Exit

Wireless industry members agree smart phones will become a critical differentiating factor for handset vendors and mobile-phone operators within the next two years, but the proliferation of these devices remains relatively unknown. For handset providers, smart phones represent an opportunity …

China Unicom is working to oust foreign investors from its telecommunications projects this fall, and it appears investors may not leave quietly. The Chinese government has ordered China Unicom, the country’s second telecommunications operator, to wind up all China-China-Foreign (CCF) …

A recent advertisement for HEAD tennis racquets shows a photo of tennis sensation Andre Aggasi and below it, the caption, “Long live the radicals.” It’s a cute slogan for tennis, but not one the wireless industry will covet. Nothing, radical …

INDIANAPOLIS-Brightpoint Inc. is restructuring plan to better position the company for long-term success by eliminating or restructuring non-performing business activities and improving the company’s cost structure. Brightpoint said it believes successful execution of the plan will significantly improve its profitability. …

It was grand symbolism on the fourth floor of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last Monday morning. There they were, two birds of a feather, Nextel Communications Inc. and Microsoft Corp., in courtrooms side by side-one …

NEW YORK-With the creation of San Francisco-based OffRoad Capital Corp., the realm of angels, those wealthy people who invest patient capital in promising start-ups, has moved into cyberspace. OffRoad describes itself as a “new kind of financial services company using …

China Unicom, which received the go-ahead from the Chinese government earlier this year to deploy cdmaOne technology, will gain control of four experimental Code Division Multiple Access networks operated by China Telecom Great Wall. Great Wall was a source of …

When Congress passed Section 309(j) of the Communications Act and the government developed rules to implement this law, the goal was to increase diversity in telecommunications by providing opportunities for small businesses, women and minorities. Diversity in telecommunications is beneficial …

Metrocall Inc. reported revenues for the first quarter ended March 31 of $145.2 million, a substantial increase from the $96.3 million reported for first-quarter 1998. Net loss for the quarter was $46 million, or $1.15 per share, compared with a …

LONDON-Hongkong Telecom announced a total of 403 staff members joined the company’s voluntary exit program. A total of $49 million will be paid as ex-gratia payments and leaving service benefits. The voluntary exit program is one of several steps Hongkong …

DENVER, United States-Motorola and Glenayre Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding that, if fulfilled, will license Glenayre to manufacture all Motorola’s paging infrastructure-and could effectively herald Motorola’s exit from the paging infrastructure manufacturing business. “We need to focus on the …

SAO PAULO, Brazil-A little more than one year after auctioning B-band cellular licenses and less than a year after the Telebras privatization, the Brazilian government already is dealing with agreements and acquisitions that will change the country’s wireless market profile. …

LONDON-In response to staff requests and changes in company structure, Hongkong Telecom said it has begun a voluntary exit program for approximately 4,000 of its employees in the customer-service and network operations departments. Eligible employees who return their applications by …

Motorola Inc. and Glenayre Technologies Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding that, if fulfilled, will license Glenayre to manufacture all Motorola’s paging infrastructure-effectively heralding Motorola’s exit from the paging infrastructure manufacturing business. “We need to focus on the things we …

WASHINGTON-The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials Inc. last week kicked off National Public Safety Telecommunications Week by honoring two 911 dispatchers involved in lifesaving emergency calls. Missey Hammack of the Knox County Emergency Communications District was honored for her …

NEW YORK-Demands of the private placement and public issuance debt markets are likely to compel consolidation among lesser-known wireless companies as a condition of gaining access to this sorely needed capital. “The current outlook is that very few have access,” …

NEW YORK-Start-up American companies searching the financing firmament for venture capital might do better by setting their sights upward toward the hidden realm occupied by angels. Angel investors are high-net-worth people whose small, patient investments in fledgling companies play a …

The introduction of digital phone technology has changed dramatically the landscape of wireless communications across the globe and put the heat on the global paging industry. Paging’s old advantages of small size and cheaper service are being whittled away, as …

At the end of each year, the RCR editorial staff looks back on the news events that made RCR headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting stories of the past 12 months. Here are our picks for 1998. …

FORT LEE, N.J.-MobileMedia Corp. announced the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved its disclosure statement, allowing the company to move forward with its plan to merge with Arch Communications Group Inc. The plan contains terms of the …

Supra Products Inc. won a contract from AT&T Wireless Services Inc. to provide its TRACcess electronic access control system at AT&T Wireless cell sites in its central region, said the companies. The contract follows a previous contract with AT&T Wireless …

WASHINGTON-Daniel Phythyon, capping a stormy year-and-a-half stewardship of the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, which had him under constant siege from feisty bankruptcy lawyers, angry lawmakers and high-powered lobbyists, said he will step down Dec. 1. “The timing was …

MELBOURNE, Australia-Telstra Corp., Australia’s largest communications company, announced it is getting out of the paging business. It hopes to complete the sale to Link Telecommunications Pty. Ltd. by October, giving Link about a two-thirds share of the market. Telstra made …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The long-awaited launch of cellular service in Botswana is expected to have a huge impact on the country’s communications and business sector. Botswana’s small population of 1.47 million people was seen as a main reason for the delay. …

Compared with defining-and keeping-the same wireless strategy over the years, gambling is beginning to look like a sound way to sock some money away for retirement. In today’s frenetic telecom environment, it increasingly is difficult to decide which strategy to …