May 1996

NextWave Telecom Inc., parent company of top C-block personal communications services license-winner NextWave Personal Communications, completed May 6 at $290 million private placement. The underwriter was ING Barings. Details of the private placement were revealed in the company’s Form 600, …

Arch Communications Group Inc. announced it has completed its acquisition of Westlink Holdings Inc. The acquisition expands Arch’s operations to a total of 38 states and 90 of the largest markets in the United States, the company said. “We’re clearly …

Samsung said it created many of its own parts for its CDMA equipment. The company has invested $390 million into telecom research and development this year. A total of 34 percent of workers in the company’s Telecommunications Systems division are …

NEW YORK-In its first application outside paging, Motorola Inc.’s FLEX chipsets will be used in Ex Machina Inc.’s AirMedia Live information services product, the companies announced. AirMedia Live will allow computer users to access Internet services without going online. For …

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.-Motorola Inc.’s Cellular Infrastructure Group announced it has deployed its wireless local loop network in Benin, Africa, providing phone service for the first time to many remote customers. The network uses a narrowband Advanced Mobile Phone Service radio …

MINNEAPOLIS-ADC Telecommunications Inc. announced it has completed the purchase of an additional 1.7 million common shares of PCS Wireless Inc. based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. With this investment, ADC now holds 3.3 million shares of PCS Wireless, representing 10.6 …

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 …

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 …

PHOENIX-Cellexis International Inc. dismissed its $525 million trade secret lawsuit against GTE Corp., its subsidiaries and Open Development Corp. The company sued GTE and ODC in April claiming theft of Cellexis’ technology for a system allowing cellular telephone customers to …

WASHINGTON-The United States and China are on the verge of a trade war that could hurt the wireless telecommunications industry’s ability to expand into one of the world’s fastest growing-and potentially one of its biggest-markets. Acting U.S. Trade Representative Charlene …

WASHINGTON – Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) said he wants legislation this year to streamline rules governing the relocation of microwave users from the 2 GHz band to higher frequencies that new broadband personal communications services operators are financing. “The rules …

WASHINGTON-After a two-year process, the Federal Communications Commission established the Family Radio Service, a short-range two-way consumer system first proposed by the Radio Shack division of Ft. Worth, Texas-based Tandy Corp. According to the commission, the service will provide an …

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.-Bell Atlantic Corp. announced a major expansion of Bell Atlantic All@once Solutions, a business approach that helps organizations deal with the increasing complexities of meeting their information technology needs. The company said it has developed simpler processes for …

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Metrocall Inc. and A+ Network Inc. have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby A+ Network will merge into Metrocall in a two-step transaction. Metrocall said it will commence a tender offer to purchase about 2.1 million A+ Network …

WASHINGTON-Wireless Telecommunications Bureau deputy chief Ralph Haller, characterized by former Federal Communications Commission colleague James McKinney as “just a simple country boy from the wheat fields of Kansas,” accepted this year’s Eugene C. Bowler Award at a May 15 dinner …

NEW YORK-One of the independent companies left out of the merger between Cellular Communications Inc. and AirTouch Communications Inc. is considering its options, including sale of the company. Cellular Communications of Puerto Rico Inc. owns 10 markets in Puerto Rico …

Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp. announced it has sold $22.5 million of its cumulative convertible accruing pay in kind preferred stock to a group of investors. The buyers include Chase Securities Inc., a subsidiary of Chase Manhattan Corp., which acquired $17 …

Another handset manufacturer saw its company stock drop then slowly rise again following the release of a quarterly report with stagnant earnings. It’s the continuation of a process that began last year when the drop in handset prices began to …

CHICAGO-Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems said it started authentication service in its Chicago market, which operates as Cellular One. The technology is expected to wipe out cloning fraud as it is known today. Called CloneBlock, Chicago’s Cellular One analog and digital …

WASHINGTON-Negotiations have broken down between hearing impaired advocates and the wireless telecommunications industry on permanently resolving interference to hearing aids by digital pocket phones, raising the possibility of government intervention. Each side filed its own proposal with the Federal Communications …

NEW YORK-Driven by telecommunications deregulation and consumer demand, the emerging industry model is the “super carrier” that delivers a broad menu of services it doesn’t necessarily originate or create, said Berge Ayvazian, executive vice president of the Yankee Group, Boston. …

NEW YORK-Excel Communications Inc., which plans to begin offering nationwide paging services this summer, sold an initial public offering May 10 with the share price rising dramatically by the end of the first trading day. The company offered 10 million …

NEW YORK-Due to investor demand, Clearnet Communications Inc. sold 8 million shares of its common stock May 15, an increase of 1 million shares over the deal size anticipated when the company registered the planned offering with securities regulators last …

A cellular carrier loses the equivalent of its entire customer base in three to five years, say industry estimates. Not only does churn amount to missed revenue, but increasing industry competition, high subscriber acquisition costs and sinking revenue per subscriber …

SINGAPORE-Numerous announcements about Code Division Multiple Access technology came out of last week’s CDMA World Congress in Singapore. The event was attended by about 600 people from 40 countries. Motorola Inc. has formed a joint venture with two Chinese entities …