Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., the largest of Turkey's two Global System for Mobile communications operators, is planning a $200 million debt issue to finance continued expansion of its network and future introduction of wireless data and Internet access services.By the end of November, Istanbul-based...
Competition in the wireless personal digital assistant space will be heating up soon, as Casio Computer Co. Ltd. and Siemens' Communication Devices division have announced a strategic alliance to jointly develop a new line of palmtop personal computers with wireless Internet capabilities.Of particular note...
Omnipoint Communications began a trial of high-speed wireless data technology using L.M. Ericsson's General Packet Radio Services solution. Ericsson's GPRS equipment is installed at network facilities in Wayne, N.J., serving Omnipoint's New York metro area. Omnipoint said it plans to extend the scope of...
The International Telecommunication Union announced network experts who met in Geneva earlier this month agreed on six sets of specifications for IMT-2000 networks.The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector, under the leadership of Study Group 11, is developing IMT-2000 network-related standards such as signaling, functional architectures...
LISBON, Portugal-Portugal Telecom announced that PT Inovacao S.A., a research and development company in Portugal, signed a $6.1 million contract to provide Moroccan mobile telecommunications consortium Meditelecom with a prepaid card solution for use in its Global System for Mobile communications network in Morocco.Meditelecom...
In a bid to strengthen its position in the wireless industry and expand its influence overseas, Internet infrastructure provider InfoSpace.com announced it signed a definitive agreement to acquire wireless Internet portal Saraide Inc.According to the agreement, InfoSpace.com will issue about 2.4 million shares of...
Those *@#%* hackers are at it again. This time, two Israeli men say they have figured out a way to crack an algorithm used as part of the encryption method for Global System for Mobile communications technology, according to a New York Times article.Sound...
STOCKHOLM-L.M. Ericsson announced a contract valued at about $100 million with China's Sichuan Mobile Communications Co. to expand its Global System for Mobile communications network in the Sichuan province.Under terms of the contract, Ericsson will expand the carrier's network capacity from about 600,000 users...
The Operators Harmonization Group began work more than a year ago as a loosely tied group of four operators trying to end the world's heated battle over third-generation technology standards. Today this ad hoc group, which now numbers 40 operators from around the world,...
China's on-again, off-again plan to allow commercial deployments of Code Division Multiple Access networks looks like it's on again.The recent World Trade Organization pact between the United States and China and progress in negotiations over technology transfers appear to have paved the way for...
LUXEMBOURG-Millicom International Cellular S.A. released an Internet-based payment system for shopping online using Global System for Mobile communications telephones. GiSMo is a secure payment alternative to using a credit, debit or charge card, the company said.GiSMo shoppers purchase items by giving their GSM telephone...
Nextel Communications Inc. finally found another vendor willing to manufacture handsets incorporating Motorola Inc.'s proprietary iDEN technology.Nextel and Kyocera Corp. signed a letter of intent last week calling for the Japanese vendor to produce a small high-end integrated Digital Enhanced Network phone by late...
DALLAS-Rent Express Communications launched its frequent traveler program for North Americans who travel overseas regularly and need a mobile phone while abroad.The program costs $50 for one year of access to Global System for Mobile communications international service.Benefits of the program include a SIM...
SYDNEY, Australia-Australia's One.Tel Ltd. and Lucent Technologies Inc. announced an alliance to pursue business opportunities in third-generation mobile networks in the United Kingdom and Western Europe. One.Tel also received financing from News Corporation Ltd.Under a memorandum of understanding, One.Tel and Lucent will collaborate in...
MURRAY HILL, N.J.-Lucent Technologies Inc. has taken a page from Ericsson Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc., each of which now dominate in certain areas of telecommunications infrastructure provision, said Richard A. McGinn, Lucent's chairman and chief executive officer."In the communications networking market for service...
NEW YORK-Even if it fails to acquire the radio-frequency licenses of NextWave Telecom Inc., Nextel Communications Inc. already owns sufficient spectrum to fulfill its 10-year business plan, according to its chief executive.Timothy M. Donahue, Nextel president and chief executive officer, told attendees last week...
MUNICH, Germany-Siemens Information and Communication Networks signed a framework contract to extend Anhui Mobile Communication's network in China.Siemens will be the sole supplier for Global System for Mobile communications 900 MHz equipment to increase the capacity of the network to 1.8 million subscribers. Siemens...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Nextel Communications Inc. is eyeing the African continent as an ideal market for iDEN, the technology it uses in the United States. So much so that a consortium, AfricaSpeaks, included iDEN, in partnership with Nextel, in its business plan for its recent...
After scoring an agreement with Vodafone AirTouch plc to deploy its location-based technology in the carrier's U.K. network, Cambridge Positioning Systems is ready to push its product in the United States."We have not done a lot of marketing in the United States on purpose,"...
SAN FRANCISCO-North American Global System for Mobile communications operators had an upbeat story to tell international GSM carriers this year at the GSM in North America conference last week.Last year's conference saw frustrated European and other international GSM operators that had hoped GSM technology...
BEIJING-Nortel Networks announced that its joint venture, Guangdong Nortel Telecommunications Equipment Ltd., was awarded contracts valued at $64 million by China Unicom and Anhui Mobile Communications Corp. The contracts are for new Global System for Mobile communications network construction in the Henan and Anhui...
SAN FRANCISCO-Act now! GSM carriers need to deploy wireless data today, speakers told Global System for Mobile communications operators at last week's GSM in North America conference here.Carriers need to get data applications into the hands of consumers before next-generation data-centric networks come along,...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson announced it received orders from three European mobile operators for its GSM Pro system. GSM Pro enables mobile phones to operate like two-way radios, adding group communications functions to Global System for Mobile communications technology.Switzerland's Swisscom, Westel 900 of Hungary and...
SWINDON, United Kingdom-BT Cellnet, using Motorola Inc.'s Network Solutions Sector's core General Packet Radio Services network solution, said it successfully achieved a live GPRS data transfer call over a Global System for Mobile communications network.The call demonstrates the first stage of a full commercial...
