Qualcomm altered eAnywhere Telecom’s CDMA licensing agreement to include subscriber equipment for Wideband CDMA and TD-SCDMA products. Companies didn’t disclose terms. Previously, agreement covered only cdmaOne and cdma2000 applications. Separately, Qualcomm said it extended Yiso Telecom’s CDMA modem card license agreement to include 3rd-generation flavors of CDMA, such as cdma2000. It said Yiso would pay same royalties for 3G versions as for 2G equipment.
Motorola selected Orbital Sciences to provide in-vehicle components and control center software for new communication system for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Motorola will install radio system for WMATA police, bus, rail and maintenance departments. System is planned to be completed by middle of 2003.
Rhythms NetConnections had 43% increase in DSL lines, to 67,000 at end of Dec., up from 47,000 in 3rd quarter and 12,500 at end of 1999. Fourth-quarter revenue increased 23% from 3rd quarter to $21.1 million. Year-end revenue rose significantly to $58.6 million from $11.1 despite company’s decision to stop processing orders from Flashcom in last 45 days of quarter. Company expects its cumulative subscriber base to increase to 175,000 by end of this year, with net revenue of $125 million before adjustment per new SEC accounting rules.
XM Satellite announced $100 million offering of convertible notes and 5 million shares of Class A common stock. Offering is being underwritten by Bear Stearns & Co.
FCC completed auction of 8 licenses in 700 MHz guard band, raising total of $20.96 million. Pegasus Guard Band won licenses in American Samoa, Guam and Pittsburgh, and Nextel Spectrum Acquisition in Columbus, O., Hawaii, Oklahoma City. Access Spectrum, separate guard band bidding unit created by Industrial Telecom Assn., Motorola and others, won licenses in Little Rock and Omaha. Down payments are due March 8. Licenses were put up for bid after they weren’t sold in original 700 MHz guard band auction held by FCC in Sept.
Ga. CLEC founded by former BellSouth employees urged Ga. PSC and possibly other state commissions in BellSouth region to consider structural separation as remedy for local interconnection problems CLEC said it had experienced at hands of BellSouth. But BellSouth spokesman said company was striving to treat CLECs fairly and efficiently in Ga. and other states. He said nothing in federal or state law would authorize such a draconian legal remedy as structural separation for problems that CLEC Access Integrated Networks (AIN) claimed to have experienced. In letter to Ga. PSC members, Macon, Ga.-based AIN cited list of problems it said it had faced in getting wholesale service from BellSouth. AIN said PSC needed to take action so CLECs would get level of wholesale service they were entitled to receive. Company suggested that, “ultimately, the only permanent remedy for these types of problems is separation of BellSouth into independent wholesale and retail entities.” Letter cited Pa. as state that had decided in favor of structural separation for its Bell company. Letter indicated AIN, which was founded in 1996 by 5 ex- BellSouth employees, might urge other BellSouth states to follow similar course toward separation. BellSouth in Ga. is in process of proving to Ga. PSC that its local market is open enough to support filing of Sec. 271 interLATA long distance application. BellSouth is near end of 3rd party operation support system testing.
Eurockot Launch Services agreed to terms Thurs. with Khrunichev State Research & Production Space Center to launch 2 Intersputnik satellites in 2003 on Rockot launch vehicle from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, terms not disclosed. Khrunichev holds 49% of Eurockot, joint venture of Astrium and Khrunichev.
Advanced TV Technology Center (ATTC) approved new structure that Exec. Dir. Paul DeGonia said would open group to wider membership. Change adds 3rd membership category, for component suppliers. First new members under structure are Broadcom and Oren Semiconductor, ATTC said.
BBC received govt. approval to set up wholly owned commercial subsidiary, BBC Technology Ltd., to provide engineering consulting. Subsidiary also will work with technologies such as Internet streaming, broadcast network control, satellite links.
FCC Mass Media Bureau should have “considered other options” rather than approve sale of Titus Bcstg. radio stations in Binghamton, N.Y., to Clear Channel, FCC Comr. Tristani said. In statement, she said Bureau could have decided market would support only 2 competitors, considered whether enough effort was made to find other buyer or to use failing station principle. Tristani said approval meant 2 radio station groups owned stations with 91.2% of Binghamton ad market: “Duopolies like this make it significantly more likely that there will be no real competition for advertising revenue.” Because questions weren’t asked, she said, agency never will know whether duopoly was inevitable or whether decision was “simply another case of regulatory malfeasance by the FCC.”