Craig McCaw and his crew at NextLink knew what they were doing, even if the rest of the world wasn't as sure.Long characterized as a competitive local exchange carrier, NextLink is just beginning to be recognized for the full scope of its ambitions. In...
NEW YORK-North American telecommunications carriers rank below manufacturing, consumer products and financial services companies in their adoption of Internet-enabled enterprises, concluded a recent report of American Management Systems, Fairfax, Va."eCommerce in the Telecommunications Industry: Trends and Innovations" is a study based on AMS' evaluation of...
NEW YORK-As the Internet accelerates the globalization of telecommunications, mergers and acquisitions among traditional and nontraditional players have eclipsed initial public offerings as the preferred strategy for retaining competitive advantage."In the United States, the Internet economy generated $301 billion in 1998 and will generate...
WASHINGTON-A plan from the U.S. Department of Transportation to institute a nationwide three-digit number for traffic information may be derailed by a call from MCI WorldCom Inc. for a complete rule making into how abbreviated numbers are allocated.The idea works something like this: You are...
Having returned from Cape Cod and read about the ill-fated hostile takeover attempt by Nextel Communications Inc., the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department, I got to thinking: Had FCC Chairman Bill Kennard become Melville's Ahab, so obsessed with catching NextWave Telecom Inc. (and...
JACKSON, Miss.-SkyTel Communications Inc. announced the Federal Communications Commission approved its proposed merger with MCI WorldCom Inc.SkyTel said it expects to send a proxy statement to shareholders early next month and set Sept. 29 as the date for a special stockholder meeting to vote...
NEW YORK-World Access Inc., Atlanta, announced Aug. 17 it would acquire FaciliCom International Inc., Washington, D.C., by paying FaciliCom's shareholders about $436 million and assuming $300 million in FaciliCom debt.World Access, a publicly traded company, terminates international long-distance voice and data traffic in at...
Financial analysts continued their wait-and-see attitude toward Paging Network Inc. as the company released second-quarter earnings.In contrast, Arch Communications Group Inc. completed its merger with MobileMedia Corp. in the second quarter, resulting in one of the lowest debt ratios in the industry and the...
NEW YORK-Since the launch of carrier competition in the duopoly wireless market, third-party distributors have had to work hard to manage increasingly complex distribution issues. Carriers, meanwhile, are dealing with this same level of complexity-trying to improve sales processes for existing distribution channels while...
Gore 2000 lists ex-Clinton Commerce official Jonathan Sallet (MCI WorldCom chief policy counsel, husband of former FCC spokeswoman Susan Lewis Sallet and son-in-law of White House counsel Anne Lewis) and wireless businessman Shelby Bryan among top fund raisers. You have to bring in at...
When the clocks roll over at midnight on Dec. 31, the world will welcome not only a new year, but a new decade, a new century, a new millennium and, by many accounts, a new paradigm in the way people communicate.What took decades to...
WASHINGTON-A wild flurry of lobbying on telecom appropriations bills late last week ended with Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) withdrawing an amendment to relax the spectrum cap and House subcommittee members deciding against bankruptcy changes advocated by the Federal Communications Commission and approved by the...
JACKSON, Miss.-SkyTel Communications Inc. reported a second-quarter net income of $6.7 million, or 8 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $9.7 million, or 22 cents per share, for the same period last year.The company added 40,300 advanced messaging customers during the...
JACKSON, Miss.-Wireless One Inc. said it will amend its proposed plan of reorganization and disclosure statement in accordance with a term sheet negotiated with MCI WorldCom Inc. and become a wholly owned subsidiary of MCI WorldCom.The amended plan will provide that the holders of...
ALBANY, N.Y.-The Federal Communications Commission approved the transfer of control of various licenses for wireless spectrum owned by CAI Wireless Systems Inc. to MCI WorldCom Inc., clearing the way for the two companies to merge, said CAI.MCI WorldCom, which holds approximately 48 percent of...
The echoes of MCI WorldCom Inc.'s proposed acquisition of SkyTel Communications Inc. continue to ring loudly throughout the industry, as two other paging companies found themselves linked to telecom carriers last week.In one case, rumors have surfaced that BellSouth Corp. is mulling an acquisition...
WASHINGTON-Just days before going to trial last month, high-level Justice Department officials may have overruled government antitrust lawyers who appeared ready to make a strong case in federal court against lifting a 1995 consent decree imposed on Nextel Communications Inc.Charles James, a lawyer for...
Qwest Communications International is pursuing an acquisition of U S West in competition with another bidder, Global Crossing.Microsoft announced in mid-May a US$600 million investment in Nextel Communications, the leading trunked radio operator in the United States. The deal is to give Nextel customers...
DALLAS-To increase its prominence in the wireless industry, BearCom Group Inc. said it acquired Net Wireless, a San Ramon, Calif.-based dealer of Nextel Communications Inc., BellSouth Corp., MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint PCS Group products. Price and terms were not disclosed.
It has been more than 15 months since the first local multipoint distribution service auctions ended and brought broadband wireless access networks to reality. By all accounts, the prospect for broadband wireless access in the United States remains positive.As evidence is the amount of...
WASHINGTON-Geotek Communications Inc. is moving forward to win creditor and bankruptcy court approval of a final plan of liquidation and is planning for contingencies in the event Nextel Communications Inc. loses its bid to overturn a 1995 antitrust consent decree.The U.S. Court of Appeals...
After MCI WorldCom Inc. made news with its plans to acquire paging carrier SkyTel Communications Inc., the first question on everyone's mind was, "Why?"In a recently released update, Strategy Analytics said it believes "the acquisition ... represents an attempt by MCI WorldCom to appease...
My daughter is becoming quite proficient at putting together puzzles. She doesn't do it the way I would, matching the red of the mermaid Ariel's hair with another piece that also shows red hair. Instead, I think she actually memorizes how the puzzle pieces...
WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court Tuesday stayed the Federal Communications Commission's rules regarding the unauthorized switching of long-distance carriers, a practice known as slamming. The rules went into effect May 17.Long-distance carriers, specifically MCI Worldcom Inc., argued the rules were too stringent.AT&T Corp. hailed the...
