Telecel-Zambia announced plans to launch a Code Division Multiple Access system next week in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. The initial launch will cover 450 customers, and a broader launch a month later will provide service to the general public. The company said it plans to expand into Ndola, Kitwe, Chingola and Luanshya, Zambia, next year. The system will interconnect with Telecel’s AfriLink network, the Pan African satellite network managed by Telecel International Ltd. The network provides telephone and data communications among African states including Zaire, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi and the Central African Republic.
Geoworks, a provider of smart phone software, signed an agreement to provide a system to Telecom Finland Ltd. that will allow its subscribers to back up information stored in the phones. The system will work on a variety of Global System for Mobile communications smart phones, said the company.
Korea has chosen Motorola Inc.’s FLEX paging protocol as the country’s national standard, announced the Ministry of Information and Communications of Korea. Korean Mobile Telecommunications was the only paging provider until 1993 when the ministry licensed 10 private paging operators. The company has four paging systems in Seoul and 13 systems in other parts of the country.
L.M. Ericsson signed a five-year frame agreement to supply an Interim Standard 136 Time Division Multiple Access network to Telecom New Zealand. Ericsson values the deal between $200 million and $350 million. The agreement includes Ericsson’s mobile switches and RBS 884 macro and micro base stations.
Northern Telecom Ltd. opened its new global headquarters near Toronto. Opening ceremonies were preceded by Nortel’s annual meeting of shareholders, the first time Nortel has held an annual meeting on its premises, the company said. During the past year, Nortel relocated about 1,300 employees from Toronto-area locations to the new headquarters in Brampton. The facility, a remodeled manufacturing plant, includes 500,000 square feet of indoor `cityscape’ illuminated by 19 skylights. Work spaces are mixed in with murals, cappuccino and sandwich shops, a travel agency and a full service bank branch, said the company.
Nokia Corp. entered an agreement with Gradiente Electronica S.A., a Brazilian technology innovator, establishing a joint venture to manufacture digital and analog cellular phones for the Brazilian market. According to the agreement, a new company named NGI Limitada will be formed. The new company, which will be owned 51 percent by Nokia and 49 percent by Gradiente, will produce phones under both companies’ brand names. The location for the new company was not disclosed.
