RCR Wireless News articles from January 2002

RCR Wireless News archives from January 2002

Merrill Lynch cuts subscriber forecast. (Late News).
January 7, 2002... Subscriber growth for U.S. wireless services companies for fourth-quarter 2001 may fall below previous Wall Street expectations, according to analysts from Merrill Lynch. The research company cut its industrywide gross subscriber growth...

AT&T, telmex express interest in ecuador auction. (Late News).
January 7, 2002... AT&T and Mexico's Telmex have expressed a formal interest in Ecuador's upcoming April auction of three wireless telecommunications bands, according to Conatel, Ecuador's national telecom regulator. At least six companies, including AT&T,...

China: Land of opportunity.
January 7, 2002... If data is the next center of gravity in the wireless industry, then China is the geographic equivalent. As the United States and other Western economies contract, China dangles before the wireless industry like a big carrot. Everything...

Spurned carriers want re-auction $$ back.
January 7, 2002... WASHINGTON--The re-auction winners of spectrum belonging to bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. and Urban Comm-North Carolina Inc. on Friday urged the Federal Communications Commission to return their deposits by Jan. 18. The re-auction winners...

DoD aims to thwart UWB plans.
January 7, 2002... WASHINGTON--As telecom policy-makers and high-tech startups aggressively push for government approval of ultrawideband technology next month, there are signs that even a scaled-back plan to deploy the new wireless technology may not pass muster...

Antitrust lawsuit on shaky legal ground: Gov't ok'ed bundling 10 years ago. (News).
January 7, 2002... NEW YORK and WASHINGTON-- An antritrust lawsuit find against the mobile-phone industry last week may be on shaky legal ground, given the fact the Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission gave their...

Palm m500 users can access GPS, Rand info. (News).
January 7, 2002... LAS VEGAS--Global positioning system solution provider Thales Navigation announced it partnered with Rand McNally and Palm Inc. to offer the Magellan GPS Companion for the Palm m500 series, featuring Rand McNally StreetFinder Deluxe travel...

Samsung introduces ultra-thin battery. (News).
January 7, 2002... SEOUL, South Korea--Samsung SDI said it has developed the world's thinnest lithium-ion rechargeable cell phone batteries, which can store 355-watt hours in a space of a 2.8mm thin, 34mm-wide and 58mm-high pack. "With continued development,...

Tower deaths raise safety questions. (News).
January 7, 2002... WASHINGTON--The deaths of three workers who fell from a cell-phone tower in Arkansas last week--continuing a trend of increased injuries and fatalities from telecom tower maintenance--raises more questions about whether federal regulators and...

TDMA technology loses chief patron, UWCC folds. (News).
January 7, 2002... Nothing demonstrates that the sun will set on TDMA technology as much as the decision by its supreme advocates, the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium, to dissolve. "We have accomplished our objectives," said Chris Pearson,...

Manufacturers sell, cut to find extra cash. (News).
January 7, 2002... Some of the major infrastructure vendors seemed to ring in the new year on a firm footing financially, given some of the latest facts from newsreels. But much of the news arises less out of a rebounding market than clever efforts to squeeze out...

Pepsi pushes wireless soda buy. (News).
January 7, 2002... The concept of a wireless vending machine is not new. Commercial products were first available almost five years ago, and paging carriers, product vendors and others once held high hopes for greatly increased traffic due to vending machines...

WAP forum CEO: There's light at the end of the tunnel. (News).
January 7, 2002... Roughly two months into his tenure as head of what is arguably one of the wireless data industry's most important organizations, WAP Forum Chief Executive Officer Robert L. (Bob) Brown acknowledged that the WAP standard has suffered through...

Enterprises say they crave wireless, yet few adopt. (News).
January 7, 2002... Deploying business applications for next-generation wireless services may rank as a priority for industry, but challenges abound. Industry watchers and analysts believe that, while few enterprises have wireless connectivity, a great...

