SINGAPORE-Residents of Singapore can now surf the Internet without getting caught in those annoying wires.Motorola Inc. announced an agreement with SingTel Mobile to provide Motorola's first Global System for Mobile communications tri-band Internet-access-enabled telephone-the L-series-for traditional voice calls as well as Internet connectivity utilizing...
WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration, backed by telecom firms and other U.S. businesses, last week said it will launch an aggressive lobbying campaign to win congressional backing this year for China's membership in the World Trade Organization."This agreement is a good deal for America," said President...
LONDON-London-based telecommunication companies are riding the wave of increased demand for wireless communications with three companies reporting strong growth in new mobile phone customers during the fourth quarter of 1999.Vodafone AirTouch plc announced it received a record 3.98 million new customers in the fourth...
NEW YORK-Calling it "a first step toward demonstrating fully open standards in General Packet Radio Services," Symmetry Communications Systems Inc. said it will collaborate with Lucent Technologies Inc. on interoperability testing of 2.5 generation wireless network elements.Venture-backed Symmetry, based in San Jose, Calif., came...
HONG KONG-The Office of the Telecommunications Authority, Hong Kong's telecom regulator, is investigating reports that six mobile phone operators simultaneously raised fees on monthly service plans.The operators could be accused of breaching the terms of their licenses. The Hong Kong wireless market is extremely...
NEW ORLEANS-While Florida State was the main story at the Nokia-sponsored Sugar Bowl, wireless communications was making its own news with the first successful completion of a two-way transmission of short messaging service using an Internet application on a Time Division Multiple Access network.The...
MOSCOW-Russian Global System for Mobile communications operator Mobile TeleSystems CJSC and Motorola Inc. launched the first trials to deliver the Internet to mobile phone users in Russia, announced the companies.The trial relies on Motorola's open Mobile Internet Exchange platform and uses the Wireless Application...
INDIANAPOLIS-Brightpoint Inc. announced it has joined the Wireless Application Protocol Forum as an associate member. According to Brightpoint, the membership demonstrates the company's focus on providing contract manufacturing, fulfillment and other integrated logistics services to members of the WAP Forum.The WAP Forum is an...
LONDON-BulletIN.net Ltd. introduced its BulletIN Corporate service, designed to notify mobile phone users when they receive office e-mail, and forward that e-mail to the phone if requested.
Mergers and acquisitions are proliferating worldwide, with the strongest mark being made in Western Europe. Carriers are scrambling to maintain their footholds, while looking to the next potential market investment.Vodafone/MannesmannThe battle between Vodafone AirTouch and Mannesmann continues, as Vodafone AirTouch revealed its wireless data...
During the first half of 1999, Latin America handset sales exceeded 9.8 million, according to Dataquest, a U.S.-based market research firm. Handset sales were forecasted to reach 24.5 million units by the end of 1999. Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia accounted for 78 percent of...
The two major developers of high-speed cellular data technology, Nokia and Ericsson, have opened a public argument over which has achieved the most success in terms of contract awards. The number of cellular operators that have placed orders for high-speed data infrastructure now amounts...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-The principal supporters of the Bluetooth short-range wireless technology used the U.S.-based Comdex exhibition late last year to take the message of its capabilities to a much wider and more diverse audience. But despite this first public display of the technology, many...
AustraliaTelecom New Zealand acquired an 80-percent stake in AAPT, Australia's third-largest phone company. AAPT is building LMDS and CDMA networks and resells GSM service.News Corp. said it agreed to invest a further US$127.2 million in One.Tel, increasing its stake to about 25 percent. News...
Siemens and NEC announced a joint venture to develop infrastructure equipment for third-generation systems. The joint venture, in which Siemens will hold 51 percent and NEC will hold 49 percent, is called Mobisphere Ltd. The Reading, United Kingdom-based venture will conduct research and development...
At the end of each year, the RCR editorial staff looks back on the news events that made RCR headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting stories of the past 12 months. Here are our picks for 1999 in chronological order.1. Jan....
ATHENS, Greece-The National Bank of Greece and Stet Hellas, a Greek mobile phone operator, launched a Global System for Mobile communications banking application that allows customers to access banking services via their mobile phones.Customers can view account information using short message service. The service...
WASHINGTON-For the wireless industry in 2000, the outlook is LOOK OUT! Wireless and the Internet have found each other. The high-tech Big Bang is not over. Creative forces are still reshaping the digital universe, but patterns are emerging.At the dawn of the new century,...
Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., the largest of Turkey's two Global System for Mobile communications operators, is planning a $200 million debt issue to finance continued expansion of its network and future introduction of wireless data and Internet access services.By the end of November, Istanbul-based...
Competition in the wireless personal digital assistant space will be heating up soon, as Casio Computer Co. Ltd. and Siemens' Communication Devices division have announced a strategic alliance to jointly develop a new line of palmtop personal computers with wireless Internet capabilities.Of particular note...
NEW YORK-Sweden's L.M. Ericsson has majored on the infrastructure side of provisioning to wireless carriers within the United States while playing a comparatively minor role as a wireline network supplier.However, that soon could change if company executives succeed in executing a strategy outlined last...
WASHINGTON-A federal judge last week approved a new antitrust settlement between the Justice Department and Nextel Communications Inc., allowing Nextel to acquire more 900 MHz dispatch radio licenses in 14 major markets while largely scotching-for now-its deal to buy bankrupt Geotek Communications Inc.'s wireless...
NEW YORK-Newtel AB, formed by the merger of Sweden's Telia AB and Norway's Telenor AS, announced Dec. 7 it will not sweeten its hostile cash bid of $1.59 billion to take over Esat Telecom Group plc, Ireland's second-largest telecommunications carrier.Already a 49.5-percent owner of...
In a move seen as strengthening their respective weaknesses in the wireless industry, L.M. Ericsson and Microsoft Corp. said they plan to create a joint venture designed to develop and market end-to-end solutions for wireless Internet services.In addition, Microsoft introduced its long-awaited dual-mode microbrowser,...
