In the first major initiative since the group formed in December, the WirelessReady Alliance held its first member meeting last week in Vancouver, where members discussed the state of the wireless data industry and plotted future strategy.Sierra Wireless Inc.-which formed the group-brought together 23...
WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard denied improperly lobbying for legislation to prevent wireless licenses from becoming mired in bankruptcy litigation, but now-in a new flare up-has drawn sharp rebuke from two fellow regulators for effectively cutting off personal communications service in rural Kentucky...
As the FCC awkwardly confronts one challenge after another with respect to Phase I and Phase II E911 implementation and the 'dead zone' issue, one gets a faint sense that regulators have become mesmerized.Listen carefully, and you almost can hear a collective "Oh, it's...
AGOURA HILLS, Calif.-Incumbent cellular carriers are providing formidable competition to personal communications services carriers, according to J.D. Power and Associates' Personal Communications Services Report, which is an offshoot of the company's 1998 Wireless Satisfaction study covering 21 markets.Cellular carriers have transitioned their networks to...
The introduction of digital phone technology has changed dramatically the landscape of wireless communications across the globe and put the heat on the global paging industry.Paging's old advantages of small size and cheaper service are being whittled away, as digital phones shrink in size...
SEATTLE-Go to any trade show where mobile phone operators congregate, and you will hear grumbling about how AT&T Wireless Services Inc.'s Digital One Rate pricing plan has wreaked havoc on business plans. The play for the high-end business user seems to be falling in...
Sierra Wireless said it has brought together 17 other companies in an alliance formed to work together to offer more complete solutions so the general public will adopt wireless data devices more quickly.The WirelessReady Alliance is an invitation-only collaborative venture of hardware vendors, software...
BOSTON-Wireless Internet service provider GoAmerica Communications Corp. announced it will provide an end-to-end sales force automation outsource solution that bundles hardware and software products from several companies.It includes Practical Sales Tools' UnwiredContact Web-based customer management and tracking system, Sharp Electronics' Mobilon Pro PV-5000 Handheld...
Although I have spent my entire career dealing with technology subjects, I probably will never be mistaken for someone with technology savvy.I can't record a TV program on the VCR without my husband's help. When the smoke alarm goes off, I am helpless to...
NEW YORK-A sharp September market drop caused an overall third-quarter decline in domestic merger activity in all sectors, according to Mergerstat, a division of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, Los Angeles.Nevertheless, the running total of 5,766 such transactions announced during the first nine months...
BANGKOK, Thailand-Like many high-tech firms in the United States, Motorola Inc. caught a cold from its exposure to the Asian flu and is working to recover. While no one can say for sure when Motorola will get back on the road to health, it...
NEW YORK-A former U.S. congressman from New York filed a class-action lawsuit against Alcatel Alsthom, its chief executive officer Serge Tchuruk and its directors in connection with the company's recent merger with DSC Communications Inc.The lawsuit, filed by Bill Green and the law firm...
ORLANDO, Fla.-"We here are circumscribed by a group that accepts and celebrates technology, but we are a very rare breed, a tribe that thinks it is uniquely important because our reality depends on it," said James A. Taylor, chief marketing officer for Iomega Corp.,...
The year-old Asian financial crisis is being blamed for an increasingly gloomy outlook for the third quarter, which ends this week. The situation is compounded by growing economic worries in Russia and Latin America and a weakened semiconductor market.Several companies warned investors last week...
Alcatel Alsthom's woes continued last week as several shareholder lawsuits were filed against the company, connected with its earlier announcement that earnings would not meet expectations.Alcatel's stock fell sharply on the news, and the company initiated a stock repurchase program in response. But an...
Alcatel Alsthom's announcement of lower-than-expected earnings hit telecom stocks in Europe and the United States late last week.The French telecom equipment vendor said its telecom segment's income will be "adversely impacted by sharp investment cuts recently decided by some traditional operators and the deepening...
WASHINGTON-Motorola Inc. last week vehemently denied transferring sensitive technology to Communist China after a leaked classified Air Force report concluded Chinese nuclear missile capabilities improved as a result of work on Iridium global satellite launches.Excerpts of the report by the Air Force National Air...
Alcatel Telecom will acquire DSC Communications Corp. in a stock-for-stock transaction, according to a definitive agreement announced by the companies last week.The deal is thought to give Paris-based Alcatel a much-desired expanded presence in North America that will allow it to better compete with...
NEW YORK-With too much capital chasing too few deals, privately placed debt financing has become a borrower's market in recent years, leading to a sharp rise in leverage and risk."The types of deals we're talking about are high-end junk deals for high-tech, early stage,...
NEW YORK-Who's minding the store? When it comes to security analysts following newly public high-technology companies, the answer could well be no one."More than half of all publicly traded `tech' companies today went public in the last four years, yet nearly a quarter of...
Editor's Note: In a year where the largest stories of the wireless industry were about personal communications services carriers besieged with financial and other problems, one PCS company, Omnipoint Communications Services Inc., has managed to bring to reality the promises of PCS. Omnipoint, a new...
WASHINGTON-The continued growth of the paging industry can be attributed mainly to a sharp rise in consumer-oriented users over the past five years, according to the study "PageTrac '97: Consumer Trends in Paging" released last week by The Strategis Group.The study identified a "radical" shift...
PanaVise Products Inc. introduced a combination mounting kit designed to keep cellular phones secure while driving, but quickly release the phone for easy removal from the vehicle. The PortaGrip 2000 cellular phone holder can be used alone to prevent a phone from sliding around...
WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee members sternly advised Federal Communications Commission chairman nominee William Kennard to rethink agency positions on federal pre-emption and wireless universal service funding and to stop dragging its feet on little low-earth orbit satellite licensing.But despite sharp criticism of the FCC's handling...
