#TBT: Nextel pursues NextWave; Sprint PCS preps mobile Internet … 15 years ago this week

Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades and enjoy the memories!
Nextel’s pursuit of NextWave raises eyebrows
News that Nextel Communications Inc. received government approval to pursue 95 personal communications services licenses held by bankrupt designated entity NextWave Telecom Inc. dumbfounded and angered several large carriers last week and put into question whether the Federal Communications Commission brokered a back-door deal with the enhanced specialized mobile radio operator. It is an issue that may have far-reaching consequences for the FCC, consequences that could include congressional hearings on the issue, said sources close to the matter. The FCC and Nextel did not return repeated calls for comment by RCR’s press time. … Read More
PCS troupe closing the gap on cellular
The economy is rolling along, wireless subscriber additions are climbing and merger and acquisition activity is heating up. This is good news for the personal communications services industry, which last year found itself suffering from tight financing and a general underperformance in small capitalized stocks. U.S. pure-play PCS companies together lost about 12 percent of their value in 1998, while cellular companies masked the loss and led growth, providing a 65-percent return to investors in 1998, according to financial firm Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. … Read More
Sprint PCS turns out Internet-access package
Sprint PCS’s awaited introduction of nationwide commercial Internet-access services will begin in late September, announced the company. Targeting business users and a wide range of consumer customers that are heavy Internet and e-mail users, Sprint PCS will hit the market with Sprint PCS Wireless Web, which features three offerings. The Sprint PCS Wireless Web Browser will allow customers whose wireless phones are equipped with a simplified Phone.com microbrowser to connect to select Internet-based content. … Read More
Berliner maps strategy, begins IPO negotiations
Wireless construction company Berliner Communications Inc. said it has begun negotiating with underwriters to commence an initial public offering. “We see geographic expansion and further offerings via acquisition of selected companies as the best way for us to continue on the path we have chosen,” said Rich Berliner, president and chief executive officer of the company, which provides infrastructure services including radio-frequency engineering, site acquisition and construction. … Read More
American Tower sets sights high with Vodafone site pact
American Tower Corp. last week made its first large carrier transaction through a master sublease agreement with Vodafone AirTouch plc. The deal gives American Tower the sublease rights to 2,100 AirTouch towers in the United States for $800 million in cash, which works out to about $380,000 per tower. The deal does not include towers in AirTouch’s Los Angeles and San Diego markets. Jonathan Marshall, a spokesman for AirTouch, said the company has not announced plans for those towers yet. … Read More
Iridium charts bankruptcy plan
After defaulting on both its $800 million senior secured credit facility and its $750 million guaranteed credit facility last week, Iridium L.L.C. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Iridium said the move has the support of banks, bondholders and its strategic partners, and was not altogether unexpected. Last Wednesday, Iridium announced it again had failed to reach the subscriber and revenue minimums stipulated in its loan covenants, causing it to default on its bank loans. Wednesday’s deadline marked the end of the third extension given Iridium to meet subscriber and revenue growth targets needed to borrow additional funds from lenders. … Read More
Dispatch houses not worried by Internet threat
Analysts have long criticized operator-assisted dispatch as the weak link in the alphanumeric paging chain, citing its inherent lack of privacy and potential for misinterpreted messages. But users have accepted these faults because there was no other way to get text messages to alphanumeric subscribers. The rising convergence of wireless networks with the Internet, however, is providing an alternative. Users can send text pages to friends and colleagues via e-mail, from Internet paging sites and from two-way pagers, and soon, from personal digital assistants. But companies providing operator-assisted dispatching services insist these new technologies are not cutting them out of the messaging loop, saying operator-assisted dispatch remains the easiest way to send a text message, and therefore will always play a role. … Read More
Branding, coverage remain key issues in tapping customers
Personal communications services carriers can be credited with spurring huge demand for wireless service, but they continue to struggle with brand awareness and perceptions customers have about coverage. “It’s a brand game and a consumer-marketing game,” said Andrew Sukawaty, president of nationwide carrier Sprint PCS, which has led the industry three consecutive quarters in subscriber additions. “People who walk into a store and look on a shelf and see the Sprint brand along with a brand they’ve never heard of, what are they going to get?” … Read More
Regionet uses maritime licenses to offer SMR service
While most of the recent attention surrounding specialized mobile radio services has circulated around enhanced SMR provider Nextel Communications Inc., some smaller dispatch providers have been quietly finding creative ways to use their spectrum to compete in the marketplace. One such company is Regionet Wireless. While not technically an SMR, Regionet has found a way to compete in the fleet dispatch communications market thanks to a 1997 Federal Communications Commission decision. … Read More
U.K. judge says gov’t can’t force roaming on carriers
The U.K. government is determined to keep its third-generation licensing time frame despite a ruling from a London High Court judge, who said the government could not force existing wireless operators to grant roaming rights to a new entrant. The government plans to auction 3G spectrum in January. Earlier this year, in an effort to stimulate strong mobile-phone competition, the Department of Trade and Industry modified licensing plans to include an extra license reserved for a new entrant, which would have a larger license area than the other four licensees and the right to roam onto at least one second-generation network to ensure coverage. … Read More
Check out RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
Photo courtesy of the Marconi Society.
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