March 2001

SAN DIEGO-Kyocera Wireless Corp. reported it is voluntarily replacing approximately 11,000 of its QCP 3035 wireless handsets sold to Qwest Wireless customers in 12 states since December. Kyocera said it found under certain circumstances some of the phones, when used …

BELLEVUE, Wash.-TDMA’s advocacy body, the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium, said TDMA subscribers had increased by 74 percent to 61 million at the end of 2000. “TDMA continues to be the most widely used wireless technology in the Americas with the …

SALT LAKE CITY-Verizon Wireless said it will construct a $42 million customer service call center in West Valley City, Utah, bringing more than 1,000 new jobs to the local economy. The call center will serve Verizon Wireless customers in Utah, …

NEW YORK-AT&T Wireless Group Inc. said it would use most of the $6.5 billion the company raised in its recent bond offering, in conjunction with the $6.2 billion it received from NTT DoCoMo Inc., to build its network and invest …

VANCOUVER, British Columbia-Brian Tobin, Canada’s Minister of Industry officially announced a $9.9 million repayable investment in Sierra Wireless by Technology Partnerships Canada. The TPC investment is to be used for developing next-generation wireless technology for Canadian mobile workers, including high-speed …

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Palm Inc. agreed to acquire Extended Systems Inc., a mobile solutions vendor, allowing Palm to provide both handheld computers and enterprise-class mobile infrastructure software and support for multiple operating systems, including Palm OS, Pocket PC, Windows CE, EPOC …

LONDON-Vodafone Group plc customers on seven of the company’s networks in Europe now can use their normal “short code” dialing numbers to access services such as voicemail, directory assistance and customer service when traveling outside their home country. “Allowing customers …

Two-way messaging licenses held by the now-bankrupt paging company TSR Wireless L.L.C. will be auctioned off near the end of this month, according to the company’s bankruptcy trustee Charles Forman. The auction for the two two-way licenses, informally known as …

WASHINGTON-As the Federal Communications Commission considers proposals to select a nationwide number-pooling administrator, two leading contenders are duking it out at the state level in winning pooling contracts. Number pooling allows telephone numbers to be assigned in thousands-blocks rather than …

Hailing from Stockholm, Sweden, one of the world’s premier breeding grounds for mobile-phone technology, wireless network security developer Columbitech is gearing up to take on the United States with a wireless virtual private network product that will allow users to …

LINCOLN, Neb.-Transcrypt International Inc. ended the year with revenues totaling $42.2 million compared with annual revenues of $53.5 million for 1999 and is evaluating a sale of part or all of the company. The losses are due to a weaker …

WASHINGTON-Whether the nation is plagued with daunting deficits or buoyed by gushing surpluses, spectrum auctions remain a lightning rod for controversy as the revenue-generating wireless licensing tool becomes inextricably intertwined in national budget policy. This was inevitable. Spectrum auctions grew …

WASHINGTON-A new day appears to be dawning for FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell. This new day will have Powell greeting four new colleagues by the end of the year, reforming an agency that some on Capitol Hill have said cannot …

The traditional paging industry is dead, many analysts and paging veterans agree. But there is an escape route for the few companies left fighting, though many industry observers agree more consolation will take place and not everyone will make it …

WASHINGTON-Congressional opponents of the proposed $30 billion acquisition of VoiceStream Wireless Corp. by Deutsche Telekom AG have struck again, just weeks after VoiceStream was successful in getting members of its congressional delegation to urge support for the deal. “In recent …

A great political stroke of genius of Team Bush has been the creation of the moderate tone implied by the “compassionate conservative” banner. Why, you’d think George W. would suffer from repetitive-motion injury for all the many times he’s mouthed …

Motorola Inc.’s miserable journey into the realm of mobile satellite communications with Iridium L.L.C. worsened last week when a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in New York ruled that creditors of Iridium could proceed with plans to sue Motorola for $2 …

NEW YORK-The Wireless Multimedia Forum, which recently celebrated its first birthday, is on schedule in building a framework for content that must be written just once for delivery to any device over any network. Earlier this year, the WMF released …

MELBOURNE, Fla.-AirNet Communication Corp. has deployed and received customer acceptance for what it said is one of the first U.S. wireless GPRS systems. AirNet’s AdaptaCell base stations and its AirSite Backhaul Free base stations are included in the GPRS system …

HILSBORO, Ore.-Wireless e-mail company Etrieve Inc. announced an enhancement to its current service and a new deal with Dell Computer Corp. Under its agreement with Dell, Etrieve’s e-mail service will be offered through Dell’s Mobile Office Server, allowing users to …

Now that the United States appears to be entering a recession, the economics behind deployments of third-generation wireless systems are even trickier than new math. Carriers and vendors are walking a tightrope trying to find the proper balance between offering …

NEW YORK-Vaultus, a mobile platform company, announced it closed $32 million in second-round financing, bringing the total invested in the company to more than $57 million. The top investor in this round was First Union Capital Partners. Other investors included …

SEATTLE-Cingular Wireless launched its brand in the Seattle and Spokane, Wash., markets, replacing GTE Wireless. The company also introduced GSM coverage in the area. Cingular said it has contacted current GTE customers about the switch and is offering to provide …

LAKE CHARLES, La.-US Unwired Inc. completed two transactions in which it exchanged class A common stock for the minority interests in its Sprint PCS operating subsidiaries, Louisiana Unwired L.L.C. and Texas Unwired. “These transactions eliminate all of US Unwired’s minority …

HELSINKI, Finland- Nokia Corp. has selected subcontractors to supply its 3G equipment around the world. The subcontractors are Skanska Telecom networks and Flextronics Network Services in Sweden; Boke and Walterfang GmbH and Pfleiderer AG in Germany; Landis Public Networks B.V., …