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NEW YORK-Bulking up for the coming battle of the Titans, Excel Communications Inc. announced it planned to acquire Telco Communications Group Inc. for about $1.2 billion in cash and stock. …

NEW YORK-Iridium World Communications Ltd., which plans to launch a satellite-based global telephone and paging service, went public June 10, raising $240 million in an offering of 12 million shares …

NEW ORLEANS-The integration of wireline and wireless capabilities into the local loop “may not happen the way we all envision it,” said John Woodward, director of program implementation for GTE …

NEW ORLEANS-Now that all three of soon-to-be-former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt’s Telecommunications Act of 1996 implementation goals-universal service, access-charge reform and interconnection-have been completed in at least bare-bones …

Smartalk Teleservices Inc. rocketed into the prepaid calling card big leagues last week, virtually doubling in size with the acquisitions of GTI Telecom Inc. and SmarTel Communications Inc. “The purchase …

In a number of “hot” markets around the country, a tidal wave of demand for new personal communications services is swamping some companies’ customer service departments-forcing scores of would-be customers …

GTE Telecommunications Services Inc. has signed a contract for its wireless prepaid calling service with Cellular One of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, which will offer the service to more than …

AT&T Wireless Services Inc.’s plan for a digital personal communications services nationwide network has finally kicked off. After receiving its long-awaited shipment of dual-band, dual-mode handsets from Ericsson Inc. last …

Noise/Com Inc. introduced its BS-800 Dual Interference Signal Generators to aid in interference testing of Code Division Multiple Access and Time Division Multiple Access base stations. The products include two …

As any business owner stuck with cartons of obsolete business cards and letterhead can attest, “portability”-at least in terms of a phone number-can be a real headache. That’s because changing …

Poland has opened a tender for a Digital Cellular System 1800 MHz license. Interested companies are expected to submit offers by mid-July. Sources in Poland report that Minister of Telecommunications …

BEACHWOOD, Ohio-Allen Telecom Inc. made an investment in Littleton, Mass.-based Windata Inc., which is developing a line of millimeter wave point-to-multipoint radio systems targeted to the competitive access provider market …

Lodestar Towers Inc., a developer and manager of multi-use transmission sites, broke ground on its Mt. Harvard facility in Southern California. Lodestar said the facility is the nation’s first multi-use …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission has asked interested parties to comment on a dispute between Southwestern Bell Telephone and a handful of paging carriers regarding interconnection compensation between local exchange carriers …

DALLAS-InterVoice Inc. and Open Development Corp. reached an agreement to develop a platform for multivendor calling card and prepaid services. The Original Equipment Manufacturer agreement calls for the pair to …

SUNNYVALE, Calif.-American Phoenix Group Inc., soon to be renamed TAL Wireless Networks Inc., began a partnership research agreement with Advanced Lab for Trade Efficiency. The companies will incorporate TAL technologies …

TAMPA-GTE Telecommunications Services Inc. signed a contract to provide its Access Services clearinghouse system to PrimeCo Personal Communications L.P. GTE also will provide its RoamerXchange database management system to PrimeCo, …

WASHINGTON-In a January 1993 article, a year-and-a-half before joining the Federal Communications Commission, then-attorney Rachelle Chong laid out what has turned out to be a model defense of cellular phone-cancer …

MCI Communications Corp. kicked off networkMCI Interactive Paging two-way service, using the AccessLink pager by Wireless Access Inc. and SkyTel Corp.’s ReFLEX 50 network. The complete service, with reply capability …

WASHINGTON-House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) last week proposed to fund digital wiretap implementation and Internet access for schools with $1.7 billion paid by wireless carriers and broadcasters for …

Belt-tightening, steady growth of one-way services and advances in two-way and voice paging are winning the paging sector renewed interest on Wall Street. “I think there are people in the …

WASHINGTON-Assistant FBI Director James Kallstrom accused Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association President Thomas Wheeler of making false and misleading statements to Congress about the agency’s role in implementing the 1994 digital …

A specialized mobile radio operator is making plans to offer a pager that operates at 220 MHz. Angell Communications Inc. announced Wings 220, a single line numeric pager that has …

NEW YORK-Despite economies inherent in population density for the wireless telecommunications industry, rural cellular carriers are sitting pretty during the advent of personal communications services competition. “If you take all …

WASHINGTON-Personal Communications Industry Association President Jay Kitchen blasted the Federal Communications Commission last week for ignoring congressional requests to reduce paging carrier contributions to the $2 billion annual universal service …