If all goes as planned, Iridium L.L.C.'s vision of a global wireless phone network-based on a constellation of 66 low-earth-orbit satellites interconnected to several terrestrial-based networks-will begin commercial service on 23 September.While the company continues to put the finishing touches on the satellite network,...
Chances are slim to none that U.S. mobile phone operators will agree on one standard for the next generation of mobile phone services.Already fragmented with three different digital standards-cdmaOne, TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile communications)-the United States is...
L.M. EricssonArgentina. With Telecom Personal to expand its D-AMPS/AMPS network.Value: up to US$77 millionArgentina. With Telefonica Comunicaciones Personales to expand its D-AMPS IS-136/AMPS network.Value: US$45 millionBosnia. With PTT Bosnia and Herzegovina for 30,000 GSM mobile lines (and fixed equipment).Value: US$59 millionChile. With CTC-Startel for expanding its D-AMPS...
BEIJING-In its latest proposal to gain entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO), China offered on 24 July to open gradually its paging and mobile phone operating services to foreign competition. Currently, foreign companies only are allowed to engage in manufacturing of telecommunications equipment,...
BEIJING-China Telecom announced it signed up its 20 millionth mobile phone customer, a police officer named Zhang Qinghua in the scenic city of Hangzhou, at precisely 8: 45 a.m. on 18 August. In the first half of the year, China Telecom signed up 5.45 million...
JERUSALEM, Israel-In the southern town of Ashkelon stands a larger-than-life black marble grave stone that is as much a monument to the teenager buried in the plot as it is to the cell phone he loved to cradle: the stone, in fact, is a replica...
The first GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) network in Zambia is scheduled to be commercial at the end of October. At its launch, Zambia will join more than 20 African countries that have GSM networks.The new operator, Zamcell, is a joint venture of...
The Australian Communications Authority has invited applications for an auction of previously unsold 800 MHz and 1.8 GHz PCS spectrum.Bids closed on 31 August for the partial privatization of Telekom Austria. The Austrian government is looking to sell a 25-percent stake in the company,...
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...
WASHINGTON-The Canadian wireless industry, which slowed considerably last year because of marketplace confusion about PCS (Personal Communications Services)/cellular technology and pricing, appears to have sorted things out and returned to a fast-growth track in 1998.The two new players, which offer PCS, and the two...
Chile's Undersecretary of Telecommunications Juanita Gana announced mobile phone carriers no longer can force subscribers to sign long-term contracts, according to an article in El Diario. Until now carrier contracts have been for between 12 and 24 months.Ericsson Radio Systems announced it bought telecommunications...
DUBLIN, Ireland-The number of new phone manufacturers and the introduction of GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) handset design packages have lead to a proliferation of new handsets. However, there already have been casualties, and it seems inevitable that other manufacturers will be forced...
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.-Rockwell Semiconductor Systems last week introduced its first chipset using Code Division Multiple Access technology.The chipset is an integrated radio-frequency subsystem for CDMA that also supports Advanced Mobile Phone Service analog cellular phones. The chipset can be used in single-mode CDMA applications,...
WASHINGTON-The third-generation wireless debate took a dramatic turn last week as a key Clinton administration official questioned whether the United States should follow Europe's lead in allocating massive 3G spectrum, and an industry schism erupted that could have Motorola Inc. going its own way.Motorola,...
L.M. Ericsson head Sven-Christer Nilsson told the Japanese press late last week his company will continue negotiations with Qualcomm Inc. and said it is ready to reach some form of compromise over intellectual property rights to third-generation technology.Ericsson spokeswoman Kathy Egan said the company...
The CDMA Development Group formed an interest group within the CDG that will focus on Latin America. The CDG said the interest group builds on the success of similar organizations within the CDG. Other interest groups focus on the Asia Pacific region and wireless...
WASHINGTON-In perhaps the strongest signal to date of congressional concern about U.S. global competitiveness in the future third-generation mobile phone market, Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) pressed the Clinton administration to outline the steps it is taking to ensure American technology is not snubbed by...
SAO PAULO, Brazil-Qualcomm do Brasil S.A., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Inc., announced a new Qualcomm phone manufacturing facility in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with initial manufacturing capacity of about 300,000 phones per year.Qualcomm said the facility will begin producing Code Division Multiple Access dual-mode handsets...
The industry's first cellular phone manufacturer has become another casualty of the highly competitive handset business. Oki Telecom Inc. has ceased manufacturing, sales and marketing all mobile phones in the United States.Suwanee, Ga.-based Oki was a pioneer in the cellular handset industry. Involved with...
CELWAVECelwave introduced a new antenna and amplifier. The Celwave Optimizer, a log periodic dipole antenna, has continuous adjustment of electrical downtilt with the turn of a dial. With an electrical downtilt of zero to 14 degrees, one Optimizer operates over a frequency range of...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. licensed Acer Peripherals Inc. of Taiwan to develop, manufacture and sell subscriber products based on its Code Division Multiple Access technology.Terms of the multimillion-dollar, royalty-bearing agreement allow API to make products for cdmaOne wireless applications, including cellular, personal communications services and...
The first half of this year has produced several landscape-changing events in the wireless industry. If completed, the proposed mergers between SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. and Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp. could put several significant cellular markets up for grabs by...
