1999

WASHINGTON-Wireless carriers next year will begin paying nearly 6 percent of their interstate and international revenues to the federal universal-service fund, according to figures provided by the FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau. Even though this assessment used to be about 3 …

VoiceStream Wireless Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Stanton said the carrier is likely to complete its mergers with Omnipoint Corp. and Aerial Communications Inc. in the first quarter as the companies wait for government approvals. Three parties have …

INDIANAPOLIS-Brightpoint Inc. reported $469.8 million in revenues for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, a slight increase from the $445.8 million reported for third-quarter 1998. The company had net earnings of $2.8 million, or 5 cents per share, down considerably …

The Chinese government announced it will enforce regulations announced last year requiring all foreign-manufactured mobile phones and other telecommunications equipment to carry a government-issued seal indicating authenticity. The government said the move will help it reduce smuggled goods from entering …

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-Motorola Worldwide Information Network Services, an Iridium service provider to government customers, said it expanded its contact options for customers using the Iridium global communications system via Iridium gateways in the United States. M-WINS customers can use the new …

WASHINGTON-President Clinton last week vetoed the bill containing fiscal year 2000 spending for the Federal Communications Commission and signed the defense appropriations bill that contains language to auction spectrum before Oct. 1. The commerce, state and justice appropriations bill was …

Powertel Inc.’s stock tumbled nearly $12 last week after VoiceStream Wireless Corp. Chief Executive Officer John Stanton said his company has no immediate plans to acquire any more GSM operators in the United States. Powertel’s stock had been riding in …

WASHINGTON-U S West Corp. and AirTouch Paging have signed an interconnection agreement that pays terminating compensation at U S West end-office rates to AirTouch for local traffic originated by U S West. The 27-month contract will be effective in each …

Hungary Motorola Inc. said it is providing Hungarian mobile operator Westel 900 its Mobile Internet Exchange communications platform. The trial is Hungary’s first deployment of the Wireless Application Protocol. It will allow mobile users to access Internet content via Internet …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Wireless local loop (WLL) is currently the most popular access technology to supply basic voice connectivity to subscribers in the rural areas of many African nations. It is an expensive option and difficult to implement, but offers the …

SARASOTA, Fla.-Intelliworxx Inc. said it has joined Cerulean Technology Inc.’s Partner Program, running Cerulean’s PacketCluster Patrol and Rescue public-safety wireless solutions on its VoiceTablet computer, designed for voice-driven applications.

ATLANTA-A BellSouth Corp.-led consortium won a $26 million license to provide nationwide wireless communications service in Guatemala. BellSouth and its Panama-based partner, Multi Holding Corp., expect to begin service in Guatemala, the largest Central American nation with a population of …

LHS LHS Group Inc. said its net earnings during the third quarter rose to $11.7 million, up from $7.3 million a year earlier. Earnings per share increased to 20 cents, an eight-cent rise from the third quarter of 1998. “Our …

The recession enveloping Colombia is having strong effects on the wireless industry. Cellular carriers, in particular, saw first-half 1999 losses and declining user numbers. And the future will include competition from new PCS licensees. Colombia, which is experiencing its worst …

Looking to expand its distribution reach, PageMart Wireless Inc. formed an enterprise solutions partner program, allowing the company to work in conjunction with various allies to bring wireless two-way data solutions to enterprise networks. “Our approach is to bring value …

AT&T Wireless Services Inc. said capacity problems and handset shortages constrained the company’s ability to add subscribers in the third quarter. The nation’s largest wireless operator added 269,000 subscribers in the third quarter, down 17.4 percent from the previous year …

WASHINGTON-Lost in the hoopla over the enactment of wireless 911 legislation last week is the growing prospect that the rollout of position location for the nation’s 80 million mobile-phone users will be seriously delayed in the same way that caller …

Tired of listening to the same dry quarterly conference calls? Try listening to Bob Price, chief executive officer of rural cellular operator Price Communications Corp. He’s sure to add some color to your life. Last week, the fiery CEO hammered …

First, let’s start with the premise that at the moment you were assigned a social-security number, all privacy rights went to hell. But if that were the extent of it, we’d be lucky. Privacy’s slippery slope is getting steeper and …

NEW YORK-The irony inherent in the proliferation of communications devices and technologies is the difficulty of getting them to interact with home base. Therein lies a business opportunity for MobileSys Inc., a Mountain View, Calif., start-up that provides middleware. Its …

OSLO-Newly merged Telenor and Telia agreed to acquire a 30-percent stake in DiGi Swisscom Berhad, a Malaysian telecommunications group that operates a Global System for Mobile communications 1800 MHz network, said Telenor. The investment is valued at approximately $207 million. …

“Long live Global Wireless newspaper.” That’s what one of our readers wrote to me in a letter recently (see facing page), and I liked it so much I decided to borrow his words. So at risk of sounding a bit …

WASHINGTON-The U.S. House of Representatives last week approved a new District of Columbia appropriations conference report, which includes a provision to foster antenna siting in Rock Creek Park and on other federal lands in the nation’s capital. At RCR press …

Motorola Inc.’s Wireless Subscriber Systems Group introduced the DSP56690 baseband processor, capable of handling all existing wireless transmission standards, as part of its DigitalDNA+ portfolio for wireless systems. The processor incorporates a DSP core and an M-Core microcontroller. It supports …

NEW YORK-Lucent Technologies Inc. announced a 46-percent gain in net income, to $3.83 billion, for the fiscal year, and a 42-percent gain in net income per share, to $1.22, excluding one-time charges related to mergers and acquisitions. Net income for …