TOKYO-An NTT laboratory is gearing up its efforts to develop Advanced Wireless Access (AWA), a next-generation wireless system that will enable users to access data at a speed of up to 36 Megabits per second (Mbps).NTT Network Service Systems Laboratories in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The new cellular strategy of Mohamed Ibrahim, telecom leader and chief executive officer of Mobile Systems International Cellular Investment Holdings (MSI Cellular), includes a plan to create a pan-African wireless network covering the whole of Africa from Cape Town, South Africa, to...
Motorola and SkyTel announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand two-way wireless communications solutions to Latin America. In particular, SkyTel said it will make Motorola's PageWriter 2000X two-way pager available in Latin American markets. The pagers previously were available only in...
TOKYO-Three Japanese carrier groups are gearing up their efforts to launch IMT-2000 services-earlier than any other wireless carriers in the world. The three players are NTT DoCoMo Group, Japan Telecom (JT) Group and DDI Group.NTT DoCoMo plans to be the first carrier in the...
TEL AVIV, Israel-In a country like Israel where the number of mobile phone lines surpasses fixed lines (2.9 million compared with 2.8 million), where there's intense competition among the three carriers and churn is high (sometimes 60 percent), and where price is less and...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-With four operators competing nationwide, Chile boasts a wireless client base that grew 175 percent during 1999, thanks to the implementation of calling party pays. CPP also has facilitated a wireless-penetration rate that is now almost 15 percent.When CPP was launched in...
International roaming is a key selling point for all three digital cellular standards. The GSM community in particular often claims that roaming capability is not only a prime factor in the widespread acceptance of GSM but also a reason for its introduction in the...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-A change in the Argentine cellular telephony scene will take place in April when the current regional duopoly model is replaced by national competition among four operators.In April, Telefonica Unifon, CTI M
HandsetsPhilipsPhilips introduced several new handsets. The Ozeo GSM dual-band mobile phone offers a new user interface and a large LCD display with five text lines. The carousel icon screen feature simultaneously displays up to five visual icons representing the phone's functions and features. The...
CANNES, France and HANNOVER, Germany-Visitors at the ever-expanding GSM World Congress, held in February in Cannes, France, could have mistaken the huge exhibition as focusing exclusively on Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). For the second year running, it appeared almost every exhibitor had a WAP...
DUBLIN, Ireland-The news that Mannesmann has conceded defeat in its battle with Vodafone AirTouch merely underlines the momentum behind consolidation in the European mobile communications industry. However, few observers appear concerned at the concentration of market power in the hands of a relatively small...
WASHINGTON-The ability of law enforcement to tap into telephone calls made over digital networks-either wired or wireless-is of such national security importance that the Department of Defense will reimburse the Department of Justice $120 million if President Clinton's fiscal year 2001 budget outline is...
AmikaNow!, an artificial intelligence solutions provider for wireless Internet services, unveiled a line of plug-in products for Microsoft Outlook 2000, as well as an online service called AmikaFreedom.com.AmikaFreedom and AmikaWisdom are e-mail management and wireless messaging solutions that use artificial intelligence to recognize keywords...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Foreign investment in South America's Southern Cone telecommunications sector has increased during the past decade thanks to new globalization, privatization and liberalization politics in the region. International investors, including a heavy U.S. contingent, have increased their presence in the region most recently...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The Regional African Satellite Communications Organization project to build a dedicated satellite system for Africa is close to becoming a reality. The first of the system's two satellites is scheduled to be launched in fourth-quarter 2002, according to news released at the...
TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo's iMode Internet service is winning attention around the world as the first success case for mobile Internet.Since the carrier launched the service in February 1999, it has attracted more than 2.8 million users. Subscribers are expected to reach 4 million by March...
With the Federal Communications Commission's Phase II enhanced 911 compliance deadline quickly approaching, U.S. cellular and personal communications services carriers actively are evaluating systems for locating 911 callers. Because they also need to increase customer loyalty and revenue per subscriber, carriers are assessing whether...
BOSTON-Continued consolidation, emerging location-based services, mobile-commerce applications, as well as new marriages between communication, entertainment and Internet players, will be the defining market trends during the next five years, according to Strategy Analytics' latest report, "U.S. Cellular Market Forecast.""1999 was another banner year for...
WOBURN, Mass.-Boston Communications Group Inc., a provider of prepaid services to wireless carriers in North and South America, is offering a discounted wireless prepaid solution to new members of the Rural Cellular Association.According to BCGI, the Prepaid Connection was created so carriers in small...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-As President Clinton stated in his Economic Forum speech, "The United States is unambiguously committed to open markets and trade as the best engine we know of to lift living standards, reduce environmental destruction and build shared prosperity."Space station technology was spawned...
WASHINGTON-At the same time the wireless industry was telling Congress and the Federal Communications Commission that it could not deploy enhanced 911 without liability protection, it was developing and implementing wireless arbitration rules designed to keep wireless carriers out of court.Congress bought the industry's...
DALLAS-Specialty manufacturer Dallas Semiconductor Corp. announced its latest battery-management chip, which significantly reduces the size and cost of battery electronics.According to the company, the DS2438 Smart Battery Monitor makes battery-management features formerly relegated to high-end systems cost-effective for a variety of portable products. The...
BellSouth Corp. said last week it could issue a tracking stock for its highly successful Latin American operations by late April or early May, a move that will allow investors to more accurately value the company's international assets.BellSouth's Latin American business consists of properties...
CANNES, France-At odds with some in the wireless industry, the keynote speaker at the GSM World Congress 2000 is not a proponent of convergence. In fact, Keith McCurdy, chief executive officer of Experts-Exchange.com, said convergence is not happening and wireless professionals should promote moving...
