Talks begin into what will eventually form Verizon, while AT&T and others tackle multiline accounts … 17 years ago this week
Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Vodafone confirms Bell Atlantic talks
Vodafone AirTouch plc confirmed Sept. 7 its intentions to forge a mobile telephony alliance with Bell Atlantic Corp., which has refused to comment on this possibility. Other options for Vodafone include buying wireless operators in markets that would fill out the company’s domestic footprint or buying spectrum from bankrupt carriers, according to Vodafone AirTouch spokesman Jonathan Marshall. Chris Gent, Vodafone’s chief executive, told analysts Sept. 3 he thinks the negotiations with Bell Atlantic have only a 20 percent to 30 percent chance of success, Reuters reported. … Read More
AT&T, others focus on the family
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. introduced new pricing plans last week that could build on the success of the carrier’s Digital One Rate plan by adding more phones into the home. Bell Atlantic Mobile also introduced a group calling plan for the Southeast. AT&T Wireless unveiled the AT&T Family Plan, the strength of which lies in offering family members up to five handsets with unlimited calls made among them and to their home phone number in a designated geographic area. … Read More
SBC/Ameritech to include wireless issues as part of merger
SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. agreed to include wireless issues in their proposed conditions for license transfer, said the Personal Communications Industry Association. The new proposed conditions come as the Federal Communications Commission is in the final stages of developing conditions upon which the transfer of Ameritech licenses to SBC can be completed. The license transfer is seen as a necessary step in the anticipated $76.9 billion merger of the two companies. The FCC does not officially review mergers, but reviews license transfers. … Read More
Branding, coverage key issues in U.S. PCS market
PCS carriers can be credited with spurring huge demand for wireless service in the United States, but they continue to struggle with brand awareness and perceptions customers have about coverage. “It’s a brand game and a consumer-marketing game,” said Andrew Sukawaty, president of nationwide carrier Sprint PCS, which has led the industry three consecutive quarters in subscriber additions. “People who walk into a store and look on a shelf and see the Sprint brand along with a brand they’ve never heard of, what are they going to get?” Though industry experts would argue that brand name alone doesn’t win customers, a strong brand name does earn a company consideration as a potential choice. … Read More
Lucent replacing Ericsson in AT&T’s NYC market
Amid increased media publicity over capacity problems in its New York City market, AT&T Wireless Services granted contracts to Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks that calls for the vendors to replace Ericsson’s equipment in the country’s two largest wireless markets, New York and Los Angeles. Ericsson-AT&T Wireless’ main equipment supplier-has taken the heat since media reports surfaced detailing New York customers complaining about poor quality, dropped calls and busy signals. AT&T Wireless’ introduction of high-end, flat-rate anywhere calling plans last May has caused usage to skyrocket across the country and especially in New York, where AT&T Wireless is trying to curb growth by cutting back on marketing efforts. … Read More
WAP makes headway into Europe
The Wireless Application Protocol made strides in Sweden, Germany and Finland last week, adding to its gaining momentum in Europe. In Germany, Nokia Corp. and Deutsche Bank have agreed to develop new mobile banking services based on the WAP that will allow users to conduct online banking activities from wireless handsets. Nokia said it will provide its Nokia WAP Server and 7110 WAP-enabled media phone to the effort. Also, Phone.com Inc. announced its UP.Link server suite will play a key role in Mannesmann Mobilfunk’s WAP platform, which the German carrier contracted Siemens to install. … Read More
FCC wins recent round in NextWave bankruptcy row
Chalk one up for the Federal Communications Commission, which received a stay Aug. 31 of several lower-court decisions that affirmed key aspects of the bankruptcy reorganization of C-block carrier NextWave Personal Communications Inc. As such, NextWave’s Chapter 11 reorganization confirmation and consummation hearing is put on indefinite hold because of last week’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The reorganization hearing had been scheduled to occur Sept. 8 before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains. NextWave is based in nearby Hawthorne, N.Y. … Read More
Globalstar defends MSS business
Besieged by doubts over the very existence of a market for satellite-based voice services, low-earth-orbit carriers are starving for some kind of positive development to feed investors and customers alike. The bankruptcies of LEO carriers Iridium L.L.C. and ICO Global Communications L.P. have reduced confidence in the mobile satellite services market to an all-time low. Iridium’s failure to rack up the expected number of subscribers and consequential financial meltdown caused investors to doubt the market. This unease came at a time when ICO needed money the most, leading to its funding problems. … Read More
FCC to rule on spectrum cap this month
The Federal Communications Commission is expected this week to announce it will consider lifting the spectrum cap-the restriction that a telecom carrier can control no more than 45 megahertz in a geographic area-at its Sept. 15 meeting. A staff proposal suggests modifying the cap in rural service areas to 55 megahertz and allowing carriers in larger markets to ask the FCC to waive the cap if they can prove it is in the public interest. The FCC should also re-evaluate the spectrum cap in another two years, the staff reportedly suggested. The FCC has wanted to the consider the issue at its September meeting, and it appears the agency will issue a final order. … Read More
Nontraditional players aim to take starring roles in telecom
As the Internet accelerates the globalization of telecommunications, mergers and acquisitions among traditional and nontraditional players have eclipsed initial public offerings as the preferred strategy for retaining competitive advantage. As increasing numbers of players enter the telecom market, the technology is undergoing diversification, even as the applications are converging, said Margaret Biner, global practice director of telecommunications consulting for Ronin in Princeton, N.J. This convergence of telecommunications, information, the Internet and software is giving telecom carriers opportunities to offer services on a nonregulated basis. … Read More
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