Vodafone

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 …

Less than a week after Qwest Communications International Inc. and U S West Inc. conquered a major regulatory hurdle in Minnesota regarding their pending merger, Qwest reported its first-quarter revenues increased 39 percent to $1.22 billion, compared with $878.4 million …

LONDON-The European Union Commission notified Vodafone AirTouch plc last week it received Phase 1 clearance for its acquisition of Mannesmann AG, moving the companies one step closer to creating a European telecom giant with more than 54 million customers in …

WorldCom Wireless became the latest-and most high-profile-company to fall victim to the climbing bids for five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in the United Kingdom last week. WorldCom withdrew from the auction Thursday, reducing the number of active bidders to …

NEW YORK-Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Bell Atlantic Corp. and Vodafone AirTouch plc, signed a letter of intent to purchase $500 million in wireless and optical equipment from Nortel Networks. According to Verizon, the two-year agreement will enable the …

Hong Kong Phone.com Inc. and Sunday, a developer and provider of telecommunications and wireless Internet-related services in Hong Kong, launched mobile Internet services using the Phone.com Wireless Application Protocol UP.Link Server 4.0. The service, branded “SO WAP,” positions Sunday as …

Skyrocketing bids forced five companies to drop out of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction last week, leaving eight companies to scramble for five licenses that now have a combined value of more than $22 billion. By the time round …

Japan Vodafone AirTouch plc, together with its partners Japan Telecom and British Telecom, has agreed to restructure its interests in Japan ahead of the start of the third-generation license application process this month. According to Vodafone AirTouch, the main purpose …

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 …

NEW YORK-The ongoing fight for dominance of the U.S. wireless market flared up once again last week as Bell Atlantic Corp. and Vodafone AirTouch plc said they will commence this year an initial public offering of Verizon Wireless, the joint …

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. and Bell Atlantic Corp. completed the first phase of a transaction to swap wireless interests in 13 states, eliminating the overlapping cellular operations that would be created by the combination of Bell Atlantic and Vodafone AirTouch …

SAN FRANCISCO-Even as the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock market was spinning out of control and dragging down telecom shares last week, wireless network and marketing managers here were brimming with optimism about a industry whose biggest challenge is keeping up with …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications and International Bureaus have approved the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and Vodafone AirTouch plc’s wireless assets, as well as VoiceStream’s purchase of Aerial Communications Inc. The bureaus said “the creation of two new …

LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc said its offer for Mannesmann AG closed March 27, after valid acceptances representing 98.62 percent of the issued share capital and nearly 500 million shares of Mannesmann had been received. Vodafone AirTouch said it issued on March …

Bids for each of the five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in the United Kingdom reached or topped $3 billion last week. All 13 original bidders are still are in the auction, now in its fifth week. “I think it …

NEW YORK-With an estimated 5 million American customers today, prepaid wireless services have yet to fulfill their promise, but that potential is getting closer to realization. Within the next several years, analysts from The Yankee Group, the Strategis Group and …

ATLANTA-Speculation again surfaced that BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. will announce the merger of their U.S. wireless assets as early as this week, creating a competitive wireless footprint with more than 16.5 million customers. The possible merger deal comes …

NEW YORK-The American wireless marketplace needs a healthy dose of innovation jump-started by foreign intervention to drive user penetration, said Hans R. Snook, chief executive of Orange plc. At the moment, Orange is otherwise engaged, so it cannot put momentum …

PARIS-France Telecom announced it will take a 28.5-percent stake in Germany’s MobilCom, which provides mobile, wireline and Internet services, for about $3.6 billion. The German company has about 2 million wireless subscribers. In connection with the deal, the companies said …

HONG KONG-Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. announced it sold part of its stake in Vodafone AirTouch plc for net proceeds of about $5 billion. The stake was sold through an agreement with Goldman Sachs Equity Securities (UK) Ltd. and Deutsche Bank A.G. …

NTL Mobile closed out the latest round of bidding in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction last week in the United Kingdom with a $1.7 billion bid for license A, an increase of more than $855 million from the highest …

Editor’s Note: The companies listed below represent the 20 largest cellular carriers in the United States. Company rankings are based on the total number of subscribers for their majority-held or controlled markets. All subscriber numbers reflect year-end 1999 figures reported …

The Operators Harmonization Group-which began work more than a year ago as a loosely tied consortium of four operators trying to end the global debate over third-generation technology standards-is now an official organization. Earlier this month, 26 operators from around …

WASHINGTON-With a little more than 18 months until the deadline for the implementation of enhanced 911 Phase II service, carriers are beginning to think about how they can make money from a government mandate that requires location technology. They are …