NEW YORK-Calling completion of an exchange offer launched by Montreal-based Telesystem International Wireless Inc. July 6 "tantamount to default," Standard & Poor's Corp. said July 9 it had downgraded the company's debt two notches to C, one step above default.The ratings of TIW's subsidiary,...
MONTREAL-Negotiations are underway for Telesystem International Wireless Inc. (TIW) to amend its senior secured revolving credit facility, which expires in July.The aggregate borrowing capacity of the corporate facility is approximately $128 million, of which $58.5 million has been drawn. TIW denied rumors that it...
MONTREAL-TIW added 878,300 net subscriber during the fourth quarter to reach a total of more than 4.4 million cellular subscribers, an increase of 97 percent from 1999.ClearWave N.V., a central and eastern European subsidiary of TIW added 314,400 subscribers in the fourth quarter, ending...
NetCom Technologies Inc. announced it has changed its name to VelociTel Inc. to reflect the rapidly expanding wireless industry. The company also announced a new corporate structure. The five existing NetCom subsidiaries-Alvar Architects Inc., National Site Development Inc., ComNet TelCom Construction Inc., Spectrum Technologies...
PRAGUE, Czech Republic-Cesky Mobil, the Czech Republic's third mobile telephone operator, is seeking to differentiate itself from its competition by offering low start-up costs and emphasizing ease of use.The formula has paid quick dividends. In its first four operational months, it signed up more...
MONTREAL-Telesystem International Wireless Inc. created a new corporate structure under which it will carry on a national Universal Mobile Telecommunications System business in the United Kingdom.As part of the reorganization, TIW UMTS UK Ltd., the successful bidder for license A in the U.K. UMTS...
TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo announced it entered arrangements with Hutchison Whampoa and KPN Mobile to cooperate on European third-generation mobile networks. The agreements cover four European markets-the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Belgium.The announcement comes as U.S. mobile-phone carriers begin to express concern about being competitive...
MONTREAL-Telesystem International Wireless Inc.'s Central/Eastern European subsidiary ClearWave N.V. filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States for an initial public offering of ordinary class A shares.TIW said that concurrently with the IPO, certain existing shareholders in Romanian...
TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo announced it entered arrangements with Hutchison Whampoa and KPN Mobile for cooperation regarding European third-generation (3G) mobile networks. The agreements cover four European markets-the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Belgium.In the United Kingdom, DoCoMo will acquire a 20-percent stake for 1.2 billion...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Trunked radio may be dismissed by some as the poor relation of GSM and an irrelevance in the world of multibillion pound Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) license bids, but it has carved a niche in the communications world, and at least one...
TOKYO-Japan's NTT DoCoMo is reported to be considering an entrance into the U.K. market through a tie-up with Canada's Telesystem International Wireless Inc. and Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. TIW and Hutchison partnered shortly after TIW won a third-generation license in the U.K. auction...
MONTREAL-Telesystem International Wireless Inc. and InfoSpace signed an exclusive agreement to offer InfoSpace's platform of integrated wireless Internet services to all cellular operators and Internet service providers in Brazil.TIW established a new company to develop wireless portals and applications on behalf of and in...
A consortium comprised of Telefonica, Orange and Sonera will join U.S.-based MCI WorldCom and 10 other groups in bidding for third-generation (3G) licenses in Germany. The auction is set to begin in early July.The German regulator will sell 12 frequencies of radio spectrum to...
WorldCom Wireless became the latest-and most high-profile-company to fall victim to the climbing bids for five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in the United Kingdom last week.WorldCom withdrew from the auction Thursday, reducing the number of active bidders to seven. The contest will end...
MONTREAL-Telesystem International Wireless Inc. announced it closed a private placement of $300 million in 7.75-percent equity subordinated debentures convertible into TIW subordinate voting shares.Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Chase Capital Partners each have invested $150 million, and Hutchison has an option to purchase an additional...
After one week and 16 rounds of bidding, incumbent operator Orange plc led all third-generation license bids in the United Kingdom with a $632.9 million bid for License B. The auction for five licenses, which is expected to last another one to five weeks,...
MONTREAL-Telesystem International Wireless Inc. said Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Chase Capital Partners will make a $300 million investment in TIW under terms of an agreement signed last week by the companies.Hutchison and Chase Capital each will purchase $150 million of equity subordinated...
LONDON-The U.K. government said it qualified all 13 applicants for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses to bid in a March auction."I am delighted that we have been able to qualify all the applicants and that we are on track for the auction beginning in...
Thirteen groups have applied to bid in the United Kingdom's auction of third-generation mobile-phone licenses.The U.K. government by March plans to auction five licenses, with one license exclusively reserved for a player currently not represented in the U.K. market. Each bidder was required to...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-The guys at the European Commission must be delighted. They battled for more than a decade to liberalize the telecommunications sector and create a single European market.Benefits from a common European identity remain elusive. That might be about to change. Ironically, it...
MONTREAL-Telesystem International Wireless Inc. announced the creation of Hong Kong-based TIW Asia N.V."TIW Asia will primarily focus on the acquisition of existing wireless companies and the development of new services or technologies within existing or new operating companies," said Pierre Fitzgibbon, TIW's executive vice...
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...
BASINGSTOKE, U.K.-Telesystem International Wireless, through its subsidiary Dolphin Telecom plc, announced Motorola Inc. has arranged financing commitments for credit facilities totaling $342 million for Dolphin's German subsidiary.Motorola arranged a financing commitment for a credit facility, which will allow for drawdowns in euros up to...
NEW YORK-Montreal-based Telesystem International Wireless Inc. announced April 29 that Dolphin Telecom plc, its London-based subsidiary, raised $210 million in private equity to help finance the rollout of an enhanced specialized mobile radio network in Europe.The company also began a road show last week...
