1999

FREMONT, California, United States-ePhone Telecom announced it secured an initial agreement with Saigon Postel Corp. (SPC) to develop a fixed wireless local loop network in Vietnam. SPC has the authority to provide telecommunications services in Vietnam and is contributing to …

Ericsson said its displacement from AT&T Wireless Services as the majority vendor hurt the company and conceded part of the reason it lost AT&T Wireless contracts was because of problems supplying equipment throughout the year. “It hurts,” said Gary Pinkham, …

WHEATON, Maryland, United States-To succeed in wireless e-commerce, companies will have to invest in applications that have no pre-existing equivalent, according to “Wireless E-Commerce: Building Blocks for Success,” a new study compiled by Herschel Shosteck Associates. Jane Zweig, executive vice …

France Telecom said it will sell its 2-percent stake in Deutsche Telekom next year, according to a Reuters report. France Telecom also said it expects changes in the shareholder structure of Global One, France Telecom’s joint venture with Deutsche Telekom …

TOKYO-DDI Pocket Telephone Group, the leading PHS carrier with 60 percent of the market share, on 30 July launched 64 kilobits per second (kbps) data transmission service. At the same time, it began offering a new series of PHS terminals, …

BANGALORE, India-Finally, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has received the Telecom Commission’s OK to offer cellular services in 17 cities across the country. With Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL)-an offshoot of DoT- slated to offer services in the two major metros-New …

Japan Telecom (JT) plans to launch its 3G services based on wideband-CDMA in the third quarter of 2001. Koichi Sakata said JT will put an emphasis on its 3G business to compete with giant NTT DoCoMo. For launching its 3G …

JACKSON, Mississippi, United States-SkyTel launched a new service, SkyTel Message Center, which notifies customers when they receive a voice mail, e-mail or fax at their office or home and then provides options for responding to the message. The service runs …

U.S. TDMA operators must make some critical decisions about competing in the wireless data market during the next year as they witness their CDMA counterparts begin to launch circuit-switched data services on a large scale. TDMA operators-which in the late …

NEW YORK-Cellular terminals have come a long way in the quarter century since Motorola introduced its handheld Dyna TAC mobile phone, a clunky device that weighed nearly 0.9 kilograms and measured 0.09 cubic meters (35 cubic inches). To be sure, …

What we see today as third-generation technology has nothing to do with what 3G will be, predicts Carlos Hirsch of Iusacell, a CDMA cellular operator and PCS licensee in Mexico. “3G is now presented as the big bandwidths’ hero-2 Megabits …

On 30 March 1999, the Indian government declared its New Telecom Policy (NTP), recognizing that building a world-class integrated telecom infrastructure is a major key to its future. The government aims to make telephones available on demand by 2002 and …

Talk about mega-mergers! Vodafone AirTouch secluded in talks with Bell Atlantic. BT and AT&T pushing back the boundaries of their courtship. All quoting figures of thousands of dollars per subscriber leading to potential deals of tens of billions of dollars. …

When Qualcomm’s Dr. Irwin Jacobs looks forward to the next World Telecom show, in 2003, he predicts the continuing convergence of the computer and mobile phone. Jacobs foresees a cellular phone that is used throughout the day, with data downloaded …

DUBLIN, Ireland-There has been much debate over the future of satellite-based communications. Indeed, regular readers of the financial press might wonder if it has any future in the new millennium as they follow stories of operational difficulties, disappointing subscriber figures …

Despite the economic problems that struck Asia since Telecom ’95, Scott Erickson, vice president of Lucent’s Wireless Access Group, Asia-Pacific, sees the region as leading the wireless industry on several fronts. “Telecom growth has survived in Asia,” Erickson said. “Korea …

Nokia believed that it was alone at Telecom ’95 in promoting cellular data and demonstrating Internet Protocol (IP)-based technology. Olli Oittinen said that while it was not pushing IP with the same intensity as today, it was talking about the …

Looking back at Telecom ’95, Takeshi Kawada said the show has changed from an exhibition for hardware makers to one for software and services. “Today, development of applications holds the key for success. Matsushita is in a good position to …

The biggest challenge for wireless operators during the next four years most likely will be obtaining additional spectrum, according to Keith Radousky, director of engineering, BellSouth Cellular Corp. “(Wireless) data is going to take off similar to how it took …

Alcatel’s recollection of 1995, the year of the last Telecom show, was of GSM coverage being patchy in most European countries, with network designers basing their plans on handsets with power outputs of 8 watts, which appears very strange in …

BANGALORE, India-Paging operators in India are optimistic. Optimistic they have always been. However, having burnt their fingers once, this time around they are not expected to make wrong predictions, especially in terms of subscriber growth. The Indian paging industry plunged …

Alcatel Argentina. With Telecom Argentina for a fixed wireless access network. Value: US$99.6 million Ericsson Argentina. With Unif

TOKYO-Softbank, Microsoft and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced they will establish a joint company to provide wireless access line services. According to the announcement, the new joint company will provide the wireless service at a speed of 1 Megabyte …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Six cellular phone companies, including a consortium led by South Africa’s MTN, have been prequalified by Kenya’s Communications Commission to bid for a second mobile phone license in the country. However, mixed signals about deregulation are being conveyed …

After months of denying any plans to sell its wireless handset division, Qualcomm is publicly relenting to the pressures of severe competition from Asia and the likes of Nokia and Motorola. “With increased competition, parts shortages and industry consolidation reducing …