BUCHAREST, Romania—According to the Tanzanian newspaper Business Day, the Tanzanian cellular operator Vodacom announced that after one year, 130,000 subscribers have been signed up to GSM services rather than the 15,000 that were expected to subscribe.Growth has proved so rapid that the company should...
OXFORD, United Kingdom—Hi3G, the 3G license holder owned jointly by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa and the Swedish Investor group, has emerged as the most likely bidder for the bankrupt Norwegian 3G licensee, Broadband Mobile. The country's communication ministry has already stated that it would...
TOKYO—Japan Communications Inc. said it will launch data communications services for corporate users in November using DDI Pocket's Personal Handyphone System (PHS) networks, the firm announced 22 August. It will be Japan's first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) service. DDI Pocket, the largest PHS...
MUNICH, Germany—Siemens AG says it has won a $256 million contract from Brazilian operator Telemar to supply and install a GSM network in six major cities in the northeast of Brazil. The contact, which will last two years, will cover a population of 26...
NEIUWEGEIN, the Netherlands—TDC Mobile International and CMG Wireless Data Solutions announced their plans to create a pan-European revenue-sharing WAP gateway, which the companies said will give content providers a simple, unified method to offer their services to Europe's 320 million mobile customers.The situation now,...
NEW YORK—Tele2 AB, formerly NetCom AB, today said it will be the first mobile virtual network operator in the Netherlands under an agreement with Telfort, a GSM operator in the Netherlands that is owned by British Telecom.Tele2 said the agreement will allow it to...
LONDON—Just days after the initial launch of MIGway, the new joint venture between TDC Mobile International and CMG Wireless Data Solutions, the companies announced they will offer wireless access to MSN Hotmail e-mail services to select European carriers.MSN Hotmail is one of the world's...
MUNICH, Germany—Siemens AG won a $256 million contract from Brazilian operator Telemar to supply and install GSM networks in six major cities in the northeast of Brazil.The contact, which will last two years, will cover a population of 26 million.
LONDON—United Arab Emirates-based mobile satellite service provider, Thuraya, plans to expand its 100-country network as soon as next year. Chief Executive Yousuf Al Sayed anticipates another satellite, built by Boeing under a $960 million deal, to be launched by 2002. The satellite provider launched...
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, United States—Telecommunications carrier Alltel made an unsolicited bid to buy rural operator CenturyTel for $9 billion, a 40 percent premium over CenturyTel's current stock price.The proposed merger calls for CenturyTel shareholders to receive a choice of either $43 per share in...
The NextWave Telecom Inc. saga continued last week as the hopeful wireless wholesaler unveiled funding plans to roll out its network, while its potential wireless competitors/customers continued to look for ways to wrestle some control over licenses that are still waiting for a proper...
Finland's Sonera said it will "take immediate steps to liquidate" Broadband Mobile ASA in Norway, partly because Enitel ASA, its equal partner in the third-generation wireless joint venture, already has decided to withdraw from the fledgling enterprise.Broadband Mobile ASA received a UMTS license in...
ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless signed a five-year deal with BellSouth Long Distance and SBC Long Distance to provide long-distance services to the wireless operator on a national level.Cingular Wireless was formed from the wireless operations of BellSouth and SBC Communications."This arrangement is the result of a...
LONDON—Saudi Business Machines (SBM), the general marketing and services representative for IBM WTC in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced it has completed the installation of the largest-ever computer project in the Middle East.The completed project has been designed to ensure that the Kingdom's...
LONDON—Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) has announced it has awarded a joint contract to Swedish telecom heavyweight Ericsson and Finnish mobile giant Nokia. Under the terms of the deal the two companies will undertake a project to expand the kingdom's mobile-phone network.STC did not reveal...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Telecom Personal presented a signed agreement with Lotus to enable its cellular clients to access various mobile services based on WAP from their terminals. This will allow corporate users to have instant access to their company's intranet information and share schedules.The technology...
COPENHAGEN, Denmark—TDC said it is seeking to take control over Polish cellular operator Polkomtel, according to international press reports. It currently holds 19.6 percent of the carrier.However, the Danish company said it would likely achieve the takeover through an alliance with Vodafone Group, which...
WARSAW, Poland—Lucent Technologies Inc. said it has signed a contract to allow Polish telecom operator Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. to purchase products and services from across the entire Lucent Integrated Network Solution portfolio.The products include access, switching and data transmission solutions while the services are...
BUCHAREST, Romania—Moldavian GSM operator Moldcell announced that negotiations between the two mobile telephony operators (Moldcell and Voxtel) that were started on 7 November, 2001, have been finalized.The two operators have sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) containing all the basic conditions of the future...
LONDON—Turkey's newest mobile-phone operator, Aycell, has announced it will be technically operational later this month.Aycell, which is run by state-run telephone carrier Turk Telekom, issued a statement announcing that its infrastructure installation will be complete by 22 August across seven Turkish provinces. The statement...
BUCHAREST, Romania—Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications concluded a service provider agreement with Mobile Telecommunications Company of Kuwait, a telecommunications operator in the region.As part of the new service provider agreement, MTC will have all rights to distribute and market Thuraya's services and products throughout Kuwait. Included...
BUCHAREST, Romania—The Jordanian GSM operator Jordan M.T.S. launched a new service for its prepaid customers.The new service, called Mobile Internet (WAP), allows customers to access the Internet from a WAP-enabled handset. The customer can check e-mail, read the latest news and perform mobile banking...
BUCHAREST, Romania—Romanian GSM operator CONNEX announce that it has set the record high number of 1.5 million GSM customers and 100,000 XNET users."These milestones are significant in many ways," said Michele Gaudette, vice president of marketing and sales. "They not only confirm our position...
OXFORD, United Kingdom—In what appears to have been a politically motivated decision, the France Telecom-owned mobile operator Orange has dropped handsets developed by Ericsson and Siemens while retaining cell phones manufactured by French-based Alcatel and Sagem.Orange claims that this move to drop two of...
