1999

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 …

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 …

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 …

Swedish sub-system and component supplier Arkivator agreed to acquire 64 percent of the shares of LGP Telecom Inc., a subsidiary of Stockholm-based LGP Telecom AB, and offered to acquire the remaining shares. “Arkivator has been a supplier of aluminum components …

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.

Speculation circulated last week that MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. were in merger talks, following published reports that linked the two companies. Neither company would comment on the reports. Meanwhile, MCI WorldCom closed on its acquisition of SkyTel Friday. …

WASHINGTON-The North American Numbering Council said resellers that receive more than 1,000 numbers from an original assignee must report their usage to the North American Numbering Plan Administrator. Resellers that get less than 1,000 numbers will not be required to …

MADRID, Spain-Telefonica Moviles began technical testing of SnapTrack Inc.’s enhanced global positioning system location technology. The goal of the trial is to consider future applications and services that GPS and Global System for Mobile communications networks are able to provide …

ALLENTOWN, Pa.-Lucent Technologies Inc.’s Microelectronics Group and Mobicom Corp. said they are working together to build and deliver wireless handsets to China’s Global System for Mobile communications market, estimated at more than 29 million subscribers. Lucent will supply for Mobicom’s …

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 …

HIGHLANDS, N.J.-The Wireless Information Networks Laboratory at Rutgers University commemorated Sept. 30 its 10th birthday and the centennial anniversary of Guglielmo Marconi’s historic first, the transmission of wireless telegraphy messages from a lighthouse here. “The first wireless messages … followed …

Bankrupt C-block licensee General Wireless Inc. has satisfied too much of its reorganization plan for the Federal Communications Commission to appeal it, a Texas district court judge ruled last week. GWI, which changed its name to Metro PCS in March, …

TOKYO-NEC Corp. announced a corporate restructuring to speed up growth and said it will refocus its business on value-added solutions for the Internet. This follows NEC’s Feb. 19 announcement of its intention to restructure. As part of its reorganization, NEC …

WASHINGTON-Twenty-three organizations representing a broad cross section of American industry blasted an American Mobile Telecommunications Association proposal to auction a big chunk of the 450-470 MHz band and reserve only a small slice of it for private wireless users. The …

WASHINGTON-President Clinton last week vetoed an appropriations bill that fosters antenna siting in Rock Creek Park and on other federal property in the nation’s capital, and threatened to veto a separate spending bill that funds the Federal Communications Commission. The …

KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint PCS announced its business customers now can select a new Nationwide Team Option for team-based calling from any Sprint PCS phone to another Sprint PCS phone. The new option replaces the existing local Team Option launched in …

The wireless guys aren’t the only ones nagging the GOP-led Congress for liability protection against trial lawyers. The insurance, automobile, pharmaceutical, retail, chemical, tobacco and financial industries also have opened their wallets to get Congress to limit class actions by …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Six cellular phone companies, including a consortium led by South Africa’s MTN, have been prequalified by Kenya’s Communications Commission to bid for a second mobile phone license in the country. However, mixed signals about deregulation are being conveyed …

Alcatel’s recollection of 1995, the year of the last Telecom show, was of GSM coverage being patchy in most European countries, with network designers basing their plans on handsets with power outputs of 8 watts, which appears very strange in …

TOKYO-While operators and venders successfully found a way to interconnect two different systems for third-generation services, NTT DoCoMo and its vendors are now gearing up to develop equipment for wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA). NTT DoCoMo in April selected a total of 11 …

Alcatel Argentina. With Telecom Argentina for a fixed wireless access network. Value: US$99.6 million Ericsson Argentina. With Unif

TOKYO-Softbank, Microsoft and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced they will establish a joint company to provide wireless access line services. According to the announcement, the new joint company will provide the wireless service at a speed of 1 Megabyte …

The biggest challenge for wireless operators during the next four years most likely will be obtaining additional spectrum, according to Keith Radousky, director of engineering, BellSouth Cellular Corp. “(Wireless) data is going to take off similar to how it took …

Japan Telecom (JT) plans to launch its 3G services based on wideband-CDMA in the third quarter of 2001. Koichi Sakata said JT will put an emphasis on its 3G business to compete with giant NTT DoCoMo. For launching its 3G …

On 30 March 1999, the Indian government declared its New Telecom Policy (NTP), recognizing that building a world-class integrated telecom infrastructure is a major key to its future. The government aims to make telephones available on demand by 2002 and …