2000

MOSCOW-Russian wireless carriers, which this year considerably expanded their client bases thanks to radically decreased prices, registered a major average revenue per user (ARPU) decrease from more than US$215 two …

Africa Stratos Global completed its Mount Kilimanjaro educational expedition using its remote communications network. Stratos provided the expedition team with an Inmarsat-M4 terminal, allowing the team to send and receive …

HONG KONG-The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is generally regarded with something between scorn and indifference in Hong Kong among industry sources, and mobile operators will not even reveal subscriber numbers …

TOKYO-The third-generation (3G) business plans and service strategies of three Japanese cellular carriers are becoming more concrete. NTT DoCoMo and J-Phone Group, the mobile business of Japan Telecom, are going …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Having spent vast sums on third-generation (3G) mobile licenses, operators are hoping terminals will live up to expectations. Unlike GSM, where handsets are broadly similar in appearance, it seems …

Canada Bell Mobility began offering two-way wireless data service in October in Ontario and Quebec, with plans to extend service nationwide by the end of the year. United States A …

SAO PAULO, Brazil-Although trunked radio regulations were handed down in May, Brazil’s trunking industry is still awaiting detailed definitions before moving forward with their strategic plans. The market, with two …

DENVER, United States-U.S. paging operator WebLink Wireless is making plans to implement a narrowband PCS (NPCS) network in Central America using a first-ever infrastructure-sharing arrangement that would enable low-volume providers …

TORONTO-Wireless carriers Clearnet Communications and Microcell Telecommunications have won a key regulatory battle to gain competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) designation in Canada. The change in status will allow the …

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Supreme Court, confronted with four appeals challenging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mobile-phone radiation standard and congressional intervention, in October granted the government’s request for more time to …

CHICAGO, United States-One of the first commercial deployments of Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) technology could be in Mexico next year based on presentations and interviews at the …

MELBOURNE, Australia-The Australian government has raised just more than A$112 million (US$58.7 million) from the first of its third-generation (3G) spectrum auctions. The auction, conducted by the Australian Communications Authority …

The satellite-based telecommunications market made headlines again as Globalstar Telecommunications released disappointing financial results and bankrupt provider Iridium endorsed a US$25 million buyout bid from former airline executive Dan Colussy. …

Not one operator around the world has rolled out third-generation services yet, but discussion of fourth-generation technology is already under way. An industry that began offering a basic communications tool …

Mobile satellite services will shortly be available across the Middle East via the Thuraya network. United Arab Emirates-based Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications has announced the launch of its Thuraya-1 satellite. The …

BELFAST, United Kingdom-With a mobile penetration of just 1.4 percent, less than that of many third-world countries, the Russian mobile segment appears to offer little excitement. At closer glance, however, …

SINGAPORE-The once sleepy telecommunications market in technology-centric Taiwan is finally stirring from its slumber. Having taken a back seat to the country’s more well-known semiconductor industry until now, Taiwan’s mobile-phone …

NEW YORK-More than any other part of telecommunications, the handset business “will go through the most severe changes in the next several years,” said Jeffrey Schlesinger, wireless technology analyst for …

China Zhang Fan, head of mobile communications at China Unicom, said his company would definitely build narrowband networks based on the CDMA standard. In June, the company had still ruled …

MOSCOW-Russia is determined not to lag behind the industrialized world in wireless communications and is planning to issue the country’s first third-generation (3G) licenses in the beginning of 2001. “Our …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Israel is determined not to be shaken from its pristine position of having one of the highest cellular penetration rates in the Middle East by the current unrest …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Unlike the hype that surrounded the launch of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) services, European mobile operators are taking a conservative approach to how General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) …

Handsets Neopoint The company released new dual-band and tri-mode smart phones that include increased capacity for personal digital assistant functions, built-in e-mail capabilities and a NeoPad Qwerty keyboard. The dual-band …

Baron von Munnigrabber was furious. He was so angry he stormed out of his own dinner party before the end of the first course. All his guests were sent home. …

NEW DELHI, India-India is set to witness an explosion in wireless services during the next few months, with the decision to end the duopoly of GSM operators and to allow …