Unity is something more easily achieved as a goal rather than a reality. Let's face it: It's difficult to agree.Ask a husband and wife where they would like to spend this summer's vacation, and you are likely to get two different answers. Ask two siblings...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Voice-Stream Wireless Corp. launched its Global System for Mobile communications-based personal communications services network in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., market.VoiceStream bought the infrastructure from Sprint PCS, after Sprint PCS|announced it would shut down its GSM network.
CANCUN, Mexico-The big push to interoperate GSM and TDMA standards is well under way, allowing customers using either standard to roam around the world and giving U.S. TDMA operators a breath of life in their ongoing struggle with CDMA carriers for domestic market share.The...
Dear Editor,In writing in the April 24 issue on the absurdly high bids for U.K. 3G licenses, "U.K. Prices: Up, up and away," RCR states: "But the United Kingdom's four incumbents must win a license at any cost. If they lose, they face destroyed...
ChileNexus Telocation Systems Ltd. formed a joint-venture company in Chile to deploy communication and location services. The new company, Ubinet Telecom S.A., will offer two-way messaging, car and personal location services and home security applications. "The quality of the shareholders, the technology of Nexus...
On the heels of press reports that the British government soon will require mobile phones to carry health warnings, a Swedish team of medical investigators released findings from a new study that resurrects concerns about links between brain tumors and cellular phones.In the report,...
WASHINGTON-Even with President Clinton's decision last week to dramatically improve global positioning system accuracy for civilians, vendors that offer a network-based E911 solution say their products are still valid.Meanwhile, mobile-phone carriers remain tight-lipped about which location-based wireless technology they will choose to meet enhanced...
WASHINGTON-Worldwide cellular and personal communications services handset sales reached 96 million in the fourth quarter of 1999, led by Nokia Corp. with 27 percent of the global market share, according to analysis done by The Strategis Group.For the year, cellular/PCS handset sales rocketed to...
BulgariaKPN Telecom and Greece's Ote raised their offer to US$600 million for a 51-percent stake in Bulgarian Telecommunications Co. The companies previously offered US$510 million, Reuters reported. If the purchase is successful, KPN and Ote will acquire 51 percent of Mobikom and 100 percent...
In March 1999, when Ericsson and Qualcomm ended their intellectual-property-rights deadlock over CDMA patents and jointly agreed to support approval in standards bodies of the tri-mode CDMA third-generation standard, industry observers said the technology debate, which had been contentious and heated for years, was...
DUBLIN, Ireland-After decades of tight state control, Eastern European telecommunications markets are waking up to the reality of telecommunications liberalization.But even though many of these countries accept that liberalization will have to proceed more rapidly, the process is not without frustrations for potential new...
CAIRO, Egypt-Orascom Telecom (OT), which owns stakes in Egypt's largest mobile provider, agreed to buy 80 percent of Telecel International, a pan-African telecommunications company that holds 12 GSM licenses in Sub-Saharan Africa. The deal is worth US$213 million.OT already owns a GSM license in...
BUCHAREST, Romania-Due to the analog transmission and the lack of value-added services, NMT 400 systems in Eastern Europe-which enjoyed great success during the last two decades-have suffered in recent years. A great number of NMT 400 customers have evolved to GSM systems, and NMT...
SANDTON, South Africa-Nigeria's promising telecommunications environment has been clouded by the government's failure to accelerate the licensing of GSM operators. Nigeria, with one of the lowest teledensities in the world, is one of a few countries without a digital cellular network.Ross MacDonald, MTN's group...
BUCHAREST, Romania-The Moldova republic, a former Romanian region, is a small country with a population of 4.3 million and a small economy. The mobile market is not currently dynamic, reflecting the general situation of the country. Licensing problems are affecting growth potential for several...
LONDON-The wireless sector in the Middle East is still widely accepted as a vibrant and growing market, with the wireless Internet and several wireless trade shows coming on the scene.Nearly everyone who attended the GSM Gulf and Middle East Conference, a two-day event held...
IsraelRiots and injuries occurred during protests against the installation of cellular masts in a Druze Arab village in March, according to international press reports. Reports said seven police officers and members of the public were injured in the riots, which are thought to be...
GENEVA-With auction prices of the United Kingdom's five third-generation licenses beating even the most inflated analyst forecasts, all eyes are now on Italy, which is set to allocate five 15-year Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licenses in a few months.Europe's largest mobile market with...
GENEVA-As WRC-2000 delegates prepare to pack their bags and head off for four grueling weeks of debates and technical deliberations in Istanbul, Turkey, Europe's Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) lobby is gearing up for a battle to secure the right to additional third-generation (3G)...
FinlandPriority Wireless, a unit of United Pan-Europe Communications, said it won a license to implement a wireless local loop system in Finland. The 26 GHz license covers the nine most populous areas of Finland, including Helsinki. Priority Wireless plans to begin rolling out the...
DENVER, United States-The CDMA Development Group said it expects handset makers to introduce commercial CDMA handsets with subscriber identity modules by the end of the year to allow global roaming.The CDG announced late last month that the Telecommunications Industry Association will approve the CDMA...
MOSCOW-Three nationwide Russian wireless carriers, which control close to 75 percent of the market, have launched a fierce battle for new clients as mobile phones become more common communications tools in Russia.Cellular phones are now ringing in buses, trolley buses and even subways. The...
SAO PAULO, Brazil-Anatel, Brazil's telecommunications regulatory agency, will not divulge the frequency band-either 1.8 GHz or 1.9 GHz-that band C cellular telephony operators will use until after the World Radiocommunication Conference ends in June. Anatel President Renato Guerreiro made the announcement in April just...
Although GSM technology has scant market share in Latin America, the 2000 GSM Association Plenary in Santiago, Chile, in late April was the stage for several Latin American GSM announcements. Juan Carlos Jil, chairman of GSM Association South America, said Nuevatel PCS in Bolivia,...
