BROWSING: British Telecommunications

NEW YORK-Even if telecommunications giants seeking to combine with each other clear the myriad hurdles confronting their plans, the success of their bids to merge may depend ultimately on approval by the little guy.Holding what may be the ultimate trump card is the holder...

The Italian government named the Wind consortium the winning bidder for the country's third mobile phone license, bringing to a close a tender process that began in the fall of 1996.The Ministry of Communications made the announcement June 10, the day its adviser, Italian...

Cable & Wireless Communications plc confirmed the company is in negotiations with four mobile telecommunications operators in the United Kingdom for the possible sale of its mobile services division.The company is talking with Vodafone Group plc, Orange plc, Cellnet (owned by British Telecommunications plc...

The Italian government said it plans to award the license for a third mobile phone service later this month.A spokeswoman for the communication regulatory agency said it expects to finish assessing the three bids by June 10 and likely name a winner by June...

Sprint Corp. is expected to announce this week a plan that would restructure its ownership in Sprint Spectrum L.P. and allow its cable partners to exit the business.Sprint confirmed that it has made substantial progress in negotiating with its three cable partners-Tele-Communications Inc., Comcast...

WASHINGTON-Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), chairman of the Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, last week expressed strong reservations about SBC Communications Inc. Chairman Edward Whitacre Jr.'s pledge that his company's $62 billion proposed merger with Ameritech Corp. will benefit competition and consumers."This proposed merger has generated a...

SINGAPORE-What was to have been one of the most glorious moments in Singapore's telecommunications history turned out to be a major fiasco when one of the contenders for the nation's mobile phone license, GTE Corp., said it wanted no part of it.Just one day...

OXFORD, England-In March, shareholders of the privatized Spanish operator Telefonica approved a new group structure as well as a proposal to raise Pta 600 billion (US$3.97 billion) through the largest-ever rights issue by a Spanish company. Approval was granted at the shortest-ever meeting in...

SINGAPORE-What was to have been one of the most glorious moments in Singapore's telecommunications history turned out to be a major fiasco in April when one of the tenderers for a new Singapore mobile phone license, United States-based GTE Corp., said it wanted no...

Croatia has announced a tender to construct and operate a nationwide GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) network. Bids were due 15 April.A consortium led by ABN Amro Bank N.V. and N.M. Rothschild & Sons has been appointed to advise the Estonian government in...

Switzerland last week awarded national licenses to two of five rival consortia-diAx mobile and Orange Communications SA-to operate wireless networks in competition with the country's single operator, Swisscom.The winning consortia beat out Unilimitel, which partnered Deutsche Telekom with France Telecom; Fortel SA, a venture...

ROME-Three consortia have submitted bids for Italy's third mobile phone license, due to be awarded mid-year.Two of the bids were expected for some time. Picienne-a consortium led by the Italian TV broadcasting company Mediaset and British Telecommunications plc-and Wind-comprised of Italian electric utility company...

ComTel Ltd., a United Kingdom-based cable TV company, said it plans to offer its customers mobile telephone service through an agreement with U.K. cellular carrier Cellnet.ComTel business customers will be able to purchase mobile phones at competitive prices, said the company, which also will...

After years of delays and controversy, the Italian Ministry of Communications began accepting bids for the country's third mobile phone license last week.The ministry set an April 15 deadline for interested parties to apply to participate in the auction for the DCS 1800 MHz...

NEW YORK-GTE Corp. announced a series of asset sales and other actions April 2 that the company said are "designed to further sharpen its strategic focus and improve its competitive position."GTE said it expects to generate after-tax proceeds of $2 billion to $3 billion...

The recent merger activity involving second-tier cellular companies has touched off speculation about which companies may be next to tie the knot.Alltel Corp. and 3600 Communications Co. last week announced they will merge in a transaction valued at more than $6 billion. Just a...

LONDON (AP)-Three British telephone companies charge customers too much to place calls to mobile phones, a regulator said Thursday as he ordered a monopoly investigation of their pricing."Mobile phones are an increasingly important part of everyday life," said Don Cruickshank, Britain's director general of...

Although the Italian government awarded fixed telephony licenses last week to two companies, confusion and frustration continue to surround the decision to bestow a much-delayed third mobile phone license.The Italian Senate is said to have set a May 31 deadline for the Ministry of...

WASHINGTON-Spain's Telefonica has announced it will partner with United States-based WorldCom and MCI in a partnership for future business ventures in Europe and the Americas. This follows the collapse of Telefonica's planned relationship with British Telecommunications plc.The three companies said the new relationship builds...

DUBLIN, Ireland-The challenges faced by radio-access network providers have been underlined by the experiences of Ionica, a company established in June 1996 to provide a new wireless telephone service to households and small businesses in the United Kingdom.While its coverage now extends to more...

1. Jan. 6NextWave awarded its PCS permitsIn a decision almost surely headed for the appeals court, the Federal Communications Commission last Friday conditionally awarded NextWave Personal Communications Inc. its C-block licenses after NextWave submitted a plan to bring its foreign-ownership percentages into federal compliance.2....

NEW YORK-As the new year approaches in the horse race that is commercial deployment of low earth orbit mobile satellite systems, "we're still at the first half-mile, with the finish line at 2000," said Timothy Logue, a satellite analyst for Coudert Brothers, Washington, D.C.There...

Italy's award of a third mobile phone tender has hit another snag. The country's Post and Telecommunications Ministry delayed once again the long-awaited process until February due to an October dispute in the government over budget issues.Italy's telecom ministry plans to tender an 1800...

The Dutch government most likely will auction two mobile phone licenses in the spring, rather than the end of this year, because the European Commission blocked the government's plan to charge existing mobile phone operators for their licenses.The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation...