February 2002

DUBLIN, Ireland—Trinidad and Tobago’s operator, TSTT Mobile Service, will be the first Caribbean carrier to launch prepaid wireless data services on a GPRS network as it just signed a deal …

HELSINKI—Nokia introduced the Nokia D211, a multimode radio card that allows for wireless Internet access within GPRS, HSCSD and wireless LAN coverage areas. The card is designed for laptop users …

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—MetroPCS launched its unlimited local calling service in the greater Sacramento and Stockton, Calif. areas, allowing customers to talk all they want on the MetroPCS CDMA network for $35 …

RESTON, Va.—Nextel Communications added 1.99 million subscribers during 2001, ending the year with 8.7 million wireless subscribers and said it expects to add another 2 million customers this year. Domestic …

WASHINGTON—More than 30 members of Congress have sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission siding with the bulk of the wireless industry in opposing the imposition of wireless local …

SAN DIEGO, United States—Qualcomm Inc. said the patent offices in Europe, Korea and Japan have validated four of its CDMA patents. “The confirmation of these inventions strengthens our patent portfolio …

SEOUL, South Korea—Microsoft said it has agreed to jointly develop a wireless Web browser with KT Freetel Co., using Microsoft’s Mobile Explorer or wireless application protocol. “The new browser is …

HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia, CMG Wireless Data Solutions, Comverse, L.M. Ericsson, Logica, Motorola, Siemens AG and Sony Ericsson Communications have joined to found an Interoperability Group for multimedia messaging services that will …

In an effort to hasten the rollout of third-generation networks, Nokia has announced an initiative by inviting other 3G infrastructure developers to share and standardize open specifications for all IP-based …

After announcing an aggressive business strategy at last year’s GSM Congress, Qualcomm would appear to have backtracked to something more achievable. The company’s prior plans entailed persuading European GSM operators …

TORONTO—Research in Motion has landed a supply agreement with T-Mobile International, a group of wireless network operators belonging to telecommunications kingpin Deutsche Telekom. The deal, RIM’s second in Germany, is …

CANNES, France—CellPoint Inc. launched its Mobile Location System 6.0 Platform this week in Cannes at the 3GSM World Congress. “MLS 6.0 is the successor to CellPoint’s MLS 5.0 platform and …

ATLANTA—Glenayre Technologies Inc. announced it will integrate Philips Speech Processing’s SpeechPearl speech recognition engine into its Versera Voice Services suite. Glenayre’s Versera suite offers users voice-driven navigation of voice mail, …

CANNES, France—Content alone will not bring prosperity to the wireless industry, according to comments made by Michael C. Pousti, chairman and chief executive officer of SMS.ac, in a speech at …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—L.M. Ericsson said it has won a multi-year contract to supply wideband-CDMA radio network solution for Swiss operator Sunrise. The agreement, whose amount was not disclosed, will cover both …

DENVER, United States—Aerie Networks subsidiary Ricochet Networks initiated a technical trial of the Ricochet high-speed wireless data network in Denver, marking the return of the service since its former owner, …

NEW DELHI, India—TA Orange has decided to offer airtime discount coupons to fixed-line subscribers of its affiliate, TelecomAsia, in the second phase of its soft launch of GSM services in …

REDMOND, Washington, United States—AT&T Wireless Services completed its all-stock acquisition of the 77-percent of TeleCorp PCS it did not already own. The deal involved AT&T Wireless issuing approximately 146 million …

CANNES, France—Motorola Inc. made several announcements at this week’s 3GSM World congress in Cannes, France. The company announced its partnership with CH2M Hill, a network delivery service provider. According to …

TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo, the leading mobile carrier in Japan, on 18 February announced it will launch i-mode-like service in Germany in March or April through its partner, E-Plus. Based on the …

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it charged two firms with making false claims about devices purporting to protect consumers against mobile-phone radiation. The FTC said it filed a lawsuit …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—The regulating bodies of South Africa and land-locked neighbor Lesotho have entered an agreement to resolve such issues as frequency interference and interconnection. Mandla Langa chairman of the …

HELSINKI, Finland—Elisa Communications, Finland’s second-largest carrier, has entered a long-term collaboration with Vodafone in the area of mobile telephone services. The initiative will boost the Vodafone group’s market position in …

MANILA, The Philippines—Smart Communications, one of the Philippines’ biggest mobile-phone operators, recently reported that its network would be able to handle a 10-million subscriber capacity this year. Smart signed late …

TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo, the leading mobile carrier in Japan, and Nissan, the second-largest automobile company in Japan, on 19 February announced they plan to jointly launch car multimedia services for automobiles …