1999

ST. LOUIS-Sun Microsystems Inc. and Amdocs announced a global alliance reseller agreement under which Amdocs will resell and support the Sun platform. Under terms of the agreement, Amdocs’ Ensemble customer-care and billing system will be deployed in the Sun environment …

WASHINGTON-Outgoing National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Larry Irving said he will launch a start-up Internet firm and open a consulting practice here, but downplayed suggestions he would use his new, private sector status to lobby former colleagues in government. …

WASHINGTON-Six House members last week sent a letter to Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urging consideration of a bill recently passed by the House that would change the digital wiretap grandfather date from Jan. …

AirTouch Cellular plans to unveil a new version of its calling party pays service later this month. AirTouch will launch the new service first in Colorado, followed by rollouts in all of its service areas. The product will address several …

NEW ORLEANS-The bankruptcies of certain C-block and mobile satellite companies, coupled with mutual fund outflows, rising interest rates and other macro-economic trends, have aligned like planets in a bad omen for wireless companies that cannot get financing before Halloween. This …

When voice paging carrier Conxus Communications Inc. shut off its network in the closing days of August, many wondered what would happen to the nearly 80,000 customers stranded in the process. As time was running out, Motorola Inc. led an …

WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard last week told the House of Representatives’ top telecommunications lawmaker, Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-Va.), that a letter signed by the FCC general counsel does not bind either him or the other commissioners to agree …

WASHINGTON-The Association of American Railroads again urged federal regulators to lift the licensing freeze on private multiple address system applications and not auction fixed wireless frequencies internally used by railroads, pipelines, utilities and other industries that support critical U.S. infrastructure. …

WASHINGTON-Rep. George Gekas (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law, last week said the schools and libraries Internet program is possibly wasting taxpayer dollars on unnecessary regional training workshops and outreach. “It seems absurd that …

LOS ANGELES-The Los Angeles Police Department said it completed the installation of the infrastructure for its new mobile data communications system-Motorola Inc.’s $21.6 million 800 MHz Private DataTAC mobile data system with Mobile Workstation 520 mobile computing devices. The Motorola …

WASHINGTON-The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday approved President Clinton’s nomination of Gregory Rohde to head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The nomination now goes to the Senate floor for consideration. Rohde, a telecom aide to Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), would …

SAN DIEGO-Sprint PCS said it selected Qualcomm CDMA Technologies to provide infrastructure for trials of third-generation wireless technology based on the 3G Code Division Multiple Access 1x multicarrier mode of the IS-2000 Release 0 published standard. The technical trials, scheduled …

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-Phone.com Inc. said Philips Consumer Communications has licensed the UP.Browser microbrowser software for its line of Global System for Mobile communications wireless phones. Philips said it expects to introduce the browser-equipped phones commercially next year.

NEW YORK-Illuminet Holdings Inc., which calls itself the largest unaffiliated Signaling System 7 network provider in the country, plans an initial public offering of 3.9 million shares priced between $14.50 and $16.50 each. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, New York, is …

SAN FRANCISCO-Saraide.-com Inc. announced it has formed partnerships with Critical Path Inc. and EDS. Critical Path provides business-to-business messaging solutions. Its partnership with Saraide.com is designed to deliver Internet messaging solutions, such as POP2, IMAP4 and Web-based e-mail and message …

WASHINGTON-The wireless 911 bill, once assumed a sure bet for congressional approval this year, has hit snags over liability, privacy and other issues that threaten passage of the legislation in 1999. Failure to pass the 911 bill-the centerpiece of the …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-APiON Ltd., a Wireless Application Protocol infrastructure provider, and Symmetry Communications Inc., which provides General Packet Radio System equipment, announced that have cooperated to demonstrate WAP-GPRS interworking. The two tested using WAP over GPRS with such applications as …

A photo accompanying a story about tower siting in Rock Creek Park in the Sept. 27 issue of RCR (Page 25) was an illustration and not the actual proposed tower for the park. The proposed tower would be installed using …

Tower company SpectraSite Communications Inc. last week began the process of shedding its in-house site acquisition and zoning capabilities. Stephen Clark, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, told RCR the company has decided to concentrate on its core …

WASHINGTON-Amid rumors of congressional fatigue with the thought of reforming the Federal Communications Commission, the agency’s chairman last week said reform efforts are going forward. “This effort is real. It is happening. Many of the things in this plan are …

Speculation that BellSouth Wireless Data Ltd. would not immediately renew its supply contract with Research In Motion Ltd. has proven accurate, expected to result in lower third-quarter earnings for RIM. But the drop is expected to be short-term as more …

WASHINGTON-The Telecommunications Industry Association is urging lawmakers and regulators to maintain the “hands off the ‘Net” approach. “The communications industry continues to boom … Deployment of broadband will be crucial for this growth to continue,” said TIA President Matthew J. …

The wireless industry has yet another trade show under its belt. It’s time to sit back and take a deep breath before all hell breaks loose in preparation for the next one. Every year, after every major trade show, the …

WASHINGTON-In a victory for the wireless industry and a blow to free-speech advocates, a federal court here has revived a high-profile cell-phone eavesdropping lawsuit by Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) against Rep. James McDermott (D-Wash.). McDermott leaked the contents of a …

While the bankruptcies of Iridium L.L.C. and ICO Global Communications have cast doubt on the mobile satellite services market, fixed satellite services provider Teledesic L.L.C. believes it may find a way to benefit from these difficulties. Teledesic is wireless visionary …