Vodafone

LAQUINTA, Calif.-Customers continue to flock to wireless communications, with Bell Atlantic Mobile announcing it added 874,000 wireless customers in the fourth quarter, bringing its total to 7.7 million customers. The increase includes 452,000 subscribers Bell Atlantic recently acquired from Frontier …

LONDON-London-based telecommunication companies are riding the wave of increased demand for wireless communications with three companies reporting strong growth in new mobile phone customers during the fourth quarter of 1999. Vodafone AirTouch plc announced it received a record 3.98 million …

There is a chink in Nokia Mobile Phones’ armor, and it is the vendor’s market share in the cdmaOne handset business. While Nokia sells the most popular handsets in the world, holding more than 30 percent of the total business, …

LONDON-Mannesmann AG is stepping up its defense against Vodafone AirTouch plc’s $128.7 billion hostile takeover bid. Klaus Esser, Mannesmann chairman, is warning investors of potential risks, the Financial Times reported. Esser said Vodafone AirTouch may need as much as $60 …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-While the use of mobile communications in Europe continues to grow beyond everyone’s wildest expectations, the latest bid of $140 billion by Vodafone AirTouch plc for the Mannesmann empire has caused many a jaw to drop in stunned …

Aether Systems Inc. said it will license Diversinet Corp.’s Passport software to enhance the security of wireless e-commerce applications. The agreement integrates Aether’s wireless data enterprise solutions with Diversinet’s ability to capture digital signatures. Aether said the agreement will allow …

NEW YORK-The discriminatory patchwork of state and local taxes on telecommunications carriers imposes a roadblock to providers of the highways over which all Internet traffic travels, according to recent testimony before a federal commission. To remedy that disparity and confusion, …

NEW YORK, LONDON-Bell Atlantic Corp. and Vodafone AirTouch Plc announced they purchased full ownership in PrimeCo Personal Communications LP’s Texas market for $357 million. The deal buys out TXU Communications 20 percent share in PrimeCo and gives Bell Atlantic and …

LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc and British Telecom are in a race to take control of Spain’s wireless operator, Airtel. Banco Santander Central Hispano is looking to sell its 30.45-percent stake in Spain’s No. 2 cell phone group. British Telecom has offered …

Mergers and acquisitions are proliferating worldwide, with the strongest mark being made in Western Europe. Carriers are scrambling to maintain their footholds, while looking to the next potential market investment. Vodafone/Mannesmann The battle between Vodafone AirTouch and Mannesmann continues, as …

Alcatel Cameroon. With Societe Camerounaise de Mobiles (SCM) for a GSM network for the area between the cities of Yaounde, Douala and Bafoussam. Value: US$21.15 million China. With Post and Telecommunications Administration of Hubei province for DECT wireless local loop …

At the end of each year, the RCR editorial staff looks back on the news events that made RCR headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting stories of the past 12 months. Here are our picks for 1999 …

NEWBURY, United Kingdom-Vodafone UK and Nortel Networks said they are planning a trial early next year in London of wideband Code Division Multiple Access third-generation wireless radio and Internet Protocol network technologies. “Through this trial with Nortel Networks, we hope …

At the recent Practicing Law Institute’s Telecommunications Conference, Thomas Sugrue, chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, gave a humorous presentation describing the wireless industry. Here is how the wireless industry’s chief regulator sees the industry: 1. Why can’t we …

In a bid to strengthen its position in the wireless industry and expand its influence overseas, Internet infrastructure provider InfoSpace.com announced it signed a definitive agreement to acquire wireless Internet portal Saraide Inc. According to the agreement, InfoSpace.com will issue …

LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc said it awarded Ericsson a contract to supply General Packet Radio Service in Britain, the Netherlands and Greece. Vodafone UK, Libertel in the Netherlands and Panafon in Greece will be the first Vodafone wireless networks to integrate …

ATLANTA-BellSouth Corp. became the first U.S. operator to enter the European wireless industry’s recent merger and acquisition frenzy by exercising its right of first refusal to acquire 100 percent of E-Plus, Germany’s third-largest mobile operator. As part of the deal, …

Several important wireless markets will be up for grabs during the next year-a result of overlapping wireless markets created by the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. with GTE Corp. as well as Bell Atlantic’s agreement to merge its wireless assets …

WARSAW, Poland-KGHM Polska Miedz, Poland’s copper and silver concern, and Polski Koncern Naftowy, the country’s oil group, raised their stakes in the country’s mobile phone firm Polkomtel, according to a Reuters report. Both firms exercised their first refusal rights, as …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry will enter the third millennium A.D. as the envy of the telecommunications industry. It is arguably the most competitive sector. It is innovative, with three different digital standards and third-generation wireless becoming reality. And it has conquered …

The Operators Harmonization Group began work more than a year ago as a loosely tied group of four operators trying to end the world’s heated battle over third-generation technology standards. Today this ad hoc group, which now numbers 40 operators …

Vodafone AirTouch plc last week continued its efforts to win support for its hostile takeover bid for Germany’s Mannesmann AG. At the same time, Mannesmann executives began a road show aimed at convincing shareholders to reject the bid. Mannesmann has …

LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc is pushing forward with details to secure its takeover efforts of Mannesmann AG, while Mannesmann is making its own preparations to ward off the bid. Vodafone launched a $128 billion hostile takeover bid-the largest takeover bid in …

Vodafone AirTouch plc Friday launched a hostile takeover bid for Mannesmann AG after the German company flatly rejected an earlier all-stock bid of about $106 billion. “We made a friendly approach to Mannesmann last Sunday,” said Chris Gent, Vodafone AirTouch’s …

NEW YORK-Not unexpectedly, the multiservice telecommunications giants led the way in revenues and profits for the first half of this year. Profit leaders Bell Atlantic Corp. led in profits for the period, posting $2.315 billion, a 19.5-percent increase from the …