1999

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners has asked to join an appeals case arguing that rules on how telecom carriers use information about their customers be reinstated. The Federal Communications Commission last month asked for a review of an …

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 laterally diffused metal oxide silicon and bipolar transistors. The company …

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 a large creditor/shareholder in NextWave, signed up high-powered lobbyists at …

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 received acceptances in respect to 75 percent of Orange plc’s …

WASHINGTON-MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. jointly filed with the Federal Communications Commission an application for approval of their merger. MCI WorldCom and Sprint announced their agreement to merge last month. The application includes a brief and several affidavits by …

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 year, century and millennium switches from 1900 to 2000, the …

LUXEMBOURG-Millicom International Cellular S.A. released an Internet-based payment system for shopping online using Global System for Mobile communications telephones. GiSMo is a secure payment alternative to using a credit, debit or charge card, the company said. GiSMo shoppers purchase items …

Arch Communications Group Inc. said it will offer weather updates to paging customers through a strategic marketing relationship with The Weather Channel’s weather.com Internet site. The weather.com site offers a Wireless Weather service to customers using a text-enabled messaging device. …

Dear Editor: As pointed out by Jeff Silva in his “D.C. Notes” column Nov. 9, many industry players, including the Personal Communications Industry Association, are supportive of additional spectrum for third-generation services worldwide. Representatives from these groups and from the …

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 by the communications practice of Deloitte & Touche L.L.P., Atlanta. …

WASHINGTON-Language that requires the National Park Service to issue permits to Bell Atlantic Mobile to site two towers in Rock Creek Park made its way into the federal budget. The provision also ensures that future antenna-siting applications will be completed …

LOS ANGELES-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. launched its wireless data network in the Los Angeles market. AT&T Wireless Internet Protocol service will provide instant, wireless access to the Internet, as well as connections to e-mail, stock quotes, corporate databases and other …

The telecom branch of the Austrian Federal Science and Transportation Ministry is soliciting bids for point-to-multipoint wireless local loop spectrum in the 26 GHz frequency band. Spectrum will be assigned in 10 regions, each consisting of about 174 square miles. …

About 10 years ago Qualcomm Inc. had a goal-to ensure CDMA technology’s success by heavily promoting it, investing in companies that would deploy it and entering the equipment supplier business. Now total worldwide Code Division Multiple Access subscribers number more …

REDMOND, Wash.-InfoSpace.com introduced its person-to-person instant messaging service for mobile wireless devices. The company said the server-based service will allow users on different networks and devices to send instant text-messages to each other, including those on Internet networks such as …

LONDON-ICL, a United Kingdom-based wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Corp., announced a $161.7 million electronic business expansion initiative, including a focus on wireless services. ICL will market and distribute Nokia Corp. Wireless Application Protocol server products as part of the …

LAS VEGAS-Hewlett-Packard Co. revealed a new logo and $200 million global brand campaign to give the company a “clearer, stronger voice in the marketplace,” and reflect HP’s new emphasis on inventiveness. The new logo features the company initials without the …

WESTBOROUGH, Mass.-Arch Communications Group Inc. and Juno Online Services Inc., a provider of Internet-related services throughout the United States, announced a strategic alliance to market co-branded pagers and an integrated messaging service to Juno members nationwide. The new service will …

WASHINGTON-U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan plans to hold a hearing Dec. 16 on a Justice Department plan to modify a 1995 antitrust decree imposed on Nextel Communications Inc. The proposed DOJ-Nextel settlement, which is opposed by small and medium-sized dispatch …

Leap Wireless International Inc., which has seen a run-up in stock in recent weeks, announced a new branding strategy for its Chilean operating company. Leap in April bought out its former Chilesat PCS partner, long-distance carrier Telex-Chile. Leap has since …

WASHINGTON-The Food and Drug Administration-which recently agreed with the cellular industry to replicate two studies by Wireless Technology Research L.L.C. that showed positive findings-may have rejected cooperating with industry on research when mobile-phone cancer allegations first surfaced in 1993 because …

ATLANTA-The Wireless Application Protocol Forum announced the appointment of Scott Goldman to the newly created position of chief executive officer. Goldman will work with the WAP Forum board of directors to further enhancements to the WAP specification, evangelize the technology, …

FORT LEE, N.J.-Locus Telecommunications Inc., a provider of prepaid calling card and prepaid wireless services, announced it successfully completed the testing phase of its CallPlus prepaid wireless service in Las Vegas and Seattle. CallPlus already is offered in Philadelphia, Washington-Baltimore, …

WASHINGTON-It went down to the wire, but when all was said and done, the personal communications service licenses won at auction by bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. escaped the machinations of balancing the federal budget. White House budget negotiators continually tried …

ROME-Telecom Italia’s restructuring plan, announced in September, may have to be reconsidered, according to press reports. The plan included the transfer of Telecom Italia’s 60-percent controlling stake in Telecom Italia Mobile to Tecnost, the holding company used to acquire control …