African Continental Telecommunications Ltd. said it will invest $835 million in a two-phase deal to establish an advanced satellite telecommunications network in Africa. Phase one of the network, which includes repositioning of a geo-stationary satellite leased from American Mobile Satellite Corp., will be completed late next year, said the company. The second phase involves the construction and launch of a replacement satellite with expanded geographic coverage and service delivery by 2001.
Elsyton Corp. will be the first Ukrainian company to license the FLEX paging protocol, Motorola Inc.’s Messaging Systems Products Group announced yesterday. Elsyton plans to manufacture a low-cost paging infrastructure solution called ElsyPage-F. The system will function both as a paging terminal and base station controller, running on PC software and minimal additional hardware. Designed for small system requirements, the products are expected to be available throughout Ukraine by the first quarter next year. ElsyPage F-Plus is hardware-based, and will be available during the third quarter along with a FLEX protocol-based transmitter and other infrastructure designed to provide a smooth transition from current paging systems to FLEX.
Lucent Technologies Inc. and PT Telkom of Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding to undertake a three-part project that will improve Indonesia’s research and development capabilities within the Asia/Pacific region, said Lucent. Lucent initially will invest $35 million in telecommunications equipment, software and staff to support the “Nusantara 21” project. The Bell Labs location will be established in Bandung, on the campus where PT Telkom’s Research and Development and Information Technology Division (RisTI) is based.
L.M. Ericsson announced it is going to set up a global product research center in Milan, Italy, for the development of microwave communication products. The new facility is scheduled to start operating during the first quarter of 1998. Sivert Bergman, executive vice president of Ericsson Microwave Systems, believes that “setting up a development center in Milan implies that some of our future development will be located in a region known for its expertise in the field of microwave technology. Beside that, we will have important connections with the universities of Milan and Bologna.”
Qualcomm Inc. announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bangladesh Rural Telecom Authority, a privately licensed telecommunications operator that plans to provide service to rural areas throughout the country. Qualcomm will supply Bangladesh RTA with a cdmaOne (Code Division Multiple Access) system it values at $25 million. Bangladesh is home to more than 120 million people and has a low number of installed telephones.