Adeptra adds action to alerts. (News).
January 7, 2002... NEW YORK--Adeptra, which jumped into "content delivery at the worst of times," has adapted deftly by transforming itself into a provider of actionable alerts to multiple devices for different corporations, said Vytas Kisielius, president. ...

Nextel subsidiary misses $8.3M credit facility payment. (News).
January 7, 2002... NII Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Nextel Communications Inc., revealed it failed to make an $8.3 million payment on Dec. 31 under its Argentine credit facility and could be forced to file for bankruptcy. According to the filing with the...

New Horizons technologies international. (News Briefs).
January 7, 2002... The disposable phone market is getting a little more crowded with the launch of another company, New Horizons Technologies International, which plans to introduce its disposable product at the 2002 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las...

Disposable-phone maker hop-on announced another customer, evidence that its already available prepaid, easy-to-use and fully recyclable mobile-phone product may be catching on. (News Briefs).
January 7, 2002... Disposable-phone maker Hop-On announced another customer, evidence that its already available prepaid, easy-to-use and fully recyclable mobile-phone product may be catching on. Wakefern Food Corp., the merchandising and distribution arm of...

Sprint PCS. (News Briefs).
January 7, 2002... Sprint PCS announced its Rhode Island customers will soon have access to location-based E911 technology on their handsets. The customers must have GPS-enabled phones, which Sprint recently began selling, to support the E911 services. Sprint...

Verizon wireless. (News Briefs).
January 7, 2002... In other E911 news, Verizon Wireless unveiled the SCH-N300, a new wireless phone capable of identifying a caller's calling location and phone number to an emergency call center. Verizon said the E911 location-based technology will work in areas...

FCC re-allocates 27 MHz of spectrum for flexible services. (News).
January 7, 2002... WASHINGTON--The Federal Communications Commission said on Dec. 28 that it will re-allocate 27 megahertz of spectrum for new flexible services. The spectrum is being made available as part of the 1993 congressionally mandated transfer of...

Motorola to sell debt securities. (News).
January 7, 2002... WASHINGTON--Motorola Inc. filed last week with U.S. regulators to sell up to $2 billion in debt securities, common and preferred stock and other securities. The company said it will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes. "The...

Qualcomm begins volume shipments of cdma2000 1x products. (News).
January 7, 2002... SAN DIEGO--Qualcomm Inc. said CDMA operators in North America have started receiving volume shipments of its cdma2000 1x products. The company said such companies as AirPrime, GTRAN, Kyocera, LG, Novatel Wireless, Samsung, Sanyo and Sierra...

2002 will take some resolve. (Opinion).
January 7, 2002... I got the neatest present from Santa for Christmas: mind-reading glasses. Santa said I could only use them for one day and then they would lose their power. I chose New Year's Day and eavesdropped on a number of industry execs making...

Just ask dad. (Opinion).
January 7, 2002... The Enron Corp. debacle raises the kind of obvious questions that Congress and federal regulators are now beginning to ask--after the fact, as usual. How did this happen? How did this huge, one-time darling American company with political...

Letters.
January 7, 2002... NextWave never 'gamed' auction, offered to settle Dear Editor: I am a former NextWave Telecom Inc. employee and have followed this story for many years. Two salient points are constantly omitted from recent articles: Many people,...

LCC acquires transmast Italia. (News).
January 7, 2002... MCLEAN, Va.--LCC International Inc. has acquired Transmast Italia SRL, a wireless infrastructure, deployment, civil engineering and project management firm in Milan, Italy, form its parent company Transmast Ltd., which provides antenna masts...

Consumers embrace add-ons: Custom car kits, earbud combos 'must have' accessories for '02. (Focus Accessories).
January 7, 2002... NEW YORK--Call it back to the future. Custom-installed car kits for mobile phones have been gaining significant momentum as a growing wireless accessories category, providing a glance back to the early days of cellular, but with an updated...

Federal communications commission. (D.C. Briefs).
January 7, 2002... The cap that limited the amount of spectrum a carrier could control was lifted to 55 megahertz in all areas last week. The Federal Communications Commission has said the cap will disappear on Jan. 1, 2003. The FCC recently ruled digital...

