BellSouth

ROME-Telecom Italia Group said it won a $180 million license to operate wireless service in Peru. Telecom Italia’s STET Mobile Holding N.V. won the country’s third cellular license through an auction. The 20-year renewable nationwide personal communications services license is …

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 …

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 …

EL DORADO, Venezuela-The government of Venezuela plans to delay a tender for a new cellular license until after the country’s May 28 political elections, Reuters reported. The process has been delayed since November 1998. Telcel, owned 78 percent by BellSouth …

PARIS-France Telecom announced it will take a 28.5-percent stake in Germany’s MobilCom, which provides mobile, wireline and Internet services, for about $3.6 billion. The German company has about 2 million wireless subscribers. In connection with the deal, the companies said …

WASHINGTON-Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that controls the Federal Communications Commission’s purse strings, last week signaled he would like the FCC to waive spectrum cap and small business eligibility rules for the re-auction of bankrupt NextWave …

INDIANAPOLIS-Telstreet.com Inc. said BellSouth Cellular Corp. will offer wireless service through Telstreet.com’s wireless portal. “BellSouth recently launched a campaign to move the BellSouth brand into the e-space, staking a clear position,” said Jim Henschel, manager of consumer distribution for BellSouth …

Editor’s Note: The companies listed below represent the 20 largest cellular carriers in the United States. Company rankings are based on the total number of subscribers for their majority-held or controlled markets. All subscriber numbers reflect year-end 1999 figures reported …

Qualcomm Inc. said it may seek a stay of the upcoming channel 60-69 auctions if the Federal Communications Commission denies its petition that requested spectrum from this auction as a remedy for a pioneer’s preference license it was denied in …

BellSouth Wireless Data L.P. introduced two new initiatives at its WAVE developers conference this week-a new branding effort for its two-way messaging service and a plan to become the premier wireless network provider for wireless application service providers. First, BSWD …

BOSTON-Fidelity Investments Institutional Brokerage Group announced it has added customized news, information services and group messaging capabilities to its Mobile Investor Network two-way pager program. The service uses the BellSouth Wireless Data L.P. Interactive Pager service and the Inter@ctive 950 …

The United States and European Union negotiated a compromise on data privacy that could pave the way for a final deal this summer. An agreement on data privacy is key to future transatlantic business, including that involving wireless telecom trade. …

ATLANTA-BellSouth Corp. launched a new advertising campaign touting itself as “the communications company that releases the power of e-Interaction.” “We are moving the BellSouth brand into the e-space and clearly staking our position there,” explained William Pate, vice president of …

NEW|ORLEANS-GTE Telecommunications Services Inc. said it has purchased the Jambala Mobility Gateway from L.M. Ericsson to complement its Interim Standard-41 to Global System for Mobile communications message conversion, which is part of GTE TSI’s GlobalRoam solution. With this acquisition, GTE …

America Online Inc. took its AOL Anywhere strategy further into the wireless space last week with the introduction of its AOL Mobile Messenger service, created through several strategic deals with several wireless carriers and device manufacturers. AOL’s Mobile Messenger service …

Speculation circulated last week that Germany’s Deutsche Telekom AG is in talks with Qwest Communications International Inc. about a possible merger between the two, while SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. also were rumored to be in merger talks. There …

While Microsoft Corp. and America Online Inc. were the stars of the Internet content provider show at Wireless 2000, several supporting players launched wireless portals of their own, some with scene-stealing flair. They include GiantBear.com, Strategy.com, SpyglassMobile. com, WiredCEO, Logica …

ATLANTA-BellSouth Mobility Inc. introduced its One Number Service in certain markets, allowing subscribers to consolidate multiple contact numbers-including office, mobile, home and fax numbers-into a single telephone number, while offering subscribers advanced call-routing and management features. BellSouth is using Call …

DENVER, United States-Attention to wireless security concerns has emerged as several internationally recognized corporate security software firms stated their intentions to concentrate on the wireless industry going forward. “Everybody has made the leap that there’s going to be a wireless …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-With four operators competing nationwide, Chile boasts a wireless client base that grew 175 percent during 1999, thanks to the implementation of calling party pays. CPP also has facilitated a wireless-penetration rate that is now almost 15 percent. …

The European Commission said it will extend its investigation into the proposed merger between MCI WorldCom and Sprint Corp. by another four months. MCI WorldCom and Sprint last fall agreed to a $130 billion definitive merger that will combine the …

WASHINGTON-More trees died last week as parties expressed their views in comments on what should be done with the personal communications services licenses of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. In the end, NextWave appeared to be the only entity that believed …

ATLANTA-BellSouth Corp. closed its joint-venture agreement with KPN Royal Dutch Telecom for ownership of E-Plus, the third-largest mobile operator in Germany. The venture calls for both companies to share equal control of E-Plus, with BellSouth having the option to convert …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Foreign investment in South America’s Southern Cone telecommunications sector has increased during the past decade thanks to new globalization, privatization and liberalization politics in the region. International investors, including a heavy U.S. contingent, have increased their presence in …

BOSTON-Continued consolidation, emerging location-based services, mobile-commerce applications, as well as new marriages between communication, entertainment and Internet players, will be the defining market trends during the next five years, according to Strategy Analytics’ latest report, “U.S. Cellular Market Forecast.” “1999 …