The clock is ticking away for Leap Wireless International Inc. as it awaits Federal Communications Commission approval to bid in the reauction of C-block personal communications services spectrum.Five entities have filed comments or petitions to deny with the FCC protesting Leap's desire to qualify...
The nation's largest independent cellular carrier last week entertained bids from two potential acquirers in what could become a global bidding war.AirTouch Communications Inc. last week confirmed it was in discussions with Bell Atlantic Corp. for a possible tie-up and later confirmed it had...
NEW YORK-As 1999 debuts, wireless companies seeking to raise money should be encouraged by news the venture capital market is flush with cash and ripe for picking."On the private-equity side, there is more competition to finance deals (because) there is so much money out...
LONDON-The Baltic region covers an area of 174,000 square kilometers, with approximately 8 million people generating US$13 billion in gross domestic product (GDP). But while Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania may seem similar countries to an outside eye, in reality they boast quite different cultures,...
NEW YORK-Denmark-based Bosch Telecom Inc., which introduced the World 718 phone in June, has decided to close its Dallas office for U.S. sales and marketing, although it will continue selling the handsets here.The World 718 phone can operate on Global System for Mobile Communications...
CINCINNATI-Harris Corp. announced it acquired Intraplex Inc., which Harris plans to integrate into its Broadcast Systems Division.Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Intraplex develops integrated digital network access products for wireless and broadcast networks. Clients include Western Wireless Corp. and Ericsson Inc.
Western Wireless Corp. said it is considering spinning off its 80.1-percent ownership interest in its personal communications business VoiceStream Wireless Corp. to its shareholders on a tax-free basis.The company, which owns mature and profitable cellular properties, said it filed a request for ruling with...
INTERDIGITALGerard Pepenella was hired by InterDigital Communications Corp. as vice president and general manager of broadband Code Division Multiple Access technology. He will collaborate with Gary Lomp, chief technology officer, on growth and enhancement of the company's technology and products. Pepenella joined InterDigital with...
WASHINGTON-A Kansas state law creating the Kansas Universal Service Fund discriminates against wireless carriers and should be pre-empted, the wireless industry told the Federal Communications Commission earlier this month.For example, Omnipoint Communications Inc. said rules established by the Kansas Corporation Commission "effectively precluded residents...
Wireless operators seem to be reacting to AT&T Wireless Services Inc.'s Digital One Rate plan, but have fallen short of offering plans that mimic AT&T's.As reported by RCR Aug. 31, Bell Atlantic Mobile announced last week single rate plans. Only one pricing plan-which offers...
The first half of this year has produced several landscape-changing events in the wireless industry. If completed, the proposed mergers between SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. and Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp. could put several significant cellular markets up for grabs by...
NEW YORK-Citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent begun with publishing industry-related cases dating back to 1926, the Internal Revenue Service has determined a cellular provider must amortize, or spread out over time, tax deductions it takes for reseller commissions on customer acquisitions.The alternative, preferred by...
NEW YORK-When it comes to American pure-play personal communications services IPOs, the million-dollar question is, "Where did they go?"Sprint Corp. may hold the answer with its planned initial public offering this fall of $500 million to $1 billion in common stock to finance a...
WASHINGTON-A proposal from Western Wireless Corp. to receive universal-service support payments for providing telephone service to rural areas seems to have gotten a lukewarm response from the Federal Communications Commission.A basic piece of the Western Wireless proposal-to have the FCC re-evaluate support for rural...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Contrary to most industry predictions, Meteor Mobile Communications has secured the third mobile license in the Republic of Ireland.Orange plc of the United Kingdom strongly was fancied to secure the country's first combined GSM 900 license.The Meteor consortium is 60-percent owned by U.S.-based...
Aeris Communications Inc. announced it signed Bell Atlantic Mobile as its latest MicroBurst carrier partner, increasing its U.S. coverage to 60 percent of the nation.MicroBurst is a short-burst data application transmitted via the cellular control channel. Cellular carriers employing it can offer wireless data...
DENVER-The Colorado State Patrol will launch a new program July 1 in conjunction with wireless carriers and VisionTek Inc. in an effort to combat aggressive driving.Motorists who witness "road rage" can dial *CSP on their wireless phone to reach a CSP Communications Center. Officers...
ISSAQUAH, Wash.-Western Wireless International, through its majority ownership interest in Meteor Mobile Communications Ltd., was awarded a license to provide Global System for Mobile communications services in Ireland.As Ireland's third wireless carrier, Meteor plans to provide wireless services to an estimated 3.6 million people...
NEW YORK-In a "three-peat" of its 1995 and 1996 performance, AT&T Corp. again took first place in revenues and net income among carriers last year, despite a marked decline in profits year-to-year.AT&T closed its last fiscal year with $51.32 billion in revenues, up 1.53...
WASHINGTON-CTIA last week at its fourth annual Cellular Telephone Industry Association Foundation Achievement Awards Dinner paid tribute to Dennis F. Strigl, Newt Gingrich and the 50 winners of its Vita wireless samaritan awards who all used wireless phones to help people in danger or...
BALTIMORE-After a 95-minute delay during which 15 attorneys negotiated the Pocket Communications Inc. bankruptcy case last Thursday at the courthouse cafeteria here, the bankruptcy judge said Pocket can participate in today's C-block elections but that its selection will be held in abeyance until at...
WASHINGTON-The federal government is expected Thursday to ask a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Baltimore to extend the so-called drop-dead date on the personal communications services licenses awarded to Pocket Communications Inc. in the C-block auction so the government can continue negotiating with the debtors-in-possession...
Pricing has stabilized in the majority of U.S. markets, say analysts.While the name of the game last summer was to get the phone in the hand of the user with price offerings like $50 for 1,000 minutes per month, carriers this year are likely...
ATLANTA-World Access Inc. said it supplied equipment and services to Western Wireless International for a network deployment in Africa. The initial value of the contract is $2 million.According to the first phase of the agreement, World Access will supply network infrastructure equipment, engineering, installation...
