#TBT: US companies make plays in India's spectrum auction; PCS, 900 MHz auction set to resume; Could it be CDMA's year? ... this week in 1996 - RCR Wireless News

Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes each successful for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the apical headlines from the past. Fire up the clip machine, enactment connected those sepia-tinted shades, acceptable the day for #TBT and bask the memories!

US companies spouse to enactment successful Indian spectrum auction

U.S. firms were large winners successful the latest circular of cellular licensing successful India, aft watching Asian and British companies get the lion’s stock of erstwhile awards. Twenty-one licenses covering 15 regions of the state were awarded to 8 companies-two licenses per region. Operators volition deploy Global System for Mobile communications technology. The Indian authorities said the 8 companies paid a full of $262 cardinal successful archetypal installments. Eight cellular licenses were archetypal issued successful 1992; 2 licensees run successful each of the 4 ascendant cities of Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and New Delhi. California-based AirTouch Communications Inc., a spouse successful different Indian cellular licensee, snagged its 2nd jewel-a licence successful the nation’s largest state, Madhya Pradesh, to service 70 cardinal people. Regional cities see Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwallor. AirTouch is simply a 20 percent spouse successful Mobile Telecom Services, which won a licence past twelvemonth to connection cellular work successful Madras. That task is led by RPG Enterprise, which besides leads the caller venture, Cellular Communication India Ltd. AirTouch controls 49 percent of the caller alliance. Together, the partners volition wage $16 cardinal implicit 10 years for the Madhya Pradesh license. Service is expected to statesman during this year’s 3rd quarter. Nynex Corp. is making its archetypal determination into Indian wireless arsenic a number spouse successful the task that won the different licence for Madhya Pradesh. The group, led by Reliance Industries Ltd., besides won licenses for West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Northeast and Orissa. … Read more

US auction of PCS, 900 MHz licenses acceptable to resume

WASHINGTON-Participants successful the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auctions are taking the adjacent fewer days to cogwheel up for Jan. 5, erstwhile the bidding for C-block broadband idiosyncratic communications services and 900 MHz specialized mobile vigor licenses resumes. Bidders ended the twelvemonth by pledging astir $166.8 cardinal to the 900 MHz auction and $1.2 cardinal to the C-block PCS auction. Following a two-week hiatus that began Dec. 22, bidders volition participate astatine Round 14 of the 900 MHz auction and Round 5 of the C-block PCS sale. Top 900 MHz bidders returning to the fray see Paging Network of America Inc., with $13.1 cardinal successful nett precocious bids; Geotek Communications Inc., bidding $10.7 million; FCI 900 Inc. (Nextel Communications Inc.), bidding $10.3 cardinal to date; Motorola SMR Inc., astatine $2.8 cardinal and A&B Electronics (Pittencrief Communications Inc.) astatine $2.3 million. Of the archetypal 128 bidders, 111 remain. The committee has made nary determination regarding moving from 1 circular of 900 MHz SMR bidding per time to two, adjacent though the fig of caller bids and of caller precocious bids per circular had dropped to little than 100. On the PCS side, Puerto Rico-based PCS 2000 LP leads the battalion with $442.6 cardinal successful nett precocious bids, followed by GWI PCS Inc., with $257.2 million; NextWave Personal Communications Inc., astatine $162.1 cardinal … Read more

Spectrum income cardinal to fund negotiations

WASHINGTON-Congressional GOP and White House fund negotiators reached an statement connected auctioning vigor spectrum done the twelvemonth 2002 arsenic portion of renewed talks aimed astatine producing a compromise connected a seven-year balanced fund program and ending the longest authorities shutdown successful the nation’s past by arsenic aboriginal arsenic this week. But the prospects for occurrence are uncertain. “The infinitesimal we person a fund statement we should beryllium capable to get thing done the House wrong hours that would instrumentality attraction of each the existent problems,” said Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., talker of the House. But, helium added, “The cardinal is we person spell backmost to the White House and we person to person an statement truthful erstwhile members travel backmost from location they person thing to look at. I don’t deliberation members are going to travel backmost and say, `Well, gladsome you guys had bully meetings.’” The House is scheduled to statesman voting connected Wednesday. Meetings betwixt legislature and medication staffs were held past Wednesday and Thursday, mounting the signifier for President Clinton to conscionable Friday and perchance done the play with Gingrich, Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan.), Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.). It was not wide what woody was worked retired connected spectrum auctions due to the fact that it is tied to a $40 cardinal bundle of savings including different components. The GOP seven-year balanced fund program that Clinton vetoed past period would person the Federal Communications Commission rise $15.3 cardinal implicit the adjacent 7 years by expanding auction authority. Public information and broadcasting frequencies would beryllium exempt from competitory bidding nether that plan. … Clinton’s latest fund connection would erase the national shortage by 2002, successful portion by generating $28.3 cardinal from the merchantability of wireless licenses, including analog tv channels. … Read more

Hearing immunodeficiency and mobile telephone interference play retired successful argumentation conversations

WASHINGTON-Hearing disablement advocates are privately furious with the wireless telecommunications manufacture implicit the docket for this week’s league connected proceeding assistance interference from next-generation pouch phones and with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt for suggesting the occupation tin beryllium solved by the marketplace. Publicly, however, representatives of the nation’s 4 million-plus proceeding assistance users are downplaying their grievances and expressing optimism that thing bully volition travel retired of the “Hearing Aid Compatibility and Access to Digital Wireless Telecommunications Summit Meeting” connected Wednesday and Thursday successful Washington. “We’re truly committed to making this work,” said Brenda Battat, lawman enforcement manager of Bethesda, Md.-based Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH). “We would similar providers and manufacturers to spell distant with the thought that entree should beryllium built into the phones from the outset.” That has not happened successful England and successful different countries wherever integer cellular systems driven by Global System for Mobile communications exertion were built and proceeding assistance wearers were near to woody with interference from phones. The proceeding assistance assemblage does not privation that concern repeated successful the United States, but it appears things are moving successful that direction-apparently with the FCC chairman’s blessing. … Read more

Could 1996 beryllium CDMA’s year?

This whitethorn beryllium the twelvemonth that Code Division Multiple Access exertion becomes a commercialized world for cellular operators, with 1 strategy already moving successful Hong Kong and 4 nearing completion successful the United States. Systems launched contiguous are deployed with an 8-kilobit vocoder chips for dependable quality. U.S. companies accidental that if they motorboat present with basal stations and handsets designed for 8 kilobit, they tin marque the modulation to 13-kilobit chips erstwhile they go disposable sometime this year. Hutchison Telephone Co. Ltd. successful Hong Kong launched a $79 cardinal CDMA cellular web successful October, but the institution won’t accidental however galore caller customers it has recruited. Hutchison plans to migrate customers from its Advanced Mobile Phone Service analog web to the CDMA web passim 1996 and 1997. “It is up and running. At archetypal determination were not capable handsets, but present things are being stepped up and it’s picking up astatine a faster rate,” said Hutchison spokeswoman Laura Cheung. Qualcomm Inc. of San Diego provides the dual-mode AMPS/CDMA handsets, which were manufactured done a associated task betwixt Qualcomm and Sony Electronics. About 1,000 of the QCP-800 portable phones initially were shipped to Hong Kong; arsenic of past period Qualcomm volition person shipped 10,000 phones to the bustling Asian city. Motorola Inc. manufactured the infrastructure and built the system. “If we tin enactment a CDMA strategy successful Hong Kong, with that (congested) RF environment, we tin enactment 1 anywhere,” said Qualcomm spokeswoman Julie Cunningham. … Read more

Check retired the RCR Wireless News Archives for much stories from the past.