Omnitel

Italy-the location of some of Shakespeare’s finest plays-last week became the setting for the largest telecom drama to occur in European history. The players: Olivetti Spa-A smaller operator that just …

DUSSELDORF, Germany-Mannesmann AG announced it has increased its participation in Italian mobile carrier Omnitel Pronto Italia by 3.2 percent. The transaction included offering AirTouch Communications Inc. an option to raise …

DENVER-The posturing continued last week among the players interested in buying AirTouch Communications Inc. The Financial Times reported Vodafone Group plc is considering sweetening its $55 billion offer for AirTouch …

Unwired Planet Inc. took another step toward making its vision of Wireless Application Protocol devices and services a commercial reality by providing interoperability testing between its WAP-enabled UP.Link Server and …

Italy The Italian government requested a communications ministry committee be formed to oversee the auction of its planned fourth cellular license. The action marks the next step toward awarding that …

Tele Danmark A/S announced the takeover of Millicom East Holding B.V., a Dutch holding company owning shares in the two Lithuanian cellular companies Bite GSM and Comliet. After the transaction, …

LONDON-The Baltic region covers an area of 174,000 square kilometers, with approximately 8 million people generating US$13 billion in gross domestic product (GDP). But while Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania may …

Olivetti S.p.A. and Mannesmann AG last week signed an agreement to acquire U.S.-based Cellular Communications International Inc., giving the companies an increased stake in Italian mobile operator Omnitel-Pronto Italia S.p.A. …

Nippon Ido Tsushin Corp. (IDO) announced it will stop its analog cellular service based on the NTT standard as of the end of March 1999 and instead will use the …

Across most of the world’s regions, carriers and analysts are claiming prepaid cellular a resounding success. Along with calling party pays, it is considered one of the leading contributors to …

MILAN, Italy-Omnitel Pronto Italia plans to test Unwired Planet Inc.’s wireless Internet technology on its Global System for Mobile communications network. The new services from Omnitel will use Unwired Planet’s …

CANADA Rogers Cantel announced the beginning of a rollout of Cantel AT&T Pay As You Go cellular service to more than 25 new markets in Canada. The markets include: Abbotsford, …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Originally scheduled for fall 1996, Italy’s third GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) license finally was awarded in June. The winning WIND consortium is 51-percent owned by the …

NEW YORK-Silvio Scaglia, chief executive officer of Omnitel Pronto Italia S.p.A., called it the “What we are doing today that others will do tomorrow” plan. The Italian carrier has executed …

The Italian government said it plans to award the license for a third mobile phone service later this month. A spokeswoman for the communication regulatory agency said it expects to …

DENMARK Mobilix, a France Telecom subsidiary, has begun offering services on its DCS 1800 network. GERMANY Lucent Technologies Inc.’s Microelectronics Group acquired Optimay GmbH, a privately held software-development company based …

DUSSELDORF, Germany-Mannesmann AG, Olivetti and Bell Atlantic International have acquired Swedish telecom operator Telia’s 9.66 percent ownership in Monitel Sistemi Radiocellulari, which owns 6.8 percent of Italian mobile operator Omnitel …

After years of delays and controversy, the Italian Ministry of Communications began accepting bids for the country’s third mobile phone license last week. The ministry set an April 15 deadline …

Brazil Microwave radio equipment manufacturer Harris Corp. announced plans to open a plant during the second quarter in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In addition to its manufacturing operations, the new facility …

Bell Atlantic Corp. announced it sold its 33-percent ownership stake in the Italian telephone carrier Infostrada to its partner in that venture, Olivetti spa, which already holds the remaining 67 …

PRAGUE, Czech Republic-EuroTel Praha, a cellular operator in the Czech Republic, reported that growth increased 250 percent between third quarter 1996 and the third quarter 1997, ending the period with …

Italy’s award of a third mobile phone tender has hit another snag. The country’s Post and Telecommunications Ministry delayed once again the long-awaited process until February due to an October …

MILAN-Omnitel Pronto Italia, a private Global System for Mobile communications operator in Italy, introduced a rechargeable GSM Subscriber Identity Module card that will allow users to make international calls from …

MILAN-Omnitel Pronto Italia announced it has restructured itself into two divisions, which separately will address the needs of individual and corporate users. Each new division will have commercial, marketing, product …

German cellular service provider T-Mobil awarded a contract to Lucent Technologies Inc. to expand T-Mobil’s Global System for Mobile communications network. Lucent values the agreement at more than $30 million. …