Italy's Communications Minister Antonio Maccanico was reported in foreign press as saying the country may engage in yet another auction for a fourth mobile phone license, possibly before the end of the year.Maccanico said the growth rate for the mobile phone industry in Italy...
British Telecommunications plc announced plans to acquire a 23.49 percent stake in South Korean mobile operator LG Telecom.The company said it will spend about $392.1 million for the stake. BT said the acquisition is in line with its commitment to the Asia Pacific region....
Wildfire Communications Inc. announced Bell Mobility of Canada will become the first telecom service provider to offer the Network Wildfire personal assistant service commercially.The limited market launch is expected to begin Sept. 16 to Bell Mobility's 1.7 million subscribers in the Toronto area. The...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The licensing of two additional cellular carriers in South Africa will represent the biggest opportunity for black empowerment in Africa-and for some, the last chance to become involved in the vibrant telecommunications market here.When the Department of Communications issues tender invitations later...
The Italian government named the Wind consortium the winning bidder for the country's third mobile phone license, bringing to a close a tender process that began in the fall of 1996.The Ministry of Communications made the announcement June 10, the day its adviser, Italian...
The Italian government said it plans to award the license for a third mobile phone service later this month.A spokeswoman for the communication regulatory agency said it expects to finish assessing the three bids by June 10 and likely name a winner by June...
NEW YORK-Americel S.A., a Brazilian cellular carrier that launched commercial service in December, was expected last week to place privately a $300 million debt issue to help fund its network deployment.Brasilia-based Americel paid $297 million as the sole bidder for a 15-year renewable concession...
The auction of personal communications services licenses in Mexico's nine bidding regions was completed May 8, officially liberalizing the much sought-after wireless market there and raking in $1.06 billion after 128 rounds.Mexico's PCS auction was modeled after the spectrum-auction process in the United States....
ARGENTINAU.S.-based DSC Communications Corp. announced it signed an agreement with Movicom to deliver and deploy its CTC421 Intelligent Digital Trunk Optimizer for expanding the carrier's network capacity.BOLIVIASR Telecom Inc. of Canada has been awarded contracts valued at about US$12 million by Entel S.A. and...
ROME-Three consortia have submitted bids for Italy's third mobile phone license, due to be awarded mid-year.Two of the bids were expected for some time. Picienne-a consortium led by the Italian TV broadcasting company Mediaset and British Telecommunications plc-and Wind-comprised of Italian electric utility company...
LONDON-Cable & Wireless plc plans to sell its 22.3-percent stake in OCCEL, which provides wireless services in the western region of Colombia, to a subsidiary of Bell Canada International Inc. for $98 million in cash."This disposal is in line with our strategy of focus...
NEW YORK-Citing unfavorable market conditions, Colombia's largest cellular carrier, Celumovil S.A., has postponed indefinitely its plans to go public.Celumovil's decision has not, however, altered plans by another local carrier, Occidente y Caribe Celular-doing business as Occel Celular S.A.-to sell 62 percent of its stock...
TRANSCRYPT INTERNATIONALTranscrypt International Inc. named Craig Huffaker senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Huffaker's 20 years of financial management experience include 12 years as CFO for publicly traded companies. Huffaker, a certified public accountant, most recently was CFO of TIE Communications.CellStar...
MONTREAL-Bell Canada International Inc. announced that its consortium Shandong Bell launched cellular service in Weifang, a city in the Chinese province of Shandong with a population of 5 million.The new service builds on the November launch in the city of Jinan, the capital of...
Brazil edged nearer to its stated goal of liberalizing its telecom industry when the Canadian-Brazilian consortium Americel S.A. became the first private mobile phone operator to compete against the state-owned carrier Telebras.Americel launched its digital cellular mobile phone system in the city of Brasilia,...
MONTREAL-More than 1,000 customers signed up on the first day of Bell Canada International's launch of a new mobile cellular network Jinan, the capital of the Chinese province of Shandong.The new network uses Global System for Mobile communications technology and builds on the existing...
SHELTON, Conn.-Engineering and Business Systems Inc., a global intelligent network telecommunications middleware and products provider, announced its merger with NewNet, an advanced wireless solutions provider.The joint company, called NewNet, named former EBS Vice President and General Manager Dilip Singh its president. Singh will focus...
Unless there is court action, a government shutdown or some cataclysmic event, the auction of C-block broadband personal communications services licenses is scheduled to begin today.Thirteen bidders have made double-digit, multimillion dollar upfront payments, indicating the seriousness with which some are approaching the opportunity....
MONTREAL, Quebec-A consortium formed by Bell Canada International and the Tata Group of India has been offered a license by the government of India to provide cellular telephony services using Global System for Mobile communications technology in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Bell Canada...
Despite intensifying doubt regarding the outlook for entrepreneurial block personal communications services auctions, AirGate LLC of Atlanta announced it intends to bid for licenses in the C block.AirGate is a start-up venture formed to enter the PCS market, through a unit called AirLink, and...
