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#TBT: Mobile data battles fragmentation; PCS, 2-way shadow paging … this week in 1996

Mobile data services struggle against competing standards, while the traditional paging industry brace for PCS, 2-way battle … 20 years ago this week

Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Mobile data sector strives to get past its fragmented history
The cellular telecommunications industry is making steady progress introducing advanced mobile data services as it works to overcome its own fragmented nature as well as the competition. According to the most recent “Report Card” issued by the CDPD Forum, carriers are deploying Cellular Digital Packet Data technology in 78 metropolitan statistical areas covering nearly 100 million people. Sixty-seven of those MSAs have full service availability that includes authentication, published pricing, billing and customer service, the forum said. … Read More
New PCS offerings won’t take away from paging customer base
There is enough room in today’s marketplace of specialized products for both traditional paging and the handset messaging offered by new 1800 MHz wireless operators and digital cellular operators, analysts say. “Consider the microwave oven,” said David Abraham of David Abraham & Co., Westport, Conn., a financial advisory firm. “When the microwave came out, people said it would replace conventional ovens. It didn’t.” Paging operators believe the market for an inexpensive handheld device will continue to expand, even after short message services are introduced by PCS and other digital wireless operators. … Read More
One-way paging remains solid as sexy two-way enters market
It is said that when you provide a valuable service at a fair price, you’ll always have customers. Such is the personality of paging. In the last year more than ever, the industry has recognized that two-way paging and other wireless services, feature-rich as they may be, likely will not abate core one-way paging in all its simplicity. While a pager can’t do it all, it does exactly what it needs to-no more or no less-for a lot of people. On scores of cost, coverage, size and battery life, one-way continues to attract healthy demand. Consolidation headlines the pace of the paging industry in recent months. Many big players also have taken their stock public. Paul Kagan & Associates reported the top 12 paging carriers comprised two-thirds of total U.S. subscribers at the end of last year, up from 47 percent at the end of 1994. … Read More
Chadmoore founder resigns position in light of charges
David Chadwick, a company vice president and director of engineering for Las Vegas-based Chadmoore Wireless Group Inc., resigned his positions following a due-diligence procedure conducted prior to the company’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Chadwick co-founded the specialized mobile radio concern with Robert Moore, and he also served as a director and corporate secretary. During preparation of Form 8-K paperwork required for its proposed $12 million secondary stock-and-warrants public offering, Chadmoore attorneys discovered Chadwick had been convicted in December 1992 by the San Diego Superior Court on one count of “injuring or destroying insured property,” a felony. According to court paperwork, Chadwick was fined and put on probation for five years. Following his resignation from Chadmoore, Chadwick filed a motion with the court to change his original guilty plea. Chadwick and his attorney could not be reached for comment. … Read More
QuestCom defaults on PCS down payment
C-block personal communications services auction winner BD-PCS Inc. has several legal channels open to it before it is forced to give up the 17 markets it won at auction because it could not meet a $37 million down-payment requirement. The Federal Communications Commission rejected QuestCom Inc. subsidiary BDPCS’s emergency waiver request May 17. “Auctions are a market-oriented process, and defaults are a reality in the marketplace. We offer no guarantee of success, only the opportunity to compete. We are prepared to deal quickly and fairly with defaults and put licenses in the hands of the companies that will provide service to the American public,” said Wireless Telecom Bureau Chief Michele Farquhar. … Read More
Samsung committed to developing CDMA equipment for Korea
Samsung Electronics Co. has committed $25.8 million to manufacture prototype Code Division Multiple Access equipment for PCS, illustrating confidence that its PCS partnership will win a license for personal communications services spectrum. The Korean government is expected to award three PCS licenses in mid-June. One is reserved for state operator Korea Telecommunications, another will go to an equipment manufacturer and the third award reportedly is reserved for a non-manufacturer. … Read More
Fewer operators control much of paging market
The numbers vary depending on the source, but there is unanimity about the trends unfolding in the nation’s paging sector during the past year: subscriber growth, consolidation in the number of paging providers and overall increases in revenues despite price squeezes due to competition and consumer resistance. By the end of last year, the total number of paging subscribers, or units in service, had skyrocketed to just more than 34 million, according to preliminary estimates by Washington-based Economic & Management Consultants International Inc. Goldman Sachs & Co., New York, pegged the year-end 1995 total at 29 million subscribers. … Read More
LG to put down stakes in San Diego: Korean kingpin to play in US PCS
LG Information & Communications Ltd. of South Korea is wagering its hand in the U.S. personal communications services market with plans to begin large scale PCS technology and equipment manufacturing in San Diego in the second half of this year. The telecommunications subsidiary of Korean conglomerate LG Group (previously Lucky Goldstar Group), LGIC produces Code Division Multiple Access-based equipment. NextWave Personal Communications Inc. is its first U.S. customer. … Read More
Prepaid firm aims for carrier sensitive approach
The newest arrival in one of cellular’s newest markets-prepaid-is Go Wireless International Ltd., led by an entrepreneur banking his dollars on consumers with damaged credit. The company is venturing new approaches to selling service. Go Wireless debuted in Florida a month ago and success so far has exceeded the company’s initial expectations, said Michael Clifford, president and chief executive officer. The company is selling service through electronics and wireless dealers, supermarkets and pharmacies in areas of Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Daytona, Fla. … Read More
Check out RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.

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