California Microwave Inc.’s Microwave Network Systems division won a contract from Cellcom Israel Ltd. to expand its Time Division Multiple Access cellular network. California Microwave said it values the contract at $2 million. Cellcom previously purchased 300 links of 34 Mbit/s, 8 GHz, 18 GHz and 23 GHz microwave radios from the Microwave Network Systems division in a deal valued at more than $9 million. Cellcom is an international consortium whose members include Israeli Aircraft Industries, IDB, BellSouth and the Brazilian Safra Group. The company operates a cellular network in Israel.
Motorola Inc.’s Asia Pacific Cellular Infrastructure Group agreed to manufacture and supply digital cellular infrastructure equipment to China Eastern Communications Co. Ltd. (Eastcom) and Zhejiang Technical Import and Export Corp. Motorola values the agreements at $58 million. It is the second Global System for Mobile communications agreement involving the companies, Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola said. The agreement allows Eastcom to manufacture and distribute Motorola’s GSM cell site equipment, including the M-Cell 2 and M-Cell 6 series, to cellular operators in China.
Millicom International Cellular S.A. announced it reached 500,000 subscribers worldwide during the fourth quarter of 1996. Millicom is a worldwide cellular operator. Jay Metcalfe, president and chief executive officer of Millicom, attributed its strong subscriber growth to low cellular penetration rates in the 20 countries it serves. In addition, Metcalfe said the Luxembourg-based company is taking advantage of low competition levels and high economic development rates where it operates.
Vodafone Group plc reported strong subscriber growth for the 1996 calendar year both in the United Kingdom and in its international business. Between October and December, Vodafone connected 332,000 subscribers in the United Kingdom for a total of 2.8 million subscribers at the end of the year. The company’s international share of net new subscribers increased more than 148,000 during the quarter. Vodafone said it experienced strong performance in France, Greece and South Africa.
Motorola Inc.’s Messaging Systems Products Group announced Beeper Communications Israel and Radiospoor Pagenet of South Africa adopted the FLEX protocol for their alphanumeric paging systems. Beeper Communications operates a satellite paging system with full coverage of Israel. With the acquisition of Iturit, Beeper Communications has 60,000 active pagers and covers 90 percent of the Israeli market. It is owned by Motorola Israel and Beeper Pagecall. Radiospoor is a privately owned mobile communications and subscriber management company. It has 100,000 subscribers in paging, cellular, trading and vehicle tracking markkets.
