HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. said it has signed a letter of intent to supply Sonera with its Nokia D500 multiservice access platform to begin Sonera's next-generation broadband access rollout in the country's mobile market."The Nokia D500 multiservice access platform will give Sonera a high-density, multimedia-enabled...
HELSINKI, Finland-Sonera Corp. said it sold its 14-percent holding in Lebanese GSM operator LibanCell to Lebanese Telecommunications Co. for $22.5 million. The operator, which is focusing on reducing its high debt, said it will record a gain of about $19.7 million.LibanCell has been involved...
NEW DELHI, India-After consolidation of operations and brands, Indian GSM players are now turning to more competitive services by adding new features. This week, two leading players-Bharti and Escotel-launched high-powered subscriber identity module (SIM) cards to facilitate more applications.The 32K SIM card launched by...
HELSINKI, Finland-The shortage of UMTS terminals in Finland's retail market is seriously hindering the construction of third-generation (3G) mobile networks. 3G license holders are warning that delays can be expected in the rollout of 3G networks."While the situation in Finland has not reached a...
HELSINKI, Finland—Finland's Sonera Corp. and Hong Kong CSL Ltd. launched the world's first commercial inter-operator multimedia messaging services over Aicent Inc.'s and Sonera's GPRS Roaming Exchange networks.The service allows mobile users in Hong Kong and Finland to send MMS messages to each other and...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—The pending merger between Sweden's Telia AB and Finland's Sonera Corp. could be just the beginning of Nordic consolidation, with international press reports quoting a Sweden government official as saying Telia is in discussions with additional operators, including Denmark's TDC Corp., about more...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Telia AB said its proposed merger with Finland's Sonera Corp. is moving forward as planned, with the European Commission's phase one review expected to be completed by mid-July. The company filed a merger notification with details of the planned business combination between Telia...
HELSINKI, Finland—The Lithuanian state is examining a proposal presented by the National Property Fund (NPF) to divest a 5-percent equity stake in Lietuvos Telekomas, Lithuania's mobile and fixed telecom monopoly. Lietuvos Telekomas is 60-percent owned by the consortium of Finland's Sonera and Sweden's Telia....
Wireless stock prices around the world have taken a beating lately. Vodafone Group has most noticeably suffered investors’ wrath and is now trading at less than a pound. To make matters worse, its shares fell an additional 5 percent last week after Goldman Sachs...
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...
HELSINKI, Finland—Whatever the ultimate outcome of Telia's strategic Scandinavian union with Sonera, the net effect will certainly not be a merger of equals. The boards of Telia and Sonera have conceded that Telia's takeover of Sonera has transpired because of a "political" decision in...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Nordic telecom operators Telia AB and Sonera Corp. announced plans to merge through an all-stock transaction, creating a combined company with 2001 revenues of $7.9 billion.Sonera shareholders will receive 1.5144 Telia shares in exchange for each Sonera share, offering a premium of 15.8...
HELSINKI, Finland—Finnish operator Sonera plans to offer commercial UMTS services by Sept. 26, once terminals for the new services become available, the operator announced. If the carrier meets the deadline, the network will be one of the first commercial third-generation systems in Europe.Sonera currently...
HELSINKI, Finland—Cable & Wireless GRX and Sonera GRX have joined to enable worldwide GPRS roaming through GRX (GPRS Roaming Exchange) interconnect for their mobile customers.The combination will enable roaming between 27 operators in Europe, Asia and North America, the companies said."Offering a truly global...
HELSINKI, Finland—Sonera said it reached a deal with other shareholders of the Dutch holding company Fintur Holdings that will allow Sonera to increase its stake in the GSM businesses of the group.Cukurova Group holds 39.69 percent of Fintur, Sonera has a 35.31-percent stake and...
HELSINKI, Finland—Sonera introduced a mobile purchase payment pilot in the Helsinki, Finland, metropolitan area. The test will run from 4 March to 31 August.The service, called Sonera Shopper, is operator independent and requires only a mobile phone and mobile-phone subscription. More than 30 shops...
HELSINKI, Finland—Sonera said it reached a deal with other shareholders of the Dutch holding company Fintur Holdings B.V. that will allow Sonera to increase its stake in the GSM businesses of the group.Cukurova Group holds 39.69 percent of Fintur, Sonera has a 35.31-percent stake...
HELSINKI, Finland—Telia Mobile, the Nordic region's biggest mobile operator, is moving to strengthen its position through acquisitions. The company is soon expected to bid for Sonera's mobile telephone business in all Nordic and Baltic states, excluding Finland. Telia Mobile has a strong presence in...
CANNES, France—The GSM Association presented several awards at the 3GSM World Congress this week."Once again, our industry has surpassed itself," said Rob Conway, chief executive officer of the GSM Association. "The sheer diversity, innovation and technological excellence demonstrated by all the entries made the...
GENEVA—Europe’s mobile users will likely wait much longer than expected for next-generation cellular, as the daunting implications of full-scale third-generation (3G) deployment are finally brought home to the region’s 60-plus operators.With many players already having committed hundreds of millions of euros to securing national...
HELSINKI, Finland—Sonera, the Helsinki-based telecom company, has abandoned its fixed monthly connection charge for its consumer General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) offering in a move designed to increase use of the service.Under Sonera's new policy, all subscribers to Sonera's GSM service in Finland can...
NEW YORK—The lawsuit Motorola and Nokia brought last week against the owners of Telsim and the counterclaims in response have shone a spotlight on equipment vendor-financing practices of recent years and cast a shadow over Turkey’s efforts to revive its economy through foreign investment.During...
WAKEFIELD, Massachusetts, United States—The Mobile Payment Forum announced it attracted 45 new members since its launch in November.Accenture, Compaq, JP Morgan Chase, i5, Sonera and Vodafone are among those that joined the group's founding members, American Express, JCB, MasterCard and Visa.The Mobile Payment Forum...
LONDON—The Lebanese government has come to an agreement with mobile operator Cellis to defuse a long-running legal battle that led it to cancel the company's operating contract last year. According to Reuters, the government has agreed to put a hold on further legal proceedings...
