2002

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Finnish company First Hop claimed that a number of European cell-phone operators are conducting trials of its compression and caching technologies, which could significantly speed up the data …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Having failed in its ambitions to become one of the top five suppliers of mobile terminals, Alcatel is expected to announce a partnership with another cell-phone developer to …

CARY, N.C.—SpectraSite Holdings Inc. is terminating its build-to-suit contract with Cingular Wireless and transferring its sublease agreements in 545 SBC Communications Inc. towers to Cingular, as well as modifying its …

MINNEAPOLIS—The wireless industry’s smaller players continued their push to consolidate under tight economic conditions, with three mergers and acquisitions announced over the past few days. Iquniverse Inc. announced it will …

DALLAS—U.S. Cellular Corp. selected Nortel Networks as the primary supplier for the planned upgrade of its network to cdma2000 1x technology. The multi-year agreement calls for Nortel to deploy 1x …

BEIJING—China Telecom has split into two companies in order to allow each one to streamline its efforts toward profitability. China Telecom will cover the south and western networks, while the …

TOKYO—NTT Corporation, the largest telecommunications carrier in Japan, announced that the carrier’s loss after tax for fiscal 2001, ending March 2002, was 812.1 billion yen (US$6.3 billion). It became Japan’s …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Millicom’s cellular operator in Bolivia introduced Telecel Free, a post-pay service with no subscription or invoice that charges airtime costs to the client’s credit or debit card. According …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—M-Cell, the holding company for South African mobile network operator MTN, announced that Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Paul Edwards has stepped down in favor of Phuthuma Nhleko, non-executive …

HELSINKI, Finland—The Lithuanian state is examining a proposal presented by the National Property Fund (NPF) to divest a 5-percent equity stake in Lietuvos Telekomas, Lithuania’s mobile and fixed telecom monopoly. …

BEIJING—China Mobile became China’s biggest telecom operator on 16 May, although not through actions of its own. The long delayed split of fixed-line operator China Telecom finally became a reality …

MOSCOW—The U.S.-based MCT Corporation sold a considerable part of its Russian Indigo project, and market experts believe that may signal an end to the ambitious plan of creating a fourth …

NEW DELHI, India—The rising graph of cellular phone subscribers in India took a dip, with fewer additions during April. All the operators together added 280,000 subscribers during the month, a …

JAKARTA,Indonesia—The increasing growth in Indonesia’s cellular communications has attracted a new government tax scheme for imported material used in cellular infrastructure as additional income for the Indonesian government. Under this …

MANILA, The Philippines—Globe Telecom is aiming for not less than 10,000 of its 4.5 million prepaid subscribers to subscribe to its international roaming service, a US$2 million investment by the …

DUBLIN, Ireland—In a further indication of the necessity of closer cooperation between previously fierce rivals, Nokia and Siemens have announced plans to collaborate on mobile terminal software. Open standards is …

BEIJING—China Mobile is to formally launch its General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) nationwide on 17 May under the brand name Monternet. The service, offering high-speed Internet and e-mail, could be …

TORONTO—Rogers AT&T Wireless signed an agreement with Canadian delivery company Purolator Courier Ltd. to use the carrier’s GSM/GPRS network to provide an end-to-end wireless data solution enabling access to shipping …

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio—Sprint PCS affiliate Horizon PCS Inc. reported $48.2 million in revenue for the first quarter compared with $19.3 million in revenue posted for the first quarter of last year. …

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—The Malaysia government plans to award three third-generation licenses later this year, and only a few weeks before applications are due, companies are still jostling for partners and …

CALGARY—Motorola Inc.’s Commercial, Government and Industrial Solutions Sector plans to purchase and/or license Wi-Lan Inc.’s high-speed wireless data communications equipment and resell Wi-Lan’s products through the sector’s sales channels, the …

SEOUL, South Korea—LG Electronics Co. said it offered to buy a 3-percent stake in KT Corp. for about $414.5 million, the first investor to make such a declaration. The South …

LONDON—U.K. vendor Marconi plc said it will not unveil a new business strategy because of its talks with banks and bondholders have entered a new phase. “Tripartite discussions are now …

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Fujitsu PC Corp. said it has unveiled the latest of its LifeBook S Series notebook with new features for mobile professionals, describing it as thin and light. “Fujitsu’s …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Both Nokia and Ericsson said they have demonstrated what they described as the first inter-operator live demonstration of multimedia messaging service (MMS) technology with leading Chinese operators. Ericsson demonstrated …