February 1999

NEW ORLEANS-Imagine you are in a horrible accident on a dark road, late at night. Your airbag deploys but you are unconscious, alone, so how will emergency personnel-or anyone for that matter-help you? Or imagine something less horrible-your auto maker …

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.-CommNet Cellular Inc. reported results for the three months ended Dec. 31, 1998. The company added 36,865 subscribers during the period, 19,622 from increased penetration and 17,243 through certain South Dakota property acquisitions. The company said the numbers represent …

BALTIMORE-At press time Friday, Judge E. Stephen Derby told parties in the Pocket Communications Inc. bankruptcy case he would make a decision in the latest round of this convoluted case on Feb. 24. The parties in the case were back …

NEW YORK-The approximately 70 field engineers for PageMart Wireless Inc. feared a St. Valentine’s Day massacre last week after receiving a company Human Resources Department memorandum Feb. 8 advising them of a pay scale restructuring to become effective Feb. 14. …

NEW ORLEANS-Convergys Corp. said its information management solutions supported the acquisition of 2 million new wireless subscribers nationwide during the holiday season. The company also said its information management solutions support more than 30 percent of all cellular and personal …

WASHINGTON-Wireless E911 and privacy bills breezed through the House Commerce Committee last week, setting the stage for votes on the House floor by month’s end. The bills, passed by the House telecommunications subcommittee on Wednesday and by the full committee …

MALVERN, Pa.-Triton Cellular Partners LP reached an agreement to acquire the Alabama 5 Rural Service Area cellular operating system from Cranford Cellular Communications L.L.C. The transaction will bring Triton’s total POPs to 2.4 million in 20 markets.

PRINCETON, N.J.-Nettech Systems Inc. announced an expansion plan that included establishing a Professional Services consulting division to help software developers deploy wireless data solutions and opening three regional sales offices across the country. “Over the past year, we have seen …

NEW YORK-Metromedia International Group Inc. announced that on March 15 the company will pay its regularly scheduled dividend of 91 cents per share on its 7.25-percent cumulative convertible preferred stock in cash to holders of record at the close of …

PROVO, Utah-Big Planet announced its national network of independent sales representatives will begin selling the BeepwearPRO pager, made jointly by Motorola Inc. and Timex, with regular and prepaid airtime made available by SkyTel Communications Inc. The prepaid package includes the …

TOKYO-Standard & Poor’s Corp. said it downgraded the investment grade corporate ratings of nine Japanese industrial companies. The ratings of NEC Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. both were lowered a notch to A-3 from A-2, and the rating of Matsushita …

NEW ORLEANS-Following a trend of convergence between the wireless and Internet industries, Motorola Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. last week announced the first phase of a strategic alliance to develop and deploy a framework for Internet-based wireless networks. The companies …

ARLINGTON, Va.-The Telecommunications Industry Association released figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce that state sales of telecommunications equipment rose to $78.8 billion at the close of 1998, an 11-percent increase over 1997. “Despite economic downturns abroad, the strong U.S. …

NEW ORLEANS-Lucent Technologies Inc.’s Microelectronics Group introduced a Code Division Multiple Access chip that uses technology with origins in the airline industry to make it easier to understand cellular phone callers in noisy environments, such as airports and restaurants. Called …

VANCOUVER, Wash.-WesTower Corp. announced a build-to-suit agreement with Houston Cellular Telephone Co. WesTower will build a portion of Houston Cellular’s towers in the Houston area in 1999 and 2000 under the agreement.

NEW ORLEANS-The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium, which represents the interests of Time Division Multiple Access technology proponents, demonstrated interoperability between 850 MHz and 1900 MHz networks at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association Wireless ’99 show in New Orleans. Groups of …

PALO ALTO, Calif.-Watkins-Johnson Co.’s unaudited results for 1998 showed revenue of $212.2 million, down from $291.3 million reported in revenue for 1997. The company experienced a net loss for the year of $49.2 million, or $6.36 per share, compared with …

ROGERS, Conn.-Rogers Corp. reported 1998 sales of $216.6 million, an increase of 14 percent over 1997 sales of $189.7 million. The company’s net income for 1998 was $13.7 million, or $1.74 per share, compared with $16.5 million, or $2.10 per …

NEW ORLEANS-The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium and the GSM North American Alliance announced plans to work to achieve interoperability between TDMA and GSM technology, a move that could facilitate national and global consolidation among carriers with incompatible technologies and in …

MONTVALE, N.J.-Geotek Communications Inc. Friday said it plans to sell to Nextel Communications Inc. its portfolio of 191 specialized mobile radio 900 MHz licenses. The deal is valued at $150 million. Geotek declared bankruptcy last year and is selling off …

BURLINGTON, Mass.-Lightbridge Inc. announced TMTouch, the digital cellular network service and product of Telekom Cellular Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, deployed Lightbridge’s FraudBuster to detect and reduce impact of fraud. “FraudBuster’s extensive capability to detect analog and digital types of fraud …

SWINDON, U.K.-Cellnet announced it will build a General Packet Radio Service wireless data network supplied by Motorola Inc.’s Network Solutions Sector, in a $50 million deal. The GPRS capability will give Cellnet subscribers the ability to access the Internet and …

NEW ORLEANS-Spyglass Inc. released version 2.2 of its Prism platform for converting Internet content into formats that can be displayed on mobile phones. The most significant advancement of Prism 2.2 is that it conforms to existing Wireless Application Protocol standards …

WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court here rejected a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of 800 MHz specialized mobile radio licenses in 1997, but struck down rules imposing tighter buildout requirements on firms that got licenses before the auction than …

WILSONVILLE, Ore.-Tektronix Inc. announced an agreement to buy the Network Monitoring and Mobile Test Systems business of Necsy Network Control Systems S.p.A., based in Padova, Italy, for an undisclosed amount. The product line Tektronix acquired includes monitoring systems for measuring …