January 2001

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.-Wireless operator UbiquiTel Inc., a Sprint PCS Network Partner, expanded its coverage area along the Interstate 90 corridor from Spokane, Wash., to east of Moses Lake, Wash., and Sandpoint, …

At the end of each year, the RCR Wireless News editorial staff looks back on the new events that made RCR headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting …

CARLSBAD, Calif.-Motorola Inc. renewed its contract with Dot Hill Systems Corp. for another two years, allowing Dot Hill to continue to work on storage and infrastructure solutions to design, develop …

While the number of products incorporating Bluetooth technology was slim this past holiday season, the number of companies interested in producing Bluetooth chipsets is bountiful. Of the 82 exhibitors at …

NEW DELHI, India-Several leading GSM operators in the Asian region have announced plans for migration to 2.5-generation (2.5G) services during 2001. Many of them hope to roll out commercial General …

Brazil Brazil expects bidders to pay at least US$3.4 billion total for the nine personal communications services (PCS) licenses it will auction, beginning in January. Base prices for each license …

TOKYO-KDDI, the second-largest carrier in Japan, has decided to launch its third-generation (3G) services based on High Data Rate (HDR) technology. KDDI will launch its HDR services initially using the …

PRAGUE, Czech Republic-During the 11 years since the fall of communism in Central Europe, the region’s countries have rapidly embraced mobile telephony, including the ubiquitous GSM networks now blanketing the …

DENVER, United States-Like the harmony of opposites, caution and adventure characterize the journey to the wide-scale rollout of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). Vendors are playing starry-eyed idealists, while operators …

The millennium is off to a good start for Vodafone Group. The U.K.-based carrier began 2000 with a hostile takeover of Mannesmann, parent of its rival Orange, and continued with …

HONG KONG-“Third-generation services are here,” proclaimed the advertisements from Qualcomm at International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom Asia 2000. “The wait is over.” Korea’s SK Telecom was the first operator to …

LONDON-State regulators in Europe are gearing up to promote the 40 GHz-43.5 GHz band for fixed-wireless telecom services, which will enable new entrants to compete against dominant operators such as …

GENEVA-Europe is set to witness an explosion in the number of mobile base stations, as operators gear up for the imminent launch of third-generation (3G) services in early 2002. A …

HONG KONG-“This time it’s for real,” stated Robert Mao, president of Nortel Networks China. But Irwin Jacobs, chairman of Qualcomm, was rather more sanguine. “I’ve gone from being cautiously optimistic,” …

HONG KONG-Hong Kong’s usually efficient telecom regulators are struggling in their efforts to license third-generation (3G) spectrum, while avoiding the damaging costs of European-style spectrum auctions. The Office of the …

NEW DELHI, India-The Indonesian cellular phone market, which witnessed strong growth during 2000 despite political turmoil, is set for further expansion in 2001 when two more GSM players join the …

TOKYO-KDDI, the sole cdmaOne operator in Japan, has been expanding its international roaming services, fully using its universally standardized cdmaOne technology. In January, KDDI launched international roaming services in Canada …

Only a year ago, prospects for the GSM standard in Latin America seemed dim. At that time, Chile’s Entel PCS and Venezuela’s rural operator Infonet were the only operators offering …

NEW DELHI, India-The slide in the Thai paging industry seen in 2000 is likely to continue during 2001, but operators hope to ride out the crisis by exploring value-added products …

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia-Motorola and Russia’s RadioTel launched a TETRA trial network in the second-biggest Russian city of St. Petersburg last year, planning to turn the technology into a federal standard …

MOSCOW-Major Russian Moscow-based carriers recently have been expanding their short message service (SMS) capacities to meet the demand of an anticipated boom. However, experts fear the expected SMS incomes will …

DENVER, United States-With AT&T Wireless Services’ announcement it will overlay its existing TDMA-based network with a GSM network supporting General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), the pressure is on other TDMA …

PDA technology Blue Impact Blue Impact, a partner of CellPoint, introduced a combined GSM/global positioning system (GPS) module for the Handspring Visor called Tellmen. The Tellmen module is compatible with …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Despite the positive noises coming from the industry body for paging and messaging service providers in Europe, falling subscriber numbers and service provider rationalization indicate paging might be about …

SEOUL, South Korea-South Korea awarded much-coveted third-generation (3G) mobile service licenses to SK Telecom, the country’s largest mobile carrier, and state-run Korea Telecom on 15 December. The race, however, is …