TOKYO-Softbank, Microsoft and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced they will establish a joint company to provide wireless access line services.According to the announcement, the new joint company will provide the wireless service at a speed of 1 Megabyte per second (Mbps) for individual...
TOKYO-While operators and venders successfully found a way to interconnect two different systems for third-generation services, NTT DoCoMo and its vendors are now gearing up to develop equipment for wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA).NTT DoCoMo in April selected a total of 11 3G vendors, including three foreign...
TrunkingThe radio trunking handset base registered growth of 200 percent from 1 April 1998 to 31 March 1999, reaching 12,000 in the 25 cities where public mobile radio trunked service (PMRTS) is operational. This number is up from a mere 4,000 subscribers in the...
What we see today as third-generation technology has nothing to do with what 3G will be, predicts Carlos Hirsch of Iusacell, a CDMA cellular operator and PCS licensee in Mexico."3G is now presented as the big bandwidths' hero-2 Megabits per second Internet browsing. And...
After months of denying any plans to sell its wireless handset division, Qualcomm is publicly relenting to the pressures of severe competition from Asia and the likes of Nokia and Motorola."With increased competition, parts shortages and industry consolidation reducing margins in consumer products, Qualcomm...
WHEATON, Maryland, United States-To succeed in wireless e-commerce, companies will have to invest in applications that have no pre-existing equivalent, according to "Wireless E-Commerce: Building Blocks for Success," a new study compiled by Herschel Shosteck Associates.Jane Zweig, executive vice president of Herschel Shosteck Associates, said...
DUBLIN, Ireland-There has been much debate over the future of satellite-based communications. Indeed, regular readers of the financial press might wonder if it has any future in the new millennium as they follow stories of operational difficulties, disappointing subscriber figures and financial restructuring and...
BANGALORE, India-Paging operators in India are optimistic. Optimistic they have always been. However, having burnt their fingers once, this time around they are not expected to make wrong predictions, especially in terms of subscriber growth.The Indian paging industry plunged into a deep crisis last...
While Motorola's Woody Ritchey admitted that, at the time of Telecom '95, the company did have cellular infrastructure architecture that included Internet Protocol (IP), it was only at the drawing board stage. "We were not talking publicly about IP at the exhibition, and neither...
When the clocks roll over at midnight on 31 December, the world will usher in not only a new century, but a new paradigm in the way people communicate.What took decades to build in developed countries-a telecommunications infrastructure-will take a matter of months or...
Several global telecommunications players announced alliances or considerations for mergers during the last few weeks.AT&T and British Telecom announced a strategic alliance designed to create seamless mobile communications services worldwide.AT&T's and BT's new alliance, named Advance, will provide a new mobile global account services...
Just four years ago, no one knew the Web's popularity would be so explosive. Today, vendors and carriers are realizing its power and are crafting networks around it as they move into the third generation and beyond."Even in 1995, people didn't think the Internet...
WASHINGTON-Reps. Thomas Davis (R-Va.) and James Moran (D-Va.) last week introduced legislation to foster nondiscriminatory telecommunications access to federal government buildings, bolstering competitive prospects for fixed wireless carriers.The bill mirrors one introduced in June by Sens. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), Byron Dorgan...
After months of denying any plans to sell its wireless handset division, Qualcomm Inc. is publicly relenting to the pressures of severe competition from Asia and the likes of Nokia Mobile Phones and Motorola Inc."With increased competition, parts shortages and industry consolidation reducing margins...
Glenayre Technologies Inc. released more details of its worldwide restructuring plan last week, saying the effort will result in a 20-percent work force reduction and expected annualized operating cost savings of up to $20 million.According to Eric Doggett,Glenayre president and chief executive officer, most...
NEW YORK-Bell Atlantic Corp. confirmed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Sept. 13 its engagement in discussions to forge a mobile telephony alliance with Vodafone AirTouch plc.Bell Atlantic at first refused to comment on this possibility when the British carrier acknowledged the negotiations...
WASHINGTON-After last year's PCS show was largely disrupted by Hurricane Georges, Jay Kitchen, president of the Personal Communications Industry Association, said he's been assured this year's show will not be a repeat performance.The list of speakers at Personal Communications Showcase '99, set to begin...
Official dollar losses from wireless fraud have decreased significantly in the past several years, but whether that means the wireless industry is truly winning its war against fraud is a matter of debate.Tom McClure, vice president for wireless fraud and security at the Cellular...
A number of Internet sites have popped up in recent months offering side-by-side wireless services pricing comparison and purchasing. But some are evolving to become much more.The wireless industry soon could see a total of eight to 10 Web sites offering consumers the ability...
The U.S. cellular adoption level is fast approaching 30 percent-not bad. However, it's also a long way from the penetration rates we see in Europe, particularly in the benchmark countries of Scandinavia.Will the United States match Finland with a 69-percent penetration rate any time...
In 1989, I started my career in wireless as an outside sales rep for Metro Mobile (which would later become part of Bell Atlantic Corp.) in my hometown of Columbia, S.C. Those were the heady days of thousand-dollar telephones, $3 per-day roaming fees, 3-watt...
International joint ventures formed by manufacturing concerns, and the failure rates of these companies, have been well-documented over the years. The pioneering efforts of telecommunications service providers from developed countries, which have formed joint ventures to provide both goods and services in emerging markets,...
TOKYO-Softbank, Microsoft Corp. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced in August they will establish a joint company to provide wireless access line services.According to the announcement, the new joint company will provide the wireless service at a speed of 1 Megabyte per second...
Three quarters of the way into 1999, we are inundated with good news from many of the wireless carriers showing record numbers of new customers added to their networks. These numbers are impressive and, in spite of local resistance to towers and the controversy...
