PCIA – Wireless Infrastructure Assoc.

We’re into week three of Clinton II unofficially and already seeing the president wobble and waffle on the big issues of the day: balanced budget amendment, Cabinet makeup and Bosnia peacekeeping to name a few. The wireless telecom industry is …

WASHINGTON-Certain parts of the Federal Communications Commission’s interconnection and local exchange rules dealing with negotiations between local exchange carriers and commercial mobile radio service operators will not be included in the current stay that prevents FCC pricing restrictions from being …

Centennial Cellular Corp. began marketing its cellular communications products and services under the name Centennial Wireless throughout its properties. The company formerly used the Cellular One trademark. Centennial is bolstering the name change with an advertising campaign including newspaper, radio …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration’s free Internet plan would discriminate against wireless carriers by forcing them to pay extra into the universal service fund without the likelihood of gaining access to monies to connect schools and libraries, say wireless industry executives. While …

WASHINGTON-Any euphoria felt by wireless carriers following the recent adoption of new interconnection and local competition rules by the Federal Communications Commission should have melted away by now as the commission faces a long, uphill battle in federal court to …

I’m still recovering from PCS ’96 in San Francisco. Between the 400 exhibitors, about 15,000 attendees and 30 sessions, I just couldn’t take it all in. In fact, PCIA said it had to turn away numerous companies that wanted to …

WASHINGTON-When it comes to getting a say in telecommunications policymaking in the nation’s capital, firms let their dollars do the talking. And, oh, how the money has talked in recent years, like an endless filibuster gushing in all its gilded …

WASHINGTON-In a stunning move with perhaps more symbolism than substance, Ameritech Cellular Services left the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association last week because the trade group’s aggressive wireless agenda clashed with the Midwest regional Bell telephone company’s business plans. “Over time …

Hosting this week’s PCS ’96 conference and expo in San Francisco is Jay Kitchen, president of the Personal Communications Industry Association; as many as 15,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event. Kitchen, who also served at the helm …

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Mark Golden, senior vice president of Industry Affairs for the Personal Communications Industry Association, has been accepted as a voting member of the Federal Communications Commission’s North American Numbering Council. Golden was chosen to represent PCIA and the wireless …

AirNet Communications Corp. named Dr. Lee Hamilton vice president of product engineering. Hamilton will be responsible for developing and implementing AirNet’s wireless broadband base station and related infrastructure equipment products. Hamilton previously served as general manager of system transmission products …

WASHINGTON-The Industrial Telecommunications Association Inc. and the Personal Communications Industry Association won their fights to become designated clearinghouses that will administer the Federal Communications Commission’s microwave-relocation cost-sharing plan. “We are gratified that the FCC went the way it did,” said …

Senate lawmakers kept the heat on FCC Chairman Reed Hundt last week insofar as implementing the 1996 Telecom Act. Hundt didn’t let lawmakers force him into a corner, and artfully dodged questions that Commerce Committee members wanted him to answer …

WASHINGTON-The industry group largely responsible for securing regulatory relief during the paging freeze has demanded that the Personal Communications Industry Association cease charging frequency coordination fees under interim paging rules. The Coalition for a Competitive Paging Industry, a collection of …

American Mobile Satellite Corp. appointed Patrick C. FitzPatrick vice president and chief financial officer. Prior to joining AMSC, FitzPatrick was senior vice president and CFO of PRC Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Black & Decker Corp. Paging Network Inc. …

WASHINGTON-Opinions are split when it comes to shortening the voluntary negotiation period between microwave incumbents and C-, D-, E- and F-block personal communications services licensees. Several commenters on the proposed Federal Communications Commission amendment also would allow reimbursing incumbents to …

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The Personal Communications Industry Association has elected William L. Collins III chairman of its board of directors. Collins is president and chief executive officer of Metrocall. “Bill Collins is a dynamic executive leading a dynamic company,” said …

The paging industry is undergoing a major regulatory overhaul. The question is why? As the most competitive sector of the wireless telecommunications industry, it is not clear whether sweeping changes are being made to accommodate the federal government and large …

WASHINGTON-Wireless Telecommunications Bureau deputy chief Ralph Haller, characterized by former Federal Communications Commission colleague James McKinney as “just a simple country boy from the wheat fields of Kansas,” accepted this year’s Eugene C. Bowler Award at a May 15 dinner …

WASHINGTON-“Auctions have revolutionized the way governments will distribute valuable resources and assets,” said Jerry Vaughan, deputy chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. “This will transfer to the states and then will go international.” “Sometimes auctions create an …

MAY 6 The Emerging Market for Wireless Location-based Products and Services, by Telestrategies Inc. Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, Va. (703) 734-7050. 6-9 Inside Washington: Business and Public Policy Focus on the Information Superhighway, by The Brookings Institute. Embassy Row …

APRIL 28-1 IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference ’96, by IEEE Vehicular Technology Society. The Westin Peach-tree Plaza, Atlanta. (908) 562-3870. 30 The Telecom Act of 1996: Myths and Markets, by Creamer Dickson Basford. Sheraton Hotel, Needham, Mass. Call Christine Campbell at …

WASHINGTON-Local and regional paging operators lambasted the Federal Communications Commission for declining to completely lift the three-month-old paging application freeze last week, and vowed to redouble lobbying efforts in hopes of getting legislation or persuading the agency to reconsider its …

If only Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber suspect accused of blowing up those he believes responsible for polluting America with high technology, had gotten out of his wooden shack in Montana, he would have discovered good people doing good things with …

NEW YORK-When it comes to siting wireless communications towers, passing “Go” means collecting a lot more than $200. Tower placement ease got a boost from Section 704 of the new federal telecommunications law which, “sets explicit national (tower) siting standards …