December 1997

WASHINGTON-The government is expected to begin collecting subsidies from all eligible telecommunications providers this week for the universal service fund. The Federal Communications Commission recently adopted an order outlining the …

NEW YORK-Intek Diversified Corp., a Princeton, N.J.-based wireless carrier and equipment manufacturer, announced Dec. 22 the terms of an agreement to issue a new class of preferred stock to Securicor …

NEW YORK-Compania de Telecomunicaciones de Chile S.A., a multiservice telecommunications company, announced it will purchase from VTR S.A. the 45-percent stake it doesn’t already own in Startel S.A., the leading …

Editor’s Note: In a year where the largest stories of the wireless industry were about personal communications services carriers besieged with financial and other problems, one PCS company, Omnipoint Communications …

NEW YORK-Wireless prepaid services will provide $1 billion in revenues to American carriers this year, double that amount next year and quadruple the figure by 2001, according to projections cited …

FORT WORTH, Texas-Uniden America Corp. promoted Al Silverberg from vice president of sales to president of the company. As president, he will oversee the company’s business in North, Central and …

MONTREAL-Bell Canada International Inc. announced that its Taiwanese consortium, KG Telecom, launched personal communications services in the northern region of Taiwan. KG Telecom is the first company to meet the …

Canadian mobile phone operators are hoping the holiday season will help them rebound from lagging subscriber additions and falling stock prices. “The third quarter was a weak quarter in terms …

CALABASAS, Calif.-Iridium North America named Skysite Communications Corp., a subsidiary of U.S. Digital Communications, its North American distributor for the new Iridium satellite-based global wireless communications network. Skysite will offer …

Theory works so much better than reality. President Clinton proclaims a grand plan to make sure that American school children, as well as libraries and rural hospitals, have access to …

Pathnet Inc. signed an agreement with Northeast Missouri Electric Power Cooperative to help upgrade the utility company’s existing internal communications network. Under the agreement, Pathnet plans to begin preliminary construction …

SAN FRANCISCO-The California Public Utilities Commission recently approved an $800,000 settlement between its Consumer Services Division and GTE Mobilnet Inc. to end its investigation into GTE’s compliance with CPUC rules …

The Asia-Pacific market will by far be the world’s largest regional wireless telephony market by 2002, said a new study released by The Strategis Group in Washington, D.C. The firm …

WASHINGTON-Comments regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s notice of proposed rule making on the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act have one thing in common-moving the compliance date back two years, …

LINCOLN, Neb.-Aliant Communications said it entered a definitive agreement to acquire 3607 Communications Co.’s 50-percent interest in Omaha Cellular G.P. Following the close of the acquisition, which is expected during …

CARROLLTON, Texas-CellStar Corp. recently announced the expansion of its prepaid operations with the completion of an equity investment in Topp Telecom Inc. Topp’s prepaid phones, TracFone, are available in more …

A Nov. 24 article in RCR that profiled Cactus Integration Group incorrectly stated the company’s relationship with Lucent Technologies Inc. and erroneously characterized Lucent’s wireless services strategy. Lucent’s agreement with …

CHICAGO-SourceOne Wireless Inc. recently announced the purchase of Areawide Cellular, a cellular and paging retail operation with 29 locations in the Chicago area. The purchase gives SourceOne an additional 110,000 …

MURRAY HILL, N.J.-Lucent Technologies Inc. announced that paging customers using WolfeTech Corp.’s PocketGenie Internet access software will be able to receive driving directions on their pagers from its Maps On …

OTTAWA-Northern Telecom Singapore Pte. Ltd., the Philippines Communications Satellite Corp. and its subsidiary, CALL Telecoms, have signed a memorandum of understanding to roll out an international gateway facility, local exchange …

Qualcomm Inc. field technician Richard Bliss, who had been detained in Rostov, Russia, since his arrest Nov. 25 for spying, reportedly was released to return to the United States Dec. …

Sprint PCS of Southern California donated $30,000 to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation for its annual Toys for Tots holiday charity campaign. In addition to the cash contribution, more …

CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J.-Omnipoint last week announced the availability of the Nokia 9000i Communicator in its retail stores. The digital handset allows users to browse the Internet and access corporate and …

WASHINGTON-Down payments for newly won 800 MHz specialized mobile radio licenses are due at Pittsburgh’s Mellon Bank tomorrow. Nextel Communications Inc. said it plans to be there, cash in hand. …

WILMINGTON, MASS.-INFONXX, an enhanced directory assistance service provider, deployed Priority Call Management’s Oryx platform in a dozen sites nationwide, supporting three call centers. INFONXX offers a range of operator assisted …