and the Virginia State Corporation Commission disapproved of the marriage between Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp., saying it lacked enough information to...
WASHINGTON-Telecom mergers are not just about mergers anymore.Multibillion-dollar deals have become the jumping-off-point for activism on labor rights, civil rights, regulatory reform, consumer protection, globalism, politics and a slew of other special-interest issues.So many and so big have mergers become that Senate Judiciary Committee...
The announcement last week that Comcast Corp. and MediaOne Group signed an agreement to merge in a $60 billion deal driven by broadband cable networks could affect the wireless industry halfway around the world.MediaOne's international wireless interests, which cover 4.3 million customers primarily in...
Aether Technologies announced it is joining BellSouth Wireless Data L.P. and Research in Motion Ltd. to bring financial market data via wirelessly connected handheld and laptop computers to the Atlanta, Los Angeles and New Orleans markets.Datalink.net announced it can allow companies to extend Web-based...
WASHINGTON-When children squabble about whether one is being nice to the other, a parent often must render a judgment about the situation. When members of the Federal Communications Commission squabble, it is left for Congress to arbitrate.FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth charges he cannot effectively...
WASHINGTON-Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), chairman of the Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, has introduced legislation to speed up Federal Communications Commission review of telecom mergers.Two deals before the FCC-the proposed $53 billion Bell Atlantic Corp.-GTE Corp. merger and $61 billion SBC Communications Inc.-Ameritech Corp. merger-have the...
U.S. Global System for Mobile communications carriers took a financial beating in 1998, but analysts expect 1999 to look brighter for these carriers as they look to butter up their bottom lines and find strategic partners.Tight financing, high churn levels and a general under-performance...
Iridium L.L.C. announced that Kyocera Corp. has completed its handset testing process and has been approved to begin volume distribution of its single-mode satellite phones and dual-mode adapters, as well as terrestrial cellular phones. Kyocera had reported several problems with the testing process, causing...
NEW ORLEANS-The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium and the GSM North American Alliance announced plans to work to achieve interoperability between TDMA and GSM technology, a move that could facilitate national and global consolidation among carriers with incompatible technologies and in particular allow SBC Communications...
WASHINGTON-In an embarrassing political blunder that lends insight into the tricky third-generation wireless debate, Sen. Chuck Robb (D-Va.) last week joined two fellow Finance Committee members in urging the Clinton administration to use renewed Super 301 trade authority to make Europe open its market...
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-Several leading voice messaging companies in North America have formed the TeleMessaging Industry Association, aimed at better educating the public about the benefits of voice mail and messaging services, and thereby increasing their use.Founding members include Ameritech Corp., Bell Atlantic Corp., Bell Canada,...
As the end of the millennium approaches, it is worth pondering whether the recent bout of mergers and acquisitions are precedents to some colossal event of biblical proportions or merely defensive strategies of companies safeguarding themselves against falling commodity prices, uncertain technological change, increased...
WASHINGTON-President Clinton's renewal last week of a potent trade weapon-known as Super 301-could become a vehicle for prying open markets closed to U.S. wireless technologies.Super 301, a multistep process that calls for bilateral negotiations on trade disputes but can lead to retaliatory action, was...
The Supreme Court declined to hear appeals by three Baby Bells challenging the 1996 telecom act's requirement that local competition precede Baby Bell entry into the long-distance market. "This decision confirms the logic of the telecom act: that competition breeds competition. The companies should stop...
NEW YORK-Significant progress has been made toward the still unrealized goal of full minority participation in the telecommunications industry, according to speakers at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's recent conference, "Building Trading Partnerships to Expand the Marketplace."The meeting, convened Jan. 14-15, was the second such event...
NEW YORK-With more than 7,700 transactions valued at $1.2 trillion announced, the domestic mergers and acquisitions market for 1998 crushed by 84 percent its previous record of $650.7 billion, set the prior year.Although the number of deals was about even with 1997, the average...
In a rapidly consolidating wireless industry, the list of available cellular carriers last week got shorter by two.After entertaining bids from at least two suitors, including Bell Atlantic Corp., AirTouch Communications Inc. opted to tie up with Britain's Vodafone Group plc in a deal...
Today's telecommunications behemoths soon will rank right up there with journalists and used-car salesman on the "Who don't you trust" list.As competition tries to come to the telecom industry, we're beginning to see more and more of the underbelly of this industry.While press releases...
WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard last week said he would consider further wireless deregulation and intends to streamline operations, objectives that could help defuse plans on Capitol Hill to reform the agency this year.Kennard came under fire in 1998-his first year on the...
WASHINGTON-New House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) is expected to impact process more than policy in the 106th Congress, but his past support for Ameritech Corp.'s long-distance entry and strong campaign financial backing from landline telephone carriers suggest he still could prove influential in telecom...
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...
