Wireless Services

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 1996 figures reported …

Wireless pricing in competitive markets with at least one personal communications services operator on average is 18 percent lower than in markets with no PCS competitors, reported the Yankee Group. More than 40 markets in North America have three broadband …

When the federal government offered spectrum auction license incentives to women, minorities, small businesses and rural telephone companies a few years ago, Steve Neely didn’t bite. Though a die-hard entrepreneur like his father, a role model who used to own …

A C-block enterprise created by two Alabama telephone companies is methodically slipping into position to rival big-name wireless players in the Gulf Coast area. The telephone companies believe if they are going to lose landline customers to wireless offerings, they …

SAN ANTONIO-ATX Technologies Inc. selected AT&T Wireless Services Inc.’s Wireless Data Division to provide the wireless communications for its OnGuard product. OnGuard uses wireless communications and Global Positioning System technology to provide vehicle tracking and directional assistance, the company said. …

ALAMEDA, Calif.-Geoworks will expand its cooperation with Nokia to provide packaged content and services for Smart Messaging, the Nokia-developed Global System for Mobile communications wireless service architecture announced last month at the CeBIT ’97 technology fair. Geoworks will provide wireless …

SAN ANTONIO-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. launched its FlexCall prepaid wireless service in eight counties in the greater San Antonio area. Counties included in the launch are Atacosa, Bexar, Comal, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Kendall, Median and Wilson. Customers may initiate FlexCall for …

The Federal Communications Commission announced three appointments in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. David Horowitz was named chief of the Private Wireless Division of the Bureau, which he joined in 1995 as deputy chief. He joined the commission in 1998 as …

Tough competition from other operators has led to increased costs for cellular carrier Palmer Wireless Inc., fueling speculation that the carrier is up for sale. Fort Myers, Fla.-based Palmer won’t comment on what it calls “a market rumor” that it …

NEW YORK-Century Telephone Enterprises Inc., a Monroe, La., telecommunications firm, signed a letter of intent to purchase several cellular and personal communications services markets, primarily in the Midwest. The seller is Pacific Telecom Inc., a subsidiary of PacifiCorp, an electric …

Comsat Corp. said its offer to repurchase 8.13 percent debentures due April 1, 2004, was concluded April 9. The company repurchased $89.5 million of the $160 million in principal amount of debentures outstanding. Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd.’s board of directors declared …

DENVER-In concert with the company’s previous digital cellular launches, AirTouch Cellular announced it is offering its high-end business users in Denver and Detroit Powerband service. “In the past, we have launched new services to business and retail customers simultaneously,” said …

ALASKA-Cellulink Wireless Services has teamed up with the State of Alaska and Phoenix Public Communications to provide cellular pay phones for use by passengers on Alaska’s Marine Highway System ferries. The first phone already has been installed on the Motor …

Editor’s Note: As C-block winner Pocket Communications Inc. goes through its bankruptcy restructuring, RCR takes an in-depth look at how Congress, the FCC and Wall Street are addressing PCS auction issues. Additional stories appear from page 9 through 15. WASHINGTON-The …

Antenna placement at the new Denver International Airport is on hold until carriers can convince airport authorities that additional sites won’t cause interference. “We didn’t spend $8 million building a radio system for this airport to have anyone come in …

Ireland’s second mobile phone operator has launched service with two compact packages and a goal of acquiring 50,000 customers by the end of the year. Dublin-based Esat Digifone had hoped to be online by the end of 1996 with its …

A Western Wireless Corp. subsidiary has filed a lawsuit in Arizona U.S. district court against the city of Tucson, claiming the city’s new zoning ordinance discriminates against the company and favors existing wireless providers. Western PCS BTA 1 Corp., which …

The extension phone business may be returning from a lull. Recent advertising by California Grapevine Communications states, “Don’t let the carriers violate your rights. The cellular monopolies and their lobbyists are controlling the entire communications industry for their profit at …

BOCA RATON, Fla.-Siemens Stromberg-Carlson agreed to supply Global System for Mobile communications network equipment and services to DigiPH PCS Inc., which holds licenses in the Florida panhandle, southern Alabama and parts of Mississippi. Siemens values the agreement at $74.9 million. …

WASHINGTON-Key wireless initiatives are caught in the grip of legislative inertia that has paralyzed Congress and the White House and shaken the foundations of both institutions in the aftermath of House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s (R-Ga.) ethics violations and the Clinton …

WASHINGTON-More than half of wireless subscribers and 40 percent of non-users expressed an interest in two-way wireless e-mail, representing a potential market of 44.3 million users, according to a study conducted by The Strategis Group. The study, Wireless Internet and …

Company Technology Wquipment Provider 21st Century Telesis Inc. PACS/DCTU Siemens AG NEC Corp. Hughes Electronics Corp. Bellcore ACC-PCS Inc. N/A N/A Aer Force Communications L.P. N/A N/A American Portable Telecommunications Inc. PCS-1900 GSM L.M. Ericsson (dba Aerial Communications Inc.) Nokia …

WASHINGTON-Generation X, a largely untapped wireless market today, will be one of the industry’s most sought after groups, according to the Strategis Group. Less than 7 million of the 60 million people between the ages of 18 and 29 currently …

Marketing may be everything. The technical properties of cellular and personal communications services-some similar, some different-balance out when vying for customers. How carriers decide to exploit technical advantages to win customers is another issue. “PCS carriers are making a conscious …

“This is a fight for the total telecommunication system, and we’re not going to play defense,” said John E. Rooney from his new office as president of Ameritech Consumer Services. Rooney has been president of Ameritech Cellular and Paging since …