SBC Communications

The SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. merger means two major cellular markets may be up for grabs. Both companies own cellular licenses in Chicago and St. Louis, Mo., as well as surrounding licenses in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. SBC …

The announced merger of SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. has raised speculation there may be another paging unit on the sale block sometime soon. SBC will be the controlling company after the merger. Given SBC’s lack of any real …

The number of digital wireless subscribers is expected to increase rapidly this year as more cellular carriers begin to push digital service aggressively. While many cellular carriers last year offered digital service as a way to offer products similar to …

The auction of personal communications services licenses in Mexico’s nine bidding regions was completed May 8, officially liberalizing the much sought-after wireless market there and raking in $1.06 billion after 128 rounds. Mexico’s PCS auction was modeled after the spectrum-auction …

WASHINGTON-The decision whether to approve the proposed $62 billion merger between SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. could be driven as much by politics as by antitrust scrutiny, judging from the hostile reception the deal received here last week. The …

The wireless telecommunications industry has grown up more quickly than many other industries in the United States. The industry likes to boast of its relatively quick acceptance in the marketplace, comparing its acquisition of 50 million customers in just less …

Croatia has announced a tender to construct and operate a nationwide GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) network. Bids were due 15 April. A consortium led by ABN Amro Bank N.V. and N.M. Rothschild & Sons has been appointed to …

CASABLANCA, Morocco-For Morocco, 29 June 1997 marked a point of no return for the country’s telecommunications industry-a turning point that changed forever the way telephony is looked at in the country. Morocco’s lower house that day approved a bill liberalizing …

Switzerland last week awarded national licenses to two of five rival consortia-diAx mobile and Orange Communications SA-to operate wireless networks in competition with the country’s single operator, Swisscom. The winning consortia beat out Unilimitel, which partnered Deutsche Telekom with France …

NEW YORK-Centennial Cellular Corp., New Canaan, Conn., announced the company is considering its options, including selling some or all of its assets. The company, a cellular carrier on the United States mainland and a personal communications services carrier in Puerto …

WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association filed comments last week at the Federal Communications Commission seeking to halt any merger of SBC Communications Inc. and Southern New England Telecommunications Corp. until SBC stops charging paging carriers for SBC-originated traffic. “When it …

WASHINGTON-With technologies converging, telecom giants merging and entrenched networks discouraging new competition, there is growing debate over the role of antitrust law in the Digital Age. In one camp are the Clintonites, lawyers and economists who emphasize the inherent power …

The interconnection fight between paging carriers and local exchange carriers is far from over. LECs, wounded by a Federal Communications Commission Common Carrier Bureau letter denying them the right to charge paging carriers interconnection fees, have fired the first shots …

WASHINGTON-NAACP President Kweisi Mfume last week predicted “widespread boycotts” of major wireless firms that are found to have poor records of hiring and promoting African Americans. The Economic Reciprocity Initiative, which also covers wireline carriers and eventually could encompass the …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission ruled last week that a personal communications services operator cannot necessarily be considered a facilities-based local competitor when determining whether a regional Bell telephone company can enter the long-distance market. The ruling was part of the …

WASHINGTON-Cellular Concepts Inc., one of Cellular One of Washington/Baltimore’s largest dealers in the Washington, D.C., area, filed a lawsuit against the carrier Jan. 29 in Montgomery County (Md.) District Court, asking for $28 million in damages. The lawsuit in part …

SAN ANTONIO-While it added more than 1 million wireless subscribers during 1997, SBC Communications Inc. reported slight increases in revenue and decreases in net income during the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31. Fiscal 1997 net income dropped 55 …

Overall wireless pricing has decreased between 6.1 percent and 10 percent in the United States since September, said Robinson-Humphrey Co. L.L.C.’s latest pricing survey. “This relatively low price decrease is quite encouraging, considering that this survey was done during the …

NEW YORK-AT&T Corp. is rumored to be at an advanced stage in negotiations to acquire Teleport Communications Group Inc., the first and largest competitive local exchange carrier in the country. AT&T and Teleport, both headquartered in New York, have declined …

SAN DIEGO-Science Applications International Corp. said it finished its acquisition of Bell Communications Research Inc. after receiving regulatory approvals from state public utility commissions. New Jersey-based Bellcore previously was owned by regional Bell holding companies Ameritech Corp., Bell Atlantic Corp., …

The personal communications services industry saw its second top management change in less than a month as Pacific Bell named John Polumbo president and chief executive officer of its PCS business, Pacific Bell Mobile Services. Polumbo replaces Lyndon Daniels, who …

Bad hair week for the Baby Bells and smut police. A near miss for wireless. The Justice Department last Wednesday recommended against Ameritech’s foray into the Michigan long-distance market. So Joel Klein really does want Sen. Hollings’ blessing after all. …

RANK/COMPANY TWO YEAR TOTAL RETURN 1 PriCellular Corp. 130.37% 2 Sprint Corp.* 84.85% 3 GTE Corp. 62.24% 4 Ameritech Corp. 60.68% 5 BellSouth Corp. 59.94% 6 U S West Communications Group* 55.45% 7 Nynex Corp. 43.38% 8 Bell Atlantic Corp. …

RANK/COMPANY NET INCOME (000’s) 1 AT&T Corp. $5,608,000 2 British Telecom $3,034,000 3 BellSouth Corp. $2,863,000 4 GTE Corp. $2,798,000 5 Ameritech Corp. $2,134,000 6 SBC Communications Inc. $2,101,000 7 Bell Atlantic Corp. $1,739,400 8 Nynex Corp. $1,346,000 9 U …

Rank/Company % Change 1996 1995 Net Income Net Income (000) Net Income (000) 1 Palmer Wireless Inc. 390.78% $4,682 $954 2 Rural Cellular Corp. 340.13% $3,477 $790 3 BellSouth Corp. 83.06% $2,863,000 $1,564,000 4 AT&T Corp. 74.98% $5,608,000 $3,205,000 5 …