PETAH TIKVA, Israel-InnoWave ECI Wireless Systems Ltd., a provider of fixed wireless access solutions, has signed an $11 million contract with Telmex Mexico to deliver wireless local loop solutions.According to the contract, InnoWave's MultiGain Wireless Systems will be deployed by ECI Mexico and will...
DENVER, United States-While some countries in Latin America are moving forward with advanced wireless networks, Central American nations are not likely to see commercial next-generation systems any time soon. Mass-market demand for data services remains weak due to low incomes, and market development lags...
MEXICO CITY-U.K.-based Vodafone Group purchased a 34.5-percent stake in Iusacell, Mexico's second-largest mobile operator, in an effort to expand into the Latin American wireless market, according to international press reports. The US$973.4 million purchase was made from Grupo Peralta, the firm that introduced Mexico...
The Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies, whose members often provide wireless as well as wireline service to rural America, is calling for the 107th Congress to repeal the estate tax. The estate-or death-tax was made a permanent part of...
TORONTO-Canada's Bell Mobility began offering two-way wireless data service in Ontario and Quebec, with plans to extend service to the rest of the country by the end of the year.Bell Mobility's e-Page two-way messaging service allows users to receive and respond to paging and...
MONTREAL-Bell Canada International (BCI) said it signed an agreement with Taiwan Cement Corp. to sell its 20-percent minority interest in KG Telecom, a Taiwanese PCS provider, for US$1.71 per share, generating gross proceeds of about Canadian $790 million (US$534 million).BCI announced a joint venture...
MEXICO CITY-Telefonos de Mexico and Bell Canada International announced they will form a new company with an initial capitalization of $3.5 billion to target the South American market.Telmex and BCI will hold equal interests in the venture.Telmex and BCI offered SBC Communications Inc. the...
Motorola and SkyTel announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand two-way wireless communications solutions to Latin America. In particular, SkyTel said it will make Motorola's PageWriter 2000X two-way pager available in Latin American markets. The pagers previously were available only in...
SAN ANTONIO-SBC Communications Inc. said it has agreed to acquire a "significant stake" in Brazilian wireless operator Algar Telecom Leste SA.Telefonos de Mexico SA is joining SBC in the investment. Financial terms of the agreement were not released.As part of the transaction, Williams Communications...
During the first half of 1999, Latin America handset sales exceeded 9.8 million, according to Dataquest, a U.S.-based market research firm. Handset sales were forecasted to reach 24.5 million units by the end of 1999. Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia accounted for 78 percent of...
MEXICO CITY-Telefonos de Mexico reported significant subscriber gains in its second-quarter earnings results. The company said the subscriber base for cellular subsidiary Telcel had increased to 3.25 million, up 113.3 percent compared with the same time last year.During the second quarter, 719,846 customers were...
MEXICO CITY-Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. They're some of the smallest countries in the world, but at the same time, they're actively participating in the Latin American region's momentum for telecommunications development and growth. Indeed, the countries that make up...
BelgiumBelgacom and Amdocs announced an agreement under which Belgacom will deploy Amdocs' order-management system to handle ordering services for its convergent lines of business, including wireline, data services and paging. Amdocs' order-management system provides a single point of contact for all services and products...
Latin AmericaAccording to The Strategis Group, privatization in Latin America is driving fixed-line growth as privatized operators build out networks to meet license requirements, while competition is propelling even higher rates of growth in cellular and personal communications services. The report, "Latin America Telecommunications...
NEW YORK-Telefonos de Mexico S.A. de C.V. and SBC Communications Inc. announced May 3 they would jointly purchase Cellular Communications of Puerto Rico Inc. for $814 million from CoreComm Inc., New York.Under terms of the transaction SBC and Telmex will acquire CCPR through a...
WASHINGTON-Even before the Federal Communications Commission can release proposed rules to implement calling party pays service in the United States, its neighbor to the south will implement CPP, said Javier Lozano Alarcon, president of Mexican Federal Telecommunications Commission known as Cofetel.CPP is expected to...
CARROLLTON, Texas-CellStar Corp. announced plans to sell part of its investment in Topp Telecom Inc. to Telefonos de Mexico SA and other Topp shareholders for about $7 million. Separately, Topp and TelMex announced Telmex agreed to purchase a majority interest in Topp.CellStar said it...
NEW YORK-The recent privatization of Telecomunicaciones de Guatemala S.A., doing business as Telgua, was the largest such transaction in Central America to date and offers encouragement for similar plans contemplated in nearby Nicaragua and Honduras."Obviously, Telgua would be interested in reviewing these as opportunities...
WASHINGTON-The old adage maintains it's all about location, that the success of an investment depends on locale. And Latin America has been the locale of choice for investors looking for incredible growth rates and high demand for service. With several countries in the region...
WASHINGTON-The Mexican government will auction new frequencies for paging, narrowband PCS (two-way paging), trunking and point-to-point microwave. The auctions are scheduled for late 1998 and early 1999, depending on the service, according to the Comision Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Cofetel), Mexico's regulatory agency.Earlier this year,...
SAN ANTONIO, Texas-SBC Communications Inc. added 112,000 wireless subscribers during this year's first quarter-and 919,000 during the past 12 months-bringing its total number of domestic wireless subscribers to 5.6 million.Subscriber growth during the quarter was driven by SBC's personal communications services offering in California...
Grupo Iusacell S.A. de C.V. announced it will resell long-distance service to its more than 225,000 wireless customers during the first phase of the opening of the Mexican long-distance market. Iusacell, through its long-distance subsidiary, Iusatel, will offer discounts which are from 30 percent...
NEW YORK-The establishment of Mexico's Federal Telecommunications Commission by Aug. 10 heralds the advent of significant new foreign ownership opportunities south of the border for wireless services companies."Joint auctions for personal communications services and local wireless access are contemplated for year-end 1996," said Carlos...
MEXICO CITY-Motorola Inc.'s Advanced Messaging Group announced that TelMex has signed a $5 million contract for Motorola's FLEX protocol-based infrastructure systems equipment.TelMex has purchased 75 Nucleus base stations and advanced C-Net controller equipment, which will be incorporated into Mexico's first nationwide, satellite-based paging network...
