WASHINGTON-The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is adamant the wireless industry comply with rules requiring digital phones be compatible with text telephones (TTYs) used by the deaf community, especially when TTYs are used in conjunction with digital phones to make 911 calls. Nevertheless,...
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. said it will supply a Global System for Mobile communications network to Philippines' wireless carrier Smart Communications Inc.According to the companies' contract, Nokia will be the sole supplier of GSM 900 and GSM 1800 equipment. Smart plans to deploy GSM 900...
Qualcomm Inc. and Microsoft Corp. plan to announce this week they are creating a new wireless communications company to focus on the integration of wireless data, information technology and computers.According to information leaked to the press last week, the venture aims to extend Microsoft's...
LONDON-Motorola Inc. said it completed agreements to become a shareholder in the Symbian joint venture. Symbian is a venture of Psion Software, L.M. Ericsson and Nokia Corp. created to promote the EPOC operating system for wireless information devices, such as smartphones and palmtop computers.When...
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. said it launched a new high-capacity Global System for Mobile communications system in Beijing, China.Nokia said the new system offers a 10-fold capacity increase compared with conventional networks, switching capacity will more than double to serve 400,000 subscribers and network investment...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-Cellular penetration rates now exceed 50 percent in Finland. But real penetration rates are much higher if you ignore the very old and the very young. Pretty well every Finn who can walk and talk now has a mobile phone.Amongst Finnish youth,...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-Second-generation cellular has not been an entirely satisfactory experience for the United States. "We pulled up the beaches and said we are Island America," said Tom Wheeler, chief executive officer of the U.S. Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. But since then the wireless...
BANGKOK, Thailand-Like many high-tech firms in the United States, Motorola Inc. caught a cold from its exposure to the Asian flu and is working to recover. While no one can say for sure when Motorola will get back on the road to health, it...
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. said it launched a new high-capacity GSM system offering a 10-fold capacity increase compared with conventional networks. Its switching capacity will more than double to serve 400,000 subscribers, and network investment costs significantly will decrease with this system, according to Nokia.The...
ERICSSONEricsson Inc. introduced a snap-on wireless modem that allows users to browse the Internet and send or receive faxes and e-mail without cable hookups or a phone line. The DI 27 eliminates the need to connect a personal computer modem card and telephone line...
The International Telecommunication Union has yet to decide on the air interface for third-generation mobile phone technology, but many vendors are pushing ahead anyway with GSM-based wideband CDMA technology.The Geneva-based international standards body is mulling through 15 different proposals, the majority based on CDMA...
Royal Philips Electronics and Lucent Technologies Inc. last week said they will dissolve the consumer communications joint venture they established just more than one year ago.At the time of its formation Oct. 1, 1997, Philips Consumer Communications had high hopes it would be a...
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. declared itself the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones, as the company's mobile phone net sales increased by 94 percent to $2.6 million during the third quarter."Lower than anticipated price erosion in mobile phones and rapid digitalization in the Americas resulted...
A trial early next year could decide whether L.M. Ericsson owns key patents to Interim Standard-95 technology.Ericsson and Qualcomm Inc. are set to go to trial in February over eight patents Ericsson claims to own to cdmaOne technology. A hearing at the end of...
WASHINGTON-Frustrated with failing to make progress after months of negotiations with European officials, Qualcomm Inc. last week declared war by formally invoking intellectual property rights to five third-generation wireless standards pending before the International Telecommunication Union.Qualcomm said its action, taken in an Oct. 12...
Patents are a common thread running through the great debates of the day concerning strongest/adequate signal, E911 federal land antenna siting, 3G, prepaid calling and other telecom issues.This should come as no surprise. In a new report, the Commerce Department links the United States'...
Amidst growing pressure from the Clinton administration, Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is set to begin studying other third-generation radio transmission technology proposals-namely cdma2000 technology-besides the W-CDMA proposal it submitted to the International Telecommunication Union.The ministry's decision comes after the Office of the...
AustriaKyro Corp.'s Tecnomen Group announced Mobilkom Austria selected it to supply a new messaging system for Mobilkom's Global System for Mobile communications network expansion. The new system will add more than 600,000 voice and fax mailboxes to the Austrian GSM system, the company said....
KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Sprint PCS introduced a handset with a built-in mouse, manufactured by Denso Wireless Systems America, and a headset from Plantronics Inc.The Sprint PCS Touchpoint handset has a large display screen and a mouse to allow point-and-click navigation through menus and options. The...
DENVER-Under the direction of its new chief executive-Osmo Hautanen, formerly of Philips Consumer Communications and Nokia Corp.-start-up firm Formus Communications Inc. has made steady progress in its mission in the broadband wireless access arena.Founded in 1996, Formus' aim is to acquire broadband wireless access...
ORLANDO, Fla.-To paraphrase a Bell Atlantic commercial, "wild things are happening" in dispatch radio, according to speakers at the recent PCS '98 show.Just outside the spotlight, which is focused on the apparent dominance of Nextel Communications Inc. and the demise of Geotek Communications Inc.,...
Sources indicate Ericsson Inc. may be preparing to enter the cdmaOne handset business.Ericsson, the only major vendor that has yet to license Interim Standard-95 technology from Qualcomm Inc., has been in discussions with at least one cdmaOne handset vendor in an attempt to arrange...
The 15th Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union kicks off today in Minneapolis, a meeting whose focus on internal governance and strategic planning could be overshadowed by an item likely not to appear on the official agenda: third-generation wireless technology. The meeting lasts from...
Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer L.M. Ericsson released details of a reorganization plan that signals an increased focus on markets and customers, said the company. The new organization is expected to be fully implemented by Jan. 1.Lars Stalberg, a spokesman for the company, said no...
