1999

PETALUMA, Calif.-Tegal Corp. said RF Micro Devices Inc. placed a follow-on order for Tegal’s 901G diode plasma etcher. The tool will be used for etching devices on gallium arsenide substrates-widely used in cellular phones and other wireless communications products-at RF …

NEW ORLEANS-The fiery politics that once characterized the third-generation standards-setting process is rapidly dying, members of a 3G panel said at the PCS ’99 show last week in New Orleans, but concerns remain over worldwide acceptance of the new standards. …

ORLAND PARK, Ill.-Andrew Corp. said it will supply Powertel Inc. with its Heliax coaxial cable, RingFlare connectors, SureFlex cable assemblies, SureGround radio-frequency grounding kits and surge arrestors. Andrew’s installation accessories, such as Easiax cable preparation tools, also are being employed …

KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint PCS and Sanyo Fisher Co., a division of Sanyo North America Corp., announced an exclusive agreement that calls for Sanyo Fisher to supply Sprint PCS with its new Sanyo SCP-4000 phone. The agreement is valued at $140 …

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.-AudioVox Communications Corp. introduced a new line of “clamshell” style cellular handsets. The line will debut with the PCX-3500XL. Made exclusively for PrimeCo Communications L.P., the phone has a titanium-colored front cover and a black back. It supports the …

MADRID, Spain-Nortel Networks was selected by Airtel Movil S.A. to supply a wireless/wireline packet network valued at about $50 million during the next two years. The converged network will be deployed across Spain’s 50 provinces, including the islands, and will …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Qualcomm Inc. selected American Wireless to distribute a broad line Qualcomm’s consumer products, American Wireless announced. Carriers, retailers, resellers, dealers and independent agents can order Qualcomm Code Division Multiple Access phones, batteries, cases, chargers, cigarette lighter adapters and …

SAN FRANCISCO-Telstra Corp. Ltd. announced the commercial availability of its Code Division Multiple Access wireless network across the metropolitan Adelaide, Australia, area. Coverage also will extend to the Adelaide Hills, including Mount Barker and Strathalbyn, and throughout the Southern Vales. …

SAN DIEGO – OmniVoice Technologies Inc. announced that Wide Telecom in Korea will produce a voice pager using OmniVoice’s VoiceOver technology. Wide Telecom is the second manufacturer to license OmniVoice’s technology to build a pager capable of receiving, storing and …

NEW ORLEANS-Motorola Inc. and Audible, a provider of Internet-delivered spoken audio content, demonstrated at Personal Communications Showcase ’99 in New Orleans the direct downloading of spoken audio content to digital wireless phones. The demonstration showcased the ability of Motorola’s i1000plus …

BOSTON-American Tower Corp. entered into an agreement with TV Azteca S.A. de C.V. in Mexico under which American Tower will loan up to $120 million to TV Azteca in exchange for annual net payments of approximately $13.9 million, plus the …

NEW ORLEANS-BellSouth Cellular Corp. announced it will begin a Wireless Application Protocol trial with customers in some of its Global System for Mobile communications markets next month in a partnership with Saraide.com and InfoSpace.com. Several hundred BellSouth customers in Raleigh, …

MELBOURNE, Fla.-AirNet Communications Corp. signed a multimillion dollar contract for Global System for Mobile communications base station subsystem equipment with High Plains/Midwest L.L.C., a wireless service provider operating in Kansas. The contract calls for AirNet to supply GSM infrastructure equipment …

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-ReadyCom Inc. said it introduced its two-way, advanced voice messaging technology with cellular carriers in Puerto Rico and Chile, and confirmed the technology is meeting unserved needs in the marketplaces. “Early indications are that business customers are indeed …

NEW ORLEANS-BellSouth Wireless Data said it plans to introduce a portfolio of secure wireless electronic-commerce offerings by the end of this year. The company also announced several companies it is working with to develop wireless e-commerce infrastructure and applications enabled …

DALLAS-Texas Instruments plans to introduce today a chipset that combines radio-frequency data transmission and reception with a microcontroller unit. The chipset consists of the TRF6900 single-chip RF transceiver, which provides for flexibility in low-power RF transmission and reception, while the …

NEW ORLEANS-Aquis Communications Group Inc. is in the process of buying bankrupt paging carrier SourceOne Wireless Inc. of Chicago. John Adiletta, Aquis president and CEO, said his company first entered into a management agreement with SourceOne in August, an arrangement …

WASHINGTON-Key lawsuits are set to go forward next month involving claims of fraudulent auditing and privacy violations against Wireless Technology Research L.L.C. and an allegation that a prototype mobile phone antenna caused brain cancer to a Motorola Inc. engineer in …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson said it signed two contracts, valued at more than $55 million, with Advanced Info Service Public Co. Ltd. in Thailand for the expansion of its Global System for Mobile communications network. When fully implemented in the first …

WASHINGTON-The federal government moved closer to life in the 21st century with two actions that will help law enforcement, while allowing companies to develop new technologies. The White House announced on Thursday a three-pronged plan for dealing with the controversial …

Three quarters of the way into 1999, we are inundated with good news from many of the wireless carriers showing record numbers of new customers added to their networks. These numbers are impressive and, in spite of local resistance to …

NEW YORK-The Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce is engaged in a monumental juggling act with significant implications for levies on telecommunications in general, judging by comments at its two-day hearing last week. Charged by Congress with recommending whether and how …

Cupertino, Calif.-based chip manufacturer DSP Communications Inc. today plans to introduce two new products for current and future Code Division Multiple Access handsets. Immediately available is DSPC’s new CDMA Manufacturers Development Kit for wireless handsets, which will enable handset manufacturers …

TIVERTON, R.I.-S.V. Designs Inc., which provides wireless phone companies aesthetic concealment solutions for their antennas and cables, announced it expanded its service area from New England to now include the mid-Atlantic region, North Carolina and South Carolina.

WETHERSFIELD, Conn.-Shared Technologies Cellular Inc. announced its CellEase program has evolved into a universal payment method for prepaid wireless services. As a central payment and card redemption system, CellEase enables customers of various service providers to replenish their usage with …