December 1997

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 …

MIAMI-CellStar Corp. made an equity investment in Topp Telecom Inc. to fund distribution and facilitation services and to help Topp Telecom expand its prepaid TracFone internationally, the companies announced. Topp’s …

SAN FRANCISCO-AirTouch Communications Inc. announced it has increased its ownership stake in Spanish cellular company Airtel to 21.7 percent, a 5-percent increase. AirTouch, the largest shareholder in the company, acquired …

WASHINGTON-For the wireless telecom industry, 1998 will be a pivotal year. A continuation next year of this year’s policy retreats and defeats at the Federal Communications Commission, on Capitol Hill …

NEW YORK-AT&T Corp. is rumored to be at an advanced stage in negotiations to acquire Teleport Communications Group Inc., the first and largest competitive local exchange carrier in the country. …

Paragon Software Ltd. is approaching wireless consumers with the simple message that its FoneBook Plus product can help organize their lives by putting contact names and phone numbers on their …

The Asian currency crisis has created hidden opportunities for providers of cellular equipment and for global carriers and vendors to invest in under-capitalized regional carriers and distributors at enticing rates, …

NEW YORK-AG Communication Systems Inc., Phoenix, has introduced a “Triggerless Number Portability” solution, which it said will permit wireless carriers with Signaling System 7 functions in their networks to avoid …

WASHINGTON-Pocket Communications Inc., which won 42 licenses in the C-block personal communications services auction and then filed for Chapter 11 reorganization last March, may be throwing in the towel and …

EDISON, N.J.-Call Sciences, an international provider of call management applications, announced it will team with Oracle Corp. to offer a unified call management solution. The service will integrate Call Sciences’ …

WASHINGTON-Small businesses, minority- and women-owned businesses, and rural telcos will not be eligible for installments payments following any near-future spectrum auction wins, but they will be given larger bidding credits …

CHICAGO-Ameritech Corp. said it authorized a stock repurchase plan-valued at $2 billion, or 4.7 percent of its outstanding shares at the current value-which it said is the largest stock repurchase …

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.-InterDigital Communications Corp. announced it signed a technology and product engineering and test site support agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. The new agreement will cover Samsung’s …

WinStar Communications Inc. signed an agreement with two investment banks to raise $175 million through an institutional private placement rule. The company plans to use proceeds from the offering-expected to …

Geotek Communications Inc. announced its plans to restructure corporate assets and management structure to focus resources on its operations in the United States. Geotek said it has reached agreements to …

NEW YORK-The stock of DSP Communications Inc. began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Dec. 8, moving over from the Nasdaq National Market, where it had been listed since …

NIXA, Mo.-Citing shareholder concerns over recent weakness in its share price, Applied Cellular Technology Inc. says it will not continue negotiations about its unsolicited offer to merge with Able Telcom …

In the Dec. 8 issue of RCR, American Alpha Dispatch Services Inc. was improperly identified. The company, which provides dispatch services for alphanumeric paging, is based in Hicksville, N.Y.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.-ComTec International Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, American Wireless Network Inc., said it completed the initial phase of an agreement to purchase seven specialized mobile radio systems from …

Bill Jackson, a former military software developer who has made a career developing communications applications for top secret U.S. government operations, has brought his flexible style of software solutions to …

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute cast a preliminary vote last week in Madrid, Spain, in favor of a Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access third-generation technology proposal backed by Nokia Corp. and …

MONTVALE, N.J.-The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority awarded Geotek Communications Inc. a $2 million contract for a mobile data communications system to be used by a fleet of 400 vans and …

The Cellular-Emergency Alert Service Association, a volunteer organization dedicated to establishing emergency notification as a standard feature of digital wireless service, said it opposes a Senate bill that would remove …

NEW YORK-By 2000, some 22 million devices other than personal computers will be accessing the Internet, according to IDC-Link Resources projections cited at a recent Internet World ’97 conference. Although …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Motorola Inc.’s Paging Systems Group has selected Sun Microsystems Inc.’s SPARCengine Ultra 2 motherboards for use in its next generation FLEX family protocol transport and infrastructure equipment, Sun …