It could have been an isolated path for TDMA operators going forward as they struggled for economies of scale in their businesses, but with a new agreement with the GSM Association, the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium hopes to gain access to the worldwide equipment...
TadiranTadiran Inc. introduced the Pulses Plus battery, a high-energy lithium thionyl chloride battery designed specifically for global positioning system tracking, radio-frequency interference detection and other high pulse applications. The Pulses Plus battery offers 3.6 volts of power, 19Ah of capacity, low self discharge and...
NEW YORK-Landline replacement, the Holy Grail of wireless telephony, received a boost from an array of forces unleashed simultaneously into the communications environment.This is not a high-stakes game of winner takes all, however. Telecommunications providers are learning more about how best to exploit the...
NEW YORK-A key component of the IMT-2000 global wireless third-generation standard that the International Telecommunication Union evaluated this month comes from the kind of small, entrepreneurial company whose voice is often drowned out in this type of process.Golden Bridge Technology, West Long Branch, N.J.,...
Some confusion exists in the wireless industry over whether mobile-phone-component shortages are affecting the handset supply in the United States.Major handset suppliers say they aren't struggling with component shortages, but one major carrier said its lower subscriber additions in the third quarter were caused...
The term "consolidation" is now applied continually to the wireless telecoms industry. Yet it seems inadequate to describe a situation in which European telecom companies are disappearing at a rate of up to three a week.The dynamics are clear. Europe's former state-owned PTTs and...
HONG KONG - China Telecom Hong Kong (CTHK) announced it plans to acquire three mobile networks in the Fujian, Henan and Hainan provinces of China for US$6.4 billion. The acquisition includes 3.4 million combined subscribers and could make CTHK one of the largest cellular...
The Chinese government announced it will enforce regulations announced last year requiring all foreign-manufactured mobile phones and other telecommunications equipment to carry a government-issued seal indicating authenticity. The government said the move will help it reduce smuggled goods from entering the country. Foreign executives...
BEIJING-Tough times lie ahead for equipment suppliers and operators with the establishment of China Mobile expected to slow equipment purchases and with China Unicom still struggling to end its China-China-Foreign contracts and feverishly trying to secure alternative financing.With China Mobile still in its infancy...
CameroonCameroon's Camtel and Camtel Mobiles are scheduled to be privatized in 2000. Camtel is the incumbent state-owned cellular carrier and operates a GSM 900 network, which had just over 5,100 subscribers as of early this year. A second carrier, operated by France Cfbles et...
GENEVA-The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Nortel Networks and the Acacia Initiative of the International Development Research Center of Canada signed a final agreement to implement two centers of excellence in Africa. The centers, which are being created to provide solutions to the challenges of...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Capacity constraints are an issue for almost every cellular operator, and some have turned to frequency-hopping techniques as an answer. But while these systems have increased capacity, their effect on data traffic has been less widely investigated.Any system that claims to increase the...
GreecePanafon and France Telecom announced recently they are holding discussions regarding a possible offering or an issue of an exchangeable bond by France Telecom of all or part of its remaining 20-percent equity stake in Panafon. France Telecom sold a 15-percent stake in November...
DUBLIN, Ireland-In any international cellular tender, carriers must determine whether the price paid represents true value for the money or a sizable gamble. On the other side of the coin, wireless license fees can be the equivalent of a gift from the gods for...
BUCHAREST, Romania-A subsidiary of Canada's Telesystem International Wireless (TIW) won the third Czech Republic mobile telephone license in September. The price tag for the GSM 1800 license was fixed at US$29 million.The license requires Cesky Mobile, the TIW subsidiary, to cover 37 percent of...
AlcatelPoland. With Formus Polska to supply and implement its broadband wireless access network in Poland.Value: US$126 millionEricssonCanada. With Rogers Cantel to build a third-generation network as an evolution to the carrier's existing TDMA network.Value: US$340 millionChina. With China Unicom for the third phase of its GSM...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The four-week license hearings for the third cellular operator in South Africa held in September and October offered some of the best theatrical presentations ever seen on the African continent.For the sake of transparency, the hearings were held in public, and six...
The GSM Association and the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC) announced they signed a memorandum of understanding to work toward worldwide interoperability between GSM andTDMA technologies.The nearly 490 GSM and TDMA carriers currently have 290 million subscribers worldwide.Member companies of the two associations will...
Phone.com added to its mounting momentum by signing a definitive agreement to buy the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) products and operations of infrastructure software company APiON of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The deal provides an entry point to Phone.com for selling its WAP products to...
Finland. Sonera began offering High Speed Circuit Switched Data services to its data customers 6 September, but without available handsets. Sonera said it wanted to be ready when handsets are available later this year.France. At Telecom '99 in Geneva, Alcatel, French carrier SFR/Cegetel, Phone.com...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The decision of the South African Regulatory Authority (SATRA) and Department of Communications about whether to support TETRA as a digital standard for professional mobile radio (PMR) in South Africa is still pending. A decision is possible during the first quarter of...
As Sprint PCS shuts down its Global System for Mobile communications network in Washington, D.C., at the end of this month, speculation is increasing about what will happen to the GSM infrastructure.All roaming with GSM operators will terminate this month, said Sprint PCS. Carriers...
Powertel Inc.'s stock tumbled nearly $12 last week after VoiceStream Wireless Corp. Chief Executive Officer John Stanton said his company has no immediate plans to acquire any more GSM operators in the United States.Powertel's stock had been riding in the $68 range on merger...
MUNICH-Siemens AG announced it won a contract to provide Global System for Mobile communications 900 MHz infrastructure equipment to Medi Telecom, the second GSM operator in Morocco. The contract is valued at more than US$100 million.Medi Telecom, which received its license in August, is...
