While America's cell-phone bandit may be the best known mobile-phone subscriber in the world, and consumers in Japan and Korea may have a corner on the coolest wireless apps on the planet, word on the street is Czechs-from teens to thirtysomethings-are the most crazed...
A trio of French wireless operators was fined more than $625 million by French regulators for alleged market collusion and fixing market share. The French competitive authority, the Counseil de la Concurrence, said that the three operators-Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom-exchanged confidential information on...
PARIS-A trio of French wireless operators were fined more than $625 million by French regulators for alleged market collusion and fixing market share. The French competitive authority, the Counseil de la Concurrence, said that the three operators-Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom-exchanged confidential information on...
LONDON-European wireless operator Orange launched commercial UMTS-based services in the United Kingdom and France. The launch trails similar launches in the U.K. by rivals 3 and Vodafone Group plc, but is ahead of planned launches by T-Mobile UK and Mm02 plc. Rival SFR also...
LONDON-A global alliance of wireless carriers that is working to define mobile-phone interface standards said it has added new members and outlined its work to date. The Open Mobile Terminal Platform Ltd. group, which includes heavyweights such as Vodafone Group plc, NTT DoCoMo Inc.,...
LONDON-A global alliance of wireless carriers that is working to define mobile-phone interface standards said it has added new members and outlined its work to date. The Open Mobile Terminal Platform Ltd. group, which includes heavyweights such as Vodafone Group plc, NTT DoCoMo Inc.,...
CANNES, France-Despite the less-than-ideal weather conditions at this year's 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, France, the event was highlighted by the GSM industry's announcement of signing up its 1 billionth customer worldwide and the European market's bright expectations for full third-generation networks that have...
PARIS-French mobile operator SFR said it plans to launch its third-generation UMTS service to corporate customers in May and to the public in June.The initial launch will be to several thousand corporate clients in Paris, Lyon and Lille, according to a statement from the...
MORRISVILLE, N.C.-Tekelec said it was awarded a contract by France's Cegetel Group for its fraud protection and equipment.Cegetel's mobile subsidiary, SFR, will deploy Tekelec's Equipment Identity Register and its flexible numbering solution, the G-Flex home location register manager, in its GSM network. The EIR...
PARIS-Vivendi Universal and Vodafone Group plc, joint owners of a mobile operator in France that have each been vying to take full control of the company for months, said they will simplify the group's ownership structure and increase their cooperation in the business.The companies...
SAN FRANCISCO-Kabira Technologies Inc. said French carrier SFR will use the Kabira Provisioning and Service Activation (KPSA) system to support and manage all mobile services offered to customers.The companies expect all SFR network equipment and service platforms to be transitioned to work though the...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Ongoing concerns regarding the effects of mobile-phone mast radiation on public health in France has encouraged SFR and Orange France to suspend the operation of antennas on top of a school in Yvelines.The operators were quick to point out that there is no...
BATH, U.K.-SFR, the wireless division of France's Groupe Cegetel, has completed the rollout of Cramer Systems' inventory solution, which SFR is using to manage the growth and development of its GSM900 and GSM 1800 networks."Cramer gives us tight control over our actual networks and...
LONDON-Vodafone Group plc reported that its Vodafone Holdings GmbH subsidiary completed its acquisition of SBC Communications Inc.'s stake in Transtel S.A., which represented a 15 percent interest in Cegetel Groupe S.A. for $2.27 billion.The acquisition increases Vodafone's interest in France's SFR to 43.9 percent.
OXFORD, United Kingdom-Seemingly learning little from what drove short message service (SMS) into being such an unexpected revenue earner-network interconnection-U.K. cell-phone operators are only now focusing on the fact that users of multimedia message service (MMS) will demand the ability to send pictures to...
PARIS, France-Cegetel affiliate SFR has selected L.M. Ericsson to supply, install and integrate its MMS platform, according to a press release."MMS will play a leading role among consumers, increasing mobile-to-mobile messaging capabilities by offering new, friendly and easy-to-use services," said Herve-Matthieu Ricour, services manager...
LONDON-Attempting to continue its acquisition path, Vodafone Group plc announced an agreement to acquire British Telecommunications plc's and SBC Communications Inc.'s stakes in French company Cegetel for about $6.2 billion in cash.Cegetel owns 80 percent of French mobile operator SFR. The buy would give...
PARIS-French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom was awarded a third-generation (3G) license by the French regulator for about US$610 million.Bouygues Telecom opted out of the first round of licensing in France, when France T
LONDON-Rumors abound regarding the possible sale of Vivendi Universal's stake in French mobile operator SFR to Vodafone Group. Vodafone has said it is interested in taking control of SFR, but not at any cost.Market analysts have valued SFR at about US$8 billion.Vodafone already directly...
FRAMINGHAM, Massachusetts, United States-NMS Communications said it will supply its HearSay voice services on a trial basis to mobile operator SFR in France. Th offering will provide detailed Tour de France updates through cell broadcast messages.SFR plans to roll out other location-based services during...
PARIS—The French telecom regulator has confirmed that only Bouygues Telecom applied for one of the two third-generation licenses on offer in France. Therefore, the three current mobile incumbent operators—Orange, SFR and Bouygues—will be the only 3G operators in the country.France awarded two of its...
GENEVA—General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) roaming exchanges (GRX) are rapidly emerging as a profitable new service niche in Europe and around the world, as mobile operators get serious about GPRS and struggle to come to grips with the complex roaming and billing issues surrounding...
PARIS—The tender to sell France's remaining two Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licenses opened on 1 January, with bids due by 16 May.The government's first attempt to sell four UMTS licenses last year resulted in a lack of interest and the awarding of only...
