January 1999

The International Telecommunication Union’s 31 December deadline passed without resolution in the intellectual-property-right stand-off over third-generation technology, but the ITU has indicated it may push ahead anyway. The ITU warned …

COPENHAGEN, Denmark-Reaching agreement on a single work item within a standards organization can be a long and laborious process. Reaching an agreement between five standards organizations across the world is …

The introduction of digital phone technology has changed dramatically the landscape of wireless communications across the globe and put the heat on the global paging industry. Paging’s old advantages of …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Independent mobile dealers feel threatened in many countries in Europe. Those that have not been swallowed up by the national retail chains or taken over by a cellular …

NEW YORK-When it comes to getting airtime to the end customer, no distribution issue is captivating carriers like cost reduction. As international competition increases and markets mature, carriers will be …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Iridium L.L.C. launched its global mobile satellite service last November, and demand for the service reportedly is high, but so far largely unfulfilled. Shortage of handsets is being …

GENEVA-Stop in for a lunchtime croque monsieur at any of the bistros that line the Boulevard St. Germain in Paris, and you’ll hear a new sound mingling with the clink …

Finland continues to lead the world in take-up of mobile services. The Ministry of Transport and Communications released a statement in late December estimating that for the first time the …

LONDON-The Middle East wireless sector continues to show positive signs, with several major contracts awarded and plenty of healthy GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) activity over the past year. …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-The European paging industry entered 1998 with the loud disclaimer that it had, at long last, found its high-growth niche in mobile communications. With reports they had managed …

Finnish minister of communications Matti Aura resigned following the dismissal of Pekka Vennamo, chief executive of Sonera. Vennamo was fired by the Sonera board on 4 January for failing to …

SINGAPORE-Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. announced it will purchase up to a 20-percent stake in Thailand’s Advanced Information Service, a cellular subsidiary of Shinawatra Computer and Communications, for approximately US$353.4 million. “For …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Competition in the South African wireless telecommunications sector is likely to be fierce this year, with two new cellular operators scheduled to enter the arena. This will delve …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Last July the European Commission identified 14 cases of excessive or discriminatory pricing of interconnect rates between fixed and mobile operators. In-depth investigations were launched, and half of …

NEC Graphics pager NEC now is offering the APOP98 pager, which is a FLEX-based alphanumeric pager that is able to receive graphic images. NEC has developed software, which will be …

MEXICO CITY-Imagine the following scenario: A company enters into a government auction to obtain spectrum. After an extremely long process, it wins frequencies because other participants couldn’t follow the pace …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-A seasonal increase in demand caused by an influx of visitors is a familiar phenomenon to many cellular network operators. But the increased demand is rarely overwhelming and …

BEIJING-“The investigation into China Unicom’s unprincipled and wrong foreign fund-raising practices has been completed,” Wang Jianzhou, director of the planning department of the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry (MII), announced …

WASHINGTON-The story of the calling party pays (CPP) system for cellular service in Latin America has been a successful one for almost everyone involved, expect paging operators. The messaging sector …

In the paging industry today, money talks. Carriers know this and are pursuing every avenue available to bulk up the bottom line. One relatively new road eyed by some carriers …