La Cellular Telephone Company

A long-running court dispute over L.A. Cellular's practice of selling mobile phones below cost may be headed back to trial. The California Supreme Court issued a ruling that would allow Cal-Tech Communications to pursue its case against L.A. Cellular--now AT&T Wireless--under the state's "unfair competition" law. The decision upholds an earlier ruling by the state Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. Cal-Tech, a now-defunct company that sold wireless phones, alleged that L.A.

A long-running court dispute over L.A. Cellular's practice of selling mobile phones below cost may be headed back to trial. The California Supreme Court issued a ruling that would allow Cal-Tech Communications to pursue its case against L.A. Cellular--now AT&T Wireless--under the state's "unfair competition" law. The decision upholds an earlier ruling by the state Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. Cal-Tech, a now-defunct company that sold wireless phones, alleged that L.A.

The City Council will decide tonight whether to approve an agreement with L.A. Cellular to install and operate a wireless communications network in the city. The council will review the initial designs of the telecommunications facility, which would be at the southwest corner of Valley View Street and Katella Avenue. The council meets at 7 p.m. in the council chambers, 5275 Orange Ave. Information: (714) 229-6700.

The City Council will decide tonight whether to approve an agreement with L.A. Cellular to install and operate a wireless communications network in the city. The council will review the initial designs of the telecommunications facility, which would be at the southwest corner of Valley View Street and Katella Avenue. The council meets at 7 p.m. in the council chambers, 5275 Orange Ave. Information: (714) 229-6700.

LA Cellular Seeks Rate Changes: In a petition to be filed today with the state Public Utilities Commission, LA Cellular said the state should eliminate its 30-day advance notice requirement for rate changes to permit reductions to become immediately effective. Cellular telephone rates in California, which are among the highest in the nation, haven't dropped since service was introduced in 1984.

Hoping to reduce opposition to a proposal to build a cellular telephone antenna in Chatsworth, representatives from a telecommunications company will meet with area residents Thursday night to discuss the project. In its initial application, L.A. Cellular sought a conditional-use permit to build a 60-foot "monopole" at 10239 Vassar Ave., behind a photographic supply business, a project that many residents have denounced as aesthetically at odds with the surrounding community.

Southern California's two major cellular phone companies settled a 4-year-old price-fixing lawsuit Thursday with an agreement to provide customers up to $165 million in discounts on services and accessories. The tentative settlement, hashed out in Orange County Superior Court late Wednesday, affects LA Cellular and AirTouch Cellular and their customers in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Choosing a cellular phone, never an easy task, is becoming more complicated as phone companies roll out an advanced technology said to provide clearer sound. But doubts as to whether the sound is really much better--and incompatible phones that could chain consumers to the company they choose--are two new pitfalls facing mobile-calling customers, who already must wrestle with confusing advertising and bewildering price structures.

One of the most popular books in high-tech circles these days is simply titled "Being Digital." But a case in Small Claims Court in Orange County earlier this month demonstrated just how tough it is to know when one is truly "being digital." Lonnie Adams, a Newport Beach financial consultant, bought a pair of cellular phones two years ago for him and his wife. The two depend on their phones for their jobs, often ringing up monthly bills of $500 or more. When a salesman from L.A.

Ending two years of negotiations to keep L.A. Cellular Telephone Co. in town, the City Council has approved plans for the wireless telecommunications firm to build a $45-million headquarters, company and city officials announced. Having fought off competing offers from the cities of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Anaheim to lure L.A. Cellular away, Cerritos stands to net at least $10.5 million in rent and sales tax over the next 20 years from the plans, City Manager Art Gallucci said Friday.

In the first study to assess the quality of L.A.'s wireless networks, L.A. Cellular's network performed better than those owned by AirTouch Communications, Sprint PCS and Pacific Bell Mobile Services. The survey did not include Nextel Communications, which built its service out of radio dispatch systems and sells mainly to business customers. L.A.

Ending two years of negotiations to keep L.A. Cellular Telephone Co. in town, the City Council has approved plans for the wireless telecommunications firm to build a $45-million headquarters, company and city officials announced. Having fought off competing offers from the cities of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Anaheim to lure L.A. Cellular away, Cerritos stands to net at least $10.5 million in rent and sales tax over the next 20 years from the plans, City Manager Art Gallucci said Friday.

A proposal for a cellular phone antenna atop a light pole in a neighborhood park has been scrapped after months of protests by residents. "We are putting aside the plans for the time being," said Steven C. Crosby, a spokesman for LA Cellular. "We do need more coverage in that area, but we are looking at alternatives." City officials signed an agreement with the company in August allowing an 8-foot antenna to be attached to a 60-foot baseball field light in Bonita Creek Park.

An Orange County judge approved settlements in a price-fixing case against Southern California's two major cellular phone companies, but awarded the plaintiffs' lawyers only $8 million in fees--about one-fifth of the amount they had sought. Under the settlements, AirTouch Cellular and LA Cellular agreed to provide customers as much as $183.3 million in discounts on services and accessories. But in the decision released Wednesday, Superior Court Judge John C. Woolley sharply reduced the $41.

Dan Rabun believes in filling parks with things that benefit the community--like play equipment and ball diamonds. But he draws the line at cell phone antennas--even if they make the city a little money. "Have you ever stood at the bottom of one of these and looked up?" he asked. "You would think you were in some industrial or military place--not in a park." Rabun and the Newport North Homeowners Assn. are crossing wires with City Hall over an agreement with L.A.

Southern California's two major cellular phone companies settled a 4-year-old price-fixing lawsuit Thursday with an agreement to provide customers up to $165 million in discounts on services and accessories. The tentative settlement, hashed out in Orange County Superior Court late Wednesday, affects LA Cellular and AirTouch Cellular and their customers in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

A proposal for a cellular phone antenna atop a light pole in a neighborhood park has been scrapped after months of protests by residents. "We are putting aside the plans for the time being," said Steven C. Crosby, a spokesman for LA Cellular. "We do need more coverage in that area, but we are looking at alternatives." City officials signed an agreement with the company in August allowing an 8-foot antenna to be attached to a 60-foot baseball field light in Bonita Creek Park.

One of the most popular books in high-tech circles these days is simply titled "Being Digital." But a case in Small Claims Court in Orange County earlier this month demonstrated just how tough it is to know when one is truly "being digital." Lonnie Adams, a Newport Beach financial consultant, bought a pair of cellular phones two years ago for him and his wife. The two depend on their phones for their jobs, often ringing up monthly bills of $500 or more. When a salesman from L.A.