May 1998

The Inmarsat Council reached an agreement to privatize Inmarsat with a target date of 1 January 1999. According to Inmarsat, its signatories, parties and management have worked together for three …

TOKYO-NEC Corp. and United Kingdom-based ERA Technology Ltd. signed a joint-venture agreement to design and develop next-generation wireless network infrastructure based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) standard, said …

BEIJING-The Chinese Ministry of Information Industry 22 April announced the first domestically designed and manufactured digital mobile telecommunications equipment has been connected to the local network in Shanghai. The ministry …

ESPOO, Finland-Nokia Tele-communications and Computer Sciences Corp. formed an alliance to offer value-added services to Nokia’s infrastructure clients, including mobile and fixed wireless carriers, announced Nokia. The companies intend to …

PRINCETON, New Jersey, United States-United States-based Intek Global Corp. announced its Linear Modulation Technology subsidiary entered into a five-year technology, development and supply agreement from Nokia Telecommunications, a unit of …

China Telecom (Hong Kong) in late April announced the purchase of Jiangsu Mobile Communication for US$2.9 billion. China Telecom said the purchase gives it close to 4.8 million cellular subscribers …

Since paging became available in 1983, the number of paging operators in China has mushroomed to more than 2,800, with more than 40 million customers. According to the Chinese language …

SAN FRANCISCO, United States-Action Cellular Rent A Phone announced it expanded its business with six new rental facilities in Paris and Milan, Torino, Rome and Venice, Italy. Action Cellular has …

NEW YORK-Standard & Poor’s Corp., an international debt rating agency based in New York, estimates there will be US$1 trillion in wireline and wireless telecommunications capital needs before the new …

OXFORD, England-Japan’s largest wireless operator, NTT DoCoMo, has allied itself closely with the GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) operator camp. The company signed a cooperation agreement-covering technology developments for …

HANNOVER, Germany-Test equipment companies Wandel & Goltermann Management Holding GmbH and Wavetek Corp. announced they agreed to merge. The transaction, subject to execution of definitive agreements and stockholder and regulatory …

SCHAUMBURG, Illinois, United States-Motorola Inc. launched a US$100 million global advertising campaign, called Wings, to create unified brand awareness for consumer products produced by its different business sectors. The Wings …

DENMARK Mobilix, a France Telecom subsidiary, has begun offering services on its DCS 1800 network. GERMANY Lucent Technologies Inc.’s Microelectronics Group acquired Optimay GmbH, a privately held software-development company based …

MELBOURNE, Australia-The Australian government has called an urgent review to end speculation about the future of analog mobile phone coverage in regional and remote areas of the country. The analog …

BANGKOK, Thailand-Cellular and PCS operators in the Asia-Pacific region have doubled from 56 in 1993 to the current 113, according to the Yankee Group’s recently released “Asia-Pacific Wireless Series.” The …

Motorola Inc.’s Messaging Systems Products Group announced the latest upgrade to the FLEX protocol, called the FLEX G1.9. According to the company, the upgrade allows FLEX pagers to recognize geographic …

This piece was excerpted from a speech presented at CeBIT `98. Last year the cellular-terminal market reached around 100 million units. The figure is expected to grow significantly this year, …

MACH India Pvt Ltd. entered into a contract with Bharti Cellular of India to offer cellular clearinghouse services for the country. The agreement includes MACH Data, the clearing service for …

The product photograph titled, “GSM Network in a Box,” published on page 41 of the March/April 1998 issue of Global Wireless actually shows the complete InterWAVE Communications International Ltd. product …

WASHINGTON-While Calling Party Pays (CPP) has become a huge success in most of Latin America, the CPP concept recently took a new twist in Chile when Startel SA, the wireless …

Aggressive growth rates for cellular in Central and Eastern Europe are predicted in a new report from United Kingdom-based consulting firm Analysys. During the next five years, according to “European …

OTTAWA-Canadian satellite operator Telesat and Northern Telecom Inc. announced an agreement to jointly develop a geostationary satellite system to deliver telephony services to underserved areas of the world. The next-generation …

Four of the larger SMR (Specialized Mobile Radio) operators in the United States have merged to create what should be the nation’s largest 220 MHz SMR provider. The combination of …

NTT of Japan’s new research and development center opened in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, at the end of March. The new facility, with a total floor area of 50,000 square …

CHICAGO, United States-Ameritech Corp. said it expects proceeds of US$2.1 billion from the sale of its 24.95-percent stake in Telecom Corp. of New Zealand. The sale closed in April through …