XO shareholders file class-action lawsuits. (News).
January 7, 2002... BALA CYNWYD, Pa.--The law offices of Marc Henzel in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., and Cauley Geller Bowman & Coates L.L.P. in Little Rock, Ark., joined several other firms in filing class-action lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District...

BTS game simulates wireless carrier business challenges. (Business).
January 7, 2002... STAMFORD, Conn.--BTS Telecommunications Practice is bringing the trials and tribulations of wireless service providers to other industry players with its upcoming Wireless Business Challenge, a competitive game that allows companies to...

Intrado releases location platform. (Business).
January 7, 2002... BOULDER, Colo.--Intrado Inc. has unveiled its new location platform, which includes a Mobile Positioning Center (MPC) and a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) as well as other second-generation features. "We now offer wireless carriers...

AT&T sells remaining interest in AT&T wireless. (Business).
January 7, 2002... NEW YORK--AT&T Corp. has completely pulled out of ownership of its former wireless division, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. The parent AT&T announced Dec. 24 it had sold the remaining $3 billion worth of shares it had held onto since the July...

PNNL enlists MapInfo to aid in cleanup. (Business).
January 7, 2002... RICHLAND, Wash.--Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory, is using wireless devices and wireless location technology from MapInfo to carry out environmental cleanups in the Pacific Northwest. ...

Verizon introduces Maestro product. (Business).
January 7, 2002... IRVINE, Calif.--Verizon Wireless said it is introducing Maestro, a duo of Microsoft Windows-powered Pocket PC and CDM-9100 wireless phone with Internet access and "a broad array of wireless capabilities." The carrier said the product is...

IFR launches vehicle test system. (Business).
January 7, 2002... STEVENAGE, U.K.--IFR Systems Inc. has launched its Vehicle Radio Test System, which it said will reduce warranty costs for in-vehicle information and entertainment systems. IFR's vehicle test system tests AM/FM radios, hands-free capable...

Questions daunt enterprise market growth. (Business).
January 7, 2002... Businesses will play a major role in the future of the wireless industry, but how exactly the "wireless enterprise" will figure into the equation is unclear. The wireless industry seems to be betting on the side of business, hoping...

Component sector expected to double by 2006. (Business).
January 7, 2002... OYSTER BAY, N.Y.--Long-term growth in the wireless handset component market will be "impressive," according to a recently released Allied Business Intelligence Inc. report. ABI predicts that increased demand for mobile handsets will fuel...

Lucent sells Kenan billing unit to CSG. (Business).
January 7, 2002... NEW YORK--Lucent Technologies Inc., which purchased Kenan Systems Corp. for $1.48 billion in stock in early 1999, has agreed to sell the billing and customer care unit for $300 million in cash to Denver-based CSG Systems International Inc. ...

Telesystem international wireless inc. (Business Briefs).
January 7, 2002... Telesystem International Wireless Inc. announced it sent the maturity notice for the 7 percent equity subordinated debentures due Feb. 15, 2002, and has advised registered ESD holders that it will repay the ESD principal amount of approximately...

CellStar corp. (Business Briefs).
January 7, 2002... CellStar Corp. amended the terms of its proposed exchange offer for its 5 percent convertible subordinated notes due October 2002. Now, for each $1,000 principal amount of subordinated notes tendered, holders will receive $366.67 in cash and...

Lynch Interactive Corp. (Business Briefs).
January 7, 2002... Lynch Interactive Corp. said it withdrew its interest in acquiring telecommunications holding company Conestoga Enterprises Inc. in a $273 million cash deal. The announcement follows Conestoga's statement that it would not pursue Lynch's...

WaveRider Communications Inc. (Business Briefs).
January 7, 2002... WaveRider Communications Inc. announced its securities are subject to delisting from the Nasdaq National Market. The company said it was issued a Nasdaq Staff Determination that said it did not comply with the minimum net tangible assets and...

