CHINAUnder a new deal, Comverse Technology Inc. will provide short messaging service, cell broadcasting and expanded voice mail to Chinese mobile operator Heilongjiang Mobile Communications Co. Ltd. Comverse will also provide a variety of value-added services, including text messages, mobile banking and location-based services....
LISBON, Portugal-Portugal's Institute for Communications of Portugal awarded four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses.The license winners are the country's three incumbent mobile carriers-TMN, owned by Portugal Telecom; Telecel, majority owned by Vodafone Group plc; and Optimus, in which France Telecom has a stake. The...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-2000 marked the year GSM fully made its way into the Latin American market.The first cellular networks were installed in Latin America during the late 1980s, with AMPS analog technology. Later, the majority migrated to TDMA and CDMA equipment, following the Northern...
Only a year ago, prospects for the GSM standard in Latin America seemed dim. At that time, Chile's Entel PCS and Venezuela's rural operator Infonet were the only operators offering GSM-based services in Latin America, and only a handful of other operators in Bolivia...
The millennium is off to a good start for Vodafone Group.The U.K.-based carrier began 2000 with a hostile takeover of Mannesmann, parent of its rival Orange, and continued with a spending spree for third-generation (3G) licenses across Europe. The year also marked the finalization...
AirNetUnited States. With MBO for a GPRS system.Value: UndisclosedAlcatelGambia. With Gamtel for a turnkey GSM network to be installed in the greater Banjul area.Value: UndisclosedPortugal. With TMN for a high speed mobile data service on its GPRS commercial network.Value: UndisclosedPortugal. With TMN for UMTS technology in the...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-In a surprise announcement, the Swedish government awarded four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses on Dec. 16, dismissing a proposal from Telia, the country's current mobile leader. Sweden's other two incumbent operators, NetCom and Europolitan, won licenses through a "beauty contest," along with...
BRUSSELS, Belgium-KPN Mobile will acquire 50 percent of Belgium operator KPN Orange Belgium from France Telecom for $443.5 million, giving KPN 100-percent ownership.France Telecom had to divest its KPN Orange ownership, which it acquired through its acquisition of Orange plc earlier this year, to...
Chris Gent has had quite a year.For the chief executive of Vodafone Group plc, 2000 began with a hostile takeover of Mannesmann AG, parent of its rival Orange plc, and continued with a spending spree for third-generation licenses across Europe. The year also marked...
PORT-LOUIS, Mauritius-Mauritius Telecom said France Telecom will take a 40-percent stake in the currently state-owned operator for $261 million. The Mauritian government will retain 40 percent, and the state Bank of Mauritius will hold the other 20 percent.Mauritius Telecom owns 70 percent of Cellplus,...
PARIS-Equant and France Telecom's Global One announced they will merge, forming a company with about 3,700 large business customers and pro forma annualized revenues of up to $3 billion.The complicated merger includes a number of transactions: Equant will acquire Global One's data business; France Telecom...
BUCHAREST, Romania-Although most of the third-generation (3G) licensing attention in Europe is focused on Western Europe, Eastern European countries are also moving forward with licensing plans. The region, with lower wireless penetration rates than many Western European countries and improving economies, promises to hold...
ROME-The results of the Italian third-generation license auction are unfortunate for the Italian government and British Telecommunications plc, while most opportune for the five companies that have unofficially won licenses at prices much lower than anticipated.After just two days of bidding among six mobile...
ROME-The Italian auction for five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses began last Thursday. Italy is Europe's largest cell-phone market, with six groups participating in the auction process, which is expected to raise around $21 billion.The German UMTS auction, which ended in August, drew nearly...
LONDON-France Telecom and Orange said they will delay the initial public offering of Orange until early 2001. The Orange IPO originally was scheduled to launch by the end of the year."The process of combining the mobile assets of France Telecom with Orange to create...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-The developers of third-generation (3G) infrastructure technology are complaining that mobile operators, which have spent billions acquiring licenses, are demanding heavy discounts on equipment deals.The major manufacturers are saying big pan-European operators are running parallel negotiations with up to six bidders and...
WASHINGTON-The multi-agency government panel that will be responsible for assessing national security implications of Deutsche Telekom AG's $56 billion purchase of VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and other future telecom mergers involving foreign buyers was sharply criticized by congressional investigators in a little-noticed report two months...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Although cellular telephony client bases doubled last year in Uruguay and Paraguay, at this point it seems only Paraguay will be able to achieve this objective again in 2000.Uruguay's strong cellular growth has slowed during the year, with a lack of competition...
BANGALORE, India-Although the Indian cellular industry is growing quite well, with the country's cumulative cellular subscriber base at 2.18 million at the end of June, operators are still hesitant to expand coverage outside high-density population centers.When the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) originally divided the...
DenmarkTele2 entered an agreement with Sonofon to become a mobile virtual network operator (VNO) in Denmark. Sonofon is the first operator to open its networks to mobile VNOs, according to Tele2's parent company, NetCom.FinlandSonera said it is in talks about a merger or partnership...
In a surprise ending, six groups walked away with Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in Germany at a total cost of $45.85 billion, the largest amount raised yet in a third-generation spectrum auction, hitting the ceiling of most analyst predictions.Each of the winners-Deutsche Telekom...
Bids in the German auction of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses have jumped substantially during week two, with the total bid amount standing at around $22 billion at the end of nine days and 115 rounds. The price tag thus far is nearly 65...
Alcatel supplied European wireless operators France Telecom Mobiles, Mobistar and Dutchtone a solution that will allow their customers to continue making or receiving calls on their prepaid mobile phones when they are traveling abroad. Alcatel said the services are delivered using its intelligent network...
MILAN, Italy-Italian communications group Tiscali is said to be looking for a partner for its consortium to bid for a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System license in Italy later this year. Deutsche Telekom AG and Hutchison Whampoa were cited in international press reports as possible...
