Mobile Phones

WASHINGTON-Key lawmakers, amid stepped-up negotiations last week on third-generation mobile phone technology, are laying the groundwork to move legislation in 1999 if they conclude in crucial coming months that U.S. wireless interests in Europe and elsewhere have been compromised unfairly. …

WASHINGTON-In the post-telecom-act era, the cellular telephone industry continues to face intertwined challenges of policy and perception. On the one hand, the Federal Communications Commission wants to foster the local competition goal of the 1996 telecom law. To date, the …

ATLANTA-LHS Group Inc. announced it will co-develop and co-deploy an advanced customer-service, billing and financial management business support system for Iridium L.L.C.’s global mobile phone service. According to LHS, the system can process call rates and billing in all major …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Spyglass Inc. announced its Device Mail 3.1 embedded e-mail and Device Mosaic 3.1 browser products are available. Device Mail is an embedded e-mail client that extends e-mail capabilities to mobile phones and handheld computers. The first announced customer …

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.-Metromedia International Group Inc. and its subsidiary Metromedia International Telecommunications Inc. have completed two transactions overseas-one to enter the wireline and wireless phone market in Russia, and another entering the paging business in Ukraine, announced Metromedia. MITI formed …

WASHINGTON-Qualcomm Inc. is waging a major court battle against the Federal Communications Commission to gain recognition of Code Division Multiple Access technology innovation in personal communications services and the potentially lucrative prize that comes with it. The Qualcomm case will …

What began as an idea 11 years ago is a reality today as Iridium L.L.C. brought its constellation of 66 low-earth-orbit satellites online for commercial service Nov. 1, becoming the world’s first global wireless phone service provider. “This is a …

Poland Poland may call tenders for three new mobile phone licenses for Global System for Mobile communications 900 MHz and 1800 MHz systems during the first half of next year. Reuters reported that the country’s telecommunications minister Marek Zdrojewski said …

When all is said and done and the Federal Communications Commission has fully relocated to the Portals II building in Southwest Washington next year, the real catastrophe for the telecommunications world may not be the distance to the FCC (and …

DALLAS-Dobson Cellular Systems said it will install Nortel Networks’ digital infrastructure equipment in Maryland, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania under a three-year, $30-million contract. Nortel will supply radio and switching equipment using Advanced Mobile Phone Service, Time Division Multiple Access …

AirTouch Communications Inc. reportedly is close to awarding a new contract to Nortel Telecom Inc. to replace existing Motorola Inc. Code Division Multiple Access equipment in Los Angeles. Industry sources indicate the two still are negotiating terms of the contract. …

LISLE, Ill.-United Kingdom mobile phone operator Cellnet will deploy Tellabs EC Duo 8000 echo cancelers in 13 switching centers to eliminate background noise from mobile phone calls, Tellabs announced.

WASHINGTON-Wireless Technology Research L.L.C. Chairman George Carlo is expected to recommend early next year that basic scientific research be de-emphasized in the future in favor of post-market surveillance. Carlo announced that initial findings from radio-frequency radiation experiments do not appear …

The new head of Italy’s communications ministry said the government expects to hold its tender for a fourth mobile phone license by the middle of next year. The ministry originally said the tender would get underway by the end of …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Cellular penetration rates now exceed 50 percent in Finland. But real penetration rates are much higher if you ignore the very old and the very young. Pretty well every Finn who can walk and talk now has a …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-“Mobile Phones-Is There A Health Risk?” was the title of a conference held mid-October in London. “Mobile phones-Is there a health risk?” is also a complex question that has been the subject of considerable study, debate and publicity …

MELBOURNE, Australia-I am window shopping when my mobile phone alerts me I have a message. Reading it, I learn the store I am standing in front of has a sale on men’s underwear. Forever in need of a new pair …

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam-While other countries in the region continue to liberalize their mobile phone markets, Vietnam will return to a status of near-monopoly by year-end. The merger of the two GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) providers, Mobiphone …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-The game of musical chairs between telecom operators vying for a stake in the lucrative German market seems to have slowed down. There is now some semblance of stability following the launch of E2, Germany’s fourth mobile phone …

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, …

ORLANDO, United States-Both the TDMA and CDMA camps released their most recent subscriber numbers at the PCS ’98 show in September in the United States. The CDMA Development Group (CDG) announced that cdmaOne subscribers now number 16 million globally as …

TOKYO-Some public-use halls in Japan next year will be allowed to use jamming devices-an illegal practice under present laws-to shut out noisy beeps, electronic melodies and loud chats on cellular and PHS phones. In November, the Ministry of Posts and …

ERICSSON Ericsson Inc. introduced a snap-on wireless modem that allows users to browse the Internet and send or receive faxes and e-mail without cable hookups or a phone line. The DI 27 eliminates the need to connect a personal computer …

The International Telecommunication Union has yet to decide on the air interface for third-generation mobile phone technology, but many vendors are pushing ahead anyway with GSM-based wideband CDMA technology. The Geneva-based international standards body is mulling through 15 different proposals, …

At a rate of nearly 400,000 new subscriber additions each quarter, U.S.-based Nextel Communications Inc. has been attracting a lot of attention, including from traditional wireless carriers that may try to imitate Nextel’s unique Direct Connect dispatch feature. Wireless carriers …