Mobile Phones

ComTel Ltd., a United Kingdom-based cable TV company, said it plans to offer its customers mobile telephone service through an agreement with U.K. cellular carrier Cellnet. ComTel business customers will be able to purchase mobile phones at competitive prices, said …

AUTHENTIX NETWORK INC. William W. Erdman was named president and chief executive officer of Authentix Network Inc., a company offering enhanced roaming solutions to wireless service providers. Erdman was one of the founding members and the first chairman of the …

IRVING, Texas-NEC America Inc. said its Wireless Voice Terminals Division developed a new merchandising program to support GTE Corp.’s FamilyNet, a wireless service that allows up to four family members to stay in touch using cellular phones and pagers. “NEC …

WASHINGTON-House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) voiced strong support last week for emergency wireless services, but concerns over funding and privacy could hurt legislation expected to be introduced shortly that would convert federal property antenna siting fees into state …

WASHINGTON-In a major victory for the wireless industry, the Justice Department last week approved an antenna siting collocation plan crafted by the Personal Communications Industry Association. The PCIA approach includes an information exchange, known as the Site Search Clearinghouse, which …

Nine companies are set to bid in the Australian personal communications services spectrum auction April 14, amid uncertainties surrounding the auction process and an economic crisis gripping many nations in the Asia-Pacific region. The Australian Communications Authority will auction 10 …

The wireless industry, having been defeated on Capitol Hill and Bunker Hill by environmentalists, organized labor and soccer moms, has turned to John Q. Public, Marcus Welby, M.D. and Ivan to makes its case. And what a wonderful strategy shift …

Further extending its reach into the wireless industry, Sun Microsystems Inc. announced it has signed an agreement giving L.M. Ericsson license to use and distribute its PersonalJava platform and Java Application Environment. The Ericsson announcement comes less than two months …

NEW YORK-It has been said that where you stand depends on where you sit. And so it was earlier this month when representatives of four wireless carriers and four equipment vendors offered their views at a BT Alex. Brown forum …

HANOVER, Germany-Nokia Corp. introduced three new handsets for the 900 MHz Global System for Mobile communications market this week at the Cebit ’98 exhibition in Hanover, Germany. The Nokia 8810 weighs less than 3.5 ounces and features built-in data communications …

HARDWICK, Vt.-Even on a miserable, rainy day in March, this small New England state of maple syrup, cheddar cheese, splendid ski resorts and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream whispers a uniquely American native beauty. In trying to capture Vermont, the …

Qualcomm Inc. and Ortel Corp. said they demonstrated measurable performance improvements in receive diversity in Code Division Multiple Access personal communications services repeaters. Ortel, a repeater manufacturer, and Qualcomm have been testing the process for providing receive diversity and are …

Globecomm Systems Inc. and Tecore Inc. formed an alliance to offer design, integration, installation, training and maintenance services for satellite communications and wireless networks. A key feature of the new service is its distributed switching architecture-a routing system that provides …

Not so long ago, I broached the subject of “goodwill capital” with a wireless industry leader at lunch. A number of things prompted me to do this. First, I’ve come to realize how much a pillar of the community one …

LONDON (AP)-Three British telephone companies charge customers too much to place calls to mobile phones, a regulator said Thursday as he ordered a monopoly investigation of their pricing. “Mobile phones are an increasingly important part of everyday life,” said Don …

WASHINGTON-Four Senate telecom lawmakers plan to introduce universal service legislation this week aimed at preventing mandated Internet links for schools, libraries and rural health-care facilities from draining telephone service subsidies for poor and high-cost rural subscribers. The bipartisan draft, authored …

PERU Comsat International said it received a license to provide voice, data and multimedia wireless communications services for businesses operating in Lima, Peru. Using both fiber-optic cable and microwave technologies, Comsat Peru plans to build a local digital network in …

NEW YORK-Philips Consumer Communications L.L.P., has embarked on plans at home and abroad to market aggressively its new ISIS Advanced Mobile Phone Service/Narrowband Analog Mobile Phone Service handsets. The Dallas-based joint venture between Lucent Technologies Inc. and Philips Electronics North …

Ericsson forms office mobility unit ATLANTA-Ericsson Inc. announced the formation of the Wireless Services unit in response to the increasing need for wireless communications in the workplace. Ericsson said the new unit will provide a wireless office solution based on …

Motorola Inc. announced it has reached an agreement with Latin American paging provider Alfa-Bip of Mexico to provide infrastructure for a nationwide expansion of its paging services. Under the terms of the agreement, Alfa-Bip agreed to buy Motorola’s Nucleus one-way …

ATHENS-According to sources at OTE, the Greek telephone company’s subsidiary Cosmote will begin activating personal communications services customers this week as scheduled, becoming the country’s third mobile phone operator. OTE, which was awarded the third license in 1996, owns the …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson’s Global System for Mobile communications-based cordless telephone system now allows subscribers to use their GSM mobile phones on the fixed public network, the company announced. CTS offers two types of service. The Personal Phone service allows subscribers …

WASHINGTON-A wireless anti-fraud bill is headed to the White House for President Clinton’s signature, following House passage last week of legislation that will deny drug dealers, terrorists and other criminals a favorite tool and effectively kill the so-called emulation business …

Although the Italian government awarded fixed telephony licenses last week to two companies, confusion and frustration continue to surround the decision to bestow a much-delayed third mobile phone license. The Italian Senate is said to have set a May 31 …

The wireless industry, backed by powerful members of Congress, fired the opening salvo last week in what will evolve this year as an all-out assault against wireless taxes. At the association’s annual convention in Atlanta, Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association President …