Sagem SA, a French manufacturer, plans to supply Global System for Mobile communications handsets to Omnipoint Communications Inc., a personal communications services operator. According to the contract, valued at $10 million, Omnipoint will offer two models of Sagem SA’s GSM phone: the CS610 and the CS635. Both handsets offer short e-mail notification and long battery life. The phones are scheduled to be available in early December.
L.M. Ericsson will supply dual-mode cellular/satellite phones to Asia Cellular Satellite and its partners Jasmine International Overseas Co. Ltd., P.T. Satelit Nusantara and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., under a contract valued at $225 million. The phones, which should be delivered in 1999, are designed to communicate directly with the Garuda satellite as well as with Global System for Mobile communications and Advanced Mobile Phone Systems cellular networks.
Motorola Inc.’s European Cellular Subscriber Division selected the Memos Operating Environment for use with its Global System for Mobile communications MAP cellular phone. Memos, a product of Motorola’s Platform Software Division, is an open, client/server architecture designed to deliver personal messaging and custom information services for smart phones, pagers and other communications devices. Memos has a small footprint, which uses less expensive memory components while providing improved battery performance, the company said.
Millicom International Cellular S.A. inaugurated its cellular operation in Honduras, a country with a population of around 5.2 million. The network initially will offer coverage to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and San Pedro Sula, a major economic center. The network then will be expanded nationwide, Millicom said. The carrier, which owns 25 percent of the Honduras operation, also operates cellular systems in Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Bolivia and Paraguay.
Qualcomm Inc. announced it has signed an agreement to provide Bell Mobility of Montreal with its QEDesign Code Division Multiple Access network planning software. QEDesign, a Unix-based software system, features high-speed graphics and flexible system editing, according to Qualcomm. The software will be used by Bell Mobility to develop its CDMA network.
L.M. Ericsson recently demonstrated the RBS 2301, a micro radio base station at the GSM-MoU Association’s 35th plenary meeting in Hong Kong. The Micro RBS 2301, a small two-transceiver micro radio base station, measures 535 mm by 408 mm by 160 mm and can support an area with 180 subscribers. That compares with 60 subscribers for a single transceiver station. Ericsson said the Micro RBS 2301 is the world’s smallest two-transceiver base station.
