AustraliaThe Australian government will auction a further 30 megahertz of paired spectrum in the 1.8 GHz band early next year. The auction, which will be conducted by the Australian Communications Authority (ACA), is expected to reap up to $200 million (US$130 million). The government...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission received two rebukes from the Senate last week regarding the agreement its general counsel signed Aug. 10 that seemed to pave the way for Nextel Communications Inc. to buy personal communications services licenses held by NextWave Telecom Inc.Also, notwithstanding a...
American Tower Corp. last week made its first large carrier transaction through a master sublease agreement with Vodafone AirTouch plc.The deal gives American Tower the sublease rights to 2,100 AirTouch towers in the United States for $800 million in cash, which works out to...
Sprint PCS's awaited introduction of nationwide commercial Internet-access services will begin in late September, announced the company.Targeting business users and a wide range of consumer customers that are heavy Internet and e-mail users, Sprint PCS will hit the market with Sprint PCS Wireless Web,...
Any hopes Vodafone AirTouch plc had in linking up with Bell Atlantic Corp. to create a nationwide wireless footprint in the United States were likely dashed last week when the two agreed to split up jointly owned PCS operator PrimeCo Personal Communications and dissolve...
Nissan Motor Co. said last week it will sell its stakes in nine Japanese cellular operators, a move that is sure to pave the way for consolidation in a wireless industry crowded with eight operating groups, say analysts.Choosing to focus on its ailing automotive...
FranceFrance Telecom said it signed a partnership agreement with the Sonae group in Portugal. The two already have a working relationship as stakeholders in Optimus, the third mobile operator in Portugal. The new partnership would be held 43.33 percent by France Telecom and 56.67...
Two Code Division Multiple Access carriers launched limited data services last week that involve linking wireless phones to laptop computers via a cable, allowing the phones to act both as a voice device and wireless data modem.Such a solution has been available from Global...
The worldwide wireless industry is expected to pass a significant milestone sometime during 2000.With total mobile subscribers at the end of last year of about 315 million and a growth rate of nearly 8 percent this year, mobile subscribers are expected to surpass the...
LONDON-British Telecommunications plc said it will acquire for $5 billion Securicor's 40-percent shareholding in BT Cellnet, the United Kingdom's second-largest cellular operator-behind Vodafone AirTouch plc-with about 5 million subscribers. British Telecom already owns 60 percent of BT Cellnet, so the acquisition would give it...
The popularity of prepaid wireless services has skyrocketed in the United States, but carriers are experiencing a not-so-pleasant side effect- high churn-and many are challenged by the need to expand prepaid offerings without exposing themselves to this phenomenon.Prepaid wireless service has become an important...
Intelligent agent technology has been long considered a potential boon for messaging applications looking to provide meaningful content to wireless devices.Agents are small bits of code capable of monitoring data, recognizing what information is valuable to its user and then transmitting it to a...
The industry has seen AT&T Wireless Services Inc. pick up smaller cellular carriers in order to fill in gaps and avoid paying high roaming fees, and Vodafone AirTouch plc's acquisition of rural cellular carrier CommNet Cellular Inc. indicates other carriers are feeling the roaming-fee...
Yet another study has been done on the merits of reselling wireless service. This one, conducted by Professor John Mayor of the Georgetown University School of Business, Mark Burton of Marshall University and David Kaserman of Auburn University, concludes that reselling wireless services contributes...
Poor financial results continue to plague personal communications services operator Aerial Communications Inc., and its spinoff from parent company, Telephone and Data Systems Inc., is moving slower than anticipated. Analysts believe TDS may be better off selling the company.Aerial Communications Inc. added just 15,000...
SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc. named Susan Swenson president of Leap and chief executive officer of Leap's U.S. subsidiary, Cricket Communications Inc.Swenson, who also will join Leap's board of directors, previously served as president and CEO for Cellular One, a joint venture between Vodafone...
Second-quarter subscriber growth in the U.K. mobile-phone market exceeded analysts' expectations as prepaid services continue to provide a growth engine for the industry."The market has been ahead of expectations since the fourth quarter" when carriers introduced aggressive prepaid pricing plans, said Jake Saunders, European...
Pannon GSM Tavkozlesi RT, Budapest, Hungary, was expected last week to place privately about $123 million in euro-denominated bonds it plans to use to refinance outstanding debt.Pannon, which operates a Global System for Mobile communications 900 network, has about 450,000 customers, or about 40...
United KingdomBritish Telecommunications plc said it will buy Control Data Systems Inc., a software company based in Arden Hills, Minn., for $340 million. The purchase will expand British Telecom's service offering. Control Data makes software that links programs from various suppliers, letting companies file...
BERKSHIRE, England-Vodafone Group plc and AirTouch Communications Inc. completed their merger.AirTouch's stock stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange at the end of the day June 29, and shares of the combined company began trading on the London Stock Exchange June 30. American...
WASHINGTON-An International Telecommunication Union task group in June in Beijing approved a carrier-crafted plan to harmonize competing U.S. and European CDMA technologies for Internet-friendly third-generation mobile phones, paving the way for the compromise to be translated into a new, global-roaming standard by year's end.ITU...
DUBLIN, Ireland-One of the most common complaints from telecommunications companies competing with former monopoly operators is cross-subsidization by the incumbent, particularly in countries where the incumbent also controls a major cellular operator. However, regulators across Europe have been tackling this issue, and it now...
WASHINGTON-Bell Atlantic Corp. continues to study ways to take its wireless business public, said Dennis F. Strigl, chief executive officer of Bell Atlantic Global Wireless. Strigl also was a featured speaker at the Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. conference.Strigl said a spinoff of...
SWINDON, U.K.-Lucent Technologies Inc. and Vodafone Group plc announced they made their first third-generation over-the-air trial calls using Lucent's Global Third Generation Code Division Multiple Access technology at Vodafone's headquarters in Newbury, England."These trials, together with Lucent's public demonstrations of over-the-air performance up to...
