OXFORD, United Kingdom-Vodafone has joined the fast-growing group of European operators to announce delays of third-generation (3G) network deployments. The company said technical problems now mean it is likely to be at least early 2003 before 3G commercial services will be launched in Germany,...
BEIJING-China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) expects China to produce 95 million mobile handsets this year, of which 20 percent would be made by 12 domestic producers, up from 80 million last year, when 12 percent of total output was produced by 30 domestic...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-Sprint PCS said it would begin offering its next-generation PCS Vision service through its retail stores and business channels nationwide beginning next week. Initial applications for the service will allow customers to take and receive pictures, check personal and corporate e-mail, play...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-Sprint PCS is expected to finally launch its highly anticipated cdma2000 1x-based network services Aug. 8.Raymond James & Associates Inc. analyst Ric Prentiss said in a report that based on a national retailer's ad scheduled for August 11 the network service will...
REDMOND, Wash.-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. introduced two-way roaming capabilities with 41 GSM carriers in 35 countries and the United States and said it has more than 30 carrier agreements involving more than a dozen additional countries signed and in the launch process.The carrier currently...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless Inc. reported customers who sign up for either a one- or two-year service agreement for the carrier's Express Network Unlimited plan between August 1 and September 30 will receive one month access free, and either a $20 instant rebate on a...
TOKYO-Gartner Japan, a Japanese business unit of Gartner Group, has predicted the mobile handset market on a unit basis will expand at an annual increasing rate of 5.3 percent between 2001 and 2006 in Japan, however, NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service will not take off...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Software firms across Europe have developed myriad mobile applications aimed at the business market during the past few years, raising hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital to fund their development. But with few applications being widely used and businesses fearful of...
As the battle for the multimedia messaging service (MMS) market in Europe begins to heat up among the region's wireless carriers, the fight for the MMS infrastructure market has largely drawn to a close-and the undisputed winner is Ericsson."The leader in the MMSC (multimedia...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-Users of the United Kingdom's largest TETRA network are reported to be suffering from health problems. The TETRA-based Airwave system, designed to provide a common communications platform for U.K. emergency services, is in the early stages of deployment, and 200 police officers...
TOKYO-Shipments of mobile phones with cameras surged from 6 million units in 2001 to 23 million units in 2003 in Japan, according to a survey conducted by a research institute.Mobile phones with cameras have become popular in Japan after J-Phone, a Vodafone Group company,...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Vodafone Group announced it will launch the "Sha-mail" service in Europe in the fourth quarter. The company revealed its plans to begin marketing the new camera-enabled phones in seven European markets.The Sha-mail service enables mobiles subscribers to take digital photographs using new camera...
MANILA, The Phillipines-Despite the influx of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)-capable handsets and free service from operators, it will take some time to lure Filipinos to surf the Web via their mobile phones, according to Eliseo Rio, head of telecom watchdog National Telecommunications Commission...
CHESTERFIELD, Miss.-While industry leaders have knocked around the idea of a killer application in wireless for years, a new report from Datacomm Research Company and Phoenician Ventures pegs it squarely on mobile games and handsets with color screens."Colorful mobile games, polyphonic ring tones and...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-Saturated market conditions are being blamed by cell-phone operators for a 50-percent drop in handset sales for the first six months of 2002 compared with last year. According to statistics provided by the companies, only 1.4 million cell phones were sold in...
RESTON, Va.-Nextel Communications Inc. and Nextel Partners Inc. donated $70,000 of wireless phones and service to enhance security efforts and event coordination during the National Governors Association annual meeting scheduled for this month in Boise, Idaho.The donation includes nearly 200 handsets from Nextel and...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-As the telecom world is rocked by fresh scandals, European communications regulators are providing additional leeway to third-generation (3G) license holders by gently relaxing some of the more onerous obligations. One of the first to move is the Swiss telecoms regulator ComCom,...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-South African financial services companies are reported to be using General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology as a key means of delivering products and services to customers. The technology is regarded as part of a mobile vision for both end users and...
BEIJING-While foreign handset makers Motorola, Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson still dominate the Chinese market, some 30 domestic suppliers are gaining market share and are expected to grab 20 percent of the world's largest handset market by the end of the year. Local company...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Beleaguered multimedia software vendors and handset manufacturers alike face at least another six months of difficult market conditions, according to new research. The research also offers predictions of flat growth in cellular handsets through 2002 as a result of slow rollout of multimedia...
ARLINGTON, Va.-Despite the dark shadow the depressed economy has cast on much of the U.S. wireless sector, the Consumer Electronics Association's recently released Digital America 2002 report shows wireless device sales are still up, third-generation services are still unfolding and demand for wireless services...
Ever heard of EMS, or Enhanced Messaging Service?If not, don't worry-few people have.It was created as an extension to the short message service messaging technology that has taken the worldwide wireless industry by storm. The idea was to "enhance" SMS messages with more space...
HELSINKI, Finland-Finnish supplier Tecnomen said it will begin multimedia messaging service trials in two countries, The Dominican Republic and Indonesia.The Dominican Republic trial will be with France Telecom Dominicana. The Orange operator has deployed Tecnomen's integrated push feature."The trials will give France Telecom Dominicana...
