December 1997

SUNNYVALE, Calif.-General Magic Inc. unveiled its first product in the DataRover family of handheld communications devices. The DataRover 840 is a handheld computer, weighing 18 ounces, in a tablet design. It uses General Magic’s Magic Cap 3.1 operating system, which …

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.-Ericsson Inc. recently announced that shipments of its smallest personal communications services phone are under way this month. The CF 788 weighs 4.7 ounces and stands four inches tall. It provides three hours and 20 minutes of …

ATLANTA-Digital Transmission Systems Inc., a telecommunications equipment maker, recently announced that it received a $5.4 million order from a national wireless carrier. The order, which the company says is the largest in its history, is for more than 6,000 FlexT1 …

WARREN, N.J.-AirTouch Cellular plans to replace its wireless network infrastructure in seven U.S. markets with Lucent Technologies Inc.’s digital wireless platform, announced the companies. AirTouch said it will install Lucent’s Code Division Multiple Access technology in Albuquerque, N.M.; Des Moines, …

AT&T Corp. admitted it might sell its Wireless Messaging Division-without actually confirming that the paging unit is indeed up for sale-after rumors surfaced that the paging network was on the auction block. “We are being very aggressive at looking at …

The Personal Communications Industry Association and a coalition of alphanumeric paging dispatchers have filed petitions to either stay or reconsider, respectively, the Federal Communication Commission’s Pay Telephone Compensation Remand Order. PCIA believes the ruling will cause economic and competitive harm …

WATERTOWN, Conn.-MTX Paging Products L.L.C. announced it has selected Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Inc.’s SkyTel subsidiary as the exclusive service provider for its new Beepwear pager watch. MTX is a joint venture of Motorola Inc. and Timex. The agreement will allow …

WESTBOROUGH, Mass.-Arch Communications Group Inc. announced it signed a definitive agreement to sell its site management business to Arlington, Va.-based Telecom Towers L.L.C. for $40 million. Under the agreement, Arch will sell 148 communications towers and tower management contracts which …

CAMARILLO, Calif.-AML Communications Inc. announced it received orders, totaling about $1.8 million, for cellular infrastructure equipment from AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and an original equipment manufacturer serving the South American wireless market. The follow-on orders for multicarrier power and low-noise …

One big-name credit-card company believes it can help accomplish every wireless carrier’s objective: to gain brand recognition, target high-end users, simplify billing, reduce churn and perhaps entice customers to spend more money. American Express has been teaming with telecommunications carriers …

CHICAGO-United States Cellular Corp. and its parent company, Telephone and Data Systems Inc., announced plans to sell to AirTouch Communications Inc. its minority interests in the cellular systems serving Seattle and Olympia, Wash.; Tucson, Ariz.; Duluth, Minn.; and rural areas …

Players in the crowded Hong Kong market may finally get a little elbow room, as Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd. announced its wholly owned subsidiary, Hongkong Telecom CSL, plans to acquire full ownership of Pacific Link Communications Ltd. Hongkong Telecom signed …

SANTA MONICA, Calif.-Angellcom said it began shipping its new line of alphanumeric and numeric pagers. The Platinum is a four-line alphanumeric unit available in nine languages and has 100 mail drops. Its suggested retail price is $140. The two-line alphanumeric …

DALLAS-PrimeCo Personal Communications L.P. launched its PrimeTravel service, which allows subscribers to roam throughout the nation using dual-mode/dual-band handsets manufactured by Sony Corp. The company also announced it has implemented over-the-air activation. PrimeCo has signed roaming agreements with its parent …

NEW YORK-Price Communications Corp. announced a common stock split in the form of a 25-percent stock dividend payable Dec. 22 to all shareholders of record as of Dec. 10. The cellular operator recently acquired Palmer Wireless Inc., adding to its …

WASHINGTON-The House Commerce Committee, claiming its probe of the Federal Communications Commission’s relocation to The Portals is being deliberately thwarted, is considering subpoenaing the Portals developer who paid $1 million to lobbyist and former Clinton-Gore campaign manager Peter Knight to …

ATLANTA-Powertel Inc. launched its Global System for Mobile communications personal communications services network in Atlanta, bringing to 22 the number of metropolitan areas and major highway corridors in which the company provides service. Powertel is offering Atlanta customers rate plans …

Western Wireless Corp. filed a complaint against GTE Hawaiian Telephone Co. Inc. seeking an order compelling GTE to implement arbitrated interconnection agreement rates between the companies. Gene DeJordy, director of regulatory affairs for Western Wireless, said following the passage of …

DALLAS-PageMart Wireless Inc. announced it has signed an agreement with Nicaragua’s telecommunications service provider, Jamar S.A. of C.V. to expand its international roaming footprint beginning next January. “The partnership with Jamar is an integral component of our overall international strategy,” …

DULLES, Va.-Orbcomm Global L.P. now covers the entire South American continent after signing a service license agreement with Damos SudAmerica S.A. Orbcomm, a provider of global low-earth-orbit satellite data and messaging communications services, plans to deliver services to Brazil, Argentina, …

DALLAS-PageMart Wireless Inc. announced it has reached an agreement in principle to provide pagers and paging services to more than 660 OfficeMax Inc. retail locations nationwide. The arrangement is aimed at the small office/home office market, OfficeMax’s primary demographic target …

ORLANDO, Fla.-Northern Telecom Inc. introduced an integrated text messaging system that simultaneously sends text to both wireless and wireline text-message compatible phones. Nortel demonstrated the system at the Code Division Multiple Access North American Regional Congress Conference in Orlando, Fla., …

What, you haven’t had enough paparazzi already? Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods and the man who might have been father-in-law to the late Princess Di, is back in the news. He’s in court challenging a 70-foot mobile phone tower …

ATLANTA-BellSouth Mobility DCS is offering its customers in the Carolinas, eastern Tennessee and coastal Georgia the Nokia 9000 Communicator, a digital wireless handset capable of sending faxes, accessing the Internet, sending and receiving e-mail messages, retaining addresses and phone numbers …

DALLAS-MCI Communications Corp. announced the completion of its new dispatch system that uses wireless technology to send technicians to customer sites. The new system, called Dispatch.Mgr, is a computerized wireless dispatch system that allows MCI’s field technicians to receive work …