A week after announcing plans to eliminate as much as $14 billion in debt, British Telecommunications plc said it was selling its 34-percent stake in Swiss joint venture Sunrise to TeleDanmark, a partner in the deal, for $659 million. BT said the sale netted...
Just as Sprint PCS was quick to offer wireless Web services, the company is jumping head first into the voice-recognition market, signing a new agreement with voice portal provider BeVocal Inc. to test speech-activated applications powered by BeVocal's Total Voice Portal Solution.The BeVocal deal...
Not one operator around the world has rolled out third-generation services yet, but discussion of fourth-generation technology is already under way. An industry that began offering a basic communications tool is evolving into something much flashier, much more futuristic and certainly more exciting.Japan, the...
LONDON-Vodafone Group plc and France Telecom's Orange both acquired stakes in the Swiss wireless market ahead of the country's Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction, set to begin next week.Vodafone Group acquired 25 percent of the equity of Swisscom Mobile for $2.6 billion from Swisscom....
BUCHAREST, Romania-Russian company RadioTel said it will test a Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) trunking network in the St. Petersburg area, using Motorola equipment for infrastructure and terminals.Motorola estimated the cost of constructing the TETRA network for the St.Petersburg area could be between US$5 million...
NEW YORK-Despite substantial increases in subscribers and revenues last quarter, VoiceStream Wireless Corp. experienced growing losses it attributed to rapid growth and expenses related to acquisitions.VoiceStream, headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., posted a loss of $661.3 million, or $3.02 per share, on revenues of $562.2...
BUCHAREST, Romania-Slovakian operator Globtel prefers a "beauty contest" process of licensing the country's third-generation (3G) licenses. Eva Forraiova-Guttlerova, the company's public relations manager, said the beauty contest system is more fair, because the monetary amount is influenced by service use.Using an auction, license fees...
HELSINKI, Finland-In a new three-year agreement Nokia will supply its core GPRS solution, services and broadband switching system upgrades for Belgium-based operator Proximus Belgacom Mobile's mobile network.Nokia said it has delivered more than 50 GPRS core networks to operators in Europe, the United States,...
TOKYO-Seven regional companies of KDDI Group on 1 November merged to form a new company called "au." KDDI decided to merge these regional companies to better compete with giant NTT DoCoMo.However, former IDO Corp., an operator covering the Tokyo metropolitan area, joined KDDI, rather...
Qualcomm Inc.'s much-battered stock received a vote of confidence last week as Lehman Brothers released an equity research report reiterating its "Buy" rating of the company's stock, which has seen its value fall from a 52-week high of $200 per share earlier this year...
SINGAPORE-Singapore operator MobileOne (M1) accused rivals SingTel Mobile and StarHub of efforts to lure away its CDMA customers. An advertising war has been under way, with SingTel Mobile and StarHub taking out full-page advertisements in the Straits Times extolling the virtues of their GSM...
WASHINGTON-Neoworld Inc., a newcomer with a back-to-the-future wireless strategy, represents a new breed of dispatch operator forced by massive consolidation and other industry trends to exploit market niches with economic viability.Neoworld is looking to bridge the gap between traditional analog specialized mobile radio systems...
WASHINGTON-While most believe the specialized mobile radio industry seems to be disappearing along with its companion regulatory issues, one SMR operator believes that if this is true, it is the fault of the Federal Communications Commission."Why is there less spectrum allocated for SMR? There...
VIENNA, Austria-Europe's fifth auction of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses ended after less than two days of bidding. All six participants gained licenses to operate UMTS systems in Austria, drawing about $728 million, much less than anticipated.The auction came to a halt for five...
PARIS-SkyPoint, a Spanish telecom operator with a wireless access license in the 26 GHz band, selected Alcatel to supply its local multipoint distribution service (LMDS) equipment. The initial phase of the project is valued at US$84 million.SkyPoint's network is currently being deployed throughout seven...
CAMBODIAIn a joint venture with Cambodia's Royal Group of Companies and the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, Millicom International Cellular launched an international gateway in the country, the company said. The license was awarded for 25 years, and it is the second gateway in...
BALA CYNWYD, Pa.-More than 350,000 residents in Nevada will soon have access to Sprint wireless personal communications services, Sprint's network partner UbiquiTel Inc. announced.The service covers Reno, Carson City and East Tahoe and brings UbiquiTel's customer base to 850,000.Sprint manager and operator UbiquiTel operates...
VIENNA, Austria-The Austrian auction of third-generation licenses began today, amid investigations into illegal activities among some of the already-completed European 3G auctions.In Austria, six bidders are competing for 12 licenses. Companies are expected to acquire up to three licenses.After six rounds of bidding, bid...
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.-In a deal with GSM operator Telsim that Motorola estimates at $2 billion, the company will supply and deploy a third-generation mobile network capable of advanced multimedia services in Turkey's capital and largest city.Telsim, which has 5 million customers, said the deployment...
TURIN, Italy-The shareholders of Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) voted to assign Telecom Italia's shareholding in Stet Mobile Holding to TIM. After the restructuring, TIM will detain 100 percent of the share capital of Stet Mobile Holding, while Telecom Italia will detain the entire share...
LISBON, Portugal-Portugal Telecom increased its economic interests in Brazilian mobile operator Telesp Celular Participacoes from 29.92 percent to 41.23 percent.Telesp Celular completed a public auction at the Sao Paulo, Brazil, stock exchange, issuing about 27 million preferred shares and 14.5 million common shares at...
PARIS-SkyPoint, a Spanish telecom operator with a wireless access license in the 26 GHz band, selected Alcatel to supply its local multipoint distribution service equipment. The initial phase of the project is valued at $84 million.SkyPoint's network is currently being deployed throughout seven major...
MOSCOW-The major Russian Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) carrier decided to expand eastward and launched a GSM 900 MHz service in the Urals republic of Udmurtia in November.Udmurtia, which has numerous industrial and manufacturing enterprises, became the 21st of 89 Russian regions where MTS is currently...
