T-Mobile USA Inc. expanded its existing $300 million agreement with Nokia Corp. to include next-generation radio equipment, an expanded GPRS core network, implementation and optimization services and Nokia’s NetAct network service management system. Shipments of the new equipment are expected to begin immediately. “Nokia equipment, software and services will ensure that we have the capacity and the capabilities to provide a consistent and reliable experience for our growing customer base,” said Tim Wong, executive vice president and chief technology officer at T-Mobile USA.
Telenor Mobile Interactive and ABC News said they launched a premium text-messaging alert service that will give mobile consumers major breaking news and political news updates on their mobile phones. The companies said AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and T-Mobile USA Inc. have agreed to roll out the service in the United States. The service will cost subscribers $2 per month per service in addition to standard text-messaging costs, said the company.
Qualcomm Inc. said it has upgraded its CDMA2000 1x EV-DO software for its CSM5500 cell site modem to support such applications as high-quality video delivery, video telephony, instant multimedia chat or interactive 3D network gaming. Qualcomm describes the enhancement as the first cellular technology to support quality of service and multicast, which enables a “single Internet source to send data, such as video, simultaneously to multiple users who subscribe to the service.” The company said it takes advantage of existing infrastructure without new hardware.
Nokia Corp. and carrier IDEA Cellular Ltd. said they jointly demonstrated live multimedia services over an EDGE network with speeds on an average three times faster than data services delivered over GPRS. “Our network is 100-percent EDGE compatible and we are fully ready to launch this next generation service in Delhi,” said Vikram Mehmi, chief executive officer at IDEA.
