2001

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—L.M. Ericsson said it is refinancing its loans involving 13 operators to the tune of $1.5 billion, most of which pertained to third-generation vendor infrastructure commitments. The company said …

SAN FRANCISCO—The Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s Human Input Devices Working Group released a definition for how input devices such as keyboards will use Bluetooth technology for communicating with other wireless …

TOKYO—Oki Electric Industry Co. and Payment First Co. launched a service enabling Internet payments for NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode wireless Internet service. Payment First is a joint venture among NTT DoCoMo, …

SAN FRANCISCO—TDK Systems Inc. launched its Go Blue Wireless Development Toolkit to support Bluetooth software developers creating and testing applications for the Palm operating system. The kit includes two TDK …

ATLANTA—Southern Linc, an iDEN carrier serving the southeast, reported a strategic partnership with Data Burst Technologies Inc. to offer businesses vehicle location service. Data Burst’s iTrak device resides in the …

WASHINGTON—AT&T Wireless Services Inc. filed a stock shelf offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell up to $4 billion in stock and debt securities. The carrier said it …

MUNICH, Germany—Siemens said Bharti Cellular has selected it to supply GSM and GPRS equipment for several new networks in India. The first networks are scheduled to start operating this month. …

WOODBURY, N.Y.—Comverse Technology Inc., which sells wireless messaging systems, announced third-quarter results that were in line with expectations and, as anticipated, announced a round of layoffs to cut costs. The …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Information technology integrator Dimension said it will expand into the wireless world, creating a subsidiary to offer service platforms for the wireless Internet. Dimension Telecom Solutions will have about …

KISTA, Sweden—Spirea AB unveiled its BlueTrac RF transceiver chip and BlueAmp power amplifier designed to extend the range of Bluetooth radios. The company said the BlueTrac chip does not require …

WASHINGTON—Senate Finance Committee leaders Tuesday agreed on a fast-track trade bill that the panel plans to vote on today, a positive development for telecom manufacturers and the Bush administration. Both …

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Palm Inc. announced it will acquire longtime partner ThinAirApps Inc. for $19 million in common stock, a move Palm hopes will bolster its corporate wireless strategy with the …

WASHINGTON—Both the Federal Communications Commission and Verizon Wireless Inc. warned late Tuesday that if Congress does not pass legislation codifying the settlement of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc., they would walk …

NEW YORK—GoAmerica Inc. made yet another major announcement, this time that it is acquiring OutBack Resource Group of San Luis Obispo in order to expand its efforts in Java technology, …

SAN DIEGO—Remec Inc., a San Diego designer and manufacturer of high-frequency subsystems used in wireless communications transmission, said Dec. 10 that a federal court had dismissed a shareholder class action …

POCATELLO, Idaho—Nextel Partners Inc. launched digital wireless service in the greater Eastern Idaho area including Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Blackfoot, Rexburg, Dubois, Moreland and Atomic City. The expansion completes Nextel’s coverage …

HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia Corp. said sales of its next-generation mobile phones indicate it will beat its fourth-quarter estimates, an indication the company is enjoying the Christmas boom. The company said it …

SAN DIEGO—Zucotto Wireless Inc., which works to integrate wireless connectivity with Java technology, cut its work force by 40 percent, or 39 positions, in response to the economic slowdown. “Zucotto …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Sweden’s largest cell-phone operator Telia has decided to share a percentage of the revenues generated by content services with the developers. The new approach for the company is …

WIESBADEN, Germany—Motorola Inc. says it will perform its first German UMTS infrastructure field trials early next year, based on a series of UMTS tests since September 2001 at its laboratory …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—As planned, the telephony liberalization process in Bolivia began on 28 November, including a multicarrier system for national and international long-distance calls. Through the process, Entel’s monopoly of …

DALLAS-Texas Instruments Inc. says SK Telecom of Korea has selected its OMAP-based McubeWorks reference designs for 2.5G and third-generation cdma2001x networks. The company says SK Telecom plans “to conduct field …

BETHESDA, Md.—Motorola Inc. and Access Spectrum LLC announced they have agreed Motorola will design, manufacture and market infrastructure and portable and mobile radio products for use by enterprises and carriers …

RICHARDSON, Texas, United States—Ericsson issued a circular in the company notifying the staff that about 400 workers in the research and development (R&D) division will be laid off in January. …

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark.—United Communications Corp. and Canada’s BritePage Technologies Inc. have entered an agreement in which UCC will represent BritePage’s People Tracker Plus production in the U.S. People Tracker is an …