WASHINGTON-An uncertain wireless industry realignment could be in store as a result of Justice Department's rejection last week of the WorldCom Inc.-Sprint Corp. merger and new legislation forbidding foreign government ownership of U.S. telecommunications firms."Instead of two wireless players for international buyers, you now...
Stripped to its essence, you have to wonder whether euro pride had anything to do with European Commission antitrust chief Mario Monti's heartburn over the WorldCom-Sprint merger he helped kill. You couldn't blame him if it did, seeing that the U.S. is the world's...
The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block the US$129 billion merger between WorldCom and Sprint, the second- and third-largest U.S. long-distance telecom carriers, respectively. The lawsuit, combined with European Union opposition, effectively killed the deal.ICO-Teledesic Global, a holding company controlling Craig McCaw's...
Not many 44-year-olds can put on their resum, that they built a nationwide wireless business from the ground up with a capital infrastructure budget larger than the Boston freeway project. Nor can many people boast that they successfully brought their company to the public...
Europe is embarking on a third-generation license auction frenzy the rest of this year, and operators are not happy about it.Since the United Kingdom raked in a whopping $35 billion earlier this year, other countries are moving away from the traditional method of granting...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission late Friday approved the transfer of GTE Corp.'s communications licenses to Bell Atlantic Corp. contingent on 25 conditions, including putting some wireless properties into a trust until they can be sold so as to not violate cellular cross-ownership rules."There will...
WASHINGTON-The Communications Workers of America will make unionization of wireless workers a priority when negotiations begin in two weeks on a new collective bargaining agreement with Bell Atlantic Corp., a strategy by organized labor that appears designed to take advantage of the high visibility...
WASHINGTON-When fanfare over the American delegation's victory in securing global frequency bands for third-generation mobile-phone service subsides, the United States and the wireless industry will face implementation challenges at home even greater than the fierce spectrum battles at the now-completed World Radiocommunication Conference.If U.S....
WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. lawyers were in Brussels, Belgium, last week defending their proposed $115 billion merger to the European Commission.The EC issued a statement of objections to the merger late last month.A decision is expected by July 12, said Sprint spokesman Mark...
FRANKFURT, Germany-The German telecommunication regulator approved 11 bidders to participate in its Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction, set to begin in July. The regulator excluded only one company from bidding in the auction.Germany plans to sell 12 frequencies of radio spectrum, which could yield...
JACKSON, Miss.-SkyTel Communications Inc., a WorldCom Inc. company, has begun offering the BlackBerry wireless e-mail service from Research In Motion Ltd., branded BlackBerry by SkyTel, to customers nationwide.The service uses the BlackBerry Exchange Edition with the RIM 850 handheld device. SkyTel will offer the...
Just as a zoo is a place where different species from around the world can peacefully co-mingle, telezoo.com said it is a place where telecommunication buyers and sellers can easily interact.The Web site is home to telezoo.com's ZooCommerce platform, which includes a large database...
LONDON-France Telecom is expected to make a $45 billion cash and stock bid for Orange plc early next week, according to international press reports. The French telecom company is reported to have secured a $29.7 billion bank loan to acquire the United Kingdom's third-largest...
Two-way messaging took a leap forward last week as Motorola Inc. introduced a new two-way pager and JP Systems Inc. implemented a mobile Internet portal service.Motorola unveiled its Talkabout T900 two-way messaging device, which features a full Qwerty keyboard, a flip-top screen and a...
WASHINGTON-Justice Department antitrust lawyers reportedly oppose the proposed $115 billion merger between WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp., a major snag that-if true-could kill the deal and spark bidding wars for top wireless carriers not yet claimed.The Justice Department did not return calls for comment...
WASHINGTON-A comprehensive proposal by European and Arab states covering third-generation mobile phone spectrum and other issues appeared to be disintegrating late last week at the World Radiocommunication Conference in Turkey, a development that is forcing the U.S. delegation to redouble efforts to keep its...
Sprint Corp. announced it launched its Sprint Broadband Direct service in Phoenix, a multichannel multipoint distribution service offering that provides an always-on Internet connection and burstable downstream data rates up to 5 megabits per second.Sprint's launch follows closely on the heels of MCI WorldCom...
BERLIN-A consortium comprised of Telefonica, Orange and Sonera will join U.S.-based MCI WorldCom and 10 other groups in bidding for third-generation licenses in Germany. The auction is set to begin in early July.The German regulator will sell 12 frequencies of radio spectrum to support...
DUBLIN, Ireland-After decades of tight state control, Eastern European telecommunications markets are waking up to the reality of telecommunications liberalization.But even though many of these countries accept that liberalization will have to proceed more rapidly, the process is not without frustrations for potential new...
A consortium comprised of Telefonica, Orange and Sonera will join U.S.-based MCI WorldCom and 10 other groups in bidding for third-generation (3G) licenses in Germany. The auction is set to begin in early July.The German regulator will sell 12 frequencies of radio spectrum to...
WASHINGTON-With the House up for grabs this fall and a slew of high-tech bills pending before Congress, the high-tech lobby is flexing its muscle on Capitol Hill and shaping the debate on key issues important to the wireless industry such as China trade, high-tech...
The European Commission is expected to issue a statement of objections to MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. over the companies' merger plans.The EC said in February it was extending its investigation into the proposed $130 billion merger by another four months. EC regulators...
Bidders in the U.K. third-generation license auction appeared to exceed their budgets last week. Bidding for the five licenses totaled an eye-popping $35 billion, and the auction will linger on into this week.The auction seems eerily reminiscent of the U.S. personal communications services C-block...
Wireless resellers are a hardy breed. Their success or failure teeters on the shoulders of carriers that tightly control the supply of the product they need to survive. Whether warranted or not, carriers harbor fears that resellers will steal customers and sap resources, and...
