1995

SAN FRANCISCO-Vanguard Cellular Inc. said its subscribers will now have the option to use a single number for all of their voice and fax communications needs. The company announced it will implement Priority Call Management’s ORYX platform and one-number communications …

WASHINGTON-Michele Farquhar is leaving the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to return to the Federal Communications Commission as head of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, a move strongly supported by industry. Farquhar, who is acting deputy director and chief of staff …

WASHINGTON-While the Federal Communications Commission has attempted to avoid getting drawn into skirmishes involving the relocation of 2 GHz microwave users by personal communications services operators, the agency will be forced to defend in court early next year a 1994 …

WASHINGTON-More than 60 million people in the United States will be cellular subscribers by the end of this century, Economic and Management Consultants International Inc. predicts in a new report. In “The U.S. Cellular Marketplace: 1995,” EMCI projects that by …

SEATTLE-AT&T Wireless Services introduced a prepackaged phone that is available in stores and activated by calling a 1-800 number and receiving credit-card verification. The telephone costs about $40 with an access charge of $20. The monthly charge includes two hours …

Low-tier systems that bill themselves as “the way PCS was supposed to be” are entering the market with the hope of providing low-power, low-cost personal communications services. The industry’s second PACS partnership has formed between NEC America Inc. and Bell …

WASHINGTON-The specialized mobile radio industry will surpass two million subscribers by the end of this year, according to a new survey of operators and manufacturers conducted by the American Mobile Telecommunications Association and Economic and Management Consultants International Inc. Although …

Several uncertainties face small specialized mobile radio operators in the future if spectrum above 860 MHz is auctioned off next year-a plan that has been proposed by the Federal Communications Commission. “The FCC is giving the frequency to the mountaintop …

As the first personal communications services system in the United States is preparing to launch service in the Baltimore/Washington D.C., area and the balance of narrowband and broadband network contracts are being awarded, it is time to take a candid …

MINNEAPOLIS-American Paging Inc. has entered into a comprehensive agreement with Upper Canada Communications Group Inc. of Toronto to coordinate development and use of narrowband personal communications services and conventional paging frequencies in North America. American Paging said each company will …

DALLAS-PCS PrimeCo L.P. announced it has made the world’s first wireless phone call on a carrier-based personal communications services system using Code Division Multiple Access digital technology at 1900 MHz. The company said the calls, which were made in the …

PRINCETON, N.J.-The National Information Bureau Ltd. said it has begun developing an on-line repository of business and consumer information that will allow cellular carriers to review the credit histories of cellular customers at point-of-sale. The information will contain industry-wide data …

RUTHERFORD, N.J.-Nextel Communications Inc. has launched digital service in parts of New England, expanding its Northeastern region to the metropolitan areas of Boston and Worcester, Mass., Providence, R.I., and Manchester and Portsmouth, N.H. Nextel said it had about 61,000 digital …

Flash Comm Inc. has named former Paging Network Inc. chief executive officer Terry Scott its president and CEO. Flash Comm, headquartered in Melbourne, Fla., offers wireless two-way data communications nationwide. The company’s terrestrial system competes with both existing and emerging …

WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court has paved the way for the PCS entrepreneur block auction to begin Dec. 11, but bidding for 493 next-generation pocket telephone licenses could be postponed once again if the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit …

Photographs and medical data now can be sent on existing POCSAG paging networks to portable devices using a technology developed by Data Critical Corp. Data-Through-Paging technology, or DTP, is a protocol that compresses images or text, then slices it into …

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.-Audiovox Cellular Communications received a 13-month contract to sell 500,000 cellular phones to PCS PrimeCo, the joint services organization of AirTouch Communications Inc., U S West Inc., Bell Atlantic Corp. and Nynex Corp. Three supply contracts were issued by …

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-GO Communications Corp. has selected Siemens Wireless Terminals Division, a division of Siemens Rolm Communications, as its primary personal communications services handset and accessory provider. During the first year of the multi-year contract, GO Communications will purchase approximately $40 …

SAN FRANCISCO-AirTouch Communications Inc. posted $46.7 million, or 9 cents earnings per share, net income for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $34.4 million, or 7 cents per share, for the third quarter 1994. The company said proportionate …

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill.-Motorola Inc.’s Network Ventures Division and Telular Corp. have signed an agreement allowing Telular to become a preferred supplier of fixed wireless subscriber equipment to Motorola NVD’s cellular joint ventures worldwide. Under the terms of the agreement, NVD …

Several companies are moving into the network planning business, ready to offer computer-based design expertise to new wireless operators and existing operators faced with increasing competition in the cellular and personal communications services markets. Most of these firms use computer …

7-9 Wireless World Expo ’95, by Intertec Publishing Corp. and E.J. Krause & Associates Inc. Moscone Center, San Francisco. For information call (301) 986-7800. 7-9 Applications Conference on Communications Technology, by Wescon. Moscone Center, San Francisco. For information call (800) …

Two kinds of private, in-building wireless systems are seeking the attention of today’s large business customers-stand-alone systems that provide portable extensions of employee desk phones, and stand-alone systems that provide portable extensions but also can hand off calls to the …

Publishing mogul Steve Forbes, the newest GOP contender for the White House, has chosen FCC Chairman Reed Hundt as a sparring partner to prepare for next year’s presidential debates. Forbes, perhaps wary about whether America is ready to become a …

These days cellular phones are sold just about everywhere you turn, even the drug store. However, it may not be so easy to buy one. One company said it has designed a solution for people whose credit history has inhibited …