STOCKHOLM, Sweden-In its continued defiance of its numerous skeptics, a Hutchison Whampoa subsidiary took on another European third-generation license. The Norwegian government awarded a third-generation license to Hi3G Access Norway AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison's Swedish 3G subsidiary Hi3G Access AB. Hi3G...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Telenor Mobile Interactive said it will use technology from Irish mobile applications company Xiam to offer wireless services that allow U.S. TV viewers to interact with broadcasters using their mobile phones.Telenor Mobile Interactive is the U.S. arm of Norwegian mobile communications company Telenor...
Motorola Inc. has said that Baltic States wireless operator Omnitel in Lithuania is the first to commercially deploy its new-generation base station, the Horizon 11 base transceiver station for GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks. The initial deployment of the Horizon II is on Omnitel's 1800 MHz network...
OSLO, Norway-Norway's Reitan Group, a retail giant best known for its grocery chain and franchise holdings, made a bid for Sense Communications International, the country's largest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO).The bid of 3.50 Norwegian kroners (US$0.48) per share was assessed as fair by...
OSLO, Norway-Norwegian operator Teletopia made the surprise announcement that it would be using its GSM 1800 MHz license to develop Norway's third independent GSM service. The network, dubbed T3, will be built with Ericsson and Netel technology. Teletopia said in a press release that...
OSLO, Norway-Norway's Ministry of Transport and Communication made a surprising intervention Thursday, halting a Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority (PT) ruling granting sub-operators cheap access to Telenor's short message service center (SMS-C) network.The postponement, or "delayed implementation," kills an incipient SMS price war and...
OSLO, Norway-Norway's Telenor said it sold its 49-percent stake in Russian regional operator StavTeleSot to Russian mobile company VimpelCom for $20.9 million. VimpelCom now has 90 percent of StavTelesot.Telenor said the transaction will give it a financial gain of about $9.3 million.Telenor said the...
HELSINKI, Finland-Telenor, the Oslo-based Norwegian state telecom company, has been stung into legal action in Portugal, following the "premature and unwarranted" closure of the Portuguese mobile-phone start-up OniWay. The legal action is intended to overturn the closure decision. Telenor holds a 20-percent equity stake...
OSLO, Norway-Norway's leading operator and former telephone monopolist Telenor has suffered a series of regulatory rulings that will bite into the company's profit margins.The latest blow is a Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority (PT) decision that Telenor must lower the price it charges other...
FORNEBU, Norway-Norway's Telenor said it considering filing a complaint to the country's Ministry of Communication regarding a decision from the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority. The arbitration case decision concerns access for Teletopia to connect to a Telenor Mobil short message service switch.PT determined...
FOREBU, Norway-Telenor Mobile said it will end its NMT 450 MHz service at the end of 2004. The company's NMT 450 MHz license expires 31 December, 2004, and it will likely not apply for an extension.The company said it has alternatives for its NMT...
OSLO, Norway-Ericsson's mid-November confirmation that its sweeping restructuring and job slashing would lead to a 50-percent reduction in its research and development (R&D) staff struck a raw nerve in Sweden. By the end of 2003, Ericsson will halve its R&D staff to 12,000, with...
DUBLIN, Ireland-The majority backers of Portuguese Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) hopeful OniWay have decided to pull the plug on the venture. However, two other shareholders-Telenor, which controls 20 percent, and Spanish utility Iberdrola with 8 percent-have refused to support the decision. A Telenor...
BATH, UK.-Cramer Systems said Telenor subsidiary Pannon GSM has chosen its software to automate provisioning processes and streamline network operations."Pannon GSM is Cramer's second customer in Central Europe in recent months, following our agreement with Slovenske telekomunikacie . to provide automated provisioning for fixed...
MOSCOW—The second-biggest Russian carrier Vimpelcom (BeeLine) said its subsidiary Vimpelcom-Region, created to promote nationwide expansion, received US$175.44 million in investments. The funds were provided by BeeLine, the Alfa-Group Holding and Norwegian telecom company Telenor, which contributed US$58.48 million each.The deal was timed to the...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-As expected, Tele2 has returned its third-generation license in Norway to the government. Tele2 plans to offer mobile virtual network operator services through an agreement with Telenor instead of building a 3G network in the country.The company said the MVNO agreement will offer...
OSLO, Norway-Tele2 is reportedly in the closing stages of negotiating the return of its third-generation (3G) license with Norwegian communications authorities. Tele2 Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lars-Johan Jarnheimer said it is likely that terms will be reached this week.Jarnheimer confirmed that Tele2 would not...
HELSINKI, Finland-The Finnish government has objected to a decision by Telia shareholders to elect Telia's chief executive to the board of the merged company, a stumbling block reminiscent of the cultural issues that eventually sidelined the planned Telia/Telenor merger in 1999.The Finnish government said...
OSLO, Norway-Multimedia messaging service (MMS) competition is already warming up in Norway, with Telenor Mobile announcing it will charge only 68 U.S. cents for each MMS message sent, about 50 percent less than its original plan. The Norwegian operator had previously announced that it...
OSLO, Norway-A surprise tax bill of 2.4 billion crowns (US$323 million) is the latest bit of bad news for Norway's leading telecom operator and just part of the recent gloomy trend in Scandinavia.The SFS, a tax agency for large-scale industry, disagreed with Telenor's write-off...
MOSCOW-The biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has reportedly reached a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Ukraine's second-biggest operator Ukrainian Mobile Communications (UMC).UMC shareholders include government-owned Ukrtelecom (51 percent), Deutsche Telekom, Danish TDC, and Dutch KPN, with 16.33 percent each.The Vedomosti business...
HELSINKI, Finland-Tele2, Sweden's second-largest network operator, has threatened to "hand back" its Norwegian third-generation (3G) license unless regulatory authorities in Norway relax the terms under which the license was granted and permit Tele2 to delay the rollout of its 3G network in Norway.Norwegian authorities...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-Having operated as a fixed-line operator in Spain since early 2001, Sweden-based Tele2 has now obtained the necessary license agreements to become the country's first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). The 20-year license enables Tele2 to interconnect traffic and roam across the...
HELSINKI, Finland-Telenor, the Oslo-based semi-state-owned telecom operator, rejected on 17 July speculation by market analysts that the company is anxious to re-open consolidation talks with the newly merged Telia-Sonera.Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Telenor's chief executive officer (CEO), said Telenor's immediate objective is to consolidate its...