Wireless stock watch.
January 7, 2002... Wireless stock watch December 19-January 2 GAINS CLOSING CLOSING PERCENT 52-WK 52-WK EXCH COMPANY 1/2/02 12/19/01 CHANGE HIGH LOW NAS 724 Solutions Inc. ...

Sonera opens 3G network. (Global Wireless).
January 7, 2002... NEW YORK--Sonera Corp. opened its third-generation network in Finland on Jan. 1 in line with its license conditions. However, commercial service will not begin until UMTS phones become available to consumers. There is no firm indication...

Russian carrier launches GSM network in Tajikistan. (Global Wireless).
January 7, 2002... ST. PETERSBURG, Russia--The third-largest Russian carrier, St. Petersburg-based North-Western GSM, launched a GSM 900/1800 MHz network in the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan in the last days of 2001. The network, which so far covers...

Alcatel won a contract to expand the capacity of Turkish operator Aycell's GSM 1800 MHz network. (Global Briefs).
January 7, 2002... Alcatel won a contract to expand the capacity of Turkish operator Aycell's GSM 1800 MHz network. The three-year, $144 million contract will allow the operator to offer enhanced services, Alcatel said. The contract includes network planning and...

Smart-card solutions maker Gemplus said it won a contract to supply its first live card-based CDMA network to China Unicom. (Global Briefs).
January 7, 2002... Smart-card solutions maker Gemplus said it won a contract to supply its first live card-based CDMA network to China Unicom. "The launch of smart cards for CDMA networks enables enhanced security features and value-added service provisioning for...

European telecommunications standards institute. (Global Briefs).
January 7, 2002... The European Telecommunications Standards Institute held its first smart card interoperability event in mid-December at its headquarters in Sophia Antipolis, France, bringing together 35 industry experts to address three crucial areas. The...

Orange U.K. completed the transition of its GSM network to an IP-based signaling network. (Global Briefs).
January 7, 2002... Orange U.K. completed the transition of its GSM network to an IP-based signaling network. Orange U.K. has replaced 90 percent of its Time Division Multiplex-based signaling network with next-generation technology. Tekelec, which supplied the...

Yankee study predicts further struggles in 2002. (News).
January 7, 2002... BOSTON--2002 will probably offer up the same struggles the wireless industry saw in 2001,, according to a recent Yankee Group study. The Yankee Group highlighted next-generation networks, including the deployment of cdma2000 and wideband...

FDA approves wireless heart monitor. (News).
January 7, 2002... FRIDLEY, Minn.--The FDA has approved Medtronic Inc.'s CareLink, a wireless system that allows doctors to view data from defibrillators implanted in heart patients' chests via the Internet. "Medtronic has been focused as a product company,"...

Plantronics acquires Ameriphone. (News).
January 7, 2002... SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--Plantronics Inc. has acquired Ameriphone Inc., a company that develops telephones and accessories for the hearing impaired. Ameriphone will join Plantronics' Walker Division, which supplies amplified phones, specialty...

Interlink develops authenticator. (News).
January 7, 2002... ANN ARBOR, Mich.--Interlink Networks announced it developed a wireless data authenticator based on the emerging Diameter protocol. The tool allows wireless data users to move between service provider networks and change their points of...

SK telecom marriage to SK Shinsegi Telecom hits 11th-hour snag. (News).
January 7, 2002... NEW YORK--The planned Jan. 5 completion of the merger between SK Telecom and SK Shinsegi Telecom, which together control 52 percent of South Korea's mobile-phone customers, hit a roadblock at the 11th hour. At its Dec. 29 meeting to review...

HP introduces wireless notebooks with 802.11b, Bluetooth. (News).
January 7, 2002... PALO ALTO, Calif.--Hewlett-Packard Co. introduced two new wireless notebooks, offering embedded 802.11b or Bluetooth connectivity and digital home networking features. HP's Pavilion zt1000 notebook comes embedded with 802.11b connectivity...

