A growing number of operators, vendors and analysts are not convinced EDGE technology will make significant inroads in Europe."In Europe, I'm not expecting a major deployment of EDGE," said Lothar Pauly, head of Siemens AG's global wireless business.EDGE, or Enhanced Data rates for GSM...
European regulators this year will auction, grant or selectively tender 70 to 80 licenses. It's a double-edged sword for the incumbent operators, which in many places have to compete for a license. If they don't win a license, their value as a company goes...
Bids for each of the five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in the United Kingdom reached or topped $3 billion last week. All 13 original bidders are still are in the auction, now in its fifth week."I think it speaks volumes that of the...
UbiquiTel Inc., a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., affiliate of Sprint PCS, plans to raise $550 million in debt and equity to fully fund network construction, expected to be largely completed by the end of 2001.Notwithstanding its East Coast headquarters, UbiquiTel has an exclusive agreement to...
WASHINGTON-The United States will enter the World Radiocommunication Conference in Istanbul next month without global or even regional support for its multiband proposal on third-generation mobile-phone service.The situation is embarrassing for the Clinton administration because it could lead to the United States being isolated...
COSTA MESA, Calif.-The CDMA Development Group said the Telecommunications Industry Association will approve the Code Division Multiple Access Subscriber Identity Module standard, Removable-User Identity Module for publication.According to the CDG, this standardization represents a major step in the development of worldwide roaming as CDMA...
Spyglass Inc. has agreed to merge with OpenTV, a worldwide provider of interactive TV software that plans to buy all of Spyglass' outstanding stock in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at about $2.5 billion.By acquiring Spyglass, OpenTV hopes to expand its interactive digital TV services...
KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint PCS will provide Emazing Inc.'s consumer-driven content on the Sprint PCS Wireless Web, providing customers with daily horoscopes and tips on categories including business, household hints and health."Our partnership with Sprint PCS allows us to extend our popular content from the...
NEW YORK-George Schmitt, formerly president of Omnipoint Communications Inc., has joined competitive local exchange carrier e.spire Communications Inc., Herndon, Va., as its chairman and interim chief executive officer.Schmitt also was executive vice president of Omnipoint Corp., the parent of Global System for Mobile communications...
WASHINGTON-The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau last week supported a proposal from the Rural Utilities Service to allow mobile-phone operators to receive loans for providing service to rural areas."The wireless bureau supports these proposals and believes that allowing the applicants to the telecommunications loan program...
BONN, Germany-Deutsche Telekom acquired a majority stake in Czech mobile phone operator RadioMobil for about $565 million. The German carrier's CMobil company increased its previously held 49-percent stake in the Czech company to 60.8 percent.DT is exercising an option established in the original 1996...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. acquired Within Technology Inc., a technology and systems consulting firm with expertise in collaborative workgroup software, interface design and document annotation techniques.Qualcomm noted Within Technology has a staff that includes both Windows and Macintosh programmers and a small Internet service provider...
NEW YORK-With an estimated 5 million American customers today, prepaid wireless services have yet to fulfill their promise, but that potential is getting closer to realization.Within the next several years, analysts from The Yankee Group, the Strategis Group and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities...
Qualcomm Inc. and Motorola Inc. ended their longstanding patent disputes last week, agreeing to extend their Code Division Multiple Access cross licenses.The new settlement calls for Motorola and Qualcomm to leave unmodified the financial terms of their original 1990 royalty-bearing license agreement for CDMA...
ATLANTA-Speculation again surfaced that BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. will announce the merger of their U.S. wireless assets as early as this week, creating a competitive wireless footprint with more than 16.5 million customers.The possible merger deal comes on the heels of BellSouth's...
ATLANTA-AirGate PCS Inc., a Sprint PCS Network Partner, reported its service is now available along portions of the Interstate 20 corridor between the cities of Atlanta and Augusta, Ga., as well as the metropolitan Augusta area."As promised, we are very pleased to announce that...
SAN JOSE, Calif.-fusionOne Inc., a developer of next-generation Internet synchronization technology, together with Nokia Corp., AdForce Inc. and SF Interactive, announced plans to collectively explore and develop strategies and creative approaches for delivering advertising on wireless devices to fusionOne subscribers.The companies intend to share...
FREMONT, Calif.-Online telecom and wireless service provider ePhones announced agreements with 50 wireless retailers nationwide to create a multichannel telecommunications network.The agreements create an online network of wireless retailers, providing them access to ePhones' wireless e-commerce engine, proprietary rate plan database, nationwide carrier agreements...
Teligent Inc.'s board of directors authorized a two-for-one stock split subject to shareholder approval of an amendment to the company's certificate of incorporation authorizing an increase in the number of shares of Teligent common stock. The proposed amendment will be presented to shareholders at...
BPA Systems Inc., a developer of business-to-business software solutions, unveiled a wireless Web application server that fuses and extends standard Internet tools to create a solution for Web site development and deployment.The new application, BPWEB, supports all types of wireless Web devices such as...
WASHINGTON-The mobile-computing system of BellSouth Corp. has been nominated for the 2000 Computerworld Smithsonian Award."The primary source material submitted by BellSouth will enrich the National Museum of American History's growing collection on the history of information technology and contribute significantly to the museum's ongoing...
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Yahoo! Inc. launched second-generation services for wireless Yahoo! users as part of the company's "Yahoo! Everywhere" strategy.The new services allow consumers with Wireless Application Protocol-enabled mobile phones and devices to access Yahoo! Auctions, Movies, the Yahoo! Directory and user registration options on...
The hype surrounding the possibilities of wireless Internet services has reached an all-time high following Wireless 2000 in New Orleans last month.But in the wake of this fevered pitch has come a backlash from analysts determined to draw a firm distinction between hype and...
WASHINGTON-The Wireless Communications Association announced its membership of local multipoint distribution services and other millimeter wave licensees has reached 71.The WCA reported that millimeter wave licensee members include the top six operators/licensees in the United States as suggested by such factors as amount of...
