2002

TOKYO—NEC, the leading handset maker in Japan, announced that it shipped 2.5-generation (2.5G) handsets for China Mobile. China Mobile is the largest mobile carrier in China with 115 million subscribers. …

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Pakistani operator Mobilink said it reached a subscriber base of 500,000 customers, and predicts it will have 1 million subscribers by year-end. The operator, owned 90 percent by Orascom …

TOKYO—KDDI, the second-largest operator in Japan, announced that it succeeded in offering what it called the world’s first experiment for a third-generation (3G) and wireless local area network (WLAN) dual …

DENVER, United States—A potentially important deal between Motorola and Multitone Electronics has fallen through, Motorola confirmed, which leaves the paging and messaging landscape still more uncertain. Last year, Motorola announced …

TOKYO—According to a survey conducted by the Cabinet Office, 94.9 percent of Japanese under 30 years old have their own mobile phones. The government conducted the annual survey of 1,300 …

NEW DELHI, India—Indian cellular operators have demanded immediate removal of cellular-phone ownership as a criterion for mandatory filing of income-tax returns, saying it is discriminatory. The move led to a …

MANILA, The Philippines—Wireless communications will emerge as an integral part of the Filipino workplace as enterprises adopt mobile networks in their operations, according to Roger Wong, vice president for enterprise …

TOKYO—Sumisho Oil, in cooperation with @Venture, has launched Japan’s first wireless local area network (WLAN) service at gas stations. Drivers can receive 8 Megabits per second (Mbps) wireless LAN service …

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—Openwave Systems Inc. has partnered with Telesp Celular to offer World Cup news updates through interactive, real-time messaging applications. Through Openwave’s PUSH technology and Telesp’s CDMA wireless network, …

BRUSSELS, Belgium—GSM Europe member operators met with the European Commission in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss mobile industry issues, the GSM Association said. The meetings came ahead of new telecommunications …

LAUREL, Md.—Sentori Inc. announced it will work with Siemens Netherlands to provide the Sentori 3G Billing and Customer Care software system for Belize Telecommunications Ltd.’s GSM/GPRS network. Sentori’s customer management …

WASHINGTON—Total wireless revenues increased more than 22 percent during the last half of last year to $34.1 billion compared with $27.8 billion during the last half of 2000, according to …

MCLEAN, Va.—Shared Towers Inc. said it received an unspecified amount of funding from Virginia Capital for its new tower acquisition and development company, Shared Tower Sites L.L.C. The new company …

LONDON—Wireless micropayments will likely become a major part of the wireless industry, so much so that they could spur customers to make more payments on the wired Internet, according to …

LONDON—Red-M is partnering with Cambridge Silicon Radio to develop hand-off technology that will enable mobile users to move freely inside buildings while maintaining uninterrupted wireless connections, Red-M said.

TOKYO—Messaging company FunMail announced it is now offering its service over NTT DoCoMo’s wildly popular i-mode service. FunMail’s service has been endorsed by the carrier, and customers will be billed …

SAN DIEGO—Qualcomm Inc. reiterated its outlook for the third quarter and the rest of 2002 on the assumption of improved sales for its chipset. The company said it expects its …

LONDON—Intec Telecom Systems plc announced its interim results for the six months ended March 31, show the company exceeded market expectations and recorded a positive EBITDA. The Company reported a …

SHEFFIELD, U.K.—Phone Candy, a service that allows users to personalize their cell phones via the Internet, has added Garfield the cat to its options. “The humor and fun of the …

TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo Inc. said it will begin selling enhanced i-mode handsets this week. The movaD504I and mova F5041 phones are expected to offer packet data transmission speeds of up to …

DENVER, United States—The Slovak government announced three companies submitted bids for the country’s three third-generation (3G) licenses. Incumbent operators Eurotel and Orange bid for the two individual 3G licenses on …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint PCS and the Virgin Group reported they would each have an equal interest and mutual governance roles in their Virgin Mobile USA mobile virtual network operator joint …

MUNICH, Germany—Siemens said it will supply GSM technology to Belize Telecommunications Ltd. under a $12.9 million contract. Siemens Netherlands will supply and install all the radio and switching technology for …

PARIS—Alcatel Alsthom has signed a $125 million contract to supply Tunisian carrier Orascom Telecom with GSM gear for voice and data services. The deal, which will last for five years, …

NEW YORK—Enlisting the support of four heavy hitters in professional sports and in retailing, Samsung Electronics America Inc., Ridgefield Park, N.J., launched on May 16 its “Four Seasons of Hope” …