Trying to compete with satellite-industry giants, Celsat America Inc., a small, domestic player in the mobile satellite services arena, filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission opposing the allocation of any new spectrum to applicants that already have licenses."According to the FCC public notice,...
Four of the larger SMR (Specialized Mobile Radio) operators in the United States have merged to create what should be the nation's largest 220 MHz SMR provider. The combination of Incom Communications Corp., US MobilComm, SMR Advisory Group L.C. and Narrowband Network Systems would...
NEW YORK-Cellular and personal communications services carrier Western Wireless Corp., Issaquah, Wash., announced that its two largest investors planned to sell 10 million shares of their stock in a public offering.Hellman & Friedman L.L.C., San Francisco, a manager of private-equity funds, invested in a...
NEW YORK-Aliant Communications Inc. said it will use part of the proceeds of a recently completed public debt issue to pay for its purchase of a 50-percent stake in Omaha Cellular General Partnership, which it will then own completely.Aliant, formerly known as Lincoln Telecommunications...
WASHINGTON-Unless it receives as-yet-undefined "higher and better alternatives" from potential buyers who would like to purchase the Dallas and Chicago C-block licenses from bankrupt Pocket Communications Inc., a group of Pocket's creditors may end up with those properties, with Pocket's remaining 41 licenses returning...
Initially used as a tool to tap into the credit-challenged market, many carriers are finding that prepaid service is attracting more than those with bad credit.Many personal communications services carriers are reporting that as much as 50 percent of their subscriber bases are made...
The recent merger activity involving second-tier cellular companies has touched off speculation about which companies may be next to tie the knot.Alltel Corp. and 3600 Communications Co. last week announced they will merge in a transaction valued at more than $6 billion. Just a...
The Federal Communications Commission fined U S West Communications Inc. and a Western Wireless Corp. subsidiary $1.2 million each for discussing bidding strategy during the D-, E- and F-block personal communications services auction and failing to report the incident in a timely manner. The...
DENVER-The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is considering a plan to provide a new area code just for wireless phones and pagers despite a 1995 ruling from the Federal Communications Commission that prohibits such action.The CPUC believes Colorado will need a new area code by...
FALLS CHURCH, Va.-Spectrum Resources Towers L.P. acquired the tower assets of PB Industries, consisting of 20 towers located in Oklahoma with tenants including Western Wireless Corp., Sprint Spectrum L.P., Paging Network Inc. and PageMart Wireless Inc., said Spectrum.The purchase was part of a $60-million...
Ericsson forms office mobility unitATLANTA-Ericsson Inc. announced the formation of the Wireless Services unit in response to the increasing need for wireless communications in the workplace.Ericsson said the new unit will provide a wireless office solution based on the Interim Standard-136 Time Division Multiple...
In the summer of 1989, one of my favorite bands, the B-52s, released an album with the big hit-tune "Roam," in which singer Kate Pierson encouraged listeners to "roam around the world." Well, it took me nine years, Kate, but I finally took you...
WASHINGTON-Just who is WNP Communications Inc. in Earlysville, Va., and where did it come up with a $100 million upfront payment for the upcoming local multipoint distribution services auction, set for a Feb. 18 start date?This earnest-money payment eclipsed those forwarded by BCK/Rivgam L.L.C....
NHancement Technologies Inc. announced that its Voice Plus subsidiary installed and launched a voice processing system in Wichita, Kan., for VoiceStream Wireless, the personal communications services division of Western Wireless Corp.Corsair Communications Inc. announced it completed an agreement with Telesis Sistemas em Telecomunicacoes Ltda....
NEW YORK-Some interesting twists are ahead on the road to roaming for personal communications services carriers as they seek to emulate their cellular counterparts, which reap between 15 percent and 20 percent of their gross revenues from long-distance wireless calls.Last year, subscribers of all...
SAN JOSE, Calif.-Aeris Communications Inc. announced that Century Cellunet, a wholly owned subsidiary of Century Telephone Enterprises Inc., will deploy its MicroBurst technology throughout its seven-state territory.MicroBurst is a wireless data and messaging solution enabling such telemetry applications as global positioning systems, Automated Meter...
CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J.-Omnipoint Communications Services Inc. and Western Wireless Corp. signed a contract to jointly operate networks in three Kansas basic trading areas, and to offer the service under Western's Voice-Stream Wireless brand."The pooling of resources in the Wichita market with Western Wireless is...
Western Wireless Corp. filed a complaint against GTE Hawaiian Telephone Co. Inc. seeking an order compelling GTE to implement arbitrated interconnection agreement rates between the companies.Gene DeJordy, director of regulatory affairs for Western Wireless, said following the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996,...
Editor's Note: The companies listed below represent the 21 through 40 largest personal communications services operators in the United States. Since many carriers have not launched service yet, company rankings are based on total population base. Information was obtained from the companies and from PCS...
ISSAQUAH, Wash.-Western Wireless Corp. ended the third quarter with 101,000 personal communications services customers, adding 26,600 subscribers during the quarter.For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Western Wireless recorded a net loss of $68 million, or 97 cents per share, compared with a loss of...
SEATTLE-Some 1,900 wireless data professionals gathered in Seattle last week to determine what future their long-struggling industry might have at Wireless APPS '97.In this muggy Emerald City, they found the yellow brick road to the future of wireless data is indeed changing. Attendees left...
NEW YORK-"Show me the money!"Flush with capital pouring in and looking for places to invest, that is exactly what Wall Street hopes to do for the wireless industry."There is a lot of money out there, so much money out there, more equity in stocks...
Telecom Personal, a cellular service provider in northern Argentina, announced a consortium it is part of has been granted the B-band license to provide cellular service in Paraguay.On Oct. 14, one day after the bidding deadline, Paraguay's Telecommunications National Commission, known as Conatel, granted...
Beating other U.S. personal communications services carriers to the punch, Western Wireless Corp. announced Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd.'s intention to invest about $248 million in its Global System for Mobile communications PCS business.HTL, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. that holds a 49-percent...
