May 1998

They say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, a lesson paging carriers learned in a painful way last Tuesday evening when an estimated 90 percent of …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is “quickly approaching the chicken-and-egg question” with respect to how the agency should respond to explosive competition in the wireless industry, FCC Commissioner Michael Powell told …

WASHINGTON-The Automobile Association of America said last week it should be given “quasi public-safety” status by the Federal Communications Commission. This status would allow it the right of first refusal …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson was awarded a $78 million contract by the Wuhan Posts & Telecommunications Bureau to provide a complete Global System for Mobile communications network in Wuhan, China, the …

Sprint Corp. is expected to announce this week a plan that would restructure its ownership in Sprint Spectrum L.P. and allow its cable partners to exit the business. Sprint confirmed …

WASHINGTON-Comments filed last week at the Federal Communications Commission prove no one in the debate over digital wiretap has changed their tune as to how they believe the FCC should …

PHILADELPHIA-Less than two weeks after it purchased two 10-megahertz licenses in northern Mexico for $58 million, Iusacell began offering digital personal communications services. Bell Atlantic Corp. owns 42 percent of …

SkyTel Corp. said its six-year airtime provision agreement with Enron Energy Services Inc. is still on track as planned, despite media reports that the utility company is backing off its …

NEW YORK-Geotek Communications Inc., Montvale, N.J., said it plans to restructure the company because it does not have the finances to continue current operations and meet future goals. “Cash resources …

ENCINITAS, Calif.-CommQuest Technologies Inc. won a multimillion-dollar contract to design and supply chipsets for SOS Wireless Communications Inc.’s emergency 3-button phone, after it completed the design of the printed circuit …

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute may be at a crossroads now that Qualcomm Inc. has outlined the terms under which it will grant intellectual property rights to wideband Code Division …

Personal communications services provider PrimeCo Personal Communications L.P. signed a roaming agreement with GTE Wireless that will expand its PrimeTravel coverage area to 45 of the country’s top 50 markets, …

WASHINGTON-Paging service providers that want the Federal Communications Commission to institute a coin-in-the-box mechanism for toll-free calls placed at pay phones may have a tough time convincing the major players …

WASHINGTON-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) last week said a select committee, patterned after the 1973 Watergate panel, will be formed to investigate alleged satellite technology transfers from U.S. wireless companies …

WASHINGTON-TeleCorp PCS Inc. signed an exclusive contract valued at $280 million with Lucent Technologies Inc. to supply the infrastructure for its Time Division Multiple Access network. TeleCorp entered into a …

Thanks to the Seinfeld Gang of Four, taxes, CALEA, CPNI, WTR, moratoria, universal service, E911 and swervey drivers have now been eclipsed as major headaches of the day for the …

Telco Systems Inc., Norwood, Mass., is scheduled to announce Tuesday it has integrated High-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line technology from PairGain Technologies Inc., Tustin, Calif., into its access platform-an upgrade the …

MURRAY HILL, N.J.-Lucent Technologies Inc. said it will supply equipment for a trial third-generation network operated by Japanese carriers DDI Corp. and IDO Corp. The two carriers announced earlier this …

This one’s for the birds, but I hope you will take it seriously and do the right thing. The solutions seem so simple as to make this act of corporate …

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-Iridium L.L.C.’s satellite communications system using digital wireless technology developed by Motorola Inc. was demonstrated with phone calls placed on the system last Wednesday night, following the completion of …

Mobile communications is a key factor shaping the growth of the global communications industry, according to a report from BT World Communications. Nearly 150 million people subscribed to a wireless …

OTTAWA, Canada-Lucent Technologies Inc. said it has developed a way to predict wireless signal strengths inside buildings and in downtown areas that the company says is faster and more accurate …

NEW YORK-First-quarter venture capital investments in wireless and other telecommunications totaled $396 million, nearly double that of the same period in 1997 and triple that of the first quarter of …

WASHINGTON-As the battle over digital wiretap rages on, the FBI is engaged in another battle to gain access to data files that have been scrambled. The battle over immediate access …

WASHINGTON-In two unrelated developments that could reignite the debate over whether wireless technology poses health risks, a new Swedish survey has found possible links between mobile phones and illness symptoms, …