The Operators Harmonization Group began work more than a year ago as a loosely tied group of four operators trying to end the world's heated battle over third-generation technology standards. Today this ad hoc group, which now numbers 40 operators from around the world,...
Vodafone AirTouch plc last week continued its efforts to win support for its hostile takeover bid for Germany's Mannesmann AG. At the same time, Mannesmann executives began a road show aimed at convincing shareholders to reject the bid.Mannesmann has been bolstering its defenses since...
LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc is pushing forward with details to secure its takeover efforts of Mannesmann AG, while Mannesmann is making its own preparations to ward off the bid. Vodafone launched a $128 billion hostile takeover bid-the largest takeover bid in history-for Mannesmann Nov. 19...
Vodafone AirTouch plc Friday launched a hostile takeover bid for Mannesmann AG after the German company flatly rejected an earlier all-stock bid of about $106 billion."We made a friendly approach to Mannesmann last Sunday," said Chris Gent, Vodafone AirTouch's chief executive officer. "That proposal...
NEW YORK-Not unexpectedly, the multiservice telecommunications giants led the way in revenues and profits for the first half of this year.Profit leadersBell Atlantic Corp. led in profits for the period, posting $2.315 billion, a 19.5-percent increase from the same period of 1998. It traded...
LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc acknowledged speculation circulating last week that it was interested in making a bid for Germany's Mannesmann AG and hinted that a future tie-up of the two could occur."Vodafone AirTouch and Mannesmann are long-standing partners in three of Europe's largest wireless markets...
After scoring an agreement with Vodafone AirTouch plc to deploy its location-based technology in the carrier's U.K. network, Cambridge Positioning Systems is ready to push its product in the United States."We have not done a lot of marketing in the United States on purpose,"...
WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration, bowing to industry pressure here and across the Atlantic, last week signaled for the first time a willingness to consider supporting global harmonization of third-generation mobile spectrum at next year's World Radiocommunication Conference in Turkey."We've started a process to reopen discussions...
SAN FRANCISCO-North American Global System for Mobile communications operators had an upbeat story to tell international GSM carriers this year at the GSM in North America conference last week.Last year's conference saw frustrated European and other international GSM operators that had hoped GSM technology...
NEW YORK-The astounding success of NTT DoCoMo's mobile Internet access service is a resounding note of affirmation to proponents of wireless Web services, said Crispin K. Vicars at the Yankee Group's conference Nov. 8.By the end of September, DoCoMo's wireless Internet service had 1.7...
TOKYO-DDI Corp. announced it acquired the stakes held by Nissan Motor Co. in three Tu-Ka cellular phone firms, completing a deal that was announced in August, according to The Nihon Keizai Shimbun.Japan Telecom Co. and a member of the Vodafone AirTouch plc group also...
NEW YORK-Through an underwriting syndicate led by Salomon Smith Barney, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. plans to sell up to 982,000 shares of stock, the Japan Ministry of Finance announced late last month.The sale, which is to include 131,000 shares sold in the United...
NEW YORK-For strategic and financial investors, many domestic wireless carriers possess a strong desirability quotient because they own scarce spectrum in a huge and growing market.Lehman Brothers Inc. projects that wireless penetration in the United States will reach 50 percent by 2002 and 70...
WELLINGTON, New Zealand-The cellular operators in New Zealand have released their third-quarter subscribers figures. Telecom New Zealand, owned 25-percent by Bell Atlantic Corp., reported 760,800 as of Sept. 30, while Vodafone New Zealand Ltd. had 293,000. The current cellular penetration rate in the country...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Northern Ireland is a complex country with an intriguing cellular industry. As part of the United Kingdom, it is covered by the same mobile networks (BT Cellnet, Vodafone AirTouch plc and Orange plc) as the rest of the United Kingdom. Yet those three...
American Tower Corp. reported strong third-quarter results, including improvements in net income and increases in revenues.The company said its revenues increased 121 percent to $67.5 million for the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, from revenues of $30.5 million for the same quarter last year....
American Tower Corp., the tower industry's heavyweight with nearly 10,000 towers in its portfolio, began as something of an afterthought."Our tower roots go back to my cable television days when companies like Motorola started coming to us looking to lease space on our towers,"...
The term "consolidation" is now applied continually to the wireless telecoms industry. Yet it seems inadequate to describe a situation in which European telecom companies are disappearing at a rate of up to three a week.The dynamics are clear. Europe's former state-owned PTTs and...
GreecePanafon and France Telecom announced recently they are holding discussions regarding a possible offering or an issue of an exchangeable bond by France Telecom of all or part of its remaining 20-percent equity stake in Panafon. France Telecom sold a 15-percent stake in November...
During the last five weeks, merger and acquisition announcements have flooded the telecommunications arena. Carriers in Asia, Europe and North America continue to jockey for positions in an industry that promises to exclude players without multinational footprints.Telia/TelenorThe merger of Telia of Sweden and Telenor...
VoiceStream Wireless Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Stanton said the carrier is likely to complete its mergers with Omnipoint Corp. and Aerial Communications Inc. in the first quarter as the companies wait for government approvals.Three parties have lodged protests with the Federal...
IRVING, Texas-GTE Corp. reported revenues for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 of $6.4 billion, an increase of 8 percent from the $6 billion reported for third-quarter 1998.The company recorded net earnings of $952 million, or 97 cents per share, a 14-percent increase over...
Mannesmann AG, parent of Germany's top mobile communications company, confirmed last week it made a bid to buy U.K. mobile carrier Orange plc, which Orange's largest shareholder accepted.The bid values Orange, the United Kingdom's third-largest mobile operator, at about $32 billion.Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa,...
NEW YORK-France Telecom last week proceeded toward its goal of becoming a pan-European provider of seamless mobile, wireline and Internet communications through an agreement to acquire controlling interest in E-Plus, Germany's third-largest wireless carrier.After the E-Plus acquisition, France Telecom will have about 17 million...
