NEW YORK-Tokyo-based NEC Corp. has ambitious expansion plans for its wireless handsets and infrastructure business, but the plans do not target North America, said Koji Nishigaki, president.In Asia, the company sees a big opportunity to supply third-generation mobile networks and terminals. In Europe, it...
In the effort to alter consumers' perceptions of wireless phones, Sprint PCS turned up the volume last week with the introduction of an online music service offered in conjunction with the first combination MP3 player/wireless phone available in the United States.The introduction of the...
TOKYO-A press report has stated Japan's NTT DoCoMo is in talks with AT&T Corp. regarding taking a minority stake in the U.S. carrier's mobile-phone business.NTT DoCoMo has said repeatedly it is interested in the United States and other foreign markets and would take a...
NEW YORK-The battle over customer ownership in the emerging mobile-commerce market will evolve, by necessity, into a model of "coopetition," said Philip Yen, executive vice president of e-Visa International.Banks, credit-card companies, middleware providers, telecommunications operators and equipment manufacturers must and will join forces, each...
HONG KONG-The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is generally regarded with something between scorn and indifference in Hong Kong among industry sources, and mobile operators will not even reveal subscriber numbers for the service.This contrasts with the bullish claims of Scott Goldman, chief executive officer...
CanadaBell Mobility began offering two-way wireless data service in October in Ontario and Quebec, with plans to extend service nationwide by the end of the year.United StatesA report stated Japan's NTT DoCoMo is in talks with AT&T regarding taking a minority stake in the...
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...
Following months of speculation, regulatory red tape and the seemingly elusive approval by the Federal Communications Commission that came Sept. 29, SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Mobility officially came together last week, announcing its joint venture now will be known as Cingular Wireless."Cingular is...
TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo Inc. and America Online Inc. last week announced their long-expected business alliance. The combination of the largest mobile carrier in Japan and the largest Internet service provider in the world will give NTT DoCoMo a foothold to launch its popular i-mode services,...
Being the new kid on the block is always a challenge. Besides trying to keep your own sense of identity, there is the pressure of trying to fit in to an unnatural surrounding that may or may not receive you graciously.A few years ago,...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-Now that NTT DoCoMo has a financial interest in a U.K. third-generation license holder, the prospect of i-mode mobile Internet services being deployed in Europe is firmly on the agenda. The Japanese operator earlier this year formed a joint venture, called 3G...
TOKYO-Multi Channel Access radio, Japan's name for specialized mobile radio service, has been widely used by industries for allocating and controlling taxies and delivery trucks. But recently, these industries have begun using new technologies, such as packet data communications networks and global positioning system...
A new company soon expects to offer business-to-business mobile commerce services in Japan using software NTT DoCoMo uses in its wildly popular i-mode Internet applications for consumers.Redwood City, Calif.-based BroadVision Inc., venture capitalist H&Q Asia Pacific and three Japanese partners announced last week they...
WASHINGTON-The multi-agency government panel that will be responsible for assessing national security implications of Deutsche Telekom AG's $56 billion purchase of VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and other future telecom mergers involving foreign buyers was sharply criticized by congressional investigators in a little-noticed report two months...
There is a great disconnect in the wireless industry. Whether it's mismanagement, industry hype, flawed law, Wall Street greed-or some combination of the above-is unclear. But it doesn't matter. The losers will be consumers, rank-and-file investors and pension funds.To illustrate this disconnect, take a...
TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo and America Online Inc. are reported to have reached a basic agreement about forming a joint venture, Yomiuri Shimbun reported last week.NTT DoCoMo denied the report, saying there was no such agreement as of Aug. 21.During the last few weeks, additional press...
AustriaAustrian mobile operator Mobilkom Austria launched wireless packet data service using a GPRS core network infrastructure solution provided by Nortel Networks through its local distributor, Austria Telecommunication GmbH. Nortel said the GPRS core network is the first in commercial service to support interoperability with...
TOKYO-Beginning in July, Japanese users of prepaid cellular phones will be required to show identification when purchasing a handset due to a regulation introduced following a series of crimes using prepaid phones.Urged by the government, cellular carriers decided to implement the regulation on prepaid...
TOKYO-Japanese wireless operator NTT DoCoMo selected NEC Corp. to supply an experimental, next-generation Internet Protocol core network system for use in mobile communications and to develop application services.NEC said it would supply its most advanced switching router and other converged open network architecture-based products...
The upcoming U.S. spectrum auctions present some interesting times for the wireless industry.Auctions in the past were more predictable, primarily reserved for veteran executives experienced in running wireless networks.Today, the story is much different. Wireless has caught the attention of many powerful and nontraditional...
While still slow to be adopted by wireless operators, wireless location service providers have accelerated their efforts to deliver effective technologies that can determine a wireless user's position within the network.SignalSoft Corp., a platform and applications developer, formed an agreement with Telcordia Technologies Inc....
