BANGLADESH
Siemens AG said it has signed a $41 million contract with state-owned carrier BTTB to set up a mobile network in the key districts of the country, including Dhaka, the capital city. The technology will be GSM/GPRS, according to Siemens. The German vendor said initially it will deliver and install base stations, switching systems, microwave technology and GPRS components around the country, although most of the supplies will be around the capital city. “We have huge demand for BTTB mobile, and we will build a network of 1 million subscribers in the shortest possible time,” said Nurul Islam, chairman of BTTB.
SINGAPORE
MobileOne in Singapore has awarded Nokia a W-CDMA contract to supply equipment and services for the third phase of its third-generation rollout. The value of the contract was not disclosed. The network launch is scheduled for the second half of 2004. “M1 is on schedule to meet regulatory obligations to deliver an operational W-CDMA network in Singapore by end of 2004,” said Neil Montefiore, chief executive officer of M1. Nokia is the sole network supplier for M1’s W-CDMA network.
RUSSIA
Alcatel Corp. signed a contract with regional Russian operator CJSC Nizhegorodskaya Cellular Communication to extend the operator’s GSM network. The value of the deal was not disclosed. The project, set to be completed in August, will provide high service quality to the carrier’s 500,000 subscribers in the Privolzhsky Federal region. The contract complements a previous one won in March.
SWEDEN Nordic operator TeliaSonera said it will delist from the U.S. Nasdaq Stock Market due to low trading volumes. The company is also listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and the Helsinki Exchanges. Only 0.3 percent of the company’s traded volume in 2003 was on the Nasdaq compared with 91.8 percent in Stockholm and 7.9 percent in Helsinki.
