HELSINKI, Finland-For a market with a well-deserved reputation as the most dynamic and innovative of Europe's telecom sectors, one could easily think that traditional Scandinavian confidence is in a state of early winter hibernation. The customary drone of deals, domestic and cross border, has...
OSLO, Norway—Telenor Mobile said it began several location-based short message service (SMS) services through an agreement with Pocket IT. Positioning data from Telenor Mobile's network will be combined with map data from Pocket IT to help consumers find retailers and other locations.One service offers...
OSLO, Norway—Telenor Mobile launched an accelerator that it said will make surfing the Internet faster when using a portable PC, personal digital assistant (PDA) and mobile phone. The speed will be three times as fast as current services, the company said.The accelerator functions by...
HELSINKI, Finland—Danish competition officials, reacting to confidential information of cartel arrangements within the mobile telephone sector, have staged raids on the head offices of the country's largest mobile phone operators, including TDC, Orange, Sonofon and Telia Danmark. Regulators confirmed they are investigating claims that...
BUCHAREST, Romania—The board of directors of Enitel AS, in consultation with the company's debt committee, has decided to hand in a petition for bankruptcy for the Enitel ASA subsidiary.The board of directors, the administration of Enitel AS and the debt committee are working to...
COPENHAGEN, Denmark—The Danish telecom agency awarded four third-generation (3G) licenses for US$118 million each after receiving bids from five companies.Incumbent operators TDC Mobile, Telia Denmark and Orange each won a license, along with newcomer Hi3G Denmark. Norway's Telenor, which is the majority owner of...
COPENHAGEN, Denmark—The Danish telecom agency awarded four third-generation licenses for $118 million each after receiving bids from five companies.Incumbent operators TDC Mobile, Telia Denmark and Orange each won a license, along with newcomer Hi3G Denmark. Norway's Telenor, which is the majority owner of Denmark's...
OSLO, Norway—Telenor Mobil said it will stop offering paging services Sept. 1, 2003, due to diminished demand. Telenor also said its technical equipment supplier is exiting the paging business and has already ceased production of certain components.The company said it has notified the Norwegian...
MOSCOW—The St. Petersburg-based North-Western GSM and the Moscow-based Sonic Duo carrier, as well as six Russian regional operators merged into a new company, which would deal with the pan-Russian Megafon project of the Telecominvest holding.The deal, which market experts dubbed as "the merger of...
OSLO, Norway-Telenor has acquired 100 percent of Pannon GSM in Hungary by acquiring the stakes held by KPN Telecom, Sonera and Tele Danmark Communications for a total $877 million. Telenor held 25.78 percent of the Hungarian carrier before the acquisition.Pannon GSM has net debt...
Handsets/ devicesMitsubishiMitsubishi released three new handsets. The Eclipse is a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) phone with a color display. The dual-band phone offers 256 colors and up to 86 kilobits-per-second data speeds. It has several features for business users. The phone allows users...
OSLO, Norway-Telenor said it is looking to increase its shareholding in Malaysian mobile operator DiGi.Com. The Norwegian company currently has a 32.9-percent stake in DiGi.Telenor informed the Malaysian operator's board of directors of its intention to make a voluntary partial takeover offer for up...
HELSINKI, Finland-There is an old saying in Norway that declares "true arrogance is a city inhabited by Swedes." However generalized and over the top that expression may be in the 21st century, it still retains general currency status as to how Sweden's Nordic neighbors,...
OSLO, Norway-Telenor said it is looking to increase its shareholding in Malaysian mobile operator DiGi.Com. The Norwegian company currently has a 32.9-percent stake in DiGi.Telenor informed the Malaysian operator's board of directors of its intention to make a voluntary partial takeover offer for up...
NEW YORK-To celebrate World Environment Day, a group of telecommunications carriers, equipment vendors and industry associations formed the Global e-Sustainability Initiative last week, an alliance billed as the first of its kind."Modern telecommunications, a major theme of this year's international World Environment Day celebrations,...
OSLO, Norway-Norway's government is willing to reduce its current 78 percent of telecom company Telenor to 34 percent, according to international press reports. Previously, the government had said it would maintain a 51-percent controlling stake in the company.The statements were made by Norway's Trade...
LONDON-Sweden's Telia is now in discussions with TeleDanmark (TDC) about a potential takeover of the Danish carrier, following a breakdown in talks between TDC and Norway's Telenor last week.SBC Communications Inc. holds a 41.6-percent stake in TDC, which the company is reported to be...
OSLO, Norway-Norwegian telecom operator Telenor said it has had talks with SBC Communications Inc. concerning SBC's stake in TeleDanmark, the Danish telecom operator, and such talks may or may not continue. The talks are reported to be part of a possible merger between Telenor...
AlcatelEgypt. With MobiNil for an extension of its GSM network.Value: US$37.1 millionFrance. With Cegetel for the supply of a UMTS network.Value: UndisclosedEricssonCanada. With Rogers AT&T Wireless for a 3G network, including a complete GSM/GPRS network infrastructure and migrating the network to EDGE and UMTS.Value: UndisclosedPortugal. With Optimus...
OSLO-In a move to gain about $1.1 billion, Telenor plans to sell its stake in Esat Digifone to its owner, British Telecommunications plc. BT acquired Esat last year.Since Telenor acquired its 40-percent stake in Esat in 1996, it has invested a total of $109...
BulgariaOte Telecom won Bulgaria's third mobile-phone license for US$135 million, beating out Telecom Italia Mobile through an auction. Ote plans to partner with Bulgarian Telecommunications Co. (BTC), the country's fixed-line provider, to build out the GSM network.FranceMartin Bouygues, chairman of Bouygues Telecom, called on...
GERMANYSonera is looking to reduce its stake in Group 3G, the consortium that won a third-generation license in Germany last year. Sonera, which currently holds 42.8 percent of the consortium, would like to reduce its stake to around 20 percent, according to international press...
LISBON, Portugal-Portugal's Institute for Communications of Portugal awarded four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses.The license winners are the country's three incumbent mobile carriers-TMN, owned by Portugal Telecom; Telecel, majority owned by Vodafone Group plc; and Optimus, in which France Telecom has a stake. The...
AirNetUnited States. With MBO for a GPRS system.Value: UndisclosedAlcatelGambia. With Gamtel for a turnkey GSM network to be installed in the greater Banjul area.Value: UndisclosedPortugal. With TMN for a high speed mobile data service on its GPRS commercial network.Value: UndisclosedPortugal. With TMN for UMTS technology in the...
