operator

Just when the third-generation evolution path for CDMA operators was looking convoluted, a new proposal drafted by these carriers may unify a single path to megabit data speeds. Code Division Multiple Access carriers this week expect to submit a proposal …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is expected shortly to rule on Motorola Inc.’s 911 call processing-telematics waiver request, a filing that attracted industry support and sharp criticism from consumer and public-safety groups. Motorola last month asked the FCC for permission to …

Sprint PCS announced better-than-expected results in customer growth, revenues and cash-flow losses for the first quarter and released some long-awaited information about customers using its wireless Web offering. The nationwide personal communications services carrier said it added 831,000 net subscribers, …

Bidders in the U.K. third-generation license auction appeared to exceed their budgets last week. Bidding for the five licenses totaled an eye-popping $35 billion, and the auction will linger on into this week. The auction seems eerily reminiscent of the …

While wireless executives in North America plot in their war rooms about how to sell the wireless Web in an already highly penetrated Internet market, executives just south of the border are wringing their hands in anticipation that the wireless …

Large carriers across the country are painstakenly trying to determine what wireless Internet service offerings will attract customers. Surprisingly, some small and rural carriers are on the same page. Smaller operators historically have followed the coattails of their metropolitan counterparts …

WASHINGTON-The White House is expected shortly to release a belated report advocating the integration of wireless technologies into the nation’s Emergency Alert System, a policy that industry, federal regulators and Congress have not aggressively pushed despite the fact that millions …

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates-Motorola Inc. and Etisalat, a Global System for Mobile communications operator in the United Arab Emirates, signed a contract extension to deploy Motorola’s Horizonsystems infrastructure solutions in the U.A.E., providing additional coverage and capacity on both a …

MADRID, Spain-Spain’s Telefonica plans to spin off its mobile-phone business before the fall, published reports indicate. Analysts value the unit at as much as $71.3 billion. Telefonica reported about 9 million wireless subscribers in Spain and 10.5 million in Latin …

BERN, Switzerland-Swisscom said it is considering spinning off its mobile division to fund Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses and networks. The operator said it has about 2.5 million mobile customers. Swisscom will retain a share majority if it floats Swisscom …

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil-Jim Murrell, chairman of the North American GSM Association, could not use his Global System for Mobile communications phone last week in Brazil during Telecom Americas 2000. But depending on a decision by the Brazilian telecommunications regulatory …

Code Division Multiple Access technology is gaining some momentum in Europe. Lucent Technologies Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. announced they will cooperate with Hungarian Nordic Mobile Telephone operator Westel Radiotelephone Ltd. to trial CDMA 450 technology this fall in Budapest, Hungary. …

WASHINGTON-The fact that MCI Worldcom Inc. will acquire Sprint Corp.’s extensive mobile-phone network if its proposed merger is approved was completely ignored at a forum held last week by the Federal Communications Commission’s Common Carrier Bureau. The forum instead focused …

Adaptive Broadband Corp. was awarded a $56 million, five-year contract to provide its AB-Access fixed wireless broadband equipment to Cybertech Wireless Inc., a privately held, business-to-business Internet Service Provider. Aether Systems Inc. has acquired IFX Group plc, a European provider …

Big business spends billions of dollars on infrastructure. No matter whether the business is an airline or a telecommunications company, the economic theory is the same. To be able to provide good service to the public over a wide geographic …

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. and Globe Telecom, a Philippine telecommunications company, singed an agreement to expand Globe Telecom’s Handyphone service, the company’s Global System for Mobile communications-based Cellular Mobile Telephone System. Under the agreement, Nokia will supply mobile switching centers, home …

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute agreed last week to standardize all technologies the International Telecommunication Union has accepted for the third-generation market. RCR reported last week the European Commission planned to officially ask the European standards body to take up …

The flurry of consolidation in the wireless industry leads the industry observer to believe a nationwide presence is a necessity to compete in this market going forward. AT&T Wireless Services Inc. raised the bar in 1998 offering its nationwide plan, …

It is a match made in heaven. BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications finally ended weeks of speculation, announcing plans to create a wireless joint venture that will become the second-largest wireless operator in the United States, serving 16.2 million subscribers …

ROME-Telecom Italia Group said it won a $180 million license to operate wireless service in Peru. Telecom Italia’s STET Mobile Holding N.V. won the country’s third cellular license through an auction. The 20-year renewable nationwide personal communications services license is …

MEXICO CITY-Grupo Iusacell S.A. de C.V. launched its new mobile Internet service based on Wireless Application Protocol in the Mexican states of Mexico, Morelos and Hidalgo. The company reported it will offer two versions of the service. The first, Iusacell …

NEW YORK-Telecom Italia Mobile, Europe’s largest wireless carrier, sees the Subscriber Identity Module that links each customer to its network as key to its control over an expanding array of wireless and wireline services. SIMs, also known as smart cards, …

China Motorola Inc.’s Network Solutions Sector was awarded a $14.5 million contract to install a Global System for Mobile communications 1800 network in China. The contract, signed with Shangdong Mobile Communications Corp., calls for Motorola to deploy the new network …

A growing number of operators, vendors and analysts are not convinced EDGE technology will make significant inroads in Europe. “In Europe, I’m not expecting a major deployment of EDGE,” said Lothar Pauly, head of Siemens AG’s global wireless business. EDGE, …

BONN, Germany-Deutsche Telekom acquired a majority stake in Czech mobile phone operator RadioMobil for about $565 million. The German carrier’s CMobil company increased its previously held 49-percent stake in the Czech company to 60.8 percent. DT is exercising an option …