DALLAS-Among the ever-present winds of Eastern Texas, The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association last week hosted a somewhat intimate Wireless Agenda 2001 conference that CTIA President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Wheeler dubbed the "wireless survivor conference" during his opening remarks. While attendance levels...
TOKYO-Japanese wireless operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. is expected to begin selling dual-band cell phones next year in response to strong subscriber growth, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily reported.The handsets will be able to switch between the 1.5 GHz and 800 MHz frequency bands...
Since technology is almost meaningless without the phones, it also can be lonely to be a phone maker in a market where securing a cutting edge is the only pathway to success.Recently, Sony Corp. and L.M. Ericsson teamed up to produce the Sony Ericsson...
LONDON-In yet another setback for third-generation technology, Manx Telecom, a subsidiary of British Telecommunications plc, has postponed its mid-May launch of 3G services on the tiny Isle of Man. The delay was blamed on software problems in handsets, according to international press reports.The 3G...
Japan's premier operator NTT DoCoMo has suspended sales of its i-mode-enabled Sony phones because of glitches that will make it possible for third-party providers to view some data stored in the handset.The company did not disclose when the sales of the "DoCoMo by Sony...
TOKYO-Japanese wireless operator NTT DoCoMo reported strong earnings for its fiscal year ended March 31. Net profit jumped 45 percent to $3 billion, compared with the previous year's results, on the back of strong demand for the carrier's i-mode wireless Internet service.Total subscribers increased...
TOKYO-Vodafone Group, the largest mobile carrier in the world, announced in May it will acquire British Telecommunications' (BT) entire stake in Japan Telecom Group (JT) for 652.3 billion yen (US$5.4 billion). Following the deal, Vodafone Group will hold a 45-percent stake in Japan Telecom...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-The announcement by NTT DoCoMo of a five-month delay to its wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) launch must have been music to the ears of Irwin Jacobs, the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Qualcomm. While the major wireless operators in Europe have remained...
TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo, the leading mobile carrier in Japan, plans to launch only experimental third-generation (3G) services on 30 May, rather than full commercial services as originally planned. NTT DoCoMo had repeatedly said it would launch commercial 3G services in May, but in late April,...
Shunichiro Mishima, vice president of business development for NTT DoCoMo USA Inc., said the Japanese parent company would convert its 16-percent ownership of AT&T Wireless Group into tracking stock of the AT&T unit once those securities are sold publicly. In coverage of his presentation...
Wideband CDMA and cdma2000 are not only migrating to the future, but also to the battleground.Both technologies will hoist their banners as they deploy their strengths and shield their weaknesses, especially in the two main places where they hope to flex muscles for market...
Voice services are a tricky subject for wireless operators. While voice is regarded as the one true killer application for wireless carriers, many are forced to nearly give away voice service to keep up with the ultra-competitive wireless market.
While carriers try to differentiate their...
NEW YORK-As it gears up to export i-mode to the United States as part of its alliance with AT&T Wireless Services Inc., NTT DoCoMo recently has established an American subsidiary and offices on the East and West coasts.The Japanese parent has established NTT DoCoMo...
I've seen the future and it is m-commerce. M is for money, isn't it? Money or mobile, same thing, different pronunciation. At Accenture's Global Communications Forum last week in Miami Beach, the promise of m-commerce was underlined over and over by diverse executives in...
TOKYO-One out of four primary school or middle-school kids in Japan have their own cellular phones, NTT DoCoMo said based on its own survey. NTT DoCoMo did the survey of 600 kids between fifth and eighth grade in the Tokyo metropolitan area between Dec....
TOKYO-The number of browser-phone users in Japan exceeded 30 million as of the end of February 2001, according to the Telecommunications Carriers' Association, an industry body. According to the TCA, the number of users of browser-phone services provided by three Japanese carriers reached 31.41...
NEW YORK-AT&T Wireless Group Inc. said it would use most of the $6.5 billion the company raised in its recent bond offering, in conjunction with the $6.2 billion it received from NTT DoCoMo Inc., to build its network and invest in advanced wireless technology.AT&T...
With a commercial launch in full gear in South Korea, Samsung Inc. may be the John the Baptist of 3G as the first manufacturer to streak out of the uncertain cloud hovering over migration to the technology.Already eyeing the United States' market with trials...
TOKYO-Citing a delay in hardware development, Japan Telecom Co. Ltd. said it would delay the deployment of third generation services from this December until summer 2002. The delay will place Japan's third-largest operator more than a year behind market leader NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s 3G...
TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo, the second-largest mobile carrier in the world, plans to issue 20 billion yen (US$170 million) in corporate bonds as early as next week. It will mark DoCoMo's first corporate bond issue, as well as the biggest amount of corporate bonds to be...
LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz.-Amid the scorched desert ground abutting the lush greens of golf courses, the future of the wireless Internet was the topic of discussion in the small community of Litchfield Park, Ariz., where industry consultant Andrew Seybold held his 2001 Summit 4Mobility. And...
AT&T Wireless Group jumped into the very active debt capital market last week selling off $6.5 billion worth of senior unsecured notes, the largest private bond sale ever by a U.S. company.The bond sale followed Qwest Communications International Inc., Sprint Corp. and Verizon Communications,...
LONDON-As speculated earlier this week, Vodafone Group plc said it agreed to acquire AT&T's Corp.'s 10-percent economic interest in Japan Telecom Co. for $1.35 billion in cash. Following the completion of the transaction, Vodafone will hold 25 percent of Japan Telecom's equity.The acquisition marks...
TOKYO-Targeting one of the most advanced mobile markets in the world, foreign and local venture capitalists are pouring money into Japanese mobile companies.H&Q Asia Pacific, one of the oldest and largest venture capital firms focused on the Pacific Rim, has invested approximately 1.7 billion...
