FranceFrance Telecom said it signed a partnership agreement with the Sonae group in Portugal. The two already have a working relationship as stakeholders in Optimus, the third mobile operator in Portugal. The new partnership would be held 43.33 percent by France Telecom and 56.67...
Western Wireless Corp. reported revenues for the second quarter ended June 30 of $136.6 million, an increase from the $98.4 million reported the same time the previous year. The company recorded a net loss of $47.9 million, or 63 cents per basic common share,...
Pannon GSM Tavkozlesi RT, Budapest, Hungary, was expected last week to place privately about $123 million in euro-denominated bonds it plans to use to refinance outstanding debt.Pannon, which operates a Global System for Mobile communications 900 network, has about 450,000 customers, or about 40...
Olivetti ultimately prevailed in the takeover attempt of Telecom Italia, with 52 percent of Telecom Italia shareholders voting to accept Olivetti's offer instead of Telecom Italia's defense plan centered around a proposed merger with Deutsche Telekom. The US$65 million takeover is the largest in...
Nine global wireless companies formed a focus group, called 3G.IP, to promote an Internet Protocol-based wireless system for third-generation technology. The group comprises AT&T, British Telecom, Rogers Cantel, Ericsson, Lucent, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Telenor and Telecom Italia Mobile.Motorola signed a 10-year, US$1 billion strategic...
AlbaniaAlbania said it plans to issue a public tender to sell a majority stake in Albanian Mobile Communications, the sole cellular provider in the country. The government also plans to offer a license for a second GSM operator at the same time.HungaryThe Primatel consortium,...
NAPERVILLE, Ill.-Spyglass Inc. announced it has agreed to license its Spyglass Prism Internet technologies to Telenor Mobil of Norway.The technology will allow customers using cellular phones and other mobile devices to access the Internet in formats best suited to each device, Spyglass said, allowing...
Phone.com Inc., formerly Unwired Planet, has been tied to several announcements in the weeks preceding its impending initial public offering that have served to elevate the company to new levels of recognition.Most recently, Phone.com has been mentioned in conjunction with Sprint PCS and Nextel...
MONTE CARLO, France-Nine global wireless communications companies formed a focus group to promote an Internet protocol-based wireless system for third-generation mobile communications technology.The group, called 3G.IP, consists of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., British Telecommunications plc, Rogers Cantel Inc., L.M. Ericsson, Lucent Technologies Inc., Nokia...
BANGALORE, India-Although the growth of South Asia's relatively new markets has temporarily slowed due to political and financial problems, increased competition and investment have made them extremely promising. With managed competition in India, minimal competition in Pakistan and a highly deregulated market in Sri...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The potential bidders for the third cellular license in South Africa are determined to break the existing Vodacom-MTN duopoly. "We will be competing head-on with MTN and Vodacom for a slice of the lucrative market, believed to be worth R10 billion (US$2...
STOCKHOLM (AP)-Sweden and Norway signed an agreement to merge and partially privatize their state telecommunications companies.The proposed merger of Sweden's Telia and Norway's Telenor first was announced in January, but signing the agreement was delayed, reportedly by disputes about where several of the new...
The Finnish government said it will be the first European country to grant third-generation mobile phone licenses by spring, and one company's bid to use cdma2000 technology remains.Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications said Vodafone Group plc and a consortium consisting of British Telecom,...
MOSCOW and NEW YORK-Vimpel-Communications announced its shareholders overwhelmingly approved the issue of 8.9 million shares of VimpelCom's common stock to Telenor East Invest AS at $18.19 per share.As announced on Dec. 1, Telenor will acquire 25.7 percent of VimpelCom's total voting stock in consideration...
OSLO, Norway-The Norwegian Minister of Transport and Communications Odd Einar Dorum and the Swedish Minister of Industry Bjorn Rosengren have signed a letter of intent to merge Norway's Telenor and Sweden's Telia into a new company.The agreement is conditioned upon the new company being...
Unwired Planet Inc. took another step toward making its vision of Wireless Application Protocol devices and services a commercial reality by providing interoperability testing between its WAP-enabled UP.Link Server and WAP-encoded browsers produced by handset manufacturers.The first company to begin testing its proprietary browser...
Logica plc, an international computer consulting, systems integration and software company, acquired Dallas-based Aethos Communications Systems Inc. Dec. 18 for about $77.5 million.Logica also bought DDV Group, a Dutch telecommunications consulting firm on the same day.Aethos, a telecommunications software and services provider that specializes...
Tele Danmark A/S announced the takeover of Millicom East Holding B.V., a Dutch holding company owning shares in the two Lithuanian cellular companies Bite GSM and Comliet. After the transaction, Tele Danmark will control 71.6 percent of Bite and 49 percent of Comliet. In...
MOSCOW-Telenor AS, a fixed, mobile, satellite and Internet services provider, will purchase a strategic ownership interest in Russian cellular carrier Vimpel-Communications, announced the companies.According to the agreement, Telenor will acquire 25 percent plus one share of VimpelCom's total voting stock for a cash payment...
The incorrect ownership structure of Hungary's Pannon GSM was printed in the July-August issue. The correct ownership structure is KPN Telecom B.V. (26.79%), Telenor Invest A/S (23.43%), Sonera Holding N.V. (20.90%), MediaTel Holding Rt. (15.18%), Tele Danmark A/S (3.87%), PTT Telecom Netherland Hung ria...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-The game of musical chairs between telecom operators vying for a stake in the lucrative German market seems to have slowed down. There is now some semblance of stability following the launch of E2, Germany's fourth mobile phone network, at the end...
NEW YORK-TeleData World Services Inc., Atlanta, expects to begin next month providing its TWOS brand prepaid cellular phones and service to 10,000 convenience stores nationwide owned by Lantana Merchants Solutions Corp., Newport Beach, Calif.The Lantana Solutions rollout, announced in late August, followed another just...
COPENHAGEN, Denmark-Danish telecommunications services group Tele Danmark A/S announced it sold for about US$160 million approximately 70 percent of its 23.2-percent interest in Hungarian cellular operator Pannon GSM Tavkozlesi Rt.The Pannon shares were acquired by three co-owners of the company: PTT Telecom of the Netherlands;...
COPENHAGEN, Denmark-The Danish telecommunications services group Tele Danmark A/S said it sold some of its stake in Hungarian cellular operator Pannon GSM Tavkozlesi Rt.Tele Danmark sold 70 percent of its 23.2-percent interest in the Hungarian carrier for about $160 million.The Pannon shares were acquired...
