BELLEVUE, Wash.-TDMA's advocacy body, the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium, said TDMA subscribers had increased by 74 percent to 61 million at the end of 2000."TDMA continues to be the most widely used wireless technology in the Americas with the greatest number of subscribers, operators...
AUSTIN, Texas-Schlumberger Ltd.'s smart-card business announced it scored an agreement with AT&T Wireless Services Inc. to supply the company with subscriber identify module smart cards for AT&T's new GSM network expansion.AT&T plans to upgrade its TDMA network with a GPRS/GSM overlay and will use...
In a marriage of convenience, carriers are signing temporary dotted lines to outsource their network management to vendors as they migrate to the next generation of wireless technology.The trend, which concedes to vendors a pivotal role in positioning carriers for the new technologies, moves...
LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz.-Amid the scorched desert ground abutting the lush greens of golf courses, the future of the wireless Internet was the topic of discussion in the small community of Litchfield Park, Ariz., where industry consultant Andrew Seybold held his 2001 Summit 4Mobility. And...
NEW YORK-Some recent developments have brightened the longer-term prospects for smart cards in North American wireless communications, although the picture gets cloudier when framed as an immediate prospect.Opportunity is knocking for expansion of their use in provisioning of telecommunications services. Beyond that deployment, smart-card...
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados-Barbados has identified wireless and the Internet as the first segments of its telecommunications market to be opened to competition. A three-phase timetable announced by the government anticipates full liberalization by 2002.Minister of International Business Reginald Farley, who has responsibility for telecommunications, tabled...
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,...
What is the future of the TDMA wireless interface? The issue is far from trivial. TDMA serves more than 60 million digital and 15 million analog customers and stands as the number-one technology in terms of subscribers, operators and coverage in the Americas. Moreover,...
TORONTO-The move was surprising but not totally unexpected. After many denials, U.S. carrier AT&T Wireless finally announced last November it is switching from TDMA wireless technology to the rival European-developed standard GSM technology. Moving in lock step, Rogers AT&T Wireless of Toronto, Canada's largest...
As technologies duel and markets discriminate, the impression is growing that TDMA will roll over in the dust trail and exhaust fumes of GSM and CDMA as both whistle past into the next generation of technologies. But advocates of TDMA technology are quick to...
Qualcomm Inc. rose to the defense of third-generation technology, amid reports the technology will drag its feet for about three years.The company said the demand for its CDMA integrated circuits would meet the forecast of 16 million units, a 1 million unit increase from...
NEW YORK - Audiovox Communications Corp., Hauppauge, N.Y., has tapped into the computer expertise of its 5 percent owner, Toshiba Corp., to develop a combination cell phone and personal digital assistant that will go on sale late this year.Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS have...
With AT&T Wireless Services Inc. behind it, Panasonic Telecommunications Systems Co. hopes to rise out of the shadows of the U.S. market and push its weight around with two new lightweight multi-network wireless phones.The products, ProMax and DuraMax, mark Panasonic's entry into the U.S....
Schlumberger Ltd. spent close to $6 billion across three technology acquisitions last week, proof the oil services giant is serious about moving into the technology sector, with special emphasis on wireless services and smart cards.But while some in the wireless and smart-card industry see...
In rhythm with an economy on the retreat, telecommunications giant Lucent Technologies Inc. seems to be on the decline.Against a background of outsized estimates, employee downsizing, technological miscues and a haunting investigation of its accounting practices, the company's credit rating suffered downgrades from two...
WASHINGTON-Facing deadlines to implement location-based wireless 911 technology, two major vendors and an advocacy group presented wireless carriers a plan to give carriers extra time to deploy enhanced 911 Phase II service in exchange for providing disaster-warning alerts to the phones of subscribers."We made...
Wireless service providers offering analog phone service to their subscribers are forced to walk a fine line between alienating established customers who rely on analog service and the increased profitability possible from value-added services offered on digital networks.As carriers acknowledge, analog service is still...
CanadaEricsson announced trials for Wireless Application Protocol technology over a TDMA network with Rogers Cantel, a Canadian wireless provider. The announcement is the first WAP 1.1 system on a TDMA network, said Ericsson. The system being delivered is based on a scalable, fault-tolerant Jambala...
LONDON-The GSM Association announced it reached an agreement with the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium to include TDMA interoperability with GSM as a core component of the GSM Global Roaming Forum."Our customers expect to be able to enjoy services from their home network, wherever they...
SAO PAULO, Brazil-Landline-operator Telemar is concluding meetings with the suppliers of GSM infrastructure for personal communications services (PCS) and should announce soon its short list. The Brazilian government will begin auctioning PCS licenses in January. Telemar has said it will participate in the auction.According...
NEW YORK-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. completed its acquisition of PrimeCo PCS's wireless system in the Houston market covering a population of about 5.6 million people and serving 180,000 subscribers.AT&T Wireless Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Zeglis called the event a "significant milestone in...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-2000 marked the year GSM fully made its way into the Latin American market.The first cellular networks were installed in Latin America during the late 1980s, with AMPS analog technology. Later, the majority migrated to TDMA and CDMA equipment, following the Northern...
