U.S. government officials pressed L.M. Ericsson Chief Executive Sven-Christer Nilsson last week to lobby the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to adopt the tri-mode CDMA third-generation standard framework agreed to at a TransAtlantic Business Dialogue meeting months ago.Government officials are concerned over statements Ericsson made...
AGOURA HILLS, Calif.-Orange continues to dominate the U.K. mobile market in terms of customer satisfaction, according to a study by J.D. Power and Associates titled, "1999 U.K. Mobile Customer Satisfaction Study."Orange received the highest customer satisfaction index score at 116 for the second year...
If there is any hope second-generation CDMA technology will penetrate Europe, it may be through some struggling NMT 450 operators.The NMT MoU group, consisting of NMT 450 operators from Europe and Asia, wants members to vote at its October meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia,...
DUBLIN, Ireland-In the wake of the phenomenal success of "ready-to-go" prepaid packages, many European mobile phone subscribers are concerned they are paying more than they need to for their service. This issue came to a head earlier this year in the United Kingdom where...
NEW YORK-On the strength of three large mergers, communications led domestic industry sectors in merger activity last quarter, a period in which the dollar volume of these deals totaled nearly twice that of the same period a year earlier.Some 1,974 planned mergers and acquisitions...
PrimeCo Personal Communications L.P., which stunned the wireless world with the largest simultaneous launch of a personal communications services network in November 1996, is on the verge of being broken up by its parent companies, AirTouch Communications Inc. and Bell Atlantic Corp.PrimeCo ranks as...
European telecom operators made headlines last week with involvement in several potential mergers and buyouts. The United Kingdom's largest cellular operator, Vodafone Group plc, said it agreed to buy the mobile phone unit of Cable & Wireless Communications plc, M.C. Mobile Services. The $35.5...
WASHINGTON-Two telecommunications mega-mergers hit snags last week as the Federal Communications Commission said it had serious concerns about the SBC/Ameritech combination and the Virginia State Corporation Commission disapproved of the marriage between Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp., saying it lacked enough information to...
PageMart Wireless Inc. expanded its resale and network integration effort last week, announcing a two-stage strategic relationship with AirTouch Communications Inc.'s paging division, similar to an agreement announced with Metrocall Inc. last November.Under the first phase of the agreement, AirTouch will begin reselling PageMart's...
WASHINGTON-Despite the much-ballyhooed settlement of the patent dispute between Qualcomm Inc. and L.M. Ericsson and the global embrace of multiple third-generation mobile phone standards, it remains unclear whether American wireless technology can break into a European market that has shunned it to date.Some industry...
CANNES, France-Motorola Inc. and Global System for Mobile communications operator Vodafone Ltd. announced a collaborative agreement to implement Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems technology, a third-generation standard chosen by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute.According to the agreement, Motorola is prepared to provide subscriber terminal equipment...
U.S. Global System for Mobile communications carriers took a financial beating in 1998, but analysts expect 1999 to look brighter for these carriers as they look to butter up their bottom lines and find strategic partners.Tight financing, high churn levels and a general under-performance...
The Finnish government said it will be the first European country to grant third-generation mobile phone licenses by spring, and one company's bid to use cdma2000 technology remains.Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications said Vodafone Group plc and a consortium consisting of British Telecom,...
NEW ORLEANS-The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium and the GSM North American Alliance announced plans to work to achieve interoperability between TDMA and GSM technology, a move that could facilitate national and global consolidation among carriers with incompatible technologies and in particular allow SBC Communications...
NEW ORLEANS-International Telecommunication Union members did not reach any consensus in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, on harmonizing the various radio transmission technology proposals received by the ITU for third-generation technology.The ITU has decided harmonization efforts will rest with carriers and has asked them to put...
ATLANTA-TWS Inc. announced it has joined the Vodafone Business Partners Programme to provide enhanced wireless messaging services to Vodafone subscribers.TWS' bulletIN Internet Messaging Services will allow Vodafone customers in the United Kingdom to use their wireless phones as mobile offices. The technology allows operators...
A Finnish Internet service provider will test the European Commission's claim it has not shut competing mobile phone technologies out of Europe.Clari Net Oy, wholly owned by Finnish ISP Saunalahden Serveri Oy, has applied for a license to operate a third-generation mobile phone network...
As the end of the millennium approaches, it is worth pondering whether the recent bout of mergers and acquisitions are precedents to some colossal event of biblical proportions or merely defensive strategies of companies safeguarding themselves against falling commodity prices, uncertain technological change, increased...
In a rapidly consolidating wireless industry, the list of available cellular carriers last week got shorter by two.After entertaining bids from at least two suitors, including Bell Atlantic Corp., AirTouch Communications Inc. opted to tie up with Britain's Vodafone Group plc in a deal...
Chief Executive Officer: Chris GentChairman: Sam GinnDeal value: $97 per shareCombined current market capitalization: $100 billionEquity split: about 50-50Terms: AirTouch shareholders receive firve new ordinary Vodafone shares, or 0.5 of a Vodafone ADR, plus $9 cash for each AirTouch shareWireless customers: more than 23 millionEmployees: 24,000Headquarters: Newbury, EnglandWorldwide presence: Australia, Belgium, Egypt, Fiji, Frnace,...
The union of AirTouch Communications Inc. and Vodafone plc could be a pinnacle event in the third-generation technology debate, industry experts say.The new company's economic decisions could weigh heavily on a sensitive and political debate over wideband Code Division Multiple Access technology. The two...
DENVER-The posturing continued last week among the players interested in buying AirTouch Communications Inc.The Financial Times reported Vodafone Group plc is considering sweetening its $55 billion offer for AirTouch and structuring the deal as an acquisition rather than a merger. The newspaper said the...
In the Top 20 Wireless Resellers list (Jan. 11), Discount Cellular Inc. and The Mobile Phone Co. were listed wrong. The companies are agents for Omnipoint. Discount Cellular also is an agent for Powertel and Sprint PCS and a reseller for several cellular carriers....
NEW YORK-The United Kingdom started off 1999 with a bang, becoming the first country to implement local number portability for wireless telephony customers.All four cellular operators-Orange plc, Vodafone Group plc, Cellnet and One 2 One-had agreed to license amendments in the fall of 1997...
