May 2000

SANDTON, South Africa-Nigeria’s promising telecommunications environment has been clouded by the government’s failure to accelerate the licensing of GSM operators. Nigeria, with one of the lowest teledensities in the world, …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-In tone with the wave of competition that has taken Argentina by storm, Nextel has decided to extend its iDEN digital wireless services network, connecting Buenos Aires with …

BEIJING-China agreed in its negotiations with the United States for entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that foreign operators would be allowed a maximum 49-percent stake in mobile telephone …

DENVER, United States-The United States’ official position going into the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) supports designating three frequency bands-1710 MHz to 1885 MHz, 2500 MHz to 2690 MHz and 698 …

SAO PAULO, Brazil-In early January, by starting operations as a “mirror” company of fixed-line carriers Telefonica and Telemar, Vesper faced a challenge in the Brazilian market. The company planned to …

SEATTLE-U S West Inc. customers now have wireless access to the company’s Internet e-mail and personal information management services due to a joint effort with VirtualTek Corp., a developer of …

DENVER-U S West Inc. reported first-quarter financial results ending March 31 that showed its wireless services added almost 135,000 new subscribers during the quarter and an average revenue per user …

ISTANBUL, Turkey-The International Telecommunication Union said its member countries have reached a treaty agreement for changes to international allocations of radio-frequency spectrum and all associated regulatory provisions. The treaty is …

After eight weeks and 150 rounds, NTL Mobile said enough and dropped out of the U.K. government auction for five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses. The withdrawal left only five …

RESTON, Va.-TRW Inc. formed a strategic partnership with Wireless Inc. to develop and market high-speed, broadband wireless Internet access equipment. The partnership includes licensing TRW’s SpitFire point-to-multipoint access technology. The …

BERWYN, Pa.-Triton PCS Inc., which markets its service under the SunCom brand name, completed the second phase of its network construction by launching digital wireless service in eight additional Southeastern …

WASHINGTON-A majority of the Telecommunications Resellers Association members have voted in support of changing the group’s name to the Association of Communications Enterprises, virtually guaranteeing the name change. “The response …

NEW YORK-Sony Corp. has licensed the Texas Instruments Open Multimedia Application processing engine and Symbian’s EPOC software platform for Sony’s next generation of wireless handsets. Sony selected the two technologies …

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-TeleCommunication Systems Inc., a developer of network applications enabling the delivery of Internet content to wireless devices, filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an …

WASHINGTON-A divided federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled wireless carriers and Internet firms do not have the same right as other telecom service providers to access utility poles on a …

Although GSM technology has scant market share in Latin America, the 2000 GSM Association Plenary in Santiago, Chile, in late April was the stage for several Latin American GSM announcements. …

GENEVA-As WRC-2000 delegates prepare to pack their bags and head off for four grueling weeks of debates and technical deliberations in Istanbul, Turkey, Europe’s Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) lobby …

The U.K. auction brought in a resounding 22.5 billion (US$35.45 billion), far exceeding predictions prior to the auction’s start. The question now is whether these prices are based on a …

A consortium comprised of Telefonica, Orange and Sonera will join U.S.-based MCI WorldCom and 10 other groups in bidding for third-generation (3G) licenses in Germany. The auction is set to …

Finland Priority Wireless, a unit of United Pan-Europe Communications, said it won a license to implement a wireless local loop system in Finland. The 26 GHz license covers the nine …

DENVER, United States-The CDMA Development Group said it expects handset makers to introduce commercial CDMA handsets with subscriber identity modules by the end of the year to allow global roaming. …

DENVER, United States- BellSouth and SBC Communications finally ended weeks of speculation, announcing plans to create a wireless joint venture that will become the second-largest wireless operator in the United …

Great Aunt Agatha has never really come to terms with electricity. She keeps buying dummy plugs to insert into any unused electricity socket she can find. “If you leave the …

MOSCOW-Three nationwide Russian wireless carriers, which control close to 75 percent of the market, have launched a fierce battle for new clients as mobile phones become more common communications tools …

SAO PAULO, Brazil-Anatel, Brazil’s telecommunications regulatory agency, will not divulge the frequency band-either 1.8 GHz or 1.9 GHz-that band C cellular telephony operators will use until after the World Radiocommunication …