Orange plc formed an alliance with Motorola Inc. for a range of devices tailored to the Orange brand that will be available in the second half of the year. The Motorola V500 and V600 handsets will include flip screens, Bluetooth, integrated cameras, full-color browsers, quad-band functionality, Java gaming and photo messaging.
Lucent Technologies Inc. said it has won a multimillion dollar UMTS contract to supply German operator E-Plus with data networking equipment and services to manage and consolidate voice and data traffic.
NTT DoCoMo Inc. and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. released further details and expanded their previously announced agreement to cooperate to develop and promote third-generation W-CDMA services. Under the partnership, the companies will collaborate on handsets, standards, international roaming and radio technology. DoCoMo said the companies will share information on handset development and determine common specifications. In addition, they will focus on 3G standards through the 3G Partnership Project and the Open Mobile Alliance.
Nortel Networks Ltd. reported it is the primary provider of Home Location Register infrastructure for Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s ongoing migration to GSM/GPRS/EDGE technologies. Nortel said the HLR technology is designed to track and manage individual subscriber information that is needed for the network to confirm that callers are valid customers, to route calls and to provision services.
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. launched its VoiceDial voice-activated dialing service on its GSM network, allowing customers to store up to four numbers for up to 2,000 contacts, make multiple calls without redialing #121 and customize the service with personal greetings for $4 per month. AT&T Wireless also announced a deal with Dell Computer Corp. to offer AT&T Wireless Internet plans based on megabyte use to Dell notebook customers.
