EDS Personal Communications announced a four-year agreement of provide a wireless billing consolidation system to McCaw Cellular Communications Inc. for the company’s National Acocounts Services group. The system will allow McCaw to deliver a consolidated wireless service bill to corporations to assist them in managing employee wireless use. The system also gives McCaw the ability to precess disparate data from different cellular carriers and handles billing data from new services, such as paging, data and advanced voice services.
ComFac Development L.L.C. and Telecom Network Specialists Inc. formed an alliance to enhance the rapid development of personal communications services systems. Under a joint operating agreement, the companies said they will design, manage, construct and provide a single point of contact for volume-based, turnkey PCS networks. “This alliance greatly enhances the 200-site, 12-month turnkey development model engineered by ComFac in response to a common industry demand. The survival of every PCS provider depends on their success in developing a system extensive enough to compete with existing cellular, in a very short time period,” said William Odell, ComFac’s director of construction.
Reflection Technology Inc. said Lockheed Martin Commercial Electronics will manufacture Reflection’s FaxView 2000 personal fax reader. The first FaxView units are scheduled to be completed by July. FaxView 2000 is expected to be commercially available in the fall. It is a pocket-sized accessory to cellular handsets that enables users to receive and read standard faxes. FaxView is powered by a Motorola Inc. 68000 microprocessor. Under a multimillion dollar manufacturing agreement, Lockheed will assemble, test and distribute the product, Reflection noted.
Arch Communications Group Inc. has acquired Georgia-based paging operator Data Transmission Inc. for $8.6 million in cash. The DTI acquisition increases Arch’s total customer base to more than 750,000 subscribers, the company said.
Motorola Inc.’s Land Mobile Products Sector said it will provide consultation tofixed radio users affected by the Federal Communications Commission’s licensing of personal communications services technologies on wireless communications system design and integration. The FCC wants to clear fixed radio systems from the 1.8 GHz to 2.1 GHz spectrum to eliminate interference with PCS systems, said Motorola.
Ericsson Private Radio Systems said it is hiring 120 engineers and expanding its Lynchburg, Va., manufacturing facility to support the company’s ongoing programs to develop the next generation of terminals and digital products for the land mobile radio industry. Ericsson said the focus of the new engineering efforts will be primarily on EDACS Prism for the Enhanced Digital Access Communications System product line. Prism products use Frequency Time Division Multiple Access technology to expand the capability of a current channel, the company said.
