2002

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Ericsson AB’s bookkeeping practices have come under the spotlight of tax obstruction as the country’s Economic Crimes Bureau examines the company’s accounts. The agency will inquire whether Ericsson seriously …

GARDEN GROVE, Calif.—Recyclable prepaid mobile phone provider Hop-On announced a significant deal, valued at more than $25 million annually, with an unnamed London-based corporation. The corporation will purchase 1 million …

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago—Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd. said Nortel Networks will supply GSM and GPRS technologies for the upgrade of its wireless network. TSTT said Nortel will …

ROCHESTER, Minn.—Pemstar Inc. announced it has been chosen by LGC Wireless to manufacture the InterReach Unison, a new in-building wireless networking product. “LGC selected Pemstar as its strategic manufacturing partner …

MARLOW, U.K.—NetDespatch announced the launch of Masquerade, a MASC Communications-powered solution that allows centralized web-based order entry and tracking systems to be updated via wireless voice transactions. “Voice browsing is …

LONDON—O2, Vodafone’s wireless unit, the first carrier to sell Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry wireless e-mail device in Europe, announced it has signed up more than 250 corporate customers for …

ANNAPOLIS—TeleCommunication Systems Inc. that by revising a September 2001 contract, Cingular Wireless will make it a preferred vendor for Phase I and II wireless E911 services including Mobile Positioning Center …

MADISON, Wis.—Rayovac Corp. announced the development of the Rayovac I-C3 (In-Cell Charge Control), a rechargeable battery with built-in charging control. According to Rayovac, advantages of the I-C3 are: it takes …

NEW DELHI, India—Indian cellular operators suffered a severe blow over the weekend when the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) finally dismissed their petition challenging the government’s decision to allow …

MANILA, The Philippines—Mobile and data network provider Alcatel Phils. projects US$200 million in sales this year amid the expected sluggish local cellular phone industry. Last year, the company’s sales amounted …

JAKARTA, Indonesia—Vodafone New Zealand recently announced the purchase of management rights for 5 megahertz of third-generation (3G) spectrum from TelstraClear. TelstraClear, the new name after a merger between TelstraSaturn, a …

ATLANTA, United States—BellSouth announced it sold its entire stake, or 234.7 million shares, in Dutch telecommunications provider Royal KPN. The sale will give the company an after-tax gain of US$850 …

LONDON—Vivendi Universal signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with a consortium of financial investors led by Citigroup Investments to dispose of its 49-percent stake in Polish company Elektrim Telekomunikacja. Elektrim …

MOSCOW—The biggest Russian carrier, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), placed US$50 million of euro bonds. The MFD-InfoCenter reported that the bonds will mature on 21 December, 2004, and the coupon yield is …

MOSCOW—Belarussian red tape is delaying the launch of the second GSM network by the biggest Russian carrier MTS scheduled for 17 April, and now everything depends on President Alexander Lukashenko. …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—With cell-phone penetration reaching more than 80 percent in some European countries, market researchers have reported a growing tide of opinion to ban the use of mobile phones …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Mobile phones should be equipped with satellite tracking and theft alarms, according to the U.K.-based Design Council. The organization claimed that if cell-phone manufacturers adopt these two examples, …

TOKYO—J-Phone, Vodafone Group’s carrier in Japan, announced that the number of users of J-Phone’s popular mobile photo service exceeded 4 million. J-Phone launched the service with handsets that include built-in …

TOKYO—DDI Pocket, a PHS business unit of KDDI Group and the largest PHS carrier in Japan, will launch a 128 kilobits per second (kbps) packet communications service on 26 March. …

BEIJING—China Mobile Communications reported a net profit of 45.5 billion yuan (US$5.5 billion) for 2001. Its listed subsidiary China Mobile (Hong Kong) said its net profit reached 28 billion yuan …

TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo, the leading mobile carrier in Japan, in the third quarter will launch an experiment for a fourth-generation (4G) mobile service, which will be able to provide 100 Megabits …

NEW DELHI, India—The Bharti Group has bought more than a 26-percent stake from Telia AB in Bharti Mobile, which operates cellular services in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab circles. The …

ATLANTA, United States—Numerex announced it will provide United Telecommunication Services (UTS), official telecommunications company of the Netherlands Antilles, with its patent-pending wireless short message service (SMS) throughout its Caribbean coverage …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—As a result of the Argentine crisis, company Impsat Fiber Networks reached an agreement with its creditors to transfer all its shares to them in exchange for renegotiating …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—In a decision unprecedented in Chile, Telef