JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-After a series of delays, the battle for the South African cellular market appears set to begin. Third mobile network operator Cell C has launched a massive marketing campaign to begin winning some mind share of South African mobile subscribers.The Saudi Arabian-backed...
NEW YORK-Vivendi Universal has worldwide ambitions, particularly in the area of wireless technology and interactive television, and equally important, it possesses a balance sheet to support its plans, said Jean Marie Messier, chairman and chief executive officer."We believe we are the world's first global...
Carriers choose low-key number portability promotionsMELBOURNE, Australia-With the advent of mobile number portability (MNP) in Australia, the forecasted marketing blitz has largely failed to materialize, despite some initial predictions that mobile-phone companies would spend big to draw customers away from their competitors.Introduced on 25...
NEW DELHI, India—The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended relaxation of rollout obligations for the fourth cellular operator in four telecom circles—Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Andaman Nicobar—that did not attract any players in the last round of bidding.The requirement of covering...
HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia signed a deal of about US$36 million to supply and install Malaysian operator TimeCel with full GSM 1800 MHz infrastructure to expand the company's network capacity and improve coverage."Nokia will also provide its 3G-ready Nokia UltraSite base station solution, which answers the...
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Aptilo Networks signed an agreement to supply South Korean Internet operator Unitel with mobile access servers for a mobile network.Aptilo has delivered a test system, which will be evaluated prior to a possible nationwide buildout, the company said. Several nationwide wireless local...
LONDON—Vodafone Group said its average revenue per user (ARPU) has begun to stabilize based on its end-September financial figures.The operator said its total inactive customer base in its controlled subsidiaries at the end of the third quarter was 10 percent. This comprises contract activity...
BEIJING—Revenues in China's telecom sector reached 257.5 billion yuan (US$31.15 billion) in the first nine months of the year, a 12.5-percent growth from last year. In the first six months of the year, however, the sector's revenue increased 25 percent, indicating that even in...
LONDON—Vodafone Group plc has said its average revenue per user has begun to stabilize based on its end-September financial figures.The operator said its total inactive customer base in its controlled subsidiaries at the end of the third quarter was 10 percent. This comprises contract...
Editor's Note: Since 1993, RCR Wireless News has chosen one person who most impacted the wireless industry that year. As part of our celebration of 20 years of covering the wireless industry, here is a look at past inductees:1993
During the past 20 years, two overriding factors have shaped the wireless carrier landscape: customer growth and carrier consolidation. The number of wireless customers has grown from less than 100,000 subscribers after the first full year of availability in 1984 to nearly 120...
Editor's note: In 2000, RCR Wireless News founded the Wireless Hall of Fame to honor those individuals who have made significant contributions to the wireless industry. Following is a look at each of the inductees:
BEIJING—After months of prevarication, the Chinese government has decided to split the quasi-monopoly fixed-line operator China Telecom in two parts following geographical lines. Both the northern and southern split-offs of China Telecom may acquire mobile licenses, possibly next year. The northern part will merge...
SINGAPORE—Virgin Mobile, which launched its service in Singapore on 12 October, has found itself caught in a disagreement between incumbents SingTel Mobile and StarHub. Virgin Mobile Chief Executive Sir Richard Branson claimed Starhub is asking US$234,000 to let Virgin Mobile customers be connected to...
ATHENS, Greece—Greece's Ote Telecom is negotiating with the government of Macedonia to acquire a mobile license in the country. The operator has submitted a US$2.5 million line of credit for the license, international reports said. The license will be in line with Ote's other...
DENVER, United States—The Barbados government has agreed with Cable & Wireless for the U.K.-based telecom company to give up its monopoly on telecom services during the next 21 months. International press reports said the agreement is similar to those reached between Cable & Wireless...
CARACAS, Venezuela—CANTV's board of directors agreed on a plan to repurchase 15 percent of its stock at US$30 per American Depositary Receipt (ADR) to avoid a takeover bid from U.S.-based AES. In addition, an extraordinary cash dividend of US$4.89 per ADR would be paid,...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-The public failure of U.S.-based wireless local area network (WLAN) operator Mobilestar has drawn fresh attention to what could be a successful business model of wireless public access operators. Mobilestar shot to fame on its marketing tie-up with the Starbucks coffee shop...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Ericsson said it won a GSM network expansion order from Thailands' AIS mobile operator worth US$60 million. The order covers network infrastructure and service solutions for AIS' GSM 900 MHz and 1800 MHz networks.Ericsson said AIS has more than 3.5 million clients on...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Ericsson said it won a GSM network expansion order from Thailands' AIS mobile operator worth US$60 million. The order covers network infrastructure and service solutions for AIS' GSM 900 MHz and 1800 MHz networks.Ericsson said AIS has more than 3.5 million clients on...
SINGAPORE—Virgin Mobile launched service in Singapore on Friday, the first Asian market in which it has launched its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) service.Virgin Mobile partnered with SingTel Mobile last year to provide MVNO services in Singapore and other Asian markets. Virgin Mobile currently...
NIEUWEGEIN, The Netherlands—Philippino mobile operator Globe Telecom contracted with CMG Wireless Data Solutions for additional storage and a forwarding facility for its popular short message service (SMS).Globe's SMS volume reached more than 70 million messages each day in the first half of 2001, a...
OXFORD, United Kingdom—The 20 million users of Hotmail e-mail services in Europe might shortly be able to receive their messages via short message service (SMS) following a deal between MIGway, a new joint venture between TDC Mobile International, a Denmark-based cell-phone operator, and CMG...
