January 2002

RESTON, Va.—In a move to combine almost all of their popular business services and applications into one offering, Research In Motion Ltd., Nextel Communications and Motorola Inc. announced they will …

HELSINKI—Nokia said it will ask shareholders at its annual general meeting to approve plans to buy back up to 220 million of its own shares, which will either be used …

SCHAUMBERG, Illinois, United States—Motorola reported significant, but not surprising, losses for the fourth quarter and year ended 31 December, 2001, a year Christopher Galvin, Motorola chairman and chief executive officer, …

WASHINGTON—A new report calls on the U.S. government to make an additional 200 megahertz of spectrum available to the marketplace by 2010 to foster the development of high-speed, wireless broadband …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Despite the strong devaluation of the national Argentine currency—28.6 percent in the official price and almost 100 percent in the free market—cellular telephony tariffs will remain the same …

BEIJING—The China Mobile Group forecasts revenues of 48.8 billion yuan (US$17.98 billion) this year, 10.5 percent up from last year. Revenue growth has slowed from 30.9 percent in 2000 and …

MOSCOW—The second-biggest Russian carrier Vimpelcom (BeeLine) is reportedly negotiating a US$250 million credit with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finance regional expansion. The carrier initially said …

NEW YORK—Emblaze Systems said it has concluded successfully an MPEG4 compliance interoperability test with Samsung Electronics. The companies conducted the trial to determine whether Emblaze’s wireless media platform is interoperable …

SEOUL, South Korea— Yasuo Nishiguchi, Kyocera’s chief executive, said his company will settle its patent dispute with Nortel Networks without rancor. “We have violated some of Nortel’s technology patents, and …

LONDON—Vodafone Group reported its Greek wireless subsidiary, Panafon-Vodafone, officially changed its name to Vodafone. Panafon adopted the dual-brand name a year ago as part of the Vodafone global brand migration …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—The privatization of the Paraguayan fixed telephony monopoly, which includes a personal communications services (PCS) license, will likely be postponed. The privatization was initially scheduled to take place …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Zimbabwean telecommunications company TeleAccess is reported to be involved in negations to purchase Telecel International, the mobile network operator with services in 13 African countries including Zimbabwe. TeleAccess …

HELSINKI—Nokia Corp. reported decreased profits for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, but increased sales for the year, helped along by an increase in worldwide mobile-phone market share, which now …

MANILA, Phillipines—Short message service (SMS) technology remains a dominant force in the growth of data services in Asia, despite the availability of more advanced technologies, such as the Wireless Application …

NEW YORK—Canadian wireless carrier Telus Mobility will offer its customers wireless instant messaging (IM) services, including the ability to create buddy lists and communicate with desktop users, through a deal …

DENVER, United States—The government of Slovakia announced a tender to sell three third-generation (3G) mobile telephone licenses by mid-year for around US$31.6 million each through a “beauty contest,” according to …

TOKYO—Kyocera, a leading telecom vender in Japan, and Hanaro Telecom, a leading carrier in Korea, reached an agreement regarding the next-generation high-speed mobile data business, Kyocera announced on 22 January. …

INDIANAPOLIS—Fortune Diversified Industries Inc. (FDVI) has acquired the telecommunications unit of DicksonHughes Group (DHG), a move through which FDVI expects to add $3 million to $4 million to its annual …

MURRAY HILL, N.J.—Hutchison Telecom, Telstra and Optus are among the companies in talks with Lucent Technologies Inc. to buy parts of One.Tel Network, which has collapsed. Last May the company …

MOSCOW—The biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) officially confirmed it has reached an agreement on the purchase of a controlling stake in the fourth-biggest regional carrier Kuban GSM in the …

WOODBURY, New York, United States—Dutch wireless carrier Dutchtone, a subsidiary of Orange Group, continued to flesh out its wireless music service by purchasing Comverse’s VoiCD music portal product. Comverse said …

MIGDAL HAEMEK, Israel—Tower Semiconductor said it completed its offering of securities units in Israel, resulting in gross proceeds of US$23.2 million. The company will use the money for its Fab …

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—The development of the pan-Russian Megafon project of St. Petersburg-based Telecominvest holding has prompted a series of acquisitions, as the initially “virtual” project reported 1 million clients in …

LONDON—Vodafone Group said it has signed up more than 100 million customers to its networks in 28 countries, underlining its position as the world’s largest wireless operator. “Vodafone has increased …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Having planned to capitalize on the booming short message service (SMS) market by increasing its messaging charges by nearly 140 percent, Germany’s T-Mobile has backed down after a …