1999

ALAMEDA, Calif.-Geoworks Corp. and TSR Wireless L.L.C. announced they have teamed to conduct a holiday campaign in support of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program. Shoppers who bring a new, unwrapped toy for the program to any …

CURITIBA, Brazil-Lucent Technologies Inc. and Inepar S/A Industria e Construcoes, a Brazilian energy and systems manufacturer, announced they formed a joint venture to supply power equipment to Brazil’s telecommunications market. Headquarters for the joint venture will be in Curitiba, Brazil. …

BALTIMORE-In what he hopes will be the first of many such appearances, Thomas Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, last week told 800 civic leaders here that the marrying of the computer and wireless industries can happen anywhere, …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Ericsson said it signed a $200 million contract with Diginet Americas to further build out Diginet’s fixed wireless broadband network throughout Latin America. The agreement expands Ericsson’s previous agreement with Diginet from $100 million to $300 million. Since the …

LINCOLN, Neb.-EF Johnson Co. announced it received a contract from Motorola Inc. for $3.7 million to provide the mutual aid equipment for the shared Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials 25-compliant 800 MHz Motorola Astro SmartZone digital system being installed in …

The International Telecommunication Union announced network experts who met in Geneva earlier this month agreed on six sets of specifications for IMT-2000 networks. The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector, under the leadership of Study Group 11, is developing IMT-2000 network-related standards …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. and Chinese service provider Guandong South Satellite Telecommunications Service Co. Ltd. said contracts have been signed to provide the OmniTracs mobile information management system to Cosco and Sinotrans, the two largest Chinese transportation companies. Cosco will use …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Esat Telecom’s board of directors said the offer made by Newtel AB in a hostile takeover bid is “derisory and fundamentally undervalues the group,” in a statement released last Tuesday. The board unanimously recommends that shareholders reject the offer …

NEW YORK-Winstar Communications Inc., New York, will receive $900 million from its sale of a 13-percent stake to a group of investors, including Microsoft Corp., the fixed wireless access carrier announced Dec. 15. Others participating in the purchase include Credit …

Following months of speculation, three Japanese telecom companies announced plans to merge into one group to compete in the country’s increasingly competitive telecom market. DDI Corp., IDO Corp. and KDD Corp. will merge to form Japan’s second-largest telecom company after …

PRINCETON, N.J.-Nettech Systems Inc. announced Itochu Techno Science-a computer system distributor in Japan-has invested in the company. Nettech also said it acquired the assets of CTC’s MobileWare middleware division. CTC is an exclusive distributor of Nettech’s wireless middleware. Financial details …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission expects to hold an auction for the remaining narrowband personal communications services licenses as early as next summer. “At this point we don’t have a date … Most likely the auction will occur in the second …

WebLink Wireless Inc., formerly PageMart Wireless, announced several companies have joined its Enterprise Solutions Provider Program in the last week. The most recent addition is JP Systems Inc., which said it will integrate its InfoBeam Enterprise Server messaging technology with …

WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association last week sent letters to the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration urging that wireless carriers be given eligible telecommunications carrier status. Carriers must obtain ETC status before they can receive …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission this week is expected to release auction and service rules that will make 30 megahertz of spectrum available for commercial use, setting aside six megahertz for private wireless use. If this happens, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry …

Tritel Inc., a Jackson, Miss., personal communications services affiliate of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., raised $168.75 million Dec. 14 in an initial public offering of 9.375 million shares. Tritel registered Nov. 18 for the IPO with an expected price range …

NEW YORK-Sweden’s L.M. Ericsson has majored on the infrastructure side of provisioning to wireless carriers within the United States while playing a comparatively minor role as a wireline network supplier. However, that soon could change if company executives succeed in …

As the fourth quarter comes to a close, it seems ReFLEX 25 paging operators will not get the two-way pagers manufacturers promised would be available by now. Neither Motorola Inc. nor Glenayre Technologies Inc.’s Wireless Access Group have delivered two-way …

Competition in the wireless personal digital assistant space will be heating up soon, as Casio Computer Co. Ltd. and Siemens’ Communication Devices division have announced a strategic alliance to jointly develop a new line of palmtop personal computers with wireless …

Looking out the window of his Los Angeles office, William E. Jackson II can see two wireless sites his company designed, but he hopes nobody else can see them. Jackson is president of Clock Tower Communications Inc., one of several …

In a deal mirroring one recently completed by Nokia Corp., Motorola Inc. announced it will license the Palm operating system from Palm Computing Inc. for use in future wireless products. In addition, Motorola and Nokia, as well as America Online, …

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J.-Integrated Systems Research said its new FleetTrack automatic vehicle location system is the first to offer users automatic switching from Cellular Digital Packet Data to analog cellular service. ISR said the functionality will cut operation costs by switching …

WASHINGTON-A federal judge last week approved a new antitrust settlement between the Justice Department and Nextel Communications Inc., allowing Nextel to acquire more 900 MHz dispatch radio licenses in 14 major markets while largely scotching-for now-its deal to buy bankrupt …

WASHINGTON-The government, not industry, needs to study the interference impact of the explosion of wireless devices occurring today, said Bob Lucky, corporate vice president of Telecordia Technologies and chairman of the FCC’s Technological Advisory Committee. “It seems to me that …

RESTON, Va.-Ztango.com Inc. introduced software solutions that enable the delivery of Internet-based services to digital wireless phones and Wireless Application Protocol-based smart phones. Ztango.com’s software delivers custom information and news, e-mail, fax and other mobile office services. It supports Global …