LONDON-The Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) announced the establishment of Xpdia, a program designed to encourage industry and government to continue to grow third-generation mobile multimedia services."We are actively supporting start-up wireless content and application developers globally through our New Ventures Program (NVP) because...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—THQ Wireless will develop licensed and unlicensed gaming and entertainment applications for Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications phones, the companies said. THQ will provide both embedded content, as well as downloadable, stand-alone and interactive content for upcoming SEMC phones based on Java and future...
ATLANTA—Intec Telecom Systems announced it has partnered with m-payment solution provider MoreMagic to develop a solution that delivers real-time m-commerce mediation between customers and content.The new technology can: facilitate delivery of content to consumers; provide advice of charge and payment mechanism for content; permit...
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Carriers continue to work to bolster their wireless content offerings, with Hutchison Telecommunications and Globe Telecom announcing new content distribution deals.Hutchison said it will offer financial service updates on BlackBerry devices through a new deal with SmartServ Online Inc.Separately, Philippines carrier Globe...
LONDON—Orange SA said it accepted a UMTS license in Luxembourg following the country's "beauty contest" for licenses, making Orange a new entrant in the market when it launches a UMTS network.Last month, Tele2 said it also won a UMTS license in Luxembourg from the...
TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo Inc. said its Taiwanese partner KG Telecommunications will begin i-mode service on June 20. The operator will launch i-mode services on its GPRS network.Content from about 80 Web sites will be available for a basic monthly fee of $4.95 in addition to...
OXFORD, United Kingdom—In an effort to promote the use of multimedia messaging service (MMS), Vizzavi Deutschland, the wireless portal jointly owned by Vodafone and Vivendi Universal, has requested Alatto Technologies to supply consumer applications that will be delivered via the local Vodafone's MMS offering....
TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo said its Taiwanese partner KG Telecommunications will begin i-mode service on 20 June. The operator will launch i-mode services on its General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network.Content from about 80 Web sites will be available for a basic monthly fee of $4.95...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—MTN South Africa has launched its General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) service, to be available in a trial phase to its contract subscriber base prior to the commercial launch. "When we got the service up and running on more than 95 percent...
LONDON—Network operators need to focus on more than technology availability in order to see an increase in worldwide adoption of wireless services, according to a recent report from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA)."We are still seeing the promotion of technology for technology's sake,"...
JAKARTA, Indonesia—After offering free General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) services since last November, Indonesia's IM3 finally decided to release its GPRS price plan commencing in June.At first, IM3 decided to wait for other operators' price plans and services due to a lack of content...
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Rogers AT&T Wireless customers will now be able to access any Internet content using the carrier's GSM/GPRS network through a new deal between Rogers AT&T and software provider OceanLake Inc.Under the deal, Rogers AT&T will use OceanLake's Mobile Gateway to allow subscribers...
BERNE, Switzerland—Swisscom Mobile said it will begin offering multimedia messaging services on June 3, following MMS launches from Telecom Italia Mobile and Vodafone Telecel in Portugal last week.Swisscom Mobile will provide the service free during its launch phase until the end of September. Beginning...
SUSSEX, U.K.—The Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) said a recently conducted poll of its new Ventures Program members called for more positive thinking in the wireless industry.Major points brought up in the poll were: Industry should focus on developing content consumers want rather than...
JAKARTA, Indonesia—StarHub, Singapore's third-largest mobile operator, said it has enriched content for its General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and short message service (SMS) services with the coming of the 2002 World Cup during June (see related story on World Cup under "Features"). During the...
OXFORD, United Kingdom—A joint venture between Orange and U.K.-based cable operator NTL should soon enable Orange cell-phone users to order digital content and have it downloaded via NTL's broadband connection to their homes. NTL said it is also planning to leverage its relationships with...
TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo Inc. said it will develop next-generation FOMA handsets equipped with a dual browser capable of handling both i-mode-compatible HTML and WAP 2.0-compatible XHTML by the end of this year. The move is expected to make it easier for content providers to supply...
OXFORD, United Kingdom—The continued downturn in mobile communications has caused Benefon and Openmobile, both based in Finland, to close their operations or dramatically restructure their businesses. Benefon, one of the pioneers of mobile terminals, said it is in merger talks with a number of...
NEW YORK—Tele2 said it won a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) license in Luxembourg from the country's Ministry of Telecommunications.Tele2's Luxembourg operator Tango received the most points in the country's "beauty contest" for licenses, in which market newcomer Orange and P&T Luxembourg, also an...
PARIS—French vendor Alcatel said it opened a third-generation center in Taiwan, calling it the first fully functional 3G/UMTS system in Taiwan and the first member of the company's 3G Reality Center program.The Taipei-based 3G Reality Center offers Alcatel and its partners, including local content...
LAUREL, Md.—Sentori Inc. announced it will work with Siemens Netherlands to provide the Sentori 3G Billing and Customer Care software system for Belize Telecommunications Ltd.'s GSM/GPRS network.Sentori's customer management solution is a multi-service billing and customer care network provisioning and mediation platform for voice,...
DENVER—The Wireless Multimedia Forum ceased operations early this year, and its more than 60 members have moved on to work with other standards bodies, including the Third Generation Partnership Project and the Internet Streaming Media Alliance."The WMF will be ending operations shortly," the group's...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Ericsson AB said it will supply Taiwanese operator Chunghwa Telecom with systems integration and content management for its emome mobile portal.Ericsson is offering technology that includes service personalization, communication gateway, content management and common service provisioning.Chunghwa has a 30-percent mobile market share in...
TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo Inc., the leading mobile carrier in Japan, announced its net income for the fiscal year ending March 31 was merely $6.2 million due to large special losses that DoCoMo posted from its overseas investments. DoCoMo posted a total of $6.3 billion in...
