March 1998

Cellnet, a United Kingdom-based cellular operator, selected Brite technology to deliver its traffic information services to its subscribers. Cellnet’s Traffic Line provides in-car traffic reports on a digital network direct …

A few years ago, United Airlines aired a commercial that featured a company’s chief executive officer admonishing his sales force for relying too much on faxes, phone calls and e-mail …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry will be gearing up soon for cutover to a universal electronic licensing system that will consolidate 11 systems and databases into one and allow a one-day turnaround …

NEW YORK-U S West Communications Inc.’s long-term debt ratings were downgraded from Aa3 to A2 by Moody’s Investors Service Inc. for several reasons. Moody’s said it is concerned about public-policy …

RESTON, Va.-American Mobile Satellite Corp. announced two new customers for its Multi-Mode Mobile Messaging Service-Dart Transit Co. and J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. AMSC’s messaging service provides seamless nationwide coverage …

BURLINGTON, Mass.-Lightbridge Inc. announced the opening of a lead office for the Asia-Pacific region in the Philippines. Lightbridge said Curtiss Waters will be responsible for the strategic development and penetration …

What does wireless have in common with toothpaste? Maybe not much now, but perhaps the toothpaste industry has learned a marketing secret that wireless carriers could benefit from. Toothpaste companies …

NEW YORK-Ameritech Corp., which said in December it would sell its 24.95 percent stake in Telecom Corp. of New Zealand, announced the structure for the global public offering of 437 …

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Iridium L.L.C. has 75 percent of its planned satellite constellation deployed after it successfully launched two more satellites into orbit, bringing the total number of operational satellites to 51, …

Last Sunday at church the main reading was the parable of the Prodigal Son. You remember the one, about the wealthy farmer with two sons. One son asks for his …

SALT LAKE CITY-World Wireless Communications Inc. said it received initial orders from Cirque Corp. to manufacture a variety of Cirque GlidePoint touchpad products. The orders are for labor-only contract services …

WASHINGTON-The House Commerce Committee last week passed a pro-competitive international satellite reform bill that lawmakers predict will save American consumers billions of dollars. The bill, co-sponsored by Committee Chairman Thomas …

WASHINGTON-The Telecommunications Resellers Association last week defended its study that claims a “resale blockage” exists in broadband personal communications service and specialized mobile radio service. TRA President Ernie Kelly, in …

TORONTO-TMI Communications announced it launched a new mobile packet data network available in all 50 states and in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean using its MSAT geostationary satellite. TMI said …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc.’s cdmaOne Interim Standard-634 wireless network solution is scheduled to be available beginning in the second quarter of 1998. The system features Qualcomm’s QCore base station controllers fully …

Nine companies are set to bid in the Australian personal communications services spectrum auction April 14, amid uncertainties surrounding the auction process and an economic crisis gripping many nations in …

Strategy Analytics, a research firm based in Delafield, Wis., gave perhaps the most conservative forecast of the paging industry to date during a teleconference coinciding with the release of its …

The wireless industry, having been defeated on Capitol Hill and Bunker Hill by environmentalists, organized labor and soccer moms, has turned to John Q. Public, Marcus Welby, M.D. and Ivan …

Conxus Communications Inc. announced it will extend its Pocketalk voice paging service rollout to Los Angeles and Chicago. Conxus first launched the service in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, …

NEW YORK-Aspiring to reorganize its data services capabilities, Bell Atlantic Corp. announced the formation of the Bell Atlantic Data Solutions Group and named Joseph Farina president and chief executive officer …

DALLAS-United States Cellular Corp. selected Northern Telecom Inc. to build new Code Division Multiple Access and Time Division Multiple Access networks in its markets, said Nortel. Milwaukee will be the …

WASHINGTON-No one was more surprised at the eventual outcome of the most recent Federal Communications Commission spectrum auction as was Thomas Jones, president of WNP Communications Inc., who walked away …

WASHINGTON-The Justice Department on Friday asked the Federal Communications Commission to declare the telecom industry’s digital wiretap standard deficient and to approve on an expedited basis a broader standard that …

Sweden Ortel Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Avitec AB, announced its MirrorCell family of products are being used in the Arlanda AB International Airport to provide wireless service in …

Further extending its reach into the wireless industry, Sun Microsystems Inc. announced it has signed an agreement giving L.M. Ericsson license to use and distribute its PersonalJava platform and Java …