VILNIUS, Lithuania—Wireless operator Omnitel began a new telephone numbering system, with the prefix of mobile telephone services in Lithuania beginning with a digit six. Lithuania's National Telephone Numbering Plan introduced a new numbering system for the country's fixed and mobile services.The carrier said it...
SYDNEY, Australia—Australia rolled out mobile number portability (MNP) on Tuesday, allowing mobile-phone users to change phone companies without changing their phone numbers.The country's small business community will benefit the most from the changes, according to a statement from the Australian Communications Authority (ACA). Without...
HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia has won a contract to supply third-generation (3G) end-to-end network infrastructure equipment for Hong Kong carrier CSL.Under the pact, Nokia will design, install, commission and integrate the networks for such services as Nokia Online services, help desk, software maintenance, hardware maintenance, technical...
LONDON—The Tunisian Telecommunications Ministry announced it will restart its abandoned attempt to tender a second GSM license. The license is due to be issued before the end of the year. The ministry said it had dropped the tender because it was not satisfied with...
OXFORD, United Kingdom—The 50 short message service (SMS) content channels being offered by the German cell-phone operator D2 Vodafone are being seen as the precursor for other service providers looking to encourage mobile data traffic use. The Yankee Group claimed that D2 is the...
OXFORD, United Kingdom—Prepaid cell-phone users will now be able to check account details, review account activity and top up balances using a new system announced by Logica. The new service, Web Self-Care, will be provided as part of the company's customer care and management...
HELSINKI, Finland—Nordic telecom companies Sonera and Telia have met, in separate talks, with representatives of the government of Belarussia to discuss a possible participation in applying for the former Soviet-bloc country's second GSM network.Sonera's and Telia's interest in the second Belarussian license is strategic...
COPENHAGEN, Denmark—The Danish telecom agency awarded four third-generation (3G) licenses for US$118 million each after receiving bids from five companies.Incumbent operators TDC Mobile, Telia Denmark and Orange each won a license, along with newcomer Hi3G Denmark. Norway's Telenor, which is the majority owner of...
NEW YORK—Any plans to take the J-Phone wireless business of Japan Telecom public must wait until the performance of its parent improves, said Chris Gent, chief executive of Vodafone Group, which recently announced its offer to acquire a controlling interest in the Japanese carrier."Chairman...
OXFORD, United Kingdom—European cell-phone operators have been criticized by the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) for promoting the technical attributes of their networks rather than services.The GSA, a trade association formed by the major cell-phone equipment vendors, said operators have presented a confusing value...
WASHINGTON—The government of Madagascar has launched the privatization process of the Malagasy Telecommunication Company (TELMA), offering 36 percent of the company's shares. The tender also includes a GSM 1800 MHz license, along with fixed telephony and VSAT licenses.The shares will be offered to a...
TAMPA, Fla.—TSI Telecommunications Services announced Venezuelan wireless operator Movilnet has agreed to test the company's short messaging service (SMS) Message Manager Solution.TSI said the product provides SMS routing and interoperability translations between disparate networks.
LE PLESSIS-ROBINSON, France—Wireless operator Orange selected Lucent Technologies to provide a network management solution for its mobile network in France. Lucent said its Netminder solution will provide detailed surveillance, analysis and control of traffic across the network and ensure that technical problems are detected.Under...
TOKYO—KDDI, the second-largest operator in Japan, is going to postpone its third-generation (3G) service launch from the original plan of this quarter to April 2002 due to delays in software development, KDDI announced. Instead, KDDI will provide 64 kilobits per second (kbps) services until...
NEW DELHI, India—India's Bharti has acquired a controlling stake in SkyCell, a cellular operator in the Indian city of Chennai in southern India, by buying out the stakes of BellSouth International and Millicom International Cellular (MIC). The foreign companies held 24.5 percent each in...
LE PLESSIS-ROBINSON, France—Wireless operator Orange selected Lucent Technologies Inc. to provide a network management solution for its mobile network in France. Lucent said its Netminder solution will provide detailed surveillance, analysis and control of traffic across the network and ensure technical problems are detected.Under...
NEW YORK—Millicom International Cellular S.A. sold its 24.5 percent stake in Indian cellular operator SkyCell Communications Ltd. to Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd."The selective sale of our non-core assets, including the ones in which we have a minority stake, will provide the necessary funds for Millicom...
MADRID—Telefonica Moviles S.A. announced that due to the terrorist events of September 11 and their effect on international capital markets, it plans to cancel the public exchange offer announced February 27.The exchange offer called for Telefonica Moviles to acquire the shares representing up to...
CINCINNATI, United States—Convergys announced Austrian mobile operator One will use its Geneva Active Revenue Management (ARM) software to replace its legacy billing system.One, which is owned by E.ON, Telenor, Orange and Tele Danmark, provides 97 percent coverage in Austria.
Austria's GSM operator One allowed customers to make mobile and fixed-line calls to the United States until the end of the day 12 September in the wake of the terrorist attacks on targets in New York and Washington.
LONDON-U.K. mobile-phone maker Sendo announced it will use PacketVideo Corp.'s mobile multimedia player software as the streaming video application base for the company's new Z100 GPRS smart phone. The Z100 is Sendo's first data phone and is based on Microsoft Corp.'s smart-phone operating...
During the past 15 months there has been growing interest in the United States around mobile virtual network operators, best known as MVNOs. The idea behind MVNOs is that companies with strong brands, powerful distribution or compelling content/applications (ideally all three) negotiate wholesale access...
