NEW YORK-Landline replacement, the Holy Grail of wireless telephony, received a boost from an array of forces unleashed simultaneously into the communications environment.This is not a high-stakes game of winner takes all, however. Telecommunications providers are learning more about how best to exploit the...
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.-Cisco Systems Inc. and Software.com, a developer of carrier-scale Internet infrastructure applications, announced a joint-venture initiative the companies said will jump start the convergence of Internet Protocol networks and wireless networks.Software.com will provide infrastructure for storing and forwarding messages, regardless of device,...
WASHINGTON-When it comes to spending money to open doors and change hearts and minds in official Washington, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association is King of the Hill.As a wireless trade association, CTIA is without peer-a lobbying juggernaut. Money appears to be no object. In...
SAN JOSE, Calif.-Mobile telephony in Latin America rapidly is evolving into a viable substitute for inefficient and expensive landline services, according to Dataquest Inc.During the first half of this year, Latin American handset sales exceeded 9.8 million, and Dataquest forecasts handset sales to reach...
SAN ANTONIO, Texas-SBC Communications Inc. said it agreed to acquire Radiofone Inc., which serves more than 200,000 wireless customers in Louisiana and Michigan.Once the transaction is completed, SBC said it will begin deploying digital wireless services in Radiofone service areas.Radiofone offers wireless service under...
REDMOND, Wash.-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. announced a new service plan for its Digital One Rate program.The carrier said it offered a calling plan last week for up to 300 minutes of wireless airtime, with no roaming or long-distance charges, for $60 per month."The success...
TOKYO-DDI Corp., IDO Co. Ltd. and KDD Corp. reportedly will merge by third-quarter 2000 at the earliest to compete with the giant NTT group. If merger talks are successful, a new giant communications company-providing a package of cellular, PHS, long-distance and international offerings-will be...
NEW YORK-Triton PCS Holdings Inc., an AT&T Wireless Services Inc. affiliate, and US Unwired Inc., a Sprint PCS affiliate, were more successful than they anticipated in their capital raising efforts.Triton, based in Malvern, Pa., had hoped to raise $125 million in its initial public...
Telstreet.com announced it offers wireless phones, service and accessories online. "Telstreet.com takes responsibility for the entire customer experience from buying to fulfillment to delivery of the order," said Terry Dwyer, president and chief executive officer of Telstreet.com. "Consumers are guaranteed to find the wireless...
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. said capacity problems and handset shortages constrained the company's ability to add subscribers in the third quarter.The nation's largest wireless operator added 269,000 subscribers in the third quarter, down 17.4 percent from the previous year and down significantly from 473,000...
BRAMPTON, Ontario-Nortel Networks reported its revenues for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 increased 30 percent to $5.39 billion from $4.14 billion reported for third-quarter 1998.The company said its net earnings were $380 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with $236 million, or...
FRANKFURT, Germany-Deutsche Telekom AG announced it is buying a majority stake in MediaOne Group Inc.'s cellular phone assets in Central Europe and Russia for $2 billion.Under the agreement, Deutsche Telekom will double its stake in Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa Sp.zo.o, which operates under the Era...
The wireless industry is waiting to see how many customers are attracted to Sprint PCS Group's wireless Internet services, but they will have to wait at least another quarter.Sprint PCS, which launched nationwide wireless Web service in late September, said it's too early to...
BellSouth Corp. last week announced plans to restructure the company to better position itself to provide bundled services.The move comes just weeks after BellSouth failed in a bid to acquire Sprint Corp., which agreed instead to merge with MCI WorldCom Inc.Jeff Battcher, a spokesman...
DENVER-VeloCom Inc., which recently won mirror licenses to operate competitive telecommunications networks in Brazil, said today it has acquired the Latin American assets of Argentina-based SLI Wireless S.A. and Brazil-based Taquari Participacoes S.A. in return for stock. The move gives VeloCom interests in telecommunications...
ScandinaviaAs expected, the European Commission approved the merger of Telia of Sweden and Telenor of Norway. To secure the approval, the two companies have consented to sell their cable TV operations and eliminate overlapping activities in Sweden, Norway and Ireland. The merger will create...
NEW YORK-Clariti Telecommunications International Ltd., Philadelphia, said Oct. 11 it had received commitments for $27 million in a private placement to European investors.These funds should provide enough capital through June to develop Clariti's global Internet Protocol network for voice, data and messaging.Clariti said it...
WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration may have misled American telecom firms by suggesting that problems created by Beijing's ouster of wireless and wireline investors in China Unicom could be ironed out by year's end as part of negotiations over China's membership in the World Trade Organization.But...
Now that small and rural cellular operators have become an integral piece of large operators' nationwide calling plans and consumers demand more advanced services, many small carriers could feel pressure to move to third-generation-type technologies faster than anticipated.Smaller carriers in recent years haven't found...
Lucent Technologies Inc. will be noticeably absent when the Personal Communications Industry Association kicks off its 2000 showcase next September in Chicago.The infrastructure vendor has told PCIA it plans to stop exhibiting at its future shows in North America, opting instead to invest its...
PHOENIX-AG Communication Systems and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. announced the general availability of the Roameo Time Division Multiple Access 850 MHz to 1900 MHz-based digital wireless office phone system.The companies will jointly market Roameo as part of the AT&T Wireless Office Service.The Roameo system...
Ericsson said its displacement from AT&T Wireless Services as the majority vendor hurt the company and conceded part of the reason it lost AT&T Wireless contracts was because of problems supplying equipment throughout the year."It hurts," said Gary Pinkham, vice president of investor relations...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-Most cellular operators now recognize that to ensure their businesses continue to experience breakneck growth, they must compete more directly with fixed operators. According to industry analysts, this battle for the telephone user will take place over the provision of voice and...
Moving on its promise to step up promotion of Time Division Multiple Access technology worldwide, the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium said it recently met with Chinese government officials to promote TDMA technology."This was an introductory meeting for different organizations in China to reintroduce China...
