January 2002

TOKYO—Matsushita Electric Industrial and Toshiba, two leading Japanese consumer electronics and electrical appliances companies, announced that both firms will on 1 April set up a joint venture to develop and …

BEIJING—A group of Chinese content providers announced a joint effort aimed at protecting and defending intellectual property rights in a move to support the country’s growing Internet and wireless industry. …

ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Under a deal with international wireless infrastructure provider Netsize, TeleCommunication Systems Inc. said it expanded its short message service system to allow customers to send messages across the Atlantic …

PARIS—Telecoms equipment maker Alcatel said it suffered its second deficit in its history with a $4.27 loss in 2001, although the French supplier looks forward to a profitable 2002. In …

TORONTO—Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of the popular BlackBerry pager, announced a major alliance with Motorola and Nextel Communications to develop a combined e-mail, pager and telephone device for …

DENVER, United States—Verizon Wireless became the first nationwide U.S. carrier to commercially launch cdma2000 1x services this week as it unveiled its Express Network in a select number of markets. …

NEW DELHI, India—The much-awaited 1900 MHz mobile-phone service of the Thai government agency Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) is slated for launch on 27 March under the brand name “Thai …

SAN DIEGO, United States—In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Qualcomm said it does not plan to make its promised US$300 million investment in NextWave because of …

MONROE, La.—CenturyTel Inc. said its wireless revenues decreased 3 percent to $108.5 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with $111.8 million for fourth-quarter 2000. Its wireless revenues …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Despite numerous scientific studies that fail to identify problems, worries regarding the use of cell phones remain high on the agenda of European governments. While a recent study …

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands—Dutch telecommunications giant KPN will buy the remaining 22.5-percent interest in German mobile-phone operator E-Plus that it does not already own from U.S.-based BellSouth for about US$1.06 billion …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Following the postponement until May of the personal communications services (PCS) and third-generation (3G) licenses auction, Uruguay has added the possibility of a plebiscite to decide on the …

WAYNE, N.J.—AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Audible Inc. have been testing a jointly developed automated wireless download capability designed to extend Audible’s content delivery platform to compatible handheld devices via …

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Iospan Wireless Inc. received a patent for optimizing the use of multiple antennas in a wireless system, the company said January 28. The United States Patent and Trademark …

ATLANTA—RF Solutions Inc. said it has developed a chipset technology that converges cellular networks with wireless LAN, including 802.11a,b and g. The announcement of the multiband, multistandard solution covers GSM, …

ALAMEDA, Calif.—Wireless data infrastructure provider Geoworks Corp. announced a series of drastic moves and a depressing third quarter report, news that sent the company’s stock rocketing down almost 40 percent …

LONDON—Logica announced a deal with T-Motion, the mobile online services arm of T-Mobile International, to create a portal to market billable value-added services to customers across Europe. The system uses …

LOS ANGELES—The latest Econ One survey showed that costs of cell phone service in the United States dropped greatly during 2001, especially in those cities that traditionally offer the highest …

WOODBURY, N.Y.-Comverse and Texas Instruments Inc. announced Comverse’s enhanced messaging services will operate on TI’s OMAP platform for 2.5 and 3G wireless devices. By combining Comverse’s platform with TI’s OMAP …

TOKYO—Toshiba Corp. says it has licensed the ARM926EJ-S core processor for wireless applications such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants. ARM, which provides embedded RISC microprocessor, said the technology …

REDMOND, Wash.-Microsoft Corp. said it created a wireless group within its Mobile Solutions Partner Program to ensure that other companies’ products and services work smoothly with Microsoft’s wireless systems. Microsoft’s …

BEDFORD, Mass.—TechOnLine Inc. has launched Communicationsnet, an online technical resource dedicated to communications-related engineering content, including wired and wireless communications, connectivity and networking. The site will feature technology and member …

AMSTERDAM—Dutch telecommunications giant KPN will buy the remaining 22.5-percent interest in German mobile-phone operator E-Plus from U.S.-based BellSouth Corp. for about $1.06 billion in KPN stock, giving KPN full control …

HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia Corp. said it has signed a contract to continue to supply GSM equipment to Pannon GSM of Hungary in a deal valued at more than $50 million. Nokia …

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association is urging the Federal Communications Commission against a mandate for wireless local number portability (LNP). “In the matter of wireless number portability you …