Mobile Phones

WASHINGTON-Tele-Communications Inc. President Leo Hindery, grilled by federal regulators last week on the cable TV giant’s planned $48 billion merger into top long-distance and mobile phone carrier AT&T Corp., said TCI’s 30-percent stake in Sprint PCS likely will be divested …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission agreed with law enforcement that five controversial features of new digital wiretap capabilities are within the law. However, the agency ruled three other capabilities are outside the law and on one other issue, the FCC chose …

Royal Philips Electronics and Lucent Technologies Inc. last week said they will dissolve the consumer communications joint venture they established just more than one year ago. At the time of its formation Oct. 1, 1997, Philips Consumer Communications had high …

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. declared itself the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones, as the company’s mobile phone net sales increased by 94 percent to $2.6 million during the third quarter. “Lower than anticipated price erosion in mobile phones and rapid …

NEW YORK-Ericsson Inc., Stockholm, Sweden, reported Oct. 22 net income of 55 cents for the first nine months of 1998, up 18 percent compared with the first three quarters of last year. In its earnings release, Ericsson did not separate …

A trial early next year could decide whether L.M. Ericsson owns key patents to Interim Standard-95 technology. Ericsson and Qualcomm Inc. are set to go to trial in February over eight patents Ericsson claims to own to cdmaOne technology. A …

WASHINGTON-In a flurry of legislative horse-trading capping the close of the 105th Congress, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) got a provision tucked into the fiscal 1999 omnibus budget bill enabling the Federal Communications Commission to retrieve swiftly licenses …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals said Microcell Connexions Inc. has purchased several hundred thousand of its SIMflex dual-mode subscriber identity module cards. The thumbnail-sized SIM cards that hold a 16K microprocessor will allow Microcell to provide customers with …

WASHINGTON-Frustrated with failing to make progress after months of negotiations with European officials, Qualcomm Inc. last week declared war by formally invoking intellectual property rights to five third-generation wireless standards pending before the International Telecommunication Union. Qualcomm said its action, …

LAS VEGAS-Microsoft Corp. announced last week at Wireless I.T. in Las Vegas plans to create a microbrowser designed specifically for handheld wireless devices to access Web content. According to Cameron Myhrvold, vice president of the company’s Internet consumer unit, this …

While many personal communications services licensees have become disillusioned with the PCS market in the United States and have opted to bow out of the game, Leap Wireless International Inc. sees a market with opportunities. Purchasing licenses “is certainly something …

Patents are a common thread running through the great debates of the day concerning strongest/adequate signal, E911 federal land antenna siting, 3G, prepaid calling and other telecom issues. This should come as no surprise. In a new report, the Commerce …

Amidst growing pressure from the Clinton administration, Japan’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is set to begin studying other third-generation radio transmission technology proposals-namely cdma2000 technology-besides the W-CDMA proposal it submitted to the International Telecommunication Union. The ministry’s decision comes …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson signed an agreement valued at $49 million with Chunghwa Telecom of Taiwan to upgrade the operator’s Advanced Mobile Phone Service wireless network. Chunghwa plans to install base stations from Ericsson’s RBS 884 series as well as its …

ORLANDO, Fla.-To paraphrase a Bell Atlantic commercial, “wild things are happening” in dispatch radio, according to speakers at the recent PCS ’98 show. Just outside the spotlight, which is focused on the apparent dominance of Nextel Communications Inc. and the …

Sources indicate Ericsson Inc. may be preparing to enter the cdmaOne handset business. Ericsson, the only major vendor that has yet to license Interim Standard-95 technology from Qualcomm Inc., has been in discussions with at least one cdmaOne handset vendor …

Italy’s Communications Minister Antonio Maccanico was reported in foreign press as saying the country may engage in yet another auction for a fourth mobile phone license, possibly before the end of the year. Maccanico said the growth rate for the …

WASHINGTON-Cellular operators last week overwhelmingly opposed a revised consumer-group proposal to route 911 analog calls to the cellular carrier most likely to complete the call, but it remains unclear whether carriers are ready to embrace a new Telecommunications Industry Association …

The 15th Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union kicks off today in Minneapolis, a meeting whose focus on internal governance and strategic planning could be overshadowed by an item likely not to appear on the official agenda: third-generation wireless …

NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. and Japanese trading group Itochu have readjusted their ownership schemes in a consortium led by Spain’s Telefonica, which successfully bid for Brazilian A-band cellular operator Tele Sudeste Celular Participacoes. DoCoMo, which initially had an 8.5-percent …

NEW YORK-At least in the short run, prospects for deployment of large-scale Code Division Multiple Access networks in the People’s Republic of China are on hold. However, the longer-term outlook could be brighter, according to Boston-based Information Gatekeepers Inc., which …

In comments that may reflect competitive positions in today’s mobile phone market, mobile phone and mobile satellite service industries told the Federal Communications Commission more spectrum will be needed for third-generation services. Industry comments are in response to a Notice …

WASHINGTON-A confluence of factors are converging that may force the Federal Communications Commission to relax the commercial wireless 45 megahertz spectrum cap, an antitrust check that some feel has outlived its intended purpose and even may be hindering wireless industry …

WASHINGTON-After months of delay, oral arguments are set for the week of Nov. 30 on legal challenges to radio-frequency radiation exposure guidelines adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in late 1996. The outcome of the litigation has enormous implications for …

Let the battle for the high-end mobile phone users begin. Sprint Spectrum L.P. late last week introduced three new all-inclusive national pricing plans that eliminate roaming and long-distance fees on its digital network nationwide. The plans charge $70 per month …