The federal government recently has been looking at freeing up spectrum in the 1710-1850 MHz band, currently being used by the Department of Defense, and the 2500-2690 MHz band, which is occupied by a variety of tenants including religious, educational and fixed wireless Internet...
WASHINGTON-A public-safety initiative to bring all those involved in enhanced 911 implementation together got off to a rocky start last week when many of the largest carriers said they had either not been invited or were unaware of a press conference meant to kick...
The stock market is up. The Dow is back over 10,000, but no one really knows why. Ignore it.The stock market, especially technology stocks, has been changing faster than Colorado's springtime weather. One minute Lucent Technologies Inc. and Motorola Inc. are fighting off reports...
WASHINGTON-Fears about the timely deployment of enhanced 911 Phase II service appear to be coming true even as the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission expressed optimism that the Oct.1 deadline will be met.In the last week alone, one of the nation's largest carriers...
Deutsche Telekom's pending deal to purchase VoiceStream Wireless Corp., took a strange turn last week as apparent false correspondence concerning the merger from the offices of Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Gloria Tristani and Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.), ranking member of the Senate Commerce...
WASHINGTON-The mobile-phone industry, stung by two government reports last week that largely rule out use of the 1700 MHz and 2500 MHz bands for third-generation wireless systems, managed to win a commitment from Commerce Secretary Donald Evans to work with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld...
In addition to being headquarters to a slew of businesses that have become known worldwide, including Microsoft Corp. and Starbucks, Seattle last week was ground zero for GSM technology as VoiceStream Wireless Corp. hosted the GSM Association's 45th Plenary Meeting.While the meeting is only...
WASHINGTON-The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission says he is bullish on third-generation wireless services but believes not only is new spectrum needed, but carriers must also make efficient use of the spectrum they currently have."I am one who is bullish about the prospects...
WASHINGTON-Republicans and Democrats last week officially began the fight for control of America's high-tech agenda, a battle more about broad national economic policies than about key digital issues like privacy, e-commerce taxation, cyber security and third-generation mobile-phone spectrum.President Bush, seeking to shore up support...
LAS VEGAS-Sonera's zed portal service won a major victory last week as wireless carrier Vodafone U.K. adopted the services for use in the United Kingdom. Vodafone Group plc offers its own portal service to carriers in conjunction with Vivendi, called Vizzavi, and the carrier...
WEST POINT, Ga.-Personal communications services provider Powertel Inc. reported its customer base exceeded 1 million customers during the first quarter.The carrier, which was the first PCS carrier to offer commercial service in 1996, currently serves 34 metropolitan markets covering more than 25 million people...
WASHINGTON-Congressional opponents of the proposed $30 billion acquisition of VoiceStream Wireless Corp. by Deutsche Telekom AG have struck again, just weeks after VoiceStream was successful in getting members of its congressional delegation to urge support for the deal."In recent days, a series of comments...
When Verizon Wireless introduced the Kyocera 6035 smart phone last week, many were surprised by how quickly the country's largest wireless operator brought the new phone to market."Time to market is very important, and Verizon did a good job of getting the phone to...
It was the wild, wild West of wireless history.After the breakup of AT&T, in which the company lost its cellular business, the Federal Communications Commission began allocating cellular licenses to the Baby Bells and others. One of those others was McCaw Cellular Communications Inc.,...
In a marriage of convenience, carriers are signing temporary dotted lines to outsource their network management to vendors as they migrate to the next generation of wireless technology.The trend, which concedes to vendors a pivotal role in positioning carriers for the new technologies, moves...
NEW YORK-Some recent developments have brightened the longer-term prospects for smart cards in North American wireless communications, although the picture gets cloudier when framed as an immediate prospect.Opportunity is knocking for expansion of their use in provisioning of telecommunications services. Beyond that deployment, smart-card...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-America Online Inc. and VoiceStream Wireless Corp. reported a comprehensive services, content and marketing agreement to provide America Online's features and services to customers as part of VoiceStream's wireless Internet service.Under the multi-year agreement, AOL members, AOL Instant Messenger users and VoiceStream Wireless...
A variety of wireless operators released fourth quarter results last week, including national carrier VoiceStream Wireless Corp., regional operator Western Wireless Corp. and flat rate, local calling provider Leap Wireless International Inc.VoiceStreamVoiceStream, which is in the midst of a takeover by Germany's Deutsche Telekom,...
WASHINGTON-Facing deadlines to implement location-based wireless 911 technology, two major vendors and an advocacy group presented wireless carriers a plan to give carriers extra time to deploy enhanced 911 Phase II service in exchange for providing disaster-warning alerts to the phones of subscribers."We made...
Deutsche Telekom AG's $35 billion proposal to buy U.S. GSM operators VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and Powertel Inc. has been delayed as DT and VoiceStream are said to be re-negotiating the acquisition price due to DT's stock slump, according to The New York Times. In...
NEW YORK-With the stocks of mobile operators down from their 52-week highs, despite some recent rebounding, now is a good time to buy them, said Sean P. Butson, wireless services analyst for Legg Mason Wood Walker, Baltimore.Investors have legitimate but overblown concerns about downward...
VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and France Telecom have signed up to test the PocketThis solution, a new way for wireless subscribers to capture information from the wireless Web and store it in a `pocket' with one keystroke, either by using a wireless phone or personal...
NEW YORK-Borrowing the vernacular of a traffic engineer, a financier compared the current capital market conditions for telecommunications companies to rush-hour congestion, but observed that the tie-up looks like it is slowly beginning to clear.Investors still are sorting out a host of concerns that...
Several large wireless operators showed proof of continuing strength in the wireless industry, amid rumblings of a general slowdown in the economy. AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless and Powertel Inc., all released fourth-quarter earnings reports last week showing positive results.AT&T Wireless...
