World Briefs

JAMAICA

After a successful field demonstration of Finline Technologies’ multichannel multipoint distribution system, N5 Systems Ltd. plans to deploy the company’s system in Jamaica. The companies hope the joint deployment will provide interactive digital video and data services to the country. The Finline Trilogy MMDS System rollout will start early next year.

CHINA

Natural MicroSystems’ solution for phone bill inquiry, customer complaints and customer registration is now up and running in a mobile call center at Henan Mobile Communications in China. Beijing Linkhead Information Technology Co. Ltd. deployed the company’s hardware and software platforms. NMS’ technology now operates in 15 cities across the Henan province.

Nokia Corp. signed a $15 million contract to supply a GSM 1800 network to Jilin Mobile Communications in China. Jilin, which has about 1 million subscribers, plans to have the network operational by early next year. It will cover the cities of Changchun, Yanji, Siping and Songyuan.

ITALY

Sonera said it reduced its ownership in Italian consortium Ipse 2000 to 12.55 percent from 19 percent. Ipse 2000 won a third-generation license in Italy in October. The consortium paid $2.09 billion for a 2-by-10-megahertz frequency block and an additional $709 million for an additional 2-by-5-megahertz of spectrum for 3G services.

SWEDEN

Telia AB said it launched its mobile Internet portal, Speedy Tomato, in the United Kingdom. Speedy Tomato is a pan-European portal, with further launches planned for Denmark in December and Finland early in 2001. The portal, at www.speedytomato.co.uk, offers personalized content and can be accessed via the Web, WAP handsets or personal digital assistants.

BRAZIL

Telesp Celular Participacoes SA announced its subsidiary, Brazilian cellular operator Telesp Celular, finalized the acquisition of Ceterp Celular. Ceterp is a cellular operator in the Ribeirao Preto region. The acquisition was initially announced in July.

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