1999

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week unanimously granted a request from the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association to extend until Nov. 24, 2002, the deadline for implementing local number portability. Portability …

WASHINGTON-In an embarrassing political blunder that lends insight into the tricky third-generation wireless debate, Sen. Chuck Robb (D-Va.) last week joined two fellow Finance Committee members in urging the Clinton …

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 …

Nextel Communications Inc. last week agreed to sell its portfolio of towers to independent tower company SpectraSite Communications Inc., ending months of speculation about which tower company the specialized mobile …

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 …

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 …

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 …

NEW YORK-Boston Communications Group Inc. launched a prepaid wireless service called Passport, which it said is the first in the United States to permit calls from any wireless phone to …

WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association continued its fight last week to keep the spectrum cap in place. The spectrum cap limits carriers to 45 megahertz in a given geographic area. …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration, ratcheting up the debate with top telecom lawmakers over C-block personal communications services policy, staunchly defended a proposal to enable the Federal Communications Commission to swiftly recover …

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 …

In the first product announcement resulting from its acquisition of Starfish Software Inc., Motorola Inc. introduced a personal organizer accessory designed to clip on to the back of other StarTAC …

I guess there is no use longing for yesterdays when wireless trade shows were somewhat sane. Today’s conventions are full of new twists as last-minute press conferences are called to …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 a move designed to further its interests in the wireless environment, Microsoft Corp. announced it has formed an agreement with British Telecommunications plc to develop a set of services …

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.-PrairieComm Inc. announced Mitsubishi Wireless Communications Inc. selected PrairieComm’s Time Division Multiple Access chipset for use in MWCI’s recently announced T200 tri-mode TDMA handset. PrairieComm said its two-device …

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.-Motorola Inc.’s Commercial, Government and Industrial Solutions Sector announced it entered into a software alliance agreement with Cerulean Technology Inc. in an effort to beef up its wireless information …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …