1999

We already knew Vice President Al Gore was good at working White House phones and Buddhist temples for noble causes, like the presidency. Now we’ve learned the veep is conspiring …

WASHINGTON-The telecommunications industry forum studying whether the telephone network will work when the new century arrives needs better participation from the wireless industry, said Peter Spring of the Network Reliability …

SEATTLE-Xypoint Corp. awarded its first certification for location determination technology to KSI Inc., which has developed TeleSentinel, a network-based wireless location system. The certification ensures the product provides seamless interoperability …

BOSTON-The Yankee Group has concluded that wireless prices are both stabilizing and homogenizing. The company’s Wireless Price Index, which has tracked wireless prices in 25 cities since 1994, shows that …

DENVER-The posturing continued last week among the players interested in buying AirTouch Communications Inc. The Financial Times reported Vodafone Group plc is considering sweetening its $55 billion offer for AirTouch …

WOBURN, Mass.-Alpha Industries Inc. has become the latest company to join the Bluetooth Special Interest Group as an early adopter. Alpha Industries designs and manufactures products for microwave and radio-frequency …

ATLANTA-Sprint Spectrum L.P. announced it expanded its network into Atlanta and the surrounding communities. Sprint PCS said it will provide coverage on I-75 north through Knoxville, Tenn.; on I-85 north …

Shared Technologies Cellular Inc. announced it signed a letter of intent with MCI WorldCom’s prepaid services division to provide prepaid cellular services nationwide under MCI WorldCom’s brand name, and through …

INDIANAPOLIS-Brightpoint Inc. announced Nextel Communications Inc. extended its agreement with Brightpoint through July 1, 2001. Under the agreement, Brightpoint provides inventory management, fulfillment, returns and repairs and outsourced accounts receivables …

Bundling continues to push forward, albeit at a slow pace. A recent Arthur Andersen survey of telecommunications companies found 66 percent of respondents offer bundled services to business customers, and …

The reauction of C-block personal communications services spectrum is expected to be a dismal affair in March, and most small entrepreneurial businesses-which the auction was designed for-are likely to forgo …

A group of cdmaOne operators are making another push to harmonize third-generation technology and avoid a potential deadlock within the International Telecommunication Union over intellectual property rights. The CDMA Development …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson signed a memorandum of technology and industrial cooperation for wideband Code Division Multiple Access technology with the Ministry of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China. …

BELLEVUE, Wash.-Nextlink Communications Inc. announced it has reached an agreement to acquire WNP Communications Inc. in a combined cash and stock transaction valued at $695 million. Through the deal, Nextlink …

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Communications Workers of America announced Pacific Bell Wireless employees chose the union to represent them and, under “card check” provisions negotiated last year, the company agreed to recognize …

Paging Network Inc. announced it acquired Calabasas, Calif.-based Silverlake Communications Inc., and it has integrated the company into its Advanced Wireless Integration Group. Financial terms of the transaction were not …

NEW YORK-Price Communications Corp. announced its Price Communications Wireless subsidiary recorded 72,385 net subscriber additions in 1998, vs. 55,632 for 1997, an increase of 30 percent for the year on …

A recent Federal Communications Commission notice may give some momentum to vendors offering handset-based solutions for wireless enhanced 911 compliance. The FCC has mandated that wireless carriers by Oct. 1, …

SEATTLE-AT&T Wireless Services announced Alaska, American, Canadian, Northwest and Southwest airlines’ passengers who make or receive, during any single month, five in-flight calls via AT&T’s incoming call service will receive …

Geoworks Corp. announced the latest stage in its continuing transformation last week with the introduction of a consulting division called the Professional Services group. The business unit was created to …

SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc. announced that as of the end of its first quarter of fiscal year 1999, ended Nov. 30, two of its networks initiated commercial operation and …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration, reacting for the first time to a new congressional report that concluded American satellite exports to China harmed U.S. national security, last week defended U.S. export controls …

NEW YORK-Lucent Technologies Inc., the Murray Hill, N.J., telecommunications equipment giant, gobbled up two other properties last week. In its bid to become a single-source supplier to a rapidly growing …

NEW YORK-A company called Beatie, King & Abate L.L.P. has filed a class-action lawsuit against Lucent Technologies Inc. individually and as a successor to AT&T Corp., alleging its telecommunications products …

DUSSELDORF, Germany-Mannesmann AG announced it has increased its participation in Italian mobile carrier Omnitel Pronto Italia by 3.2 percent. The transaction included offering AirTouch Communications Inc. an option to raise …