The Romanian government received applications from four consortia for two Global System for Mobile communications licenses, reported MobiFon, one bidding group. The deadline for applications was last Thursday.The 900 MHz digital cellular licenses are expected to be awarded by Oct. 25. Winners will be...
Polska Telefonica Cyfrowa of Poland started its "Era GSM" Global System for Mobile communications service, offered at rates lower than those of existing operator Centertel, announced U S West Media Group.Elektrim SA is lead partner in PTC, while U S West holds a 22.5...
WASHINGTON-Sixty-two banks participated in the syndication of a $750 million interim credit facility for Iridium L.L.C. To date, committed funds raised by Iridium total $2.65 billion, said the company.Chase Securities Inc. and the investment unit of Barclays Bank plc arranged the $750 million loan...
NEW YORK-In Latin American countries, "where completion of a phone call is cause for celebration in some cases," rising gross domestic product signals increasing financing demands for wireless communications infrastructure buildout."GDP and demographics look good; there is a correlation between GDP and telephone penetration,"...
The government of Romania pushed the tender deadline for two Global System for Mobile communications licenses back by two months, doubled the price for the licenses and formed a special commission to recommend any additional changes to the bid documents, reported the U.S. Embassy...
E.F. Johnson Co. has signed a $3.6 million contract to build a trunked radio system for Campanhia Energetica de Minas Gerias (CEMIG), an electrical power generation and distribution company in Brazil. The 900 MHz Multi-Net trunking system will cover the metropolitan area of Belo...
A Polish court has rejected complaints filed by Ameritech International and France Telecom concerning a digital cellular license the two companies say the Polish government promised them five years ago and then later denied promising.Ameritech International General Counsel Mark Chudzinski noted the matter is...
Eastern European countries and those of the former Soviet republics launched cellular services in the early 1990s using the Nordic Mobile Telephone-450 standard, an analog technology developed to operate at 450 MHz. Most nations initially selected NMT- 450 instead of Global System for Mobile...
SINGAPORE-Numerous announcements about Code Division Multiple Access technology came out of last week's CDMA World Congress in Singapore. The event was attended by about 600 people from 40 countries.Motorola Inc. has formed a joint venture with two Chinese entities to manufacture CDMA infrastructure products...
This year promises to be a transition period for the Latin American wireless market, a year hosting key events necessary to drive the subscriber growth that is projected by the end of the decade.Impending introduction of competition in Brazil and Central America, as well...
The impending liberalization of Brazil's cellular services sector has attracted interest from a host of global carriers clamoring to position themselves in the region's fastest growing telecom services sector.The lucky few that win private cellular operating licenses in Brazil may be jockeying, as well,...
This year will bring competition to Argentina's interior cellular market, now served only by Compania de Telefonos del Interior under a two-year exclusive license.Owned by GTE Corp., AT&T Corp. and local partners, CTI rapidly built out an Advanced Mobile Phone Service-based system after winning...
Although cellular penetration remains low in Peru, the government may license at least one additional operator in 1996.Peru currently has two cellular operators, Tele 2000 and Compania Peruana de Telefonos, with a combined subscriber base of about 73,000. Tele 2000 is the B-band carrier,...
Pockets of wireless local loop operations and fixed cellular services are emerging throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Small-scale operations and field trials are underway in Argentina, Belize, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. But many of these areas may...
SAN FRANCISCO-AirTouch Communications Inc. said its cellular ventures in Spain and Italy have introduced cellular competition in those countries for the first time.AirTouch's cellular operation in Spain, Airtel, has begun commercial service, competing with Telefonica, Spain's other cellular operator, in most of Spain's major...
BRUSSELS-The European Commission is investigating three consortia building mobile satellite systems to guage the effect those global systems will have on future competition in European Union nations.Globalstar L.P., Iridium Inc. and Inmarsat-P have been asked by Karel Van Miert, EC commissioner in charge of...
An AirTouch Communications Inc. consortium is scheduled to launch Spain's first private cellular system on Oct. 3, on the heels of the government operator's launch of a similar service.The Airtel consortium defeated at least five other consortia last fall, paying $705 million to win...
InterDigital Communictaions Corp. said it received an order for UltraPhone digital wireless local loop equipment valued at $17.6 million from the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. Installation in metropolitan Manila is scheduled to begin the second half of this year. The Myanma Posts and...
Other Iridium investors include: Iridium Canada Inc.China Great Wall Industry Corp.Iridium Africa Corp.Iridium Andes-Caribe of VenezuelaIridium India Private Ltd.-a consortium of Indian financial institutions, investing $32 million, one seat on the Iridium board, rights to gateway service covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri...
