Qualcomm

Cellular offsets PCS costs for TDS CHICAGO-Telephone and Data Systems Inc. said strong cellular performance was offset by personal communications services development costs to produce a decline in net income for the fourth quarter 1996. Net income was $10.9 million, …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology has requested comments from Qualcomm Inc. as to what action the OET should recommend to the commission concerning the FCC’s denial of Qualcomm’s pioneer’s preference application. Last month, a federal appeals …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. finalized terms of its proposed placement of 5.75 percent Trust convertible preferred securities. The offering has been increased from $450 million to $550 million in gross proceeds (See related story on Page 20). The securities represent an …

NEW YORK-Qualcomm Financial Trust I, wholly owned by Qualcomm Inc., San Diego, plans to sell a $450 million issue of convertible preferred stock due 2012 to help finance the parent company’s expansion. In an announcement Feb. 18, Moody’s Investors Service …

Several low-earth-orbit satellite systems will have initial launches this year, marking the beginning of services that a Washington, D.C., consulting firm says “will fill the gaps other wireless systems don’t cover.” Big LEOs and medium earth orbit systems will not …

If demand for dual-band handsets can be measured by vendor contracts, carriers must only now be finalizing plans for multi-frequency roaming. The industry’s most prolific terminal manufacturers have yet to announce volume contracts for these expensive new phones, although some …

NEW YORK-Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. plans additional financing to help build and launch 56 low-earth-orbit satellites for digital wireless voice and data service covering most of the world by mid-to-late 1998. Headquartered in New York, Globalstar is a limited partnership led …

BURNABY, B.C.-BC TEL Mobility announced plans to launch digital 800 MHz service based on Code Division Multiple Access technology in British Columbia, Canada, early next month. The company completed field trials of Northern Telecom Ltd.’s network in September. Nortel has …

WASHINGTON-According to company spokeswoman Jennifer Walsh, NextWave Telecom Inc. plans to amend its current S-1 filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission soon to get its stalled initial public offering off the ground. On Jan. 20, news agency Reuters America …

BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile launched its DigitalChoice cellular phone service in Washington/Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C. DigitalChoice uses 13-kilobit Code Division Multiple Access technology. The DigitalChoice service includes caller ID, voice mail with message indicator, free first minute on …

SEATTLE-AirTouch Communications Inc. announced large business customers in western Washington now have access to Code Division Multiple Access cellular service. “In the past, we have launched new services to business and retail customers simultaneously,” said Julie Dexter Berg, executive vice …

While Old Man Winter dumps mercilessly on everyone else, the sun shines brighter than ever these days on Irwin Jacobs. A big target for skeptics ever since taking the road less traveled instead the one the taken by the rest …

WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court last week overturned the Federal Communications Commission’s rejection of Qualcomm Inc.’s pioneer’s preference application, saying the agency was inconsistent in awarding licenses for innovative broadband personal communications services technologies. The court said there was disparate treatment …

Metawave Communications Corp. appointed Kathryn Surace-Smith general counsel for the company. She will provide legal support for Metawave’s business development activities including customer contracts, licensing agreements, strategic partnerships and financial, operational and corporate matters. Previously, Surace-Smith was international counsel for …

WASHINGTON-In a decision almost surely headed for the appeals court, the Federal Communications Commission last Friday conditionally awarded NextWave Personal Communications Inc. its C-block licenses after NextWave submitted a plan to bring its foreign-ownership percentages into compliance with federal rules. …

The Secretary of Communications in Argentina announced concrete plans to award two personal communications services licenses in early to mid-1997. Initially, the two PCS licenses will be granted for 30 megahertz, with an option for an additional 5 megahertz, but …

Editor’s Note: No other debate has ignited the wireless telecommunications industry like the one that rages between TDMA and CDMA technology. For several years, the greatest argument against CDMA technology was that it was not commercially available. That changed in …

SAN DIEGO-Cellular One launched Arizona’s first Code Division Multiple Access digital service in the Phoenix area using Qualcomm Personal Electronics’ handsets. The system covers most of the Phoenix metropolitan area, serving around 90 percent of the populated areas. “We are …

Sprint PCS service is available in six cities, and just two days remain for Sprint Spectrum L.P. to meet its goal of launching 1900 MHz personal comm-unications services in two more of its 29 A- and B-block markets. Sprint’s Code …

WASHINGTON-C-block personal communications services bidders Antigone Communications L.P. and PCS Devco Inc. continued to put NextWave Personal Communications Inc.’s feet into the fire regarding its pending C-block licenses. This time it asked the Federal Communications Commission Dec. 6 to force …

Qualcomm Inc. has made a double-barrel response to claims by L.M. Ericsson that Qualcomm’s Code Division Multiple Access products infringe on Ericsson technology patents. Both Qualcomm and Ericsson hold CDMA U.S. patents. Qualcomm has designed and is building commercial CDMA …

NEW YORK-Although Ericsson Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc. for alleged patent infringement, Ericsson said it believes the two manufacturers will work out their differences without the threat of litigation. “We seek reasonable compensation for the use of …

Sprint PCS said software problems by one of its two equipment vendors will delay the launch of personal communications service in some markets by year’s end, but the company still intends to roll out service in five to 10 markets …

Lucent Technologies Inc. has agreed to finance infrastructure equipment for NextWave Telecom Inc., in a deal the companies value at $200 million for the first two years. Lucent will not receive an equity position for the investment. Payment terms will …

WASHINGTON-NextWave Personal Communications Inc. categorically denied it surpassed the federal rules regarding foreign ownership caps and outside control in a letter answering questions regarding its fitness to become a personal communications services licensee. In an effort to clear up the …