As the arms of wireless communications continue to stretch across the country, wireless local loop services are becoming increasingly popular, especially in rural areas where landline phones don't reach many homes and businesses.In the past year, companies such as Western Wireless Corp. and Frontier...
The New York State Assembly is considering a bill that would amend county laws and state finance laws that relate to the state's cellular telephone surcharge.New York's 70-cents per month surcharge on wireless subscribers was established in 1991 to compensate the Division of State...
WASHINGTON-Notwithstanding the Federal Communications Commission's findings last week that the rollout of advanced technologies is "reasonable and timely," Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the Senate communications subcommittee, plans to introduce legislation this month to prod the FCC to do more.Burns was not-at-all happy...
TAMPA, Fla.-BellSouth International Wireless Services announced it selected Cibernet Global Settlement as its international financial settlement provider for its Pan American Roaming Consortium.PARC membership provides cellular carriers services that allow them to provide their customers the ability to roam throughout the Western Hemisphere.Cibernet is...
The Internet landscape was altered dra-matically last week when America Online Inc. announced it will acquire Netscape Communications Corp. in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $4.2 billion.At the same time, AOL also announced it entered into a strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems Inc. to...
To The Editor: With the advent of increased competition resulting from the Telecommunications Act of 1996 came a proliferation of wireless advertisements and marketing materials, not only from the incumbent cellular carriers but also from new personal communications services and enhanced specialized mobile radio services...
As an industry, we are all too aware of the fundamental changes in our business. The days of high average revenue per minute of use, phenomenal subscriber growth numbers, low churn rates and duopoly markets are long gone.Industry transformation has resulted in eroding economics: decreasing...
Today's volatile wireless telecommunications market compares to a Roman sports arena with every service provider in hand-to-hand combat-fate hanging in the balance. It doesn't take a despotic emperor to know who gets the "thumbs up" or the "thumbs down."The winners will be those who...
Reply to Kennard: Since when has the FCC been for the public?To the Editor: I read Chairman (William) Kennard's response in your Aug. 24, 1998, issue to a previous article about the direction Sen. (John) McCain appears to be taking with the FCC and can...
NEW YORK-Celumovil S.A., Bogota, Colombia, plans to raise $680 million by a private debt sale and a revolving bank loan to refinance outstanding debt and fund capital expenses and customer-acquisition costs.Bavaria, a diversified Colombian industrial conglomerate, owns 86 percent of Celumovil. AT&T Corp. has...
The proposed combination of SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. could create a big obstacle to the implementation of calling-party-pays service in the United States.Speaking last month at a luncheon sponsored by Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., Sam Ginn, chairman and chief executive...
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...
To the editor: I appreciated your recent article on customer care-you made several relevant points and I look forward to the day when carriers begin to heed your well-worded advice. If I may, I would like to add a few observations of my own: All potential...
Tom Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, will have spent two weeks on the road before he returns home to Washington, D.C. Wheeler was scheduled to spend the first week in Cannes, France, at the GSM MOU conference and this week hosting...
Like a tsunami we don't see until it's too late, number portability is heading toward the wireless industry, and few companies seem prepared for the impending storm.While phones, technology and communication vehicles have changed dramatically through the years, one constant in the telecommunications industry...
STAMFORD, Conn.-Online service subscribers make up a majority of wireless users and are considered top prospects for wireless providers marketing emerging technologies or bundled services, according to a recent survey conducted by Intelligent Information Inc. and Directions for Decisions.The survey targeted home and business...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. said Interim Standard-707 packet data, circuit-switched data and digital fax capabilities are now available on its Code Division Multiple Access infrastructure equipment. The company said it offers wireless providers an end-to-end solution for data services."Operators in Chile, India, Russia and Ukraine...
NEW YORK-Moody's Investors Service assigned a speculative grade rating of B1 to a $130 million bank credit facility that Centennial Puerto Rico Wireless Corp. obtained to finance operating losses and the rollout of its personal communications services network.At the end of November, the year-old...
There is little doubt that the telecommunications industry has taken on a global hue. Increasingly, American wireless providers are teaming up with foreign companies to expand their service portfolios across the world.As communications technologies enter these alien markets, it is interesting to see how...
With so many wireless carriers competing for potential customers, marketing techniques have become an important tool to attract clients.One of the more recent marketing trends seems to be the phenomenon of corporate sponsorships-companies donating money and products to community organizations-all in an attempt to...
Antagonism is high between wireless carriers and local governments these days as carriers continue to fight with municipalities about zoning ordinances and tower sites."Cities really want to deal with wireless if they have a better understanding of what's required," said Olan Asbury, managing director...
Motorola Inc.'s Cellular Infrastructure Group and Coral Systems Inc. reached an agreement to allow Motorola to offer its customers Coral Systems' FraudBuster fraud management system as part of its IN2 Solution Center.FraudBuster is designed to detect and manage fraud in multiple wireless systems, said...
Western PCS BTA 1 Corp. lost the first round of its battle with the city of Tucson, Ariz., over the city's new zoning ordinance. Western claims the law prohibits it from providing service in Tucson.U.S. District Court Judge William Browning denied Western's request for...
U S West Communications Inc. filed two lawsuits against the city of Longmont, Colo., challenging a city council decision that denied the company's application to raise a 100-foot monopole for wireless transmission.The lawsuits were filed May 22 in the Boulder County District Court and...
