TOKYO-British Telecommunications plc is in the process of increasing its current 15-percent stake in Japan Telecom Co. Ltd., according to Reuters. The move comes at the same time BT rival Vodafone Group is also trying to gain a larger share of Japan's third-largest telecom...
TOKYO-The third-generation (3G) business plans and service strategies of three Japanese cellular carriers are becoming more concrete. NTT DoCoMo and J-Phone Group, the mobile business of Japan Telecom, are going to launch 3G services based on wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) technology in 2001, and the country's...
TOKYO-Japanese vendors are in the final stages of developing third-generation (3G) terminals. Japanese 3G services are scheduled to be launched earlier than any other country in May 2001 by NTT DoCoMo, followed by J-Phone, the mobile business of Japan Telecom and the newly merged...
TOKYO-The mobile music distribution business is going to take off in Japan, according to industry representatives. Some carriers have already revealed their services, while others are promoting field tests in cooperation with vendors.NTT DoCoMo at the beginning of 2000 established a joint venture with...
TOKYO-KDDI, the newly formed telecom group in Japan, said it is talking to several foreign carriers regarding alliances, international press reports said. A possible alliance could include an equity investment, although such an investment likely would be no more than 13 percent.KDDI was formed...
TOKYO-Japan Telecom said it plans to launch third-generation (3G) mobile service by October 2001, instead of its originally scheduled December 2001 date. J-Phone, the company's wireless operator, hopes to better compete with NTT DoCoMo, the country's dominant wireless carrier by moving forward the launch...
Qualcomm Inc. appears to have gotten its way in Japan.DDI Corp., which plans to take over IDO and KDD in October, is expected to file for a third-generation license application with the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications this week, selecting cdma2000 technology, sources...
Third-generation technology has become a sensitive issue in Japan as the U.S. government pushes for free technology choices there and Qualcomm Inc. possibly ponders applying for a Japanese 3G license.The sensitivity stems from a plethora of Japanese newspaper reports indicating that all three companies...
JapanVodafone AirTouch plc, together with its partners Japan Telecom and British Telecom, has agreed to restructure its interests in Japan ahead of the start of the third-generation license application process this month. According to Vodafone AirTouch, the main purpose of the restructuring is to...
Real estate owners told a House Judiciary subcommittee that forcing private building owners to give access to all telecom service providers would violate constitutional rights of landowners. The Real Access Alliance, comprised of 11 real estate trade associations, has mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign...
TOKYO-Three Japanese carrier groups are gearing up their efforts to launch IMT-2000 services-earlier than any other wireless carriers in the world. The three players are NTT DoCoMo Group, Japan Telecom (JT) Group and DDI Group.NTT DoCoMo plans to be the first carrier in the...
AlcatelChina. For GSM network extensions in Jilin, Zhejiang, Ningxia and Shaanxi provinces.Value: US$80 millionGermany. With T-Mobil for a network extension.Value: US$71.2 millionKosovo. With the Kosovo Post Office and Telecommunications for a GSM Network with a 30,000 capacity.Value: UndisclosedSri Lanka. With Celltel Lanka for a GSM network contract...
TOKYO-NTT Corp. and new common carriers (NCCs), carriers competing with NTT in the liberalized market, are in a debate about implementing the Long Run Incremental Cost (LRIC) interconnection model, which is scheduled to be introduced in Japan by the end of this year.LRIC is...
NEW YORK-Through an underwriting syndicate led by Salomon Smith Barney, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. plans to sell up to 982,000 shares of stock, the Japan Ministry of Finance announced late last month.The sale, which is to include 131,000 shares sold in the United...
TOKYO-DDI Corp., IDO Co. Ltd. and KDD Corp. reportedly will merge by third-quarter 2000 at the earliest to compete with the giant NTT group. If merger talks are successful, a new giant communications company-providing a package of cellular, PHS, long-distance and international offerings-will be...
TOKYO-While operators and venders successfully found a way to interconnect two different systems for third-generation services, NTT DoCoMo and its vendors are now gearing up to develop equipment for wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA).NTT DoCoMo in April selected a total of 11 3G vendors, including three foreign...
Looking back at Telecom '95, Takeshi Kawada said the show has changed from an exhibition for hardware makers to one for software and services. "Today, development of applications holds the key for success. Matsushita is in a good position to propose applications (to) meet...
LONDON-British Telecommunications plc and AT&T Corp. each acquired a 15-percent stake in Japan Telecom for a total of $1.9 billion, completing BT's strategic and operational partnership with Japan Telecom and AT&T, which commenced in April.BT said it has taken a 20-percent stake in the...
TOKYO-Nissan Motor Co., a major shareholder in nine Japanese cellular companies, will sell all its stakes to Japan Telecom Co. (JT) and DDI Corp. and withdraw from the second-generation cellular business.As a result of the announcement, the Japanese cellular market has essentially been reorganized...
AustraliaLeap Wireless International announced that it is selling its wholly owned Australian subsidiary, OzPhone Pty. Ltd., to an affiliate of AAPT Ltd., Australia's third-largest telecommunications company, for Australian $25 million (US$16.3 million). OzPhone holds licenses covering 6 million potential customers in numerous regions. The...
Nissan Motor Co. said last week it will sell its stakes in nine Japanese cellular operators, a move that is sure to pave the way for consolidation in a wireless industry crowded with eight operating groups, say analysts.Choosing to focus on its ailing automotive...
LONDON-British Telecommunications plc and AT&T Corp. said they are jointly buying a 33-percent stake in Canadian operator Rogers Cantel Mobile Communications for $937 million.BT and AT&T also announced BT will acquire a 9-percent stake in AT&T Canada by acquiring for $401.6 million 30 percent...
Qualcomm Inc. placed 6.9 million shares of its common stock in a public offering at $156.50 per share for total net proceeds of about $1.1 billion.Conductus Inc. said its common stock will remain listed on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market thanks to an exception freeing...
TOKYO-Tokyo Telemessages Inc. (TTM), a paging company suffering from huge debts due to a sharp drop in customers because of strong competition from mobile phone operators, went bankrupt at the end of May. The beeper operator has debts of around 25 billion yen (US$206...
