TOKYO-Since NTT DoCoMo launched its iMode wireless data service in February 1999, the number of mobile Internet users in Japan-more than 10 million as of the end of May-has taken off. As more users acquire browser phones, more content providers have entered the new...
SINGAPORE-Governments in Asia will issue licenses of third-generation (3G) cellular networks to around 40 operators in 11 countries within the next year, representatives from several equipment vendors said at the CommunicAsia show here recently. And 3G deployments may begin in the most advanced markets...
BEIJING-China is still set to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the end of the year. Upon accession, foreign operators will be permitted a 25-percent share of Chinese mobile phone operators, increasing to 49 percent three years after accession. The long wait will...
BUCHAREST, Romania-At the end of May, the principle vendors of mobile telephones in Romania held a meeting to discuss the country's black market for mobile handset sales.In the other Eastern and Central European countries, the illegal import level is much less than in Romania,...
BEIJING-The mobile Internet revolution is knocking on China's door. With 60 million mobile-phone subscribers and only 10 million people surfing the Internet using personal computers, Web access through mobile phones is a hot topic in China. Web portals, such as Sohu and Sina, and...
SINGAPORE-The dominant rise of prepaid cards compared with subscription-based accounts has been the defining element of Vietnam's mobile phone environment during the last six months.Almost entirely due to the introduction of these cards, by the end of May, the number of mobile-phone users had...
PARIS-Nortel Networks introduced a wireless data initiative and noted its commitment to the European market here last week. Included in the announcements was a partnership with Hewlett-Packard Co. to integrate Nortel's wireless data technology into HP's wireless hardware.Nortel is looking to capitalize on the...
Ellen Bork, a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer, recently wrote a marvelously illuminating piece for The Washington Post that captured President Clinton's Pollyanna-ish view of high-technology in the New World Order.Bork contrasts, on the one hand, Vice President Gore's concern about the Internet's...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry, breaking with the public-safety community, last week urged the Federal Communications Commission to scrap efforts to improve technical capabilities of 911-only mobile phones donated to charitable organizations and instead recommended an educational campaign to tackle the problem of phones without call-back...
WASHINGTON-The mobile-phone research pact between the Food and Drug Administration and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association has come under attack by the former chairman of the leading Canadian wireless association, adding fuel to a controversy that could become mired in litigation soon.In a June...
Microsoft Corp. and Samsung Electronics Company Ltd. announced an agreement to jointly create a new line of mobile phones based on Microsoft's Windows CE operating system.Specifically, Samsung will create Global System for Mobile communications and Code Division Multiple Access phones with Microsoft's Mobile Internet...
NEW YORK-Although presumably the driver was not watching PacketVideo's streaming media on a mobile phone as he drove at 80 mph, the technology passed this test, which an undisclosed Las Vegas wireless carrier conducted."We are in testing with carriers around the world. In Las...
WASHINGTON-As the phone tax repeal and electronic signature bills progressed in Congress last week, two other bills of importance to the wireless industry-uniform sourcing and China trade-remained in limbo.On a separate front, the House Appropriations Committee last Wednesday approved legislation denying the Clinton administration...
TOKYO-Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. should reduce its current 67-percent stake in its mobile phone subsidiary, NTT DoCoMo, according to a report from Japan's Fair Trade Commission.Restructuring of NTT last year has not produced the desired effect of spurring more competition, the report said.Japanese...
We have e-mail, e-commerce and e-tailers, among other "electronic" conveniences. The "e" phenomenon has spread quickly across all aspects of business and industry, and now wireless customers with questions or problems can access "e-customer service" to find help.Of course, customers still have the option...
WASHINGTON-James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said last week Congress should intervene if mobile-phone carriers continue to refuse to offer early-alert warnings for natural disasters and other local emergencies."If we can't get private industry doing this, then I think Congress...
MADRID-Telefonica denied reports that a virus is getting into the mobile phones of its customers and sending rude messages about the company to phone screens.U.S. computer specialists reported a worm-type virus called "Timofonica" has hit customers of Telefonica's Movistar service. "Timo" means rip-off or...
TektronixTektronix Inc. launched a new Global System for Mobile communications cell analysis product, the Cell Analyzer, which combines the key functions of the Actix Abis Analyzer with Tektronix's K1205 Signaling Protocol Analyzer. Available as an add-on software package for the K1205, the new analyzer...
Plantronics Inc. announced it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed offering by a stockholder of 1 million shares of Plantronics common stock.Corrigo secured $12 million in a second round of financing from CMGI@Ventures, the venture capital...
The Federal Communications Commission awarded a spectrum license to ArrayComm Inc. to trial its i-Burst wireless Internet system in San Diego, signaling the launch of the San Jose, Calif.-based company's broadband technology."Clearly we have to acquire more spectrum, but we have a plan to...
WASHINGTON-The Communications Workers of America will make unionization of wireless workers a priority when negotiations begin in two weeks on a new collective bargaining agreement with Bell Atlantic Corp., a strategy by organized labor that appears designed to take advantage of the high visibility...
WASHINGTON-The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, challenged with increased use of mobile phones, navigation systems, the Internet and other technologies in vehicles, will hold meetings the next two months on digital distractions and how to curb dangers they pose to drivers.The first forum on...
LONDON-Almost half of cellular phone users in Western Europe expect to use their mobile phones for all voice traffic in the future, with only one-third convinced they will still use a fixed telephone, according to a study published by Strategy Analytics.The study, "Wireless 2000: European...
WASHINGTON-A Federal Communications Commission ruling on liability could be issued within weeks, with the completion of a staff proposal that is expected to steer clear of specific litigation issues and instead provide general guidance for state courts evaluating consumer claims against wireless carriers."Our goal...
