Hutchison

WASHINGTON-The Securities and Exchange Commission is continuing its investigation of alleged insider trading of Omnipoint Corp. stock prior to the announcement that VoiceStream Wireless Corp. is buying Omnipoint. On July 26, the ongoing investigation resulted in a Hong Kong investor, …

NEW YORK-In a move apparently intended to get ahead of the crowd, Hutchison Telecommunications Australia Ltd., Sydney, announced July 12 it plans to sell 29.5 percent of the company in a $215 million initial public offering next month. The Australian …

VoiceStream Wireless is becoming the catalyst for GSM carrier consolidation in the United States. VoiceStream and Omnipoint Communications in June announced plans to merge in a deal valued at US$1.7 billion, ending Omnipoint’s search for a strategic partner that dragged …

MELBOURNE, Australia-In a bid to revive Australia’s flagging paging market, Hutchison Telecom has launched a new data broadcasting network using the VHF band and Motorola’s FLEX protocol. The new system will be used to broadcast a range of information services, …

AUSTRALIA Telstra will extend its CDMA network in Australia to include country locations currently covered by its GSM network but lacking in analog coverage, said the company. Hutchison Telecoms in Australia announced it will adopt the brand name Orange, the …

HONG KONG-China United Telecommunications Corp.’s plan to deploy Code Division Multiple Access technology ensures its survival into the next generation and creates momentum for cdmaOne technology throughout the Asia-Pacific region, cdmaOne proponents indicated at the CDMA Development Group’s fourth annual …

NEW YORK-Moody’s Investors Service, London, assigned a speculative grade rating of Ba3 to Orange plc’s planned private placement of $562 million in 10-year senior notes. “The Ba3 rating factors in the risks associated with Orange’s funding of its capital … …

Ericsson Brazil. With Tele Norte Celular for upgrade and new TDMA. Value: US$50 million Chile. With Entel PCS for GSM 1900 equipment. Value: Undisclosed China. With Liaoning Post & Telecommunications Administration for its GSM network. Value: US$150 million Croatia. With …

HANNOVER, Germany-Orange plc made several announcements from CeBIT ’99, the European trade show. Orange signed an agreement with Nokia Corp. to begin a major trial of its Wireless Application Protocol Gateway. The Nokia WAP Gateway enables WAP terminals to use …

NEW YORK-A subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., which holds a minority stake in both Orange plc and Western Wireless Corp., plans to issue $547 million in Euro-denominated bonds due 2006 and about $194 million in Hong Kong dollar-denominated …

U.S. Global System for Mobile communications carriers took a financial beating in 1998, but analysts expect 1999 to look brighter for these carriers as they look to butter up their bottom lines and find strategic partners. Tight financing, high churn …

As the end of the millennium approaches, it is worth pondering whether the recent bout of mergers and acquisitions are precedents to some colossal event of biblical proportions or merely defensive strategies of companies safeguarding themselves against falling commodity prices, …

WASHINGTON-House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) said he will pursue early passage this year of legislation to improve wireless E911 service and foster antenna siting on federal land, a move likely to re-energize opposition from local officials, conservationists and …

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 …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-As Africa enters the threshold of the African Renaissance and progresses toward privatizing and liberalizing its telecommunications sectors, powerful alliances are being forged in the wireless arena. “The rapid privatization of the telecommunications sector in east African countries …

Some analysts are expecting Code Division Multiple Access infrastructure spending to taper off in 1999 as cdmaOne infrastructure deployments in China remain questionable. “I think China is the lynch pin for CDMA infrastructure going into next year and to a …

BEIJING-Six wireless operators with 11 networks is the daunting choice offered to Hong Kong’s techno-savvy consumers. The mobile phone scene here is a lot brighter than one would have expected just one-and-a-half years ago, with the territory’s hand-over to the …

One can only imagine the potential import of the victory of Jesse “The Body” Ventura, the ex-professional wrestler and Reform Party candidate who won the Minnesota gubernatorial election last Tuesday. Policy making in America may never be the same. Jesse …

EDI Telecom Ltd. and Tadiran Telecommunications Ltd. announced they signed an agreement under which the two will merge in a stock-for-stock transaction. Mobile Systems International, United Kingdom, and U.S.-based Metapath Software Corp. announced the two companies are merging. Both companies …

The Argentine government, in an attempt to proceed with the PCS auctions currently in judicial limbo, is considering selling two PCS licenses each for the northern and southern regions of the country, excluding the greater Buenos Aires area. This maneuvering …

MELBOURNE, Australia-The Australian communications industry has applauded Telstra Corp.’s decision to build its second national mobile phone network using CDMA technology. Industry groups, including the Australian Telecommunications Users Group and the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, have openly welcomed Telstra’s move, …

SINGAPORE-One of Singapore’s four paging operators has been put up for sale, but there so far have been no takers due to poor growth prospects. Hutchison IntraPage, which began operations less than two years ago when the market was liberalized, …

Lucky for John Glenn and his Discovery crew, they will see the heavens much as it was when the 77-year-old astronaut from Ohio last visited space 36 years ago. You see, about a decade from now there’ll be more than …

WASHINGTON-On the basis of high-profile, sweeping bills, wireless telecom lobbyists had a miserable time of it in the 105th Congress. But given that lobbyists operated in the Age of Scandal, the results do not look so bad. Success this time …

WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) abruptly tabled his E911 federal-land antenna-siting bill last week after controversy erupted over local zoning rights and liability, effectively killing the legislation for this year and setting the stage for an aggressive campaign …