Wireless Technology

Could this be the year for wireless data? Although proponents of wireless data are no doubt tired of being asked that question, some announcements this week certainly have to cause their hearts to race, if just a little. Lucent Technologies …

WASHINGTON-As he winds down the cellular industry-funded cancer research project with little to show for the $28 million that will have been spent by mid-1999 when he leaves, Wireless Research Technology L.L.C.’s Dr. George Carlo is quietly ramping up a …

WASHINGTON-In a surprisingly candid admission, the head of the cellular industry’s cancer research project said he will leave the six-year, $28 million program in mid-1999 without conducting either short-term or long-term animal exposure studies. Last week’s revelation, which Wireless Technology …

WASHINGTON-National Telecommunications and Information Administration head Larry Irving called the first U.S.-China telecommunications summit “a resounding success,” an appraisal that belies the Clinton administration’s growing frustration with Chinese trade barriers and one that could reinforce the view that high-tech commerce …

WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee members sternly advised Federal Communications Commission chairman nominee William Kennard to rethink agency positions on federal pre-emption and wireless universal service funding and to stop dragging its feet on little low-earth orbit satellite licensing. But despite sharp …

WASHINGTON-Electric power deregulation is forcing monopoly utilities to look at wireless telecommunications as a revenue-generating means to capitalize on existing infrastructure and to diversify in a new competitive environment. Though none of the various bills to deregulate the $200 billion …

BALTIMORE-Statistics have shown that some 70 percent of calls made to 911 operators have nothing to do with life-or-death situations. People have been trained to call the number to gain immediate access to someone who may or may not be …

Lucent Technologies Inc., the equipment division spun off by AT&T Corp. last year, and Netherlands-based Philips Electronics N.V., one of the world’s largest electronic companies, announced plans to combine their consumer phone equipment operations in a joint venture sure to …

NEW YORK-Incumbent and new carriers in Europe, the world’s third- largest telecommunications market, are in reasonably good shape to meet competitive pressures despite uncertainties posed by pending deregulation, according to a report just published by Moody’s Investors Service Inc., New …

Globalstar L.P. announced at a signing ceremony it has placed purchase orders by the partners that comprise Globalstar’s limited partnership for 35 Globalstar gateways to be installed around the world. The contracts, totaling approximately $275 million, represent a further commitment …

WASHINGTON-The head of the wireless industry’s cancer research project last week cautioned against reading too much into preliminary findings from a new Finnish study that mobile phones are free of health risks. Dr. George L. Carlo, chairman of Wireless Technology …

NEW YORK-Barely finished with its acquisition of Pacific Telesis Group, SBC Communications Corp. is widely rumored to be exploring merger possibilities with AT&T Corp. Ruthlyn Newell, a spokesman for AT&T, headquartered in New York, declined to comment, citing company policy …

WASHINGTON-Two seemingly unrelated national policy actions highlight how regulators and lawmakers may be overlooking and underestimating the value of wireless technology in the new telecommunications paradigm that stresses competition and connectability. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission created a new, …

SKOKIE, Ill.-U.S. Robotics and Northern Telecom Ltd. agreed to jointly develop wireless data access products for mobile professionals needing wireless access to e-mail, the Internet and other data applications. “Digital wireless technology promises faster, higher quality and more reliable data …

WASHINGTON-In a January 1993 article, a year-and-a-half before joining the Federal Communications Commission, then-attorney Rachelle Chong laid out what has turned out to be a model defense of cellular phone-cancer lawsuits. Chong, in a paper titled “Zap, Crackle, Pop” delivered …

BOSTON-The New England Journal of Medicine published an article last week that says wireless phones can disrupt heart pacemakers but do not pose health risks-findings that are not new. Detecting interference between wireless phones and pacemakers has been established in …

Not so fast. Senate communications subcommittee Chairman Conrad Burns (R-Mont.). has asked Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to put Clinton’s nomination of Joel Klein to head the Justice Department’s antitrust division on hold. Seems that Burns, who’s become more …

E.F. Johnson Co. introduced its 9840 model UHF multimode mobile radio. Part of the company’s 9800 Series radio platform, the 9840 operates in conventional, LTR trunking or talkaround modes. The UHF multimode mobile radio delivers up to 40 watts of …

WASHINGTON-An Illinois judge last week ruled that personal injury claims in product liability lawsuits against cellular telephone manufacturers can proceed, but dismissed conspiracy charges against the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, former CTIA spokesman Ron Nessen and Wireless Technology Research L.L.C. …

RICHARDSON, Texas-Ericsson Inc. and the University of Texas at Dallas will jointly develop curriculum for electrical engineers specifically for the wireless telecommunications industry. Stephen Gibbs, an Ericsson employee of seven years, will teach at the University’s Erik Jonsson School of …

WASHINGTON-A major Australian study has found significant cancer in rodents exposed to digital wireless phone radiation, dramatic findings that offer compelling new evidence of potential health risks from phones and further undercut long-standing cellular industry claims about phone safety. The …

During the past several months, a series of articles has appeared in RCR addressing the important question of potential health effects from the use of wireless phones. Included have been discussions of the type of research being conducted, particularly the …

WASHINGTON-As Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) examines replies due today from the Food and Drug Administration to questions on the agency’s oversight of a cellular industry-financed cancer research program that has produced no bioeffects studies after four years and $17 million, …

WASHINGTON-Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) last week launched a congressional investigation into the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of the struggling cancer research program funded by the cellular telephone industry, a move that signals renewed congressional interest in the controversial issue. …

Dear Editor: Any fair assessment of the “unraveling” of Wireless Technology Research’s research program on health effects of radio frequency fields requires consideration of the goals it set out to reach. Unlike a chemical company with a new product, the …