November 1999

WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard’s decision to neither shut down nor fine an unlicensed Texas broadcaster in April-following a friendly phone call from Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas)-contrasts sharply with …

SYDNEY, Australia-Australia’s One.Tel Ltd. and Lucent Technologies Inc. announced an alliance to pursue business opportunities in third-generation mobile networks in the United Kingdom and Western Europe. One.Tel also received financing …

WEST POINT, Ga.-Powertel Inc. is introducing Mobile e-mail, a technology allowing short e-mail messages to be transmitted directly to wireless handsets. “With Mobile e-mail, the customer can receive e-mails directly …

BELLEVUE, Wash.-Voice-Stream Wireless Corp. launched its personal communications services system in Austin and San Antonio, Texas. The company’s Global System for Mobile communications service will be sold through 11 company-owned …

MORRISVILLE, N.C.-Tekelec announced Alcatel has selected its General Packet Radio Services testing solution, which is based on a new next-generation diagnostics platform, MGTS i3000. GPRS technology will give Global System …

Ah, the Thanksgiving holiday is now behind us. The official HOLIDAY season is upon us, and it’s time to start shopping, writing letters to Santa and dusting off those favorite …

FORT LEE, N.J.-TSR Wireless announced several changes to its senior management staff. The company promoted Mitchell Sacks, former president and chief financial officer, to president and chief executive officer. Frank …

KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint PCS and Motorola Inc. announced the availability of Motorola’s new StarTac ST7867 dual-band Sprint PCS phone. Later this month, Sprint PCS will add the Motorola Timeport P8167 …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission will establish a year 2000 “war room” that will be manned from Dec. 30 through the first part of January, depending on what happens when the …

L.M. Ericsson wants to renegotiate the price it paid for Qualcomm Inc.’s infrastructure division, Qualcomm revealed in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Qualcomm and Ericsson declined to comment …

DALLAS-Rent Express Communications launched its frequent traveler program for North Americans who travel overseas regularly and need a mobile phone while abroad. The program costs $50 for one year of …

DENVER-Newly formed UltraRF, the former semiconductor division of Spectrian Corp., announced a new amplifier integration technology, in addition to details of its focus as an autonomous business unit. UltraRF produces …

NEW YORK-Telecommunications companies pay insufficient attention to revenue leaks, possibly due to the misconception that these hidden losses have a minor impact on their bottom line, according to a report …

AT&T Wireless Services Inc.’s largest affiliate, TeleCorp PCS Inc., raised $184 million last Tuesday from its initial public offering. TeleCorp priced its IPO offering of 9.2 million shares of class …

The International Vision Calls Foundation, based in Toronto, has launched its “Phones for Sight” program, an initiative calling on wireless phone consumers and vendors to reinvest their old phones in …

Speculation continues that AT&T Corp. will unveil plans to issue a separate tracking stock to trace its wireless business, which has grown significantly since the carrier introduced its successful Digital …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. launched a direct sales effort over the Internet of its pdQ smart phone-the combined phone and pen-based organizer based on Code Division Multiple Access technology and the …

Lucent Technologies Inc. charged ahead during the first half of the year, recording a substantial jump in profit growth and edging ahead of Nokia Corp. as the major players’ leader …

MURRAY HILL, N.J.-Lucent Technologies Inc. has taken a page from Ericsson Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc., each of which now dominate in certain areas of telecommunications infrastructure provision, said Richard …

WASHINGTON-Before Congress left town, two members lent their support to allocate spectrum for private wireless use. The private wireless industry has been urging the Federal Communications Commission to allocate six …

LONDON-Standard & Poor’s said it lowered its long-term ratings on Mannesmann AG from A to BBB, and its short-term ratings from A-1 to A-2, following Mannesmann’s announcement that it has …

With its back to the wall and down to its last gasp, NextWave Telecom Inc. and friends brought in the big guns. Bay Harbor Management, a New-York investment firm and …

Roberto Colaninno, chairman and chief executive of Telecom Italia, formally abandoned the financial restructuring plan he announced in September. The boards of Olivetti and Tecnost agreed to scrap the plan, …

NEW YORK-Nextel is a “rag dog” company that has fought against the odds of regulators, antitrust lawyers and Wall Street to win, said Morgan E. O’Brien, vice chairman of Nextel …

LAKE CHARLES, La.-US Unwired, a Sprint PCS affiliate, said it secured more than $380 million in financing, which will be used to expand the company’s existing personal communications services network …