Sprint to bring Hitachi phones to U.S. (Late News).
January 14, 2002... Sprint PCS announced it will be the first U.S. carrier to offer Hitachi phones, with a planned launch in mid-2002. The Hitachi phones will operate on third-generation networks for enhanced voice and high-speed data with applications such as...

New subs slow with economy.
January 14, 2002... The slowing U.S. economy appeared to have caught up with wireless carriers during the fourth quarter, and December in particular, as customer additions for those operators reporting results last week were mostly below analysts' expectations....

Nextel enters global push-to-talk agreement: Qualcomm, Motorola deal hints at migration.
January 14, 2002... While Nextel Communications Inc. disappointed many CDMA supporters when it announced last year it was foregoing an anticipated upgrade path along the Qualcomm Inc. developed technology to third-generation services in favor of an enhanced...

UWB debate intensifies.
January 14, 2002... WASHINGTON--The controversy over whether the government should authorize ultra-wideband technology--a move the military, several federal agencies and mobile phone firms strongly oppose because of potential interference to navigation and...

Re-auction winners meet to get money back as Verizon drops out of settlement. (News).
January 14, 2002... WASHINGTON--The re-auction winners of spectrum belonging to bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. and Urban Comm-North Carolina Inc. met with staff of the Federal Communications Commission on Friday to discuss whether and/or when the agency will...

ART emerges from Chapter 11 as First Avenue Networks. (News).
January 14, 2002... Since it filed for bankruptcy March 30, 2001, Bellevue, Wash.-based local multipoint distribution services provider Advanced Radio Telecom Corp. has been eerily quiet, seemingly gone forever from a merciless telecom playing field that also...

Telecom firms hope new leadership will implement turnarounds. (News).
January 14, 2002... Whether as a fall guy or magic wand, leadership has been a focus of the wireless industry during the past six months, as the economy continues to throw challenges at companies groping for answers. On top of the earthquake of massive layoffs...

Report: Security both a necessity and an obstacle. (News).
January 14, 2002... LONDON--As wireless communications devices become increasingly ubiquitous and the value of information traveling wirelessly increases, the implementation of security architecture is deemed paramount. However, a new study by Frost &...

Nortel Networks has filed a lawsuit accusing Kyocera Corp. of infringing on four patents covering ways wireless communications are transmitted. (News Briefs).
January 14, 2002... Nortel Networks has filed a lawsuit accusing Kyocera Corp. of infringing on four patents covering ways wireless communications are transmitted. The lawsuit, filed Jan. 4 in the U.S. District Court in Dallas, seeks damages as well as the recall...

Nokia Corp. said it plans to create a new subsidiary called Vertu, which will launch a new raft of luxury mobile phones for the high-end market. (News Briefs).
January 14, 2002... Nokia Corp. said it plans to create a new subsidiary called Vertu, which will launch a new raft of luxury mobile phones for the high-end market. The new company, which is expected to focus on wealthy customers in the Middle East and Asia, will...

Nokia said it has begun what it calls the first volume shipments of commercial GSM/EDGE hardware by any vendor to the United States. (News Briefs).
January 14, 2002... Nokia said it has begun what it calls the first volume shipments of commercial GSM/EDGE hardware by any vendor to the United States. The deliveries of the hardware, which are in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequencies, are to Cingular Wireless and...

Lucent Technologies Inc. (News Briefs).
January 14, 2002... Eight hundred dislocated workers at Lucent Technologies Inc. will benefit from a $42.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor made available under the National Emergency Grant program. Reps. John Tierney and Marty Meehan and Sen....

Motorola Inc. (News Briefs).
January 14, 2002... Motorola Inc. said it plans to shut its chip plants in Texas and Japan, involving 4,000 layoffs. This will be part of the 9,400 workers the company plans to cut as it pursues profitability. The company also plans to move much of its chip...

Ericsson. (News Briefs).
January 14, 2002... Ericsson said it has signed an agreement to license its mobile technology to Samsung in return for a royalty payment and reciprocal license to Ericsson. The deal covers Ericsson's portfolio for GSM, TDMA, GPRS, EDGE and W-CDMA.

