CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J.-Omnipoint Communications Inc. announced the launch of its 100th international roaming agreement through the inauguration of service with Portuguese operator TMN."Presently our customers can use their clear, reliable wireless service in 53 countries and the list just keeps on growing," said Omnipoint...
Although they believe the future growth of the paging industry lies in advanced messaging, paging carriers continue to search out new ways to attract customers to traditional paging services as the one-way market becomes increasingly saturated.Analysts say distribution is the key to this effort....
WASHINGTON-Just days before going to trial last month, high-level Justice Department officials may have overruled government antitrust lawyers who appeared ready to make a strong case in federal court against lifting a 1995 consent decree imposed on Nextel Communications Inc.Charles James, a lawyer for...
NEW YORK-Heading into a scorcher of an Independence Day holiday, American stock markets closed in record-setting territory, thereby heating up the prospects for wireless sector companies seeking financing during the second half of 1999.By now it is a cliche to say that Alan Greenspan,...
United KingdomBritish Telecommunications plc said it will buy Control Data Systems Inc., a software company based in Arden Hills, Minn., for $340 million. The purchase will expand British Telecom's service offering. Control Data makes software that links programs from various suppliers, letting companies file...
PARIS-Nortel Networks said it will deploy a General Packet Radio Service trial in selected areas of Paris for French operator Bouygues Telecom, the companies announced.The trial will demonstrate personalized wireless Internet portals, secure corporate intranet access and other, high-speed mobile data services. Bouygues Telecom...
When it became the first satellite-based global voice operator to launch commercial service last year, Iridium L.L.C. predicted its success would serve as the example other such carriers would need to follow.Not yet a year later, the company's dangerously low subscriber additions have resulted...
Deutsche Telekom AG has about $18 billion at its disposal after its $11-billion secondary offering last week, and speculation is running high about what acquisitions it will make in Europe and the United States."I will not name names today," Ron Sommer, chief executive of...
Asia-Pacific countries are beginning to emerge from the severe economic problems that have gripped them for two years, and mobile phone carriers are finding they desperately need cash to expand services.Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines took the hardest economic hits after the Thai...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Nigeria has the potential of more than 5 million wireless subscribers and shows all the signs of becoming another wireless phenomenon in Africa.Looking at hard facts, this does not seem feasible. With a population of 100 million people, the country has only...
LONDON-The main trends in the Middle East wireless industry for the current year were highlighted back in March with calls from senior industry professionals for greater private-sector participation and the introduction of competition in this steadily expanding market.Speaking at the plenary session of the...
DUBLIN, Ireland-One of the most common complaints from telecommunications companies competing with former monopoly operators is cross-subsidization by the incumbent, particularly in countries where the incumbent also controls a major cellular operator. However, regulators across Europe have been tackling this issue, and it now...
AlbaniaAlbania said it plans to issue a public tender to sell a majority stake in Albanian Mobile Communications, the sole cellular provider in the country. The government also plans to offer a license for a second GSM operator at the same time.HungaryThe Primatel consortium,...
GENEVA-Five rivals made the shortlist in the bid for control of the United Kingdom's fourth-ranked mobile operator, One-2-One, which was put up for sale by owners Cable & Wireless and MediaOne in March following MediaOne's acquisition by AT&T in a deal worth US$62.5 billion.While...
DUBLIN, Ireland-The phenomenal growth of cellular services around the world has created problems for operators as their networks become increasingly congested, encouraging companies to develop technologies and systems to increase the volume of traffic that can be carried over existing infrastructure.Several established infrastructure vendors...
TOKYO-Tokyo Telemessages Inc. (TTM), a paging company suffering from huge debts due to a sharp drop in customers because of strong competition from mobile phone operators, went bankrupt at the end of May. The beeper operator has debts of around 25 billion yen (US$206...
Qwest Communications International is pursuing an acquisition of U S West in competition with another bidder, Global Crossing.Microsoft announced in mid-May a US$600 million investment in Nextel Communications, the leading trunked radio operator in the United States. The deal is to give Nextel customers...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The technology standard TETRA has come up trumps in a feasibility study conducted by Finnish company Omnitele.The consultancy had been appointed by the South African Regulatory Authority (SATRA) in February to explore the feasibility of licensing one or more third-party operators to...
Nine global wireless companies formed a focus group, called 3G.IP, to promote an Internet Protocol-based wireless system for third-generation technology. The group comprises AT&T, British Telecom, Rogers Cantel, Ericsson, Lucent, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Telenor and Telecom Italia Mobile.Motorola signed a 10-year, US$1 billion strategic...
MONTE CARLO, Monaco-Seemingly lost in the breakneck expansion of the cellular industry is a largely forgotten fact-it was cellular operators wanting a common digital voice standard that drove the rapid adoption of GSM, not the technology developers.This market pull appears to be missing from...
MIAMI-The market opportunity for international roaming is clear, present and growing, but domestic U.S. carriers so far have been focused on tapping the large and more immediate potential posed by the burgeoning data traffic at home."Many of the U.S. carriers I follow have not...
HandsetsKyoceraKyocera plans to begin marketing at the end of July in Japan its VP-210 VisualPhone, a PHS phone with a built-in camera that can transmit and receive images in real time at a rate of two frames per second. The handset incorporates a CMOS...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-While the drive to implement Internet e-commerce is being hyped almost on a daily basis, with some justification, as the way forward for almost all future business transactions, the possible success of this application within the mobile world remains less than clear.Many...
One of the special sections in this issue includes a large carrier chart listing the cellular and PCS operators of the world. Take a look, and you'll see the phenomenal inroads wireless has made into every region of the world.The growth has been phenomenal....
