Motorola and Psion agreed to build products, expected to be released in the first half of 2001, using a new platform from Symbian. Symbian announced a wireless computing platform for handsets and other devices. Quartz is a reference design for pen-based wireless devices. It...
L.M. Ericsson introduced a mobile Internet portal solution developed for wireless networks called the Ericsson WISE Portal. WISE was designed as a single point of access for various Internet-enabled devices, including personal computers, browser-enabled mobile phones and connected personal digital assistants. It supports both...
LONDON-British Telecommunications plc and Telenor AS announced they have reached an agreement regarding Ireland's Esat Telecom and its wireless arm Esat Digifone. BT is acquiring a 49.5-percent stake in Esat Telecom for $2.5 billion, trumping an earlier $1.9 billion hostile takeover bid by Telenor.Under...
The inexorable drive toward consolidation in the European telecommunications industry has moved a stage further with the $2.5 billion acquisition by British Telecom plc of Esat Telecom, Ireland's second-largest telco and shareholder in Esat Digifone, Ireland's second mobile operator.The bid from BT was warmly...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Esat Telecom continued its defense against a hostile takeover attempt by Telenor Ireland AB. The company posted its second defense document on its Web site, urging shareholders to reject the offer."The Esat board, having considered Telenor's new offer of $85 per ADS (American...
OSLO, Norway-Telenor Mobile and Sun Microsystems Inc. have agreed to develop new mobile Internet services.The agreement specifically involves development of an electronic organizer/calendar with combined Web and Wireless Application Protocol access from the Sun-Netscape Alliance. The organizer will be released this spring.The planned calendar...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Ireland's Esat Telecom said it is in talks with third parties about a competing takeover bid to counter a $1.9 billion hostile takeover attempt by Norway's Telenor AS. The potential bidders were not identified.Telenor, Norway's state-owned telecom operator, said last week it is...
Mergers and acquisitions are proliferating worldwide, with the strongest mark being made in Western Europe. Carriers are scrambling to maintain their footholds, while looking to the next potential market investment.Vodafone/MannesmannThe battle between Vodafone AirTouch and Mannesmann continues, as Vodafone AirTouch revealed its wireless data...
OSLO, Norway-The $47 billion merger between Norway's Telenor and Sweden's Telia has been canceled. Neither the governments nor the two state telecom companies will claim any compensation from the dissolution."I strongly regret that it was not possible to carry out a successful merger between...
NEW YORK-Newtel AB, formed by the merger of Sweden's Telia AB and Norway's Telenor AS, announced Dec. 7 it will not sweeten its hostile cash bid of $1.59 billion to take over Esat Telecom Group plc, Ireland's second-largest telecommunications carrier.Already a 49.5-percent owner of...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Newtel AB, the newly formed company resulting from the merger of Telia AB of Sweden and Telenor AS of Norway, has launched a hostile bid for Ireland's Esat Telecom, offering $1.59 billion in cash.Telenor already owns 49.5 percent of Esat's Global System for...
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands-KPN Telecom of the Netherlands and Telia of Sweden announced they will sell their stakes in Eircom, the Irish telecom operator that owns Eircell, Ireland's largest wireless operator. The decision follows the European Commission's requirement that the combined Telia/Telenor group divest...
BUCHAREST, Romania-A subsidiary of Canada's Telesystem International Wireless (TIW) won the third Czech Republic mobile telephone license in September. The price tag for the GSM 1800 license was fixed at US$29 million.The license requires Cesky Mobile, the TIW subsidiary, to cover 37 percent of...
During the last five weeks, merger and acquisition announcements have flooded the telecommunications arena. Carriers in Asia, Europe and North America continue to jockey for positions in an industry that promises to exclude players without multinational footprints.Telia/TelenorThe merger of Telia of Sweden and Telenor...
OSLO-Newly merged Telenor and Telia agreed to acquire a 30-percent stake in DiGi Swisscom Berhad, a Malaysian telecommunications group that operates a Global System for Mobile communications 1800 MHz network, said Telenor. The investment is valued at approximately $207 million.Under terms of the agreement,...
Mannesmann AG, parent of Germany's top mobile communications company, confirmed last week it made a bid to buy U.K. mobile carrier Orange plc, which Orange's largest shareholder accepted.The bid values Orange, the United Kingdom's third-largest mobile operator, at about $32 billion.Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa,...
OSLO, Norway-Telenor Satellite Services AS launched Inmarsat M4 service, a new global area network for multimedia applications that will improve the data transfer capabilities and the mobility of remote communication, said the company.The Inmarsat M4 will allow users to access up to 64 kilobits...
ScandinaviaAs expected, the European Commission approved the merger of Telia of Sweden and Telenor of Norway. To secure the approval, the two companies have consented to sell their cable TV operations and eliminate overlapping activities in Sweden, Norway and Ireland. The merger will create...
British Telecommunications plc and Microsoft Corp. announced they have agreed to work together in developing mobile Internet and multimedia applications and equipment.Specifically, the two said they intend to develop handheld interactive wireless devices based on Microsoft's Windows CE platform, create a mobile multimedia service...
LONDON-British Telecommunications plc and Microsoft Corp. announced a wireless Internet trial with about 1,000 mobile phone users in the United Kingdom and Norway. Users will be able to access Microsoft Exchange-based calendaring, address lists, Web content and online information services from their wireless phones.The...
NEW YORK-North American telecommunications carriers rank below manufacturing, consumer products and financial services companies in their adoption of Internet-enabled enterprises, concluded a recent report of American Management Systems, Fairfax, Va."eCommerce in the Telecommunications Industry: Trends and Innovations" is a study based on AMS' evaluation of...
HELSINKI-Nokia Corp. announced it won a contract from Telenor Mobil in Norway to provide a General Packet Radio Service core network pre-release solution. The system will be used for Telenor's pilot project, expected to be operational in November.The system is viable for commercial GPRS...
AlbaniaIn the country's largest move to privatize to date, the Albanian Privatization Ministry said it is prepared to sell between 51 percent and 85 percent of Albanian Mobile Communications, the state mobile phone monopoly, to investors, according to a Reuters report. AMC began offering...
AerisAeris Communications Inc. added to its senior management team, naming Peter F. Stone chief financial officer and Patricia E. Hart vice president and general counsel.Aeris also announced Douglas M. Pavicich is its new director of operations. Pavicich will oversee all the day-to-day operations and...
