April 1998

OLYMPIA, Wash.-Frontier Corp. used Illuminet’s local number portability service to activate 200 live ported telephone numbers in the Northeast region on March 31, said Illuminet. Illuminet’s LNP solution is a service bureau approach featuring service order administration and data access …

JACKSON, Miss.-Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp. announced a series of interest rate swaps on its 13.5-percent senior notes due Dec. 15, 2002, and also completed a quarterly covenant test. Both measures were taken to reduce its cash interest payments during the …

WASHINGTON-The paging industry’s battle against pay-phone deregulation has picked up support from an unlikely source in Congress. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a leading opponent of federal pre-emption of local antenna-siting regulation, has introduced legislation to force pay-phone operators to make …

KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint Spectrum L.P. announced the latest addition to its line of digital phones, the Sony CM-S110SPR, which is manufactured by Qualcomm Personal Electronics. The single-band phone has a suggested retail price of $149 and is packaged with a …

ASHLAND, Ken.-RAM Technologies announced it has acquired American Answering Service of Charleston, W.Va. “We look forward to providing American Answering Service’s customers with state-of-the-art computerized messaging service, a wide variety of messaging options and the largest paging coverage available,” said …

NEW YORK-Centennial Cellular Corp., New Canaan, Conn., announced the company is considering its options, including selling some or all of its assets. The company, a cellular carrier on the United States mainland and a personal communications services carrier in Puerto …

SAN DIEGO-Wireless Facilities Inc. of San Diego announced it has merged with a Virginia-based wireless infrastructure development firm, Entel Technologies Inc. The merger will increase the scope of Wireless Facilities’ international capabilities, said the company, which develops telecommunications infrastructure. INDIANAPOLIS-Brightpoint …

It was designed to be a way to compete against Motorola Inc.’s FLEX technology, but instead the joint venture between Nexus Telocation Systems Ltd. and American Paging Inc. has dissolved into a lawsuit and counter lawsuit. In the most recent …

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. announced it will provide Tele Danmark a full turnkey solution for a Global System for Mobile communications 1800 MHz network in The Netherlands. Tele Danmark currently is working to form a partnership to create a new nationwide …

BOCA RATON, Fla.-Norway’s mobile communications network operator NetCom GSM of Oslo awarded Siemens AG a contract valued at $21.8 million to expand and modernize its base stations in southern Norway. Siemens Public Communication Networks Group plans to upgrade the base …

VANCOUVER, British Columbia-Ericsson Inc. last week introduced its Wireless Office System at the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium Global Summit in Vancouver, British Columbia. The premise-based system, designed to capitalize on advantages of the Time Division Multiple Access standard, offers companies …

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.-InfoCellular Inc. entered into a joint marketing agreement with Onyx Technologies L.L.C. to market the companies’ combined product, Info4Score, which is designed to reduce fraud and acquisition time for wireless retail and telemarketing sales channels. “Info4Score provides a wireless …

Nextel Communications Kevin Gleason was hired at Nextel Communications Inc. as Indiana General Manager and Sherri Cobb joined the company as market branch manager for Knoxville, Tenn. Prior to joining Nextel, Gleason served as vice president and general manager of …

Unsecured creditors of Pocket Communications Inc. have subpoenaed the Federal Communications Commission for information omitted from the reorganization plan approved last month by several creditor-vendors, the FCC and the Justice Department. Unsecured creditors believe knowledge of private portions of the …

KIRKLAND, Wash.-Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud of Saudi Arabia invested $200 million cash in Teledesic L.L.C., the “Internet-in-the-Sky” satellite communications venture of primary investors Craig McCaw and Bill Gates. Alwaleed, a billionaire nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahad, …

Nextel Communications Inc. dealers have filed a putative class-action lawsuit against the enhanced specialized mobile radio operator in a San Diego court, claiming Nextel failed to properly pay commissions and other money the dealers say is due them. The class …

Glenayre Technologies Inc. confirmed the general manager of its Sao Paulo, Brazil, operation was murdered earlier this month. Funeral services for Ricardo Periera were held last week in Sao Paulo. Glenayre could not provide further details by press time. Glenayre …

WASHINGTON-In an unexpected blow to government efforts to foster diversity in the fast-growing telecommunications industry, a federal appeals court here last week repealed some Federal Communications Commission equal employment opportunity rules and put another nail in the coffin of affirmative …

Wireless carrier advertising trends may have turned a corner during last year’s winter holiday season. Many industry experts believe carriers are beginning to spread their advertising dollars throughout the year, rather than devoting a huge chunk of the advertising budget …

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Postal Service and UniSite Inc. are planning a major rollout of huge flagpole antennas in the East and Midwest, a development representing a technological breakthrough in antenna co-location technology and aesthetics that will test the willingness of communities …

As the popularity and penetration of wireless communications spreads throughout North America, wireless carriers increasingly will use mass-market retail outlets and their own direct channels to distribute handsets and services. Wireless consumers might put a cellular phone on their shopping …

GTE Corp. reported a net loss for the first quarter of $178 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with net income of $665 million, or 69 cents per share, during the first quarter of 1997. The company said the …

WASHINGTON-In a move that could reignite the debate over the wireless industry’s responsibility to physically challenged Americans, a Colorado-based maker of a device enabling hearing-impaired people to use mobile phones said it will file a complaint against Qualcomm Inc. this …

MCLEAN, Va.-Nextel Communications Inc. reported revenues during the first quarter of $327 million, a 196-percent increase compared with revenues of $110.7 million for the first quarter of 1997. However, net loss for the quarter increased to $386.9 million, or $1.53 …

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.-Motorola Inc.’s Cellular Infrastructure Group announced that its first Rapid Deployment Vehicle was deployed and is operating in China’s Sichuan Province. The deployment is part of a $10 million contract Motorola CIG signed with China’s Ministry of Posts …