WASHINGTON-While wireless local loop technology is taking off in such countries as South Africa, Great Britain, India and China, the United States continues to lag behind in deploying what could be the most cost-effective, time-sensitive means of providing everyone in this country with dial...
Teledesic Corp. announced Craig McCaw will return to his former post as chief executive officer of the company, where he will share the position with Steve Hooper, a longtime associate of McCaw and chairman of Nextlink Communications.Steve Twyver, who succeeded McCaw as Teledesic's CEO...
WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Bill Kennard, under fire from Capitol Hill, last week defended a compromise with the Clinton administration to protect U.S. spy satellite frequencies by shifting around spectrum and awarding free spectrum licenses to wireless startups headed by wealthy telecom moguls Craig...
Wouldn't it be nice to know if people are actually going to like the holiday gifts you so thoughtfully picked out especially for them?You ponder, prepare and then pray that your choices will be well received. Is the Federal Communications Commission staff any different?...
WASHINGTON-As key House and Senate GOP lawmakers probe whether licenses valued at more than $1 billion were given away to Teledesic Corp. and Teligent Corp. as part of a back-room deal that policy makers justified on national security grounds, questions just as serious have...
WASHINGTON-The United States failed once again to secure spectrum below 1 GHz for little low-earth-orbit satellites at the World Radio Conference in Geneva, but succeeded in acquiring 100 megahertz worldwide for big LEO feeder links.The only consolation for little LEOs, which also were denied...
WASHINGTON-Motorola Inc. has revealed a plan to build, launch and operate a satellite-based video and data network aimed at going head-to-head with the Bill Gates/Craig McCaw-backed Teledesic Corp. Paperwork filed at the Federal Communications Commission June 13 asked permission to compete against Teledesic on...
KIRKLAND, Wash.-Teledesic Corp. won a license from the Federal Communications Commission to provide two-way telecommunications services using a network of low-earth-orbit satellites, and the International Bureau issued an order authorizing the company to launch and operate the system.The company said it will provide worldwide...
While the GOP-led Congress and the White House gush on about making nice in the 105th/Clinton II, rumblings of cyberpolicy war are growing louder.Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the Senate communications subcommittee, re-introduced his encryption bill "to override the Clinton administration's encryption plan." Burns'...
WASHINGTON-A settlement is believed near that would have Teledesic Corp. pay to relocate Associated Communications L.L.C. fixed wireless facilities to the 24 GHz band, though it is unclear whether the deal will be voluntary or government-imposed.The two wireless startups have been battling for months...
To the cynic, walking away from AT&T Corp. and the prospect of being chairman of the world's biggest telecommunications company to head a wireless start-up with unproven technology was no big gamble for Alex J. Mandl.Start with a $20 million signing bonus to launch...
WASHINGTON-If the wireless telecom industry has learned one thing in recent years, it is that rules for paging, cellular, specialized mobile radio, personal communications services, mobile satellite, microwave, wireless local loop and private wireless services are not made in a vacuum.Wireless regulations and legislation-even...
WASHINGTON-While the returning Republican-led Congress intends to enforce deregulation next year, the Federal Communications Commission claims the wireless telecom industry is being slowed by regulatory reform legislation passed earlier this year.The effect of the 60-day congressional review in the Contract with America Advancement Act...
WASHINGTON-Although oral arguments regarding the stay of the Federal Communications Commission's interconnection pricing plan are not scheduled until sometime in January, sparring on the issue continues between those who are benefiting from the stay and those who think they will be hindered."The telecom act...
Donald Gips has a penchant for throwing himself into his work-and play-with reckless finesse and abandon.And he's paying for it today with a severely ruptured disc on the mend from years of rough and tumble sports that could have easily left him paralyzed and...
Yet another top executive has decided to sow his wireless oats.David Twyver has left his post as president of Northern Telecom Ltd.'s Wireless Networks division to head a satellite communications company backed by Seattle billionaires Bill Gates and Craig McCaw. Twyver will be the...
WASHINGTON-Only weeks after luring Alex Mandl away from AT&T Corp. for a reported $20 million in a much celebrated coup, Associated Communications L.L.C. now finds itself mired in controversy over the suddenly popular 18 GHz spectrum for local broadband wireless multimedia services that Mandl...
The Clinton administration is crafting a plan to raise $500 million by auctioning spectrum in the 18 GHz band. The frequencies are lightly occupied today by digital electronic messaging systems, or DEMS. The spectrum would be made available for a host of voice and...
A galaxy of new wireless services may soon beam down on the telephony-poor regions of the world.Mobile satellite systems-just like terrestrial-based wireless networks-are evolving from serving specialized markets to providing consumer pocket telephony as well as plain old telephone service. Right now, many of...
WASHINGTON-The United States had mixed success in securing more spectrum for next-generation global satellite systems at the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva, an event unexpectedly preoccupied with the mammoth Teledesic Corp. network planned by high-tech billionaires Craig McCaw and Bill Gates."I think this conference...
The success of wireless communications presents a double-edged blade for mobile satellite service. On one hand, the continued acceptance of wireless communications and the development of wider applications represents large potential demand. On the other hand, the growth of terrestrial cellular systems reduces the...
WASHINGTON-He's baaack!Craig McCaw, founder of the cellular empire that AT&T Corp. bought for $11.5 billion, will bid for broadband personal communications services licenses Dec. 5.The wireless entrepreneur is one of 74 applicants seeking 99 licenses to operate next-generation pocket telephone systems across the country....
