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...
WASHINGTON-In an effort to prove it is a viable company and at the same time help a struggling icon, bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. said on July 2 it has signed a contract with Lucent Technologies Inc. to begin building out a CDMA network."We are...
Unplugged Games Inc. officially released its MobileStage gaming product, a wireless video game platform for carriers designed to increase revenues through multiplayer games and specialized billing systems."It, in many ways, is the core of our business," said Eric Goldberg, founder and president of Unplugged...
Mobile-phone maker LG InfoComm U.S.A. Inc. has been "in the closet, so to speak," according to Michele Thenegal, the company's marketing director.While LG InfoComm hasn't been completely dormant during its time in the closet-the company said it garnered about 11 percent of the U.S....
OWINGS MILLS, Md.-Aether Systems Inc. today announced an ambitious plan to expand its business into South Korea and get some first-hand experience with the country's advanced cdma2000 1xRTT network. The move could better position Aether in the United States when carriers like Verizon Wireless...
While large wireless operators are more than happy to discuss their plans for next-generation wireless services, some of the small- to mid-sized carriers seem to have let the idea of high-speed networks fall through the cracks of providing services to their customers. Even though...
Network coverage is the unexciting side of the wireless industry. Sure, most carriers proclaim to have excellent coverage in their markets, but real-world results are often lacking. Someone in the wireless industry recently discussed a conversation she tried to have with an executive of...
Each time the death knell sounds, Lucent Technologies Inc. seems to rebound.Last week was a metaphor of what might be the roller coaster ride the Murray Hill-based telecom equipment company has experienced in the past three quarters.Moody's Investors Service downgraded the company to junk...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling that the Federal Communications Commissions illegally repossessed NextWave Telecom's personal communications services licenses has turned a once $17 billion windfall for the federal government, and much needed capacity for wireless carriers, into...
WASHINGTON-The impact on the federal budget of last month's decision by a federal appeals court to overturn the reclamation and re-auction of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s 90 PCS C- and F-block licenses was an undercurrent of Thursday's Senate Appropriations commerce, justice, state and the...
