NEW DELHI, India-Though a late starter, the Asia-Pacific region may steal a march over Europe in rolling out third-generation (3G) networks.On May 30, NTT DoCoMo became the first operator in the world to offer 3G services on a trial basis. In addition to this,...
MEXICO CITY-The Mexican cellular industry has grown fast and steady in recent years. From 1 million subscribers in 1997, the operators closed last year with 14 million customers, and the curve is still going upward. The government is happy, carriers are happy, and users...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Many eyes in the wireless industry have recently focused on the emerging market of Africa with a lot of attention going to the recent auction of four mobile network licenses in Nigeria. The road to victory for Nigerian mobile prosperity has not...
NEW YORK-A noteworthy dynamic has developed in which major players like AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Cingular Wireless and Sprint PCS are actively promoting prepaid services, while smaller providers like Dobson Communications Corp. and TeleCorp PCS want to minimize its role."The irony is not lost...
AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands-KPN, the Dutch telecommunications company, is reportedly in talks with Belgian national telecommunications operator Belgacom regarding a merger. KPN is facing mounting pressure about its expanding debt load and reports that it is planning a rights issue.According to international press reports, KPN...
NEW YORK-American Tower Corp., Boston, warned June 21 of greater losses than securities analysts had expected due to acquisition integration problems and a write-off related to the Nasdaq delisting threat against a company in which it invested.The wireless and broadcast tower owner and operator...
OSLO, Norway-Telenor said it is looking to increase its shareholding in Malaysian mobile operator DiGi.Com. The Norwegian company currently has a 32.9-percent stake in DiGi.Telenor informed the Malaysian operator's board of directors of its intention to make a voluntary partial takeover offer for up...
HELSINKI-Nokia Corp. and Finnish operator Sonera said they have conducted tests that determined data packets could be transmitted through Sonera GPRS Roaming Exchange on Nokia's UMTS platform.
PortugalOni Way, a Portuguese mobile operator that recently won a UMTS 3G license, has selected Accenture as the primary systems integrator for its integrated billing solution. The solution includes the Amdocs 3G billing platform. The Accenture/Amdocs solution provides Oni Way with single billing for...
NEW YORK-A group of seven network infrastructure and software systems developers have joined forces in what they are calling an "initiative" to explain and promote multimedia messaging service in advance of commercial product availability starting late this year.Participating in the alliance are CMG Wireless...
SINGAPORESAMSys Technologies Inc., a company that provides radio frequency identification (RFID) reader hardware, and Tunity Pte. Ltd. of Singapore, an Asia-Pacific RFID channel development firm, said they plan to join in marketing efforts. According to the agreement between the companies, Tunity will provide solution...
As the Virgin Mobile rumor factory continues to pump out news stories, Sprint PCS finally brought some substance to the situation. The wireless carrier issued a brief, two-sentence release confirming that the two companies were in discussions, but that no definitive agreement had been...
NTT DoCoMo applies for stock listings, calls back handsetsNTT DoCoMo Inc. has applied for listings this fall on the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, according to various sources.Japan's largest mobile wireless operator went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in...
HONG KONG-Not even torrential rains around portions of Hong Kong could dampen the spirits of CDMA supporters at the 3G World Congress. Even with the lack of sunshine outside, to go along with the lack of CDMA coverage for roaming, most attendees seemed bright...
MONTREAL-Canadian mobile operator Microcell Telecommunications Inc. launched Project Rainbow, an initiative to bring together companies to develop and market commercial mobile data services. The group will include systems integrators, network access device and content suppliers, application and toolkit developers, and multimedia technology providers."We believe...
In a triangular deal, German-based operator T-Mobil is partnering with Agere Systems to adopt Samsung's General Packet Radio Service class 8-cell phone.The phone, which will be made available commercially during this quarter, uses Agere's semiconductor chips and software.The Samsung GPRS wireless handsets equipped with...
CAMPBELL, Calif.-P-Com Inc. said it was provisioned by Beijing P-Com, its Chinese joint venture partnership, to supply a combination of P-Com and Ceragon Networks Ltd. fixed wireless access systems to a GSM operator in Tianjing, China's fifth largest city.P-Com will supply its PDH radios...
WOODBURY, N.Y.-Comverse, a unit of Comverse Technology Inc., announced its Intelligent Short Message Service Center (ISMSC) was selected by Airtel Mobil, a mobile operator in Spain and part of the Vodafone Group.Airtel will implement Comverse's short message service solutions, which is based on a...
HELSINKI, Finland-Kaj-Erik Relander, president and chief executive officer of Sonera Corp., has resigned effective Aug. 1. He will continue as an adviser to the chairman of the board of the company until the end of 2001.The Finnish operator is currently in discussions with Sweden's...
Deutsche Telekom's recent acquisition of U.S.-based GSM operator VoiceStream Wireless Corp. again showed the ever-shrinking nature of the wireless industry. Including United Kingdom-based Vodafone Group plc's partial ownership stake in Verizon Wireless and Japan's NTT DoCoMo's interest in AT&T Wireless Services Inc., international telecommunications...
ScoreBoard likes to keep the networking slate clean of errors.The company, which specializes in network management and optimization for the mobile communications industry, helps operators to improve network quality and leverage existing core network assets and, therefore, lower costs.The key, according to the company,...
Worldwide rollout of next-generation wireless services went 2 for 1 last week as both Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo and U.K.-based Vodafone Group plc introduced handsets for high-speed data services, while Finnish operator Sonera said it was delaying its rollout due to a lack of...
After a year in which its global customer base increased from 53 million customers to a staggering 83 million customers, U.K.-based Vodafone Group plc said it will turn its attention this year from rounding up more subscribers to making money off the ones it...
As hopes rise for GPRS, companies are churning out solutions to take advantage of the emerging technology. Tektronix Inc. sees itself as playing a role in the equipment-testing arena.With its two latest products, the company believes it is in full gear for the technology...
