SANDTON, South Africa-A wave of liberalization and privatization is transforming the cellular market in Africa. Countries riding high on this tide include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Mauritius, C"te d'Ivoire, Kenya and Uganda.Pyramid Research predicts that only Angola, Burundi, Libya and Gambia will have...
CameroonCameroon is privatizing its two cellular phone networks. The first network is the newly created GSM concession, which was purchased by France Cable Radio but has not yet been built. The second network is the existing cellular phone network created and run by Camtel-Mobile....
SHENZHEN, China-Konka Group Co. Ltd. of China and Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Microelectronics Group announced a five-year agreement under which Konka will use Lucent's Global System for Mobile communications technology platform in its cellular phones.The platform is based on Lucent's Sceptre GSM chipset, which includes...
NEW ORLEANS-Standards bodies met with the International Telecommunication Union last week to prepare the detailed specifications of third-generation mobile-phone technology.The ITU is trying to find the best way to work with all standards bodies developing 3G specifications. This follows a recent ITU meeting in...
NEW ORLEANS-Diversinet Corp., a developer of security products based on public-key technology for wireless and wireline electronic-commerce applications, and Saraide signed an agreement to provide security software solutions for Global System for Mobile communications phones, pagers and other mobile devices.Saraide works with wireless carriers...
NEW ORLEANS-BellSouth Cellular Corp. announced it will begin a Wireless Application Protocol trial with customers in some of its Global System for Mobile communications markets next month in a partnership with Saraide.com and InfoSpace.com.Several hundred BellSouth customers in Raleigh, N.C., and Greenville, S.C., will...
MELBOURNE, Fla.-AirNet Communications Corp. signed a multimillion dollar contract for Global System for Mobile communications base station subsystem equipment with High Plains/Midwest L.L.C., a wireless service provider operating in Kansas.The contract calls for AirNet to supply GSM infrastructure equipment for the Hays, Garden City,...
TIRANA, Albania-Albania initiated the country's largest privatization project so far by inviting foreign investors to bid for a majority stake in state mobile phone monopoly Albanian Mobile Communications Sh.A., Reuters reported.The Privatization Ministry said it was prepared to sell between 51 percent and 85...
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...
About the time PCS licenses were first up for grabs, industry prognosticators predicted that four or five mega-carriers would one day rule the U.S. wireless industry.Are we there yet?As Bell Atlantic admits it is talking with Vodafone AirTouch plc about a link-up between their...
Moving on its promise to step up promotion of Time Division Multiple Access technology worldwide, the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium said it recently met with Chinese government officials to promote TDMA technology."This was an introductory meeting for different organizations in China to reintroduce China...
Qualcomm Inc. last week asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny Omnipoint Corp.'s request to transfer its New York personal communications services license to VoiceStream Wireless Corp., a move that clouds the companies' efforts to complete their $1.7 billion merger agreement by this year.Qualcomm,...
The need to add a wireless play in global telecommunications alliances became clearer last week as AT&T Corp. and British Telecommunications plc announced a strategic alliance designed to create seamless mobile communications services worldwide."In general, we've seen a lot of domestic consolidation," said Bob...
MELBOURNE, Fla.-Interoperability testing between AirNet Communications Corp.'s base station subsystem and a Lucent Technologies Inc. mobile switching center was successfully completed and will be deployed by Carolina PCS I Ltd. Partnership, said AirNet."This highlights the power of the open GSM interface," said Dr. Lee...
ARLINGTON, Va.-The Telecommunications Industry Association announced the Third-Generation Partnership Program 2 (3GPP2) has completed its international harmonization workshop on global 3G and has moved closer to resolving technical issues related to operating cdma2000 technology multicarrier systems on Global System for Mobile communications MAP-based networks.Earlier...
Nordic Mobile Telephone 450 MHz operators will decide by early October whether to push forward with three digital mobile-phone standards that include Code Division Multiple Access technology, which could give Interim Standard 95 technology its first entrance into Europe.The NMT MOU Digital Interest Group-an...
Analog Devices Inc. plans to introduce today a radio chipset that it calls the Holy Grail of radio receiver architectures.Called Othello, the chipset features an open market Global System for Mobile communications direct-conversion receiver, which ADI said is a breakthrough in RF technology. The...
GREENSBORO, N.C.-RF Micro Devices Inc. received its first major order from China for radio-frequency integrated circuits, which are used in dual-band Global System for Mobile communication handsets.Xiamen Overseas Chinese Electronic Co. Ltd. will be using the RF2138 and RF2140 power amplifiers in its GSM...
CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J.-Omnipoint Communications said it will supply a temporary Global System for Mobile communications digital network in New Orleans during the Personal Communications Industry Association's Personal Communications Showcase '99 trade show.In cooperation with Nortel Networks and the North American GSM Alliance L.L.C., Omnipoint...
U.S. TDMA operators must make some critical decisions about competing in the wireless data market during the next year as they witness their CDMA counterparts begin to launch circuit-switched data services in large scale.Time Division Multiple Access operators-which in the late 1980s banked on...
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Mobilink Telecom Inc. said it completed full type-approval testing for a handset compliant with the Global System for Mobile communications standard.The handset was proven to adhere to the dual-band GSM 900 and GSM 1800 Phase 2 standards, and was designed by Mobilink...
HELSINKI-Finnish operator Sonera said its High Speed Circuit Switched Data network would be ready to begin offering services to data customers today.Handsets for the networks are not yet available, but expected to be delivered later this year. Depending on delivery schedules, the carrier could...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The GSM Association said Global System for Mobile communications just broke through the 200 million customer barrier."The Asia Pacific region continues to grow exponentially, with China maintaining its position as the largest single GSM market in the world, whilst Europe and North America...
The Wireless Application Protocol made strides in Sweden, Germany and Finland last week, adding to its gaining momentum in Europe.In Germany, Nokia Corp. and Deutsche Bank have agreed to develop new mobile banking services based on the WAP that will allow users to conduct...
