WASHINGTON-With a panoply of prickly issues tied to major telecom policies of local competition, disability access, spectrum management and digital wiretap compliance, the future could not be cloudier for the wireless industry in 1999.Besides the fact wireless policy is in flux and wireless management...
SEATTLE-Xypoint Corp., a provider of wireless intelligent network services for enhanced 911, asked the Federal Communications Commission to condition the mergers of SBC Communications and Ameritech Corp. and Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp. on providing access to wireless E911 service.Xypoint issued the request...
WASHINGTON-The most conservative member of the Federal Communications Commission last week said the current microscopic review of telecommunications mergers is unfair given the lack of attention the FCC is expected to give to the merger between oil giants Exxon and Mobile."If the issue is...
WASHINGTON-The battle over whether major local telephone companies will be allowed to merge-expected to be debated again today at the Federal Communications Commission-is tied to spectrum caps more than most people realize, said Motorola Inc.'s Michael D. Kennedy.The Practicing Law Institute's 16th Annual Telecommunications...
WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) late Friday blasted Federal Communications Commission Chairman Bill Kennard and his press office for staff statements to the press suggesting the agency might block pending telecom mega-mergers even if they are approved by the Justice Department.The Wall...
WASHINGTON-Justice Department antitrust czar Joel Klein, sending a mixed message, predicts Baby Bells will face local competition from wireless and wireline firms over time, even if mega-mergers among dominant telecom players are approved.Pointing to forces of deregulation, technology and globalization that are driving telecom...
WASHINGTON-In an exclusive interview provided to RCR, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition plans to announce aggressive opposition against pending telecom mega-mergers at the Federal Communications Commission's Dec. 14 meeting if negotiations with company executives on the AT&T Corp.-Tele-Communications Inc.; SBC Communications...
WASHINGTON-A critical European Parliament vote last week, which could effectively mandate a third-generation mobile phone standard dominated by Sweden's L.M. Ericsson and Finland's Nokia Corp. and lock out American technology, will ratchet up the stakes in upcoming negotiations here among U.S., European Union and...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week officially proposed rules that could lead to the end of spectrum caps. Additionally, the FCC announced rules to relocate incumbents in the 2 GHz spectrum band that has been allocated to mobile satellite services.Both decisions could have dramatic...
WASHINGTON-While this week's election of Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston (R-La.) to speaker of the House is not expected to dramatically change the course of telecom policy making in Congress, a wholesale shakeup in GOP leadership could alter the political dynamics of that process."We...
Rural Cellular Corp. Rural Cellular's revenues increased 103 percent to $34 million from $16.8 million during last year's third quarter. Net loss for the quarter totaled $4.5 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with net income of $621,000, or 7 cents per share,...
NEW YORK-The Federal Communications Commission announced it approved the transfer of licenses and authorizations from Southern New England Telecommunications Corp. to SBC Communications Inc., thereby granting the companies' merger application.The FCC concluded "the merger is unlikely to have any anti-competitive effects or any other...
WASHINGTON-Tele-Communications Inc. President Leo Hindery, grilled by federal regulators last week on the cable TV giant's planned $48 billion merger into top long-distance and mobile phone carrier AT&T Corp., said TCI's 30-percent stake in Sprint PCS likely will be divested or put in a...
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and BellSouth Cellular Corp. have agreed to consolidate ownership of their jointly owned cellular properties in Los Angeles, Houston and Galveston, Texas, and have created a new management structure that will streamline operations, said the companies.The new agreement calls for...
AT&T Corp. last week announced plans to buy Vanguard Cellular Systems Inc., ending months of speculation about who might acquire the independent cellular operator.Vanguard has been rumored widely to be an acquisition target, fueled by a decision it made earlier this year to sell...
The campaigning efforts in Washington, D.C., are set to heat up within the next few months as the International Telecommunication Union enters the decision-making process for third-generation technology.The CDMA Development Group's operator members recently submitted a letter to 21 key government officials stressing the...
WASHINGTON-The postponement of arguments in a federal appeals court on the wireless number portability issue seems to bode well for the industry because it will have even more time to implement this requirement.Portability refers to telephone subscribers keeping their same telephone number after switching...
SAN FRANCISCO-Pacific Bell Mobile Services, the wireless subsidiary of Pacific Telesis Group, announced it will conduct business as Pacific Bell Wireless and Nevada Bell Mobile Services will use the name Nevada Bell Wireless beginning Oct. 1."The names Pacific Bell Wireless and Nevada Bell Wireless...
ORLANDO, Fla.-The North American GSM Alliance L.L.C. and the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium last week said they will join forces to collaborate on next-generation technology and to provide a unified lobbying force on Capitol Hill."We've agreed on a set of principles," said UWCC Chairman...
WASHINGTON-NAACP President Kweisi Mfume last week called for a boycott of two top wireless firms-AirTouch Communications Inc. and AllTel Corp.-for inadequate representation of African Americans in employment and contracting practices, a backlash becoming more pronounced as a result of affirmative-action curbs and increased telecom...
LONDON-The Wireless Application Protocol Forum announced 23 companies have joined the organization since May, and it recently expanded and elected new officers to its board of directors.Formed last summer by Ericsson Inc., Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp. and Unwired Planet Inc., the WAP Forum's goal...
MOBILEMEDIAMobileMedia Corp., dba MobileComm, promoted several people in management positions. Steven Gross was named executive vice president of sales and marketing. He joined MobileComm as senior vice president of sales and marketing in 1996, and since has been responsible for new product introductions, including...
WASHINGTON-Imagine for a moment law enforcement is able to convince the Federal Communications Commission to approve all the items it is asking for to implement the digital wiretap act. And, then imagine you are a law enforcement officer wishing to set up a wiretap...
WASHINGTON-A powerful Senate resolution that was to promote third-generation wireless harmonization was thoroughly diluted by U.S. backers of European-based mobile phone technology last week, a bizarre turnabout that drew a mix of new faces into the escalating controversy and further muddied the waters for...
