Hi all,
It seems SI has been painfully slow lately (present company excepted) but I'm getting more RAM this week. Maybe it will help.
Anyway, FYI:
Monday October 28 9:51 AM EDT
Nextwave, Mci, Lucent Sign Mou, Begin Pcs Tests
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- NextWave Telecom Inc., MCI Communications Corp , and Lucent
Technologies Inc have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under which they will demonstrate
and test Lucent's CDMA-based PCS equipment. The companies have begun field trials of digital mobile services
and have installed a PCS demonstration system at MCI's headquarters in Washington D.C.
The wireless system will give MCI, which signed an interconnection agreement with NextWave in August, an
opportunity to test CDMA voice quality and system reliability in-building and in the downtown areas surrounding
its offices. CDMA-based PCS handsets, developed and manufactured by QUALCOMM Personal Electronics, are
being used in connection with the tests. NextWave is operating the demonstration system under a temporary
license from the Federal Communications Commission. The company's PCS license applications are pending
before the FCC.
According to the MOU, NextWave, MCI, and Lucent plan to expand the tests to include pre-commercial testing of
Lucent's CDMA PCS products. This technical trial involves a cluster of CDMA base stations that will monitor the
performance of a 5ESS(R)-2000 wireless/wireline capable switch. It also will test the integration of wireless
access with a 5ESS switch simultaneously providing wireline services. In addition, the trial may be used to
implement remote fiber-based CMI-HIC (Cable Microcell Integrator-Headend Interface Connectors) and other RF
(radio frequency) extension technologies using NextWave and MCI infrastructure to test fixed services and
wireless area-based services. NextWave anticipates completing the technical trial during the first quarter of 1997.
Through its participation in FCC-sponsored auctions, NextWave was the winning bidder for 63 PCS licenses,
representing 110 million POPs (potential customers). The licenses cover major metro areas in the U.S., including
New York, Los Angeles, Washington/Baltimore, Boston, Houston, Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle, Portland, and
San Diego, where the company activated its first demonstration PCS system.
NextWave Telecom Inc., which was founded in 1995, is the parent company of NextWave Personal
Communications Inc., NextWave Wireless Inc., and TELE*code Inc. NextWave PCI was formed to participate in
the so-called "C-block" PCS auction, which was reserved for small businesses and entrepreneurs. NextWave
Wireless was formed to act as an operating company and plans to construct facilities and provide wholesale PCS
in conjunction with its strategic partners. TELE*code was formed to provide Code Division Multiple
Access-based products and engineering services. NextWave Telecom is a privately held corporation with
headquarters in San Diego and New York and offices in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston, Dallas,
Orlando, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Seoul, Korea.
Based in Washington, D.C., MCI is one of the world's largest and fastest growing diversified communications
companies. With annual revenue of more than $15 billion, MCI offers consumers and businesses a broad
portfolio of services including long distance, wireless, local, paging, Internet, information services, outsourcing,
and advanced global communications.
Lucent Technologies designs, builds, and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications
systems and software, consumer and business telephone systems, and microelectronics components. Bell
Laboratories is the research and development arm for the company. Lucent Technologies was formed as a result of
AT&T Corp.'s restructuring and became a fully independent company -- separate from AT&T -- on Sept. 30,
1996. Lucent's 5ESS-2000 switch is manufactured in Oklahoma City.
For more information, please call Jennifer Walsh of NextWave at 202-371-2275, Jim Monroe of MCI at
202-887-2241, and Roger Frizzell of Lucent Technologies at 972-325-4710. SOURCE NextWave Telecom, Inc. |
