2002

AUSTIN, Texas—Metrowerks announced the shipment of its new CodeWarrior Development tools, a set of tools that enables application and content development for Tao Group’s Intent, a portable media platform for …

TOKYO—The Japanese government on 17 April sent a letter of counter argument to the U.S. government regarding the U.S. governmental claim that Japanese mobile carriers’ interconnection charges are too high. …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Safaricom, the joint venture between Telkom Kenya and Vodafone Group, has reported that the operator’s subscriber base has grown from 15,000 to 440,000 since re-launch in 2000. A …

BEIJING—China’s Eastern Communications (Eastcom) announced it is halting its 123.08 million yuan (US$14.87 million) effort to develop its own proprietary mobile-phone technology to compete with foreign vendors. The company mentioned …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—BellSouth doubled the quantity of users during the last six months in Ecuador, which caused a 40-percent increase in phone traffic and the saturation of its network. Consequently, …

TOKYO—Coca-Cola Japan, NTT DoCoMo and Itochu jointly announced that they will establish Coca-Cola vending machines with which i-mode users can purchase a can of Coke without cash using i-mode mobile …

BEIJING—Peter Borger, president of Siemens Shanghai Mobile Communications, told the South China Morning Post he expects the Chinese government to issue two more licenses to fixed-line carriers to start building …

JAKARTA, Indonesia—Indosat Multimedia Mobile (IM3) said it will continue its free General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) offering until the end of April, with an additional extension possible. IM3 originally set …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—After announcing its wireless initiative last week, BT Group said it is aware of the security concerns surrounding wireless local area network (WLAN) services. The company admitted it …

HELSINKI, Finland—Telfort, the Dutch subsidiary of U.K.-based MmO2, has entered a strategic agreement with Ericsson under which it will outsource all its mobile network operations in the Netherlands to the …

SAN FRANCISCO—Video game giant Sega.com Inc. said it will launch a new division to specifically focus on the market for wireless gaming in North America, a move showing the vast …

CUPERTINO, Calif.—Boingo Wireless Inc. said it has implemented Portal Software Inc.’s billing solution, known as Infranet, for mobile service providers. “Boingo developed its billing infrastructure with the Infranet solution, which …

NEW DELHI, India—It will cost less to make calls over mobile networks in Pakistan beginning 1 May. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) reduced the airtime ceiling from 6.50 rupees (US$0.11) …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—In the wake of recent tariff cuts by the competing GSM mobile operators, analog fixed wireless operator Intercellular announced that it will cut rates due to the development …

TORONTO—The Toronto Blue Jays have turned to technology to help boost ticket sales. The American League baseball team is using what it dubs “cyber-sellers.” Equipped with wireless credit card equipment, …

TOKYO—KDDI, the second-largest telecom operator in Japan, announced it will launch a field trial for credit card settlement using third-generation (3G) handsets in the fourth quarter. Four leading credit card …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—In an effort to reduce third-generation (3G) deployment costs, Vodafone’s Portuguese business, Telecel, formed a joint venture with Optimus, the cell-phone division of Sonae, called Situs. Both companies …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—The Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) board of directors announced the investment of US$260 million this year in Per

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Nortel executives have admitted that the US$1.1 billion contact awarded to it by MmO2 for 2.5-generation (2.5G) and third-generation (3G) infrastructure this week was a much-needed boost to …

BEIJING—The boom times in China’s mobile telecom sector seem to be over. While the country still added 5.9 million new mobile-phone subscribers in February, more than any other market, both …

OKLAHOMA CITY—Dobson Cellular Systems completed deployment of equipment allowing it to offer voice-activated dialing services through Preferred Voice. Dobson said it would market the VoiceDial service, which will allow customers …

BOULDER, Colo.-Cellport Systems Inc. laid off about 80 employees and plans to exit the hands-free car kit manufacturing business. Company spokeswoman Lori Pidick told The Denver Post that all the …

TOKYO—Intel Corp. unveiled its 1.8 Volt wireless flash memory for cell pones, describing it as up to four times faster than existing flash solutions. It is built on Intel’s 0.13-micron …

ATLANTA—Wireless platform provider Air2Web will partner with the National Football League to broadcast the 2002 NFL draft on wireless devices. Air2Web will provide free up-to-the minute news on draft picks …

NEW YORK—British wireless operator MmO2 launched two initiatives in a move to provide mobile data and products to customers in Western Europe. The carrier said it plans to build a …