NEW YORK-In late March, the logjam finally broke on the long-stalled liberalization of the Brazilian telecommunications market through the introduction of second wireless carriers.One forecast predicted the number of cellular telephone customers in Brazil could increase during the next five years to 23 million...
WASHINGTON-Iridium LLC launched a Delta II rocket carrying five more Iridium satellites into orbit March 30, bringing its total number of operational satellites to 56.The launch of the satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California had to be rescheduled after low ground-level winds...
WASHINGTON-With the number of new bids and new high bids dwindling down to nearly zero, the first sale of 986 local multipoint distribution services licenses may be over today. However, with some 128 B-block licenses languishing without so much as a minimum bid offer,...
PrimeCo Personal Communications L.P. awarded Lucent Technologies Inc. a $500 million three-year exclusive contract to supply personal communications services equipment and services for the next phase of its network development.The announcement is a blow to Motorola Inc., which was in discussions with PrimeCo in...
NEW YORK-The share price of Vanguard Cellular Systems Inc., Greensboro, N.C., closed up $1 at $17.13 per share March 11, the day it announced it plans to sell its Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Wilmington-Jacksonville, N.C., properties.The big bump in the stock price wasn't coincidental,...
Superconducting Core Technologies Inc. has ended commercial distribution of its cryoelectronic receiver front-end products for the mobile wireless base station market, igniting questions of whether superconductor companies targeting the wireless industry can raise enough capital to operate.Robert Paige, chief operating officer of Golden, Colo.-based...
NEW YORK-Look no further than North American borders for the biggest near-term opportunities to provide billing and customer care systems.In recent years, the focus of procurement contract competition has been on supplying operations support systems, which include billing and customer care, to the green...
WASHINGTON-The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is taking steps to solve both the millennium-bug problem and inconsistencies that exist between radio-frequency services applications rules by issuing a notice of proposed rule making that will consolidate and streamline the filing of electronic applications.At its Feb. 19 open...
ATLANTA-Cellcom of Wisconsin selected Northern Telecom Inc. to supply Code Division Multiple Access cellular and personal communications services network infrastructure equipment and services under a five-year, $42 million supply agreement, announced Nortel.The deal includes CDMA digital networks for seven F-band PCS markets in Wisconsin...
Moffet, Larson & JohnsonMoffet, Larson & Johnson Inc. announced the integration of Comarco Wireless Technologies' Network Evaluation System tool NES-250 with the PathPro drive-test post-processing module, PathView. The integration provides the capability to transmit data from the GEN II series to the PathPro, the...
In the summer of 1989, one of my favorite bands, the B-52s, released an album with the big hit-tune "Roam," in which singer Kate Pierson encouraged listeners to "roam around the world." Well, it took me nine years, Kate, but I finally took you...
WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. and the Washington, D.C., law firm of Brown & Schwaninger once again have taken their running battle to the Federal Communications Commission, with Nextel this time fighting an application for review filed last month by the attorneys.The FCC dismissed a petition...
Imagine a reseller being able to offer paging services to thousands of customers while only paying a carrier for one cap code.Stop imagining.WireLink Communication Inc.-a small pager manufacturer based in Upland, Calif., new to the industry and relatively unheard of-said it has created a...
Like a tsunami we don't see until it's too late, number portability is heading toward the wireless industry, and few companies seem prepared for the impending storm.While phones, technology and communication vehicles have changed dramatically through the years, one constant in the telecommunications industry...
Many telecommunications companies are banking on the fact that consumers want their long-distance, local, Internet, wireless and cable TV services-or some combination of these-bundled on one bill.Regional Bell operating companies, as well as long-distance and wireless companies slowly are moving toward the process, offering...
WEST POINT, Ga.-Powertel Inc. said it nearly doubled its personal communications services customer base in the fourth quarter, adding 53,000 customers and closing 1997 with 119,000 subscribers, an 80 percent increase over reported third-quarter ending subscribers of 66,000.The average monthly PCS churn rate was...
American Tower Systems Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of American Radio Systems Corp., announced it has reached an agreement to acquire the assets of Washington International Teleport from Midcontinent Media for approximately $30.5 million.Berliner Communications Inc. announced it has opened regional offices in San...
LUXEMBOURG-Millicom International Cellular S.A. was formally granted the right to provide nationwide coverage in the United Republic of Tanzania, said the company.Millicom also increased its ownership in Mobitel from 51 percent to 57 percent.Tanzania has a population of 29.6 million people."Tanzania has one of...
NEW YORK-Some interesting twists are ahead on the road to roaming for personal communications services carriers as they seek to emulate their cellular counterparts, which reap between 15 percent and 20 percent of their gross revenues from long-distance wireless calls.Last year, subscribers of all...
ANRITSU CO.Anritsu Co. introduced the MS8606A digital mobile radio transmitter tester that performs Code Division Multiple Access measurements in less than two seconds. Covering the 300 kHz to 3 GHz frequency range, the MS8606A combines a transmitter tester, spectrum analyzer, power meter and software...
LOS ANGELES-SmarTalk TeleServices Inc. said it completed its acquisition of ConQuest Telecommunications Services Corp., following "overwhelming approval by shareholders of both companies."Under the terms of the acquisition, each share of ConQuest common stock will be converted automatically into the right to receive 7.63 shares...
WASHINGTON-C-block personal communications service licensees will have an additional seven weeks to file with the Federal Communications Commission their choice-if any-of the four financial restructuring options offered by the commission last September.The Jan. 15 election date has been pushed back to Feb. 26, due...
In the new global telecom market, the World Trade Organization is king-the United Nations for global telecom free trade as it were.For the United States, having rules of the road in a free trade environment and a credible international body to monitor, arbitrate and...
The Quadrant consortium's lone bid for Great Britain's public-safety mobile radio license tender is a result of anti-competitive actions by the United Kingdom in violation of European Union rules, claims a rival firm prohibited from competing in the tender process.Matra Communications-a French telecommunications firm...
