A trio of wireless carriers released second-quarter results last week showing ongoing strength of the industry despite the continued slowdown in the general economy.Alltel Corp.'s reliance on its wireless operations increased during the second quarter of this year as the country's sixth-largest wireless operator's...
PRAGUE, Czech Republic-Atlantic West, a joint venture owned 51 percent by Verizon Telecommunications and 49 percent by AT&T Corp., is reportedly selling its 49-percent stake in Czech mobile operator EuroTel Praha for about $1.5 billion to Cesky Telecom. The deal would give Cesky Telecom...
NEW YORK-The disjointed approach of the diverse players involved in mobile data communications is a major hindrance to their ability to capitalize on the potential of the corporate enterprise market, which could total $29 billion worldwide by 2006, a new Ovum report concluded.Cellular and...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia-Telus Corp. completed the sale of its directory information services business to Verizon Information Services, a Yellow pages and online directory provider.Telus said it would use the $527 million in gross proceeds to pay down debt and help finance its national growth...
WASHINGTON—Bankrupt PCS carrier NextWave Telecom, in a strongly worded response, on 30 July urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny a petition filed recently by a group of winning bidders in the re-auction of NextWave's licenses.The "petitioners—relying solely on speculation and innuendo—have fabricated...
WASHINGTON—A group of 16 House Democrats on 31 July warned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to grant the waiver requests of wireless carriers seeking to delay implementation of enhanced 911 (E911) Phase II services."The basic wireless E911 requirements have been in place since...
PRAGUE, Czech Republic—Atlantic West, a joint venture owned 51 percent by Verizon Telecommunications and 49 percent by AT&T, both of the United States, is reportedly selling its 49-percent stake in Czech mobile operator EuroTel Praha for about US$1.5 billion to Cesky Telecom. The deal...
BEDMINSTER, New Jersey, United States—While cdma2000 1x handsets are not expected to be available until the fourth quarter, Verizon Wireless upgraded its network in parts of New York and northern New Jersey to support the next-generation technology. The carrier said the upgrade will support...
WASHINGTON-The five largest bidders in the Federal Communications Commission's recent re-auction of PCS licenses sent a letter last week urging the agency to make a deal with bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. that would have NextWave relinquishing its licenses for a cash payment near NextWave's...
The nation's largest wireless carrier created another plot twist in the ongoing E911 saga, filing a waiver petition with the Federal Communications Commission last Wednesday asking to change its location technology choice from a network- to a handset-based solution, citing the unavailability of a...
PITTSBURGH-Verizon Wireless launched its first retail outlet in an airport at Pittsburgh International Airport. The store includes a free recharging station for cell phone batteries and a language line to assist non-English-speaking travelers. The store also is open extended hours year round."Pittsburgh has an...
While lawyers have spent the past four years wrangling over the fate of Nextwave Telecom Inc.'s 93 C- and F-block licenses, the wanna-be telecom company has been moving ahead with its plans to build out and launch its network. With the U.S. Court of...
WASHINGTON-Three wireless carriers-all of which won licenses in the PCS re-auction-petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to re-evaluate the ownership structure of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc."This investigation should include an inquiry as to whether the company, based on the totality of the circumstances, was eligible...
The country's continued slowing economy seemed to have little impact on wireless carriers reporting second-quarter results last week, with Sprint PCS, often used as a bellwether for the industry, and U.S. Cellular Corp. posting solid financial results and customer additions.Sprint PCS surprised many with...
With as many as six wireless operators to choose from in some markets, wireless carriers have to work overtime to keep their customers from jumping ship. While customer churn industrywide remains steady in the 2-percent to 3-percent range per month, wireless carriers are seeing...
NEW YORK-Telecommunications reflected the dramatic drop in the number and size of mergers and acquisitions involving U.S. companies last quarter, Los Angeles-based Mergerstat reported.Across industry sectors, these transactions numbered 1,954, down from 2,539 during the year-ago quarter. Communications companies announced 86 combinations this spring,...
WASHINGTON-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last week told lawmakers no decision has been reached on future military spectrum requirements, a response starkly at odds with top brass and one that comes as Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) moves closer to introducing legislation to force the Pentagon...
Many people have claimed the success of the Internet really took off once service providers implemented one-rate plans for unlimited usage. The plans allowed computer users to surf all they wanted without having to worry about a surprise bill at the end of the...
While the event was not celebrated with fireworks across the country, AT&T Wireless finally was able to celebrate its independence last week as it began its first trading day as an independent company. And, while most people were not expecting AT&T Wireless' stock to...
Close below the surface of the third-generation mobile-phone spectrum debate is a technology war, the kind of feud industry thought was behind it and wanted to avoid as it tries to present a unified front in the campaign to wrestle away frequencies from the...
WASHINGTON-In the world of wireless enhanced 911, the Fourth of July fireworks were not just up in the sky. Carriers, public-safety officials and government spent the holiday week reacting to a strongly worded letter from Thomas Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet...
WASHINGTON-The Bush administration came under pressure from key Senate Democrats last week to require the Department of Defense to surrender spectrum sought by mobile-phone firms for third-generation wireless systems, a development with heavy political overtones and a sense of urgency that could further isolate...
Microsoft Corp. may have turned up the heat in the database management system battle with IBM Corp. and Oracle. But some analysts believe that the recent court decision declaring the software giant a monopoly may have put a damper on their zeal."The court decision...
Expand coverage. Reduce interference. Increase capacity. Enable higher bandwidth.These are the four corners of Conductus Inc.'s philosophy in rolling out its ClearSite solutions for first-, second- and next-generation air-interface standards.To bring these lofty dreams to fruition, the company has produced the ClearSite 2100 systems...
