BellSouth

Motorola Inc. released a new communications platform last week called Mobile Internet Exchange, or MIX, with the goal of giving users the ability to access Internet information by either voice or data on a mobile basis. “Motorola expects that by …

Palm Computing Inc. introduced the Palm VII wireless organizer nationwide last week, featuring a sale price of $500, $100 less than originally expected. The Palm VII-first available in May in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut-features many of the same …

NEW YORK-Nuance of Menlo Park, Calif., announced Oct. 5 it is in preliminary testing stages with 25 telecommunications and Internet companies for Voyager, its new speech interface software. Company officials said they see Voyager, which uses open standards, as heralding …

MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. last week agreed to a definitive merger agreement that will combine the second- and third-largest U.S. long-distance carriers and give MCI WorldCom a much-needed nationwide wireless presence. According to the agreement, each share of …

WASHINGTON-With only eight months before the World Radiocommunication Conference in Turkey, U.S. spectrum policy for third-generation wireless systems is on the verge of meltdown as the Clinton administration and industry continue to clash without a resolution in sight. “The interests …

PARIS-France Telecom said it reached an agreement to buy Vodafone AirTouch plc’s 17.24-percent interest in E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH, Germany’s third-largest mobile carrier, for $1.86 billion. Vodafone was required to sell its stake in E-Plus as part of its agreement to …

Lucent Technologies Inc. will be noticeably absent when the Personal Communications Industry Association kicks off its 2000 showcase next September in Chicago. The infrastructure vendor has told PCIA it plans to stop exhibiting at its future shows in North America, …

Swedish sub-system and component supplier Arkivator agreed to acquire 64 percent of the shares of LGP Telecom Inc., a subsidiary of Stockholm-based LGP Telecom AB, and offered to acquire the remaining shares. “Arkivator has been a supplier of aluminum components …

Speculation that BellSouth Wireless Data Ltd. would not immediately renew its supply contract with Research In Motion Ltd. has proven accurate, expected to result in lower third-quarter earnings for RIM. But the drop is expected to be short-term as more …

NEW YORK-Illuminet Holdings Inc., which calls itself the largest unaffiliated Signaling System 7 network provider in the country, plans an initial public offering of 3.9 million shares priced between $14.50 and $16.50 each. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, New York, is …

PHOENIX-AG Communication Systems and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. announced the general availability of the Roameo Time Division Multiple Access 850 MHz to 1900 MHz-based digital wireless office phone system. The companies will jointly market Roameo as part of the AT&T …

Ericsson said its displacement from AT&T Wireless Services as the majority vendor hurt the company and conceded part of the reason it lost AT&T Wireless contracts was because of problems supplying equipment throughout the year. “It hurts,” said Gary Pinkham, …

The biggest challenge for wireless operators during the next four years most likely will be obtaining additional spectrum, according to Keith Radousky, director of engineering, BellSouth Cellular Corp. “(Wireless) data is going to take off similar to how it took …

Alcatel Argentina. With Telecom Argentina for a fixed wireless access network. Value: US$99.6 million Ericsson Argentina. With Unif

The worldwide wireless industry is expected to pass a significant milestone sometime during 2000. With total mobile subscribers at the end of last year of about 315 million and a growth rate of nearly 8 percent this year, mobile subscribers …

U.S. TDMA operators must make some critical decisions about competing in the wireless data market during the next year as they witness their CDMA counterparts begin to launch circuit-switched data services on a large scale. TDMA operators-which in the late …

TORONTO-Research in Motion (RIM) of Waterloo, Ontario, a small Canadian company far from Silicon Valley, has developed some of the hottest wireless technology in the world. In just a short time, RIM has transformed itself into a market leader in …

Just four years ago, no one knew the Web’s popularity would be so explosive. Today, vendors and carriers are realizing its power and are crafting networks around it as they move into the third generation and beyond. “Even in 1995, …

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, …

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 …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry is on the verge of arguably its biggest victory since congressionally mandated state deregulation in 1993: liability protection. Congress is poised this fall to give wireless carriers liability protection on par with wireline carriers across the country. …

About the time PCS licenses were first up for grabs, industry prognosticators predicted that four or five mega-carriers would one day rule the U.S. wireless industry. Are we there yet? As Bell Atlantic admits it is talking with Vodafone AirTouch …

Moving on its promise to step up promotion of Time Division Multiple Access technology worldwide, the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium said it recently met with Chinese government officials to promote TDMA technology. “This was an introductory meeting for different organizations …

Official dollar losses from wireless fraud have decreased significantly in the past several years, but whether that means the wireless industry is truly winning its war against fraud is a matter of debate. Tom McClure, vice president for wireless fraud …

WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association last week urged regulators to question certain aspects of an agreement by giant wireline telcos on how to reduce the amount long-distance companies pay local exchange carriers to connect their customers’ calls. The agreement by …