HONG KONG-Hutchison Whampoa bought Motorola Inc.'s 25-percent stake in Hong Kong operator Hutchison Telephone for $120 million. Hutchison now owns 81 percent of the Hong Kong carrier.If Hutchison sells any of the Motorola shares during the next two years, Motorola will get half the...
SEOUL, South Korea-As South Korea postponed plans to select a third and final third-generation (3G) mobile service operator, the government's enthusiasm for a viable bidder is greater than ever. But potential bidders seem unimpressed, putting the 3G license itself into doubt.The Ministry of Information...
GENEVA-Despite a subdued initial public offering (IPO) that saw the company reap a modest US$9 per share-near the bottom end of an already hastily reduced US$8.7 to US$10 range-the future is looking good for Orange, the former U.K. operator that now forms the cornerstone...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Early in 2001, several countries in South America have changed their tariff schemes with the objective of reducing the existing gap between the cost of fixed calls and cellular tariffs. In general, cellular calls cost more than landline calls in the region,...
BUCHAREST, Romania-Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are a new and hopeful concept in the European communications market. The region's mobile market is growing, with strong potential for new operators.The largest problem faced by European operators hoping to break into new markets is limited available...
UTICA, New York, United States-Nearly two years since cessation of hostilities on 10 June, 1999, numerous roadblocks still stand in the way of any attempt to restore and expand telecommunications network services in post-war Kosovo. In a province roughly the size of Jamaica, with...
DENVER, United States-While some countries in Latin America are moving forward with advanced wireless networks, Central American nations are not likely to see commercial next-generation systems any time soon. Mass-market demand for data services remains weak due to low incomes, and market development lags...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-A year after the launch of mobile Internet services in South America, almost all the cellular telephony operators are offering Internet services, although exclusively in the major cities of the region and without generating profits.Entel PCS of Chile is the most advanced,...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Having paid handsomely for their licenses at a time when wireless auctions were the flavor of the month around Europe, wireless local loop (WLL) operators face an uncertain future. Capital has dried up as the financial markets review their strategy toward telecommunications, customers...
HONG KONG-Hutchison Whampoa bought Motorola's 25-percent stake in Hong Kong operator Hutchison Telephone for US$120 million. Hutchison now owns 81 percent of the Hong Kong carrier.If Hutchison sells any of the Motorola shares during the next two years, Motorola will get half the profit....
BEIJING-While China's mobile-phone subscribers nearly doubled to 85.26 million last year, the country's paging manufacturers and operators fought a rearguard battle. With continuing price drops in handsets and mobile services, more pager users are switching to mobile phones.The number of subscribers at China's major...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The many delays that have beset South Africa's third mobile network license process could be at an end. In February, the Minister of Communications Dr. Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri announced the winner was the Saudi Oger-financed Cell C consortium, despite the fact that a...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN), the South African mobile network operator, recently secured one of four mobile operator licenses in Nigeria. The network must pay a license fee of US$285 million, which could be regarded as either reasonable or overpriced, based on various...
BOSTON, United States-As the South African telecommunications industry prepares to map out the legal future of communications in the country, Telecom Namibia said it fears no competition when its own market is liberalized.Speaking at the African Convergence conference in Rosebank, South Africa, Telecom Namibia...
Centralizing access to e-mail boxes can be a complicated matter that is often further hampered by solutions requiring an additional e-mail account. Instead of making access easier, the user ends up with another e-mail address.ViAir Inc., a mobile applications management and delivery platform provider,...
In one simple moment last week, when all my usual technology aids disappeared, the need for the United States to have a 3G spectrum policy that uses the same frequencies as the rest of the world crystallized.It was just a minute of panic, really....
As carriers and companies worldwide rush to offer all kinds of location-based services, one consulting firm is warning that location-based services may not live up to the wireless industry's expectations.Telecommunications and new media advisor firm Analysys released a report cautioning that location-based services may...
A variety of wireless operators released fourth quarter results last week, including national carrier VoiceStream Wireless Corp., regional operator Western Wireless Corp. and flat rate, local calling provider Leap Wireless International Inc.VoiceStreamVoiceStream, which is in the midst of a takeover by Germany's Deutsche Telekom,...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-French telecom manufacturer Alcatel has relaunched its GSM micro base station concept that it claims will work with PBXs from other developers. The success of the micro base station concept, which was unveiled two years ago, has been patchy with few operators...
Deutsche Telekom AG's $35 billion proposal to buy U.S. GSM operators VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and Powertel Inc. has been delayed as DT and VoiceStream are said to be re-negotiating the acquisition price due to DT's stock slump, according to The New York Times. In...
WASHINGTON-The battle over automatic roaming crystallized between entrenched carriers and their would-be competitors as parties recently filed reply comments in a proceeding that could change the rules by which carriers enter roaming agreements.Large carriers do not want the Federal Communications Commission to mandate automatic...
Nine months after investing an initial $33 million into its mobile Internet services development company Microcell i5 Inc., Canadian wireless operator Microcell Solutions Inc. introduced its i.Fido wireless data services to its Fido personal communications services customers.Microcell's wireless Internet offering will face stiff competition...
NEW YORK-Borrowing the vernacular of a traffic engineer, a financier compared the current capital market conditions for telecommunications companies to rush-hour congestion, but observed that the tie-up looks like it is slowly beginning to clear.Investors still are sorting out a host of concerns that...
As the South African telecommunications industry prepared for a meeting to map out the legal future of communications in the country, Telecom Namibia said it fears no competition when its own market is liberalized.Speaking recently at the African Convergence conference in Rosebank, South Africa,...
