Erik .....looks like Motorola may have more manufacturing capacity available for Nextel .......
NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Motorola Inc (MOT - news) is struggling to correct defects that are crippling its
expansion into new wireless systems and have already led one major customer to cancel its order, the Wall
Street Journal said Tuesday in its electronic edition.
Citing executives close to the company, the Journal said Personal Communications L.P. has cancelled its $500
million contract and will replace almost all its Motorola gear with equipment and software from rival supplier
Lucent Technologies Inc (LU - news).
Personal Communications -- the wireless-phone service owned by Bell Atlantic Corp (BEL - news), US West
Inc and AirTouch Communications Inc (ATI - news) -- could announce the decision as early as next week, the
newspaper said.
The defects Motorola is struggling with are in its cellular-network equipment and software, the Journal said.
The newspaper said the fallout of Motorola's setback with PrimeCo could be huge, since it has $3.5 billion in
orders to supply two carriers in the Japanese market with the same kind of gear as PrimeCo was getting.
Sprint Corp (FON - news) is also scheduled to receive a giant shipment of equipment and software from
Motorola that has been valued at between $700 million and $1.4 billion, the Journal said.
A Motorola spokesman declined to comment specifically on the impending PrimeCo cutoff or to address
Motorola's problems with equipment and software, the Journal said. |
