February 2003

CHANTILLY, Va.-Wireless interoperability company InphoMatch said T-Mobile customers in the United Kingdom will now be able to send text messages to non-GSM wireless subscribers in the United States. InphoMatch manages …

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif.-Debisys Inc. said it has entered into a partnership agreement with Cellular One Bermuda to provide its turnkey processing technology for Cellular One’s prepaid service offering. Financial terms …

CANNES, France-The Open Mobile Alliance standards body said it completed two interoperability tests in conjunction with the 3GSM World Congress, and that it approved two new sets of specifications. The …

CANNES, France-Wireless device maker Handspring Inc. said it will integrate Action Engine’s software management tools into its line of Treo mobile phone/personal digital assistants. “Providing simplified device management that ensures …

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -National Semiconductor Corp. said it will cut 500 jobs from the company’s worldwide 10,000 workforce as part of its plan to save cost and reach profitability. “The …

Matsushita Electric Industries, the leading consumer electronics company in Japan, has launched an experiment of a cashless train riding system in Hokkaido, a Northern Island in Japan. For the month-long …

ORLAND PARK, Ill.-Andrew Corp.’s wireless and in-building products group has developed a multi-band wireless infrastructure that gives commuters wireless phone reception in the 30 tunnels along the new Inter-City Express …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission Thursday opposed Chairman Michael Powell’s deregulation plan that would lift the network-sharing requirement except in the most sparsely populated rural areas. The majority of the commission …

CANNES, France-With the infrastructure market continuing to remain in the doldrums, most of the major infrastructure vendors are turning to ‘managed services’ as a fresh source of urgently needed revenue. …

CANNES, France-Operators and vendors alike expressed a quiet optimism for the upcoming year as the GSM community gathered for its annual global meeting last week in the south of France. …

BEIJING-Fixed-line carrier China Netcom plans to launch its Little Smart or ‘xiaolingtong’ service in selected areas of China’s capital Beijing in May, using UTStarcom equipment. Netcom plans to install 30 …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The Mozambique Transport and Communications Minister Tomas Salomao has lashed out at claims that the government is placing pressure on the publicly owned telecommunications company, TDM, and its …

JAKARTA, Indonesia-After launching multimedia messaging services in August last year, Singapore’s MobileOne (M1) asked its subsidiary Wireless Intellect Labs to boost the use of MMS among MobileOne customers by delivering …

TOKYO-Netvillage, a Tokyo-based venture, on 17 February announced it plans to provide remote mail technologies to Linkage Technology in China. China Mobile, the leading mobile carrier in China, in June …

TOKYO-The number of Japanese mobile handset shipments in 2002 numbered 405 million units, a 20.2-percent decrease from a year ago, according to statistics compiled by Japan Electronics and Information Technology …

CANNES, France-TSI Telecom Services Inc. said it has launched GSM network transport and conversion services known as SCCP gateway services and has signed up Japanese carrier J-Phone as its first …

HOUSTON-Crown Castle International Corp. said it will pay the quarterly dividend on its 12 3/4-percent senior exchangeable preferred stock on March 17 to holders of record as of March 1. …

CANNES, France-The GSM Association announced its new board members and said it will now position itself as a global trade organization for the mobile industry, focused on a high-profile series …

CANNES, France-The Mobile Communications Department of the Institut Eurecom announced the release of UMTS TDD software under a GNU public license developed within the PLATON platform, an open platform that …

CANNES, France-United Kingdom-based mobile operator MmO2 plc said its is considering using EDGE technology on its U.K. network due to continued delays in the availability of W-CDMA technology, which the …

CANNES, France-Asian carrier SmarTone Mobile Communications Ltd. will offer wireless e-mail services through a new partnership with ViAir, the companies announced. Under the deal, SmarTone will offer an “e-mail on …

CANNES, France-ICQ, an instant messaging and online community owned by America Online Inc., announced it is working with wireless carriers across the world to extend its services to mobile users. …

CANNES, France-The 2003 GSM Association Awards were presented this week in conjunction with the 3GSM World Congress being held in Cannes, France. In the technology innovation category, Sharp Corp. won …

LEAWOOD, Kansas-Electronic payments provider Euronet Worldwide Inc. will acquire E-pay Ltd., an electronic payment processor of prepaid mobile airtime top-up services in the United Kingdom and Australia. Euronet currently supports …

PHILADELPHIA-BellSouth Corp. asked an appeals court to overturn a ruling voiding a clause in current Vice Chairman Gary Forsee’s employment contract that would make it easier for him to accept …