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...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-In a surprise announcement, the Swedish government awarded four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses on Dec. 16, dismissing a proposal from Telia, the country's current mobile leader. Sweden's other two incumbent operators, NetCom and Europolitan, won licenses through a "beauty contest," along with...
BRAZILADC Telecommunications Inc. announced it signed a $16 million contract to supply GVT Brazil with a broadband access bundled solution for the southern and central regions of Brazil. ADC said the solution is based on the BroadAccess Multiservice Access Platform and delivers narrow and...
NEW YORK-Following similar moves a few weeks earlier by Spain's Telefonica Moviles and Telekom Austria, Telenor ASA of Norway had to discount its initial public offering in order to get the deal sold Dec. 4.In a transaction lead managed by Goldman Sachs & Co.,...
BIENNE, Switzerland-The auction of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in Switzerland ended quickly last week, with only four companies bidding on four licenses, raising $120 million for the government.Swisscom; dSpeed, the combined diAx and Sunrise Telecom; and Team 3G, a consortium including Telefonica, Sonera...
OSLO, Norway-British Telecom and Telenor agreed to extend Telenor's put option on Irish mobile operator Esat Digifone from Dec. 7 to Feb. 7, 2001.Under an agreement between BT and Telenor reached earlier this year, Telenor has the right to exchange its 49.5-percent shareholding in...
OSLO, Norway-The Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications announced the winners of the country's four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses, which were awarded through a beauty contest. The license winners are Broadband Mobile, an Enitel ASA and Sonera Corp. consortium; incumbent operator NetCom GSM,...
NEW YORK-Despite the hope and hype around consumer and corporate use, vertical applications remain today's stronghold for wireless data, said Jeffrey Schlesinger, wireless technology analyst for UBS Warburg.Recognizing this fact, many large and small companies have made a foray into the field-force automation arena,...
NEW YORK-Room33 AB has opened its doors here to tap into the city's content creation hub and give the Stockholm-based company easier access to potential American customers for its mobile software and WAP-centric portal."New York's Silicon Alley makes the perfect beachhead for our entry...
BERNE, Switzerland-Only five bidders will compete for four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in Switzerland, as three contenders dropped out late last week, down from an original 10 interested companies.The licenses could bring a much lower amount than originally anticipated, with only one more...
BERNE, Switzerland-The Federal Communications Commission of Switzerland canceled the auction of additional frequencies for mobile services based on the GSM standard. The agency accepted applications from the three remaining candidates and will distribute the frequencies according to an allocation procedure.The auction had been postponed...
BELFAST, United Kingdom-With a mobile penetration of just 1.4 percent, less than that of many third-world countries, the Russian mobile segment appears to offer little excitement. At closer glance, however, most factors that contribute to investor satisfaction are securely in place.The country's hot spots...
BUCHAREST, Romania-As of 1 March, 2001, Telenor will close down its NMT 900 analog mobile network. Norwegian authorities agree with Telenor the digital GSM system is a fully acceptable alternative to the NMT 900 system and have shortened the license period, which will now...
OSLO, Norway-Seven groups plan to participate in Norway's selective tender or "beauty contest" process to award four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses. The licenses will be awarded by the end of October.Incumbents NetCom ASA and Telenor AS applied to participate in the UMTS license...
In a surprise ending, six groups walked away with Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in Germany at a total cost of $45.85 billion, the largest amount raised yet in a third-generation spectrum auction, hitting the ceiling of most analyst predictions.Each of the winners-Deutsche Telekom...
Alcatel.Benin. With Office des Postes et Telecommunications (OPT) for a GSM network, along with fiber-optic and switching equipment.Value: US$32.8 millionKenya. With KenCell for a 50,000-subscriber capacity GSM network.Value: UndisclosedMorocco. With Maroc Telecom for mobile switching centers.Value: UndisclosedPortugal. With Portugal Telecom's TMN for a GPRS network.Value: UndisclosedQatar. With Q-Tel...
OSLO, Norway-Norway's Telenor entered an agreement to acquire 53.5 percent of the shares in Sonofon, the second-largest mobile operator in Denmark, from GN Great Nordic for about $1.7 billion. Telenor also will assume Great Nordic's loan to Sonofon amounting to about $70.6 million.BellSouth Corp....
BIEL, Switzerland-Ten companies submitted applications to bid for four third-generation licenses in Switzerland in November. Switzerland's Federal Office of Communications will decide by the end of August which of the applicants can participate in the auction.The regulator said a candidate must prove that granting...
OSLO, Norway-Telenor AS announced it entered an agreement to acquire a 30-percent stake in Thai mobile carrier Total Access Communication Public Co. Ltd. and up to a 24.9-percent stake in TAC's parent company, United Communication Industry Public Co. Ltd., for about $720 million.Telenor said...
KPN Telecom is said to be in discussions with Spain's Telefonica regarding a possible US$54 billion merger. At press time, international reports said the companies had agreed in principle to a deal that would evenly split control of the two entities. Such a merger...
KPN Telecom is said to be in discussions with Spain's Telefonica regarding a possible US$54 billion merger. At press time, international reports said the companies had agreed in principle to a deal that would evenly split control of the two entities. Such a merger...
ISTANBUL, Turkey-All four consortia vying for Turkey's fourth Global System for Mobile communications license withdrew from the auction without bidding. A company owned by Telecom Italia and Turkey's Isbank grabbed the third license for US$2.52 billion last week.The third license bid was nearly double...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-The Swedish government plans to sell about 30 percent of Telia, the state-owned telecommunications company, by this summer, according to international press reports. Reports value Telia at about $46.5 billion.The initial public offering follows Telia's collapsed merger with Norway's Telenor late last year....
