WASHINGTON-Verizon Wireless, which has spent almost $9 billion for personal communications services licenses, asked the Federal Communications Commission last week to delay the March 6 auction of 700 MHz licenses until September."The 700 MHz auction should be postponed. There remains considerable uncertainty about the...
Most analysts expected the Federal Communications Commission's auction of 422 personal communications services licenses to finish up late last week. Instead, there were 37 eligible bidders placing 27 new high bids on licenses during round 70 of the auction. The new high bids brought...
DENVER, United States-When the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set aside a portion of the permits up for bid in its 1996 auction of personal communications services (PCS) licenses, the intent was to foster competition in the wireless industry by allowing minority-owned companies, known...
Wireless operators may now have to take some of the blame for New York residents feeling somewhat superior to the rest of the country. Through 49 rounds of bidding in the Federal Communications Commission's re-auction of PCS licenses, the Big Apple is the only...
When the Federal Communications Commission set aside a portion of the licenses up for bid in its 1996 personal communications services auction, the intent was to foster competition in the wireless industry by allowing minority-owned companies, known as designated entities, to purchase licenses without...
As reports of a slowdown in the wireless industry continue to make headlines in the news and on Wall Street, wireless carriers have been reporting strong customer addition numbers for the fourth quarter, with analysts predicting continued growth for 2001."Subscriber numbers have simply failed...
The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc., the advertising industry's self-regulatory forum, recommended that VoiceStream Wireless "modify its advertising to more clearly communicate the geographical limitations of its coverage area."The recommendation was made after Verizon Wireless challenged the truthfulness...
MEXICO CITY-U.K.-based Vodafone Group purchased a 34.5-percent stake in Iusacell, Mexico's second-largest mobile operator, in an effort to expand into the Latin American wireless market, according to international press reports. The US$973.4 million purchase was made from Grupo Peralta, the firm that introduced Mexico...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Unplugged Games Inc., a developer of multiplayer games for wireless devices, will provide Verizon Wireless games for its Mobile Web customers.Verizon Wireless customers will be able to access Unplugged Games' flagship product, Word Trader, through a new Mobile Web games folder on their...
WASHINGTON-The Communications Workers of America signed a contract with employees of the newly formed Cingular Wireless Inc. in Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Maryland."The negotiations between several CWA regions and Cingular management were very positive and a good effort. Both sides were determined to...
PHOENIX-Verizon Wireless launched digital service in Yuma, Ariz., offering consumers enhanced features including caller ID, wireless Internet access, extended battery life for their handsets and enhanced protection against cloning fraud."We are excited about delivering all of the benefits of digital service to area residents,...
NEW YORK-Price Communications Corp. reported that its board of directors has authorized the company to purchase up to 3 million additional shares of its common stock from time to time in the open market or in private transactions."In light of our performance and recent...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-The country's largest wireless operator, Verizon Wireless, reported it added more than 1.2 million net new customers during the fourth quarter of 2000, bringing its total net additions for the year to 3.7 million customers and its total subscriber base to 27.5 million.Verizon...
In an age of customer-service fumbles and a plethora of services, high-tech wizards dream of bundling as the lightning rod to greater revenues. So far, theory has proved superior to practice. But optimism may yet triumph.Unlike in the past when AT&T's monopoly reigned, competition...
ORANGEBURG, N.Y.-Verizon Wireless urged the New York State Legislature to consider statewide legislation requiring drivers to use hands-free devices while using cell phones and driving.Verizon said its announcement comes in response to a rash of local ordinances that are being considered in New York...
TOKYO-KDDI, the sole cdmaOne operator in Japan, has been expanding its international roaming services, fully using its universally standardized cdmaOne technology.In January, KDDI launched international roaming services in Canada in cooperation with Telus Mobility, a major Canadian carrier. Canada will become the fifth country...
PRAGUE, Czech Republic-During the 11 years since the fall of communism in Central Europe, the region's countries have rapidly embraced mobile telephony, including the ubiquitous GSM networks now blanketing the region. And operators are beginning to plan for next-generation mobile telephony in countries where...
The millennium is off to a good start for Vodafone Group.The U.K.-based carrier began 2000 with a hostile takeover of Mannesmann, parent of its rival Orange, and continued with a spending spree for third-generation (3G) licenses across Europe. The year also marked the finalization...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-TruePosition Inc. and Verizon Wireless have successfully completed testing TruePosition's Wireless Location System in Manhattan, New York.The testing demonstrated sub-100 meter location results in a variety of indoor, outdoor, pedestrian and moving-vehicle scenarios."Manhattan proves to be a challenging environment for radio propagation and...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission, in separate rulings, last week said Western Wireless Corp. and Verizon Wireless can receive universal-service funds to help them provide wireless telco service in Wyoming and Delaware.The decisions represent major victories for the wireless industry in terms of regulatory precedent...
NEW YORK-Before mobile commerce can reach the goal of providing a value-added revenue stream for wireless carriers, it must fulfill its potential as a value-added service for their customers."Today m-commerce is a subset of e-commerce, and it's having problems. It's not taking off. You've...
WASHINGTON-Baltimore superlawyer Peter Angelos confirmed he may take over mobile phone-cancer litigation in Maryland that was dealt a major legal setback recently, but he distanced himself from press reports last week that said his law firm intended to file lawsuits around the country against...
Leap Wireless International Inc. announced it bought NeoPoint Inc.'s myAladdin.com location-based content aggregation portal and wireless information technology.Leap said it will extend the service to its Cricket customers and others in the first half of the year. Financial details of the transaction were not...
BelgiumKPN Mobile will acquire 50 percent of Belgian operator KPN Orange Belgium from France Telecom for US$443.5 million, giving KPN 100-percent ownership. France Telecom had to divest its KPN Orange ownership, which it acquired through its acquisition of Orange plc earlier this year, to...
