Austria
Austrian mobile operator Mobilkom Austria launched wireless packet data service using a GPRS core network infrastructure solution provided by Nortel Networks through its local distributor, Austria Telecommunication GmbH. Nortel said the GPRS core network is the first in commercial service to support interoperability with radio base station equipment from multiple suppliers.
Malaysia
Lucent Technologies Inc. will trial GPRS wireless communications technology with Malaysia’s Celcom. Lucent said the GPRS technology it is supplying to Celcom’s GSM network will be a critical component of Celcom’s circuit-switched voice network’s ability to carry Internet Protocol packet data.
Japan
Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo reported its i-mode wireless Internet access service surpassed 10 million subscribers and is attracting new subscribers at a rate of 40,000-50,000 per day. When initially launched in February 1999, NTT predicted i-mode would have 10 million subscribers by its third year. Keji Tachikawa, president of NTT, recently said he now expects 17 million subscribers by the end of March 2001.
Hong Kong
SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings Ltd. selected products from Redback Networks Inc. to help manage customers using Redback’s broadband access services, SmarTone said. Under terms of the agreement, the Redback Subscriber Management System will be deployed into SmarTone’s local multipoint distribution services network. “We will deploy the Redback SMS to provision all users in the buildings we expect to connect in the coming two years,” said Stephen Chau, chief technology officer at SmarTone.
Taiwan
Taiwan’s state-owned Chunghwa Telecom plans to auction 3 percent of its shares at a minimum price of $3.36 per share. The sale, to take place this month, is the first step in the company’s privatization. Chunghwa Telecom operates Taiwan’s largest mobile service, with 3.66 million subscribers.