Teledesic must compensate fixed wireless carriers for relocation. (News).
January 14, 2002... Teledesic L.L.C. must pay fixed wireless service providers for the cost of vacating the 18 GHz frequency band they both share despite fervent objections from the future satellite data provider that such a decree is unreasonable since it does...

Wireless marketing groups to merge. (News).
January 14, 2002... NEW YORK--The U.S.-based Wireless Advertising Association announced it will merge with the United Kingdom-based Wireless Marketing Association in order to foster the mobile marketing industry and protect the interests of consumers, the new...

Kodak's Appairent to provide wireless transmission of images, data. (News).
January 14, 2002... As a big-name vendor of images, Eastman Kodak is staking out technologies that it believes will endow it with a special niche in the wireless industry in transmitting video, still pictures and data. "Kodak's announcement is not a surprise,"...

UWB technology MIRed in controversy. (News).
January 14, 2002... WASHINGTON--Controversy is nothing new to Time Domain Corp., the Huntsville, Ala., firm that helped pioneer ultra-wideband technology in the early 1990s and has pursued an aggressive lobbying campaign to win government approval of a radical,...

Iospan completes field trials. (News).
January 14, 2002... SAN JOSE, Calif.--Iospan Wireless Inc. successfully completed a field demonstration of a non-line-of-sight fixed wireless network utilizing its AirBurst Multiple Input, Multiple Output Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing technology. ...

DoCoMo confident of 1.5M subscriber target for FOMA. (News).
January 14, 2002... TOKYO--NTT DoCoMo Inc. said it may not sign up the 150,000 subscribers to its third-generation network by the end of March it predicted when it launched the service last October, though the carrier remains confident it will have 1.5 million...

AOL launches notification service. (News).
January 14, 2002... DULLES, Va.--America Online Inc. unveiled a new notification service that will allow its customers to receive news, stock, weather and sports information through a variety of services and devices, including AOL's instant messenger service, the...

Tower accident victims were strengthening site for collocation. (News).
January 14, 2002... WASHINGTON--Officials say the three men who died after falling from an Alltel Corp. cell tower in Arkansas were attempting to strengthen the facility for collocation purposes as a condition of a pending $658 million sale of nearly 2,200 towers...

FCC releases collocation fact sheet as industry looks for state template for new sitings. (News).
January 14, 2002... WASHINGTON--With the release on Thursday of a fact sheet from the Federal Communications Commission outlining the impacts of a collocation agreement, the wireless and tower industries, and the historic-preservation community now turn their...

PCIA cuts more jobs. (News).
January 14, 2002... WASHINGTON--The Personal Communications Industry Association laid off five people on Wednesday, reducing its staff to 47 people after a similar reduction of nine people last October. In spite of the cuts, PCIA said it is "extremely sound...

Moody's downgrades SpectraSite, Pinnacle. (News).
January 14, 2002... NEW YORK--Moody's Investors Service downgraded both SpectraSite Holdings Inc. and Pinnacle Holdings Inc. Moody's said it took the action because Pinnacle is unable to get longer-term covenant relief from its bank group, it severely lacks...

Sprint PCS unveils Business Connection solution. (News).
January 14, 2002... Increasing its presence in the lucrative business market, Sprint PCS unveiled its Business Connection Personal Edition solution designed to allow customers access to corporate e-mail, calendar and contact information from their wireless...

Multiple cell-phone health lawsuits expected in coming months. (News).
January 14, 2002... WASHINGTON--A group of lawyers, undeterred by recent setbacks in cell-phone health litigation, said last week plans are on track to file at least a dozen brain-cancer lawsuits against the wireless industry early next month. "We're very...

Appeals court gives cell-phone taping case new life. (News).
January 14, 2002... WASHINGTON--A federal appeals court surprised a congressman when it recently said that a lawsuit filed against him by yet another congressman could go forward. And thus the twisted tale of a 1996 taped cellular phone call continues. ...