Pocket Communications

CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J.-Omnipoint Communications said it will supply a temporary Global System for Mobile communications digital network in New Orleans during the Personal Communications Industry Association’s Personal Communications Showcase ’99 trade show. In cooperation with Nortel Networks and the North …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission received two rebukes from the Senate last week regarding the agreement its general counsel signed Aug. 10 that seemed to pave the way for Nextel Communications Inc. to buy personal communications services licenses held by NextWave …

WASHINGTON-Whether the spectrum cap should stay or go-one issue that distinguishes incumbent cellular operators and upstart personal communications services operators-“will hopefully” be decided by the Federal Communications Commission at its September meeting, said Thomas Sugrue, chief of the FCC’s Wireless …

WASHINGTON-A wild flurry of lobbying on telecom appropriations bills late last week ended with Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) withdrawing an amendment to relax the spectrum cap and House subcommittee members deciding against bankruptcy changes advocated by the Federal Communications Commission …

WASHINGTON-At a time when policy makers are wrestling with how best to reform the Federal Communications Commission in the Digital Age of Competition, the agency is quietly undergoing a transformation that may be turning an agency of spectrum managers into …

WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard denied improperly lobbying for legislation to prevent wireless licenses from becoming mired in bankruptcy litigation, but now-in a new flare up-has drawn sharp rebuke from two fellow regulators for effectively cutting off personal communications …

WASHINGTON-While Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard distanced himself from charges at a recent congressional hearing that his agency lobbied for legislation to recover scores of mobile phone licenses entangled in bankruptcy, internal government e-mails show the FCC and the …

WASHINGTON-Rural America may be left out of the re-auction of personal communications services licenses. At the end of round six on Thursday, 37 percent of the C-block licenses had not received any bids. Information provided by the Federal Communications Commission …

A story in the March 8 issue indicated there were no personal communications service provid-ers in Las Vegas. Las Vegas was included in the Metropolitan Trading Area for Los Angeles-San Diego for the A- and B-side PCS licenses. Those licenses …

WASHINGTON-Continuing its strategy to get some of Pocket Communications Inc.’s personal communications services licenses, National Telecom PCS Inc. last week offered to pay $13 million for the 12 C-block licenses. NatTel sent a reorganization plan to Judge E. Stephen Derby, …

BALTIMORE-Judge E. Stephen Derby last week denied a motion by Pocket Communications Inc. to reverse its election, thus allowing the re-auction of all but 12 of Pocket’s licenses to go forward later this month. Derby’s decision was necessary after Pocket’s …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration, ratcheting up the debate with top telecom lawmakers over C-block personal communications services policy, staunchly defended a proposal to enable the Federal Communications Commission to swiftly recover licenses entangled in wireless bankruptcies. “Spectrum is a public resource, …

WASHINGTON-President Clinton, setting up a confrontation with top telecom lawmakers, proposed in his fiscal 2000 budget last week to let the Federal Communications Commission confiscate licenses of bankrupt wireless firms. The White House plan is designed to avoid a repeat …

WASHINGTON-House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) and a bipartisan coalition of top telecom lawmakers last week urged the Clinton administration to revise estimated receipts from C-block personal communications services license sales to reflect their depreciated value, and warned the Federal …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission again this year is hoping Congress will pass legislation so it does not have to fight to get back wireless licenses from bankrupt companies. Legislation to exclude communications licenses from bankruptcy estates has been included in …

WASHINGTON-As the Federal Communications Commission set the stage for auctioning nearly 500 returned C-block personal communications services licenses next March, agency lawyers successfully fought lenders Friday in Baltimore bankruptcy court to recover most of the 43 licenses held by Pocket …

BALTIMORE-At the end of a day-long hearing last Thursday, a bankruptcy judge made sure everyone, including himself, could go home happy. DCR PCS Inc., the subsidiary of Pocket Communications Inc., was able to make its provisional election effective; the federal …

WASHINGTON-In a stunning turnabout, the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission late last week terminated negotiations with Pocket Communications Inc. debtors and called for the return of all but a few of the 46 personal communications services licenses for …

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 …

The House Commerce Committee last Thursday added three wireless amendments to a bill to protect consumers from unauthorized changes by their long-distance providers. The amendments are intended to stem the C-block debacle, ensure competition in three rural areas and set …

In Chicago, where the mobile phone penetration rate is one of the highest among the nation’s most populous markets, cellular carriers Ameritech Cellular Services Inc. and SBC Wireless have made aggressive moves to match offers coming primarily from their PCS …

The first half of this year has produced several landscape-changing events in the wireless industry. If completed, the proposed mergers between SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. and Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp. could put several significant cellular markets …

In this Clintonian Age of Relativity, there is always-for everyone here-a way out: denial. Having an extramarital affair with a girl your twenty-something daughter’s age. Deny it. Soliciting campaign contributions from a Buddhist temple or from the White House. Deny …

In the eyes of some, the Federal Communications Commission’s great experiment with personal communications services licensing has been a smashing success. Facilities-based competition is all around. Subscriber numbers and revenues are growing by leaps and bounds, with equipment and service …

A number of new licenses will be up for grabs early next year as the majority of C-block personal communications services licensees opted to return their licenses to the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC said 175 licenses will be returned …