CANNES, France-Two global carriers announced contracts for content charging systems Tuesday.Lucent Technologies Inc. and NetSpira Networks said they have provided Singapore's MobileOne Ltd. with a content-based online charging system for GPRS and UMTS services.M1's system will allow it to identify the type of data...
Building the network for a single-service protocol provided its own challenges. GSM, despite its worldwide acceptance, had to work out a profitable model. That compelled carriers to determine what kind of base stations to deploy, how many towers to install and where to locate...
SEOUL, South Korea-Four companies have announced what they describe as the world's first UMTS/EDGE smart-phone reference design based on the Linux operating system. The companies include Infineon Technologies Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Trolltech and Emuzed."The reference platform showcases many advanced 3G and multimedia...
DALLAS-Texas Instruments will use the 3GSM World Congress as a platform to showcase its "All in One Entertainment" platform, the company said Thursday.TI plans to tout its new OMAP2420 multimedia processor at the show, using developers to demonstrate the chip's abilities to support 3G...
SAN BRUNO, Calif.-IPWireless said it has begun commercially shipping its HSDPA chipset with inherent advantages of its TD-CDMA technology.The company said the chipset works in plug-and-play PCMCIA cards and desktop modems for UMTS TDD networks in the 1900 MHz, 2500 MHz and 3400 MHz...
OTTAWA, Ontario-SiGe Semiconductor Inc. launched a Global Positioning System receiver system for cellular phones. The SE8901 GPS receiver works with GSM, GPRS, EDGE and UMTS phones. The receiver integrated circuit integrates a GPS radio, GPS processing accelerator, on-chip LNA and image reject mixer in...
Few carriers have put as much strain on their technology personnel over the past several years as Cingular Wireless L.L.C. From its beginnings as the merged wireless operations of BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. to the carrier's decision in 2001 to migrate its...
Verizon Wireless rolled out its consumer-focused high-speed data service last week with the launch of VCast, offering a slew of video-on-demand and gaming options to subscribers with compatible phones in 32 U.S. markets. To support the much-anticipated service, the second-largest U.S. carrier unveiled deals...
DALLAS-Alcatel Corp. said it signed a $133 million contract with Thai carrier TA Orange to upgrade the operator's GSM/GPRS network with EDGE and UMTS technology. The carrier plans to deploy UMTS service in 2005 and 2006, Alcatel said.Alcatel will also deploy a mobile Next-Generation...
ANDORRA LA VELLA, Andorra-Wireless carrier Servei de Telecomunicacions d'Andorra, which operates in the European country of Andorra, selected Nortel Networks Ltd. to provide a UMTS network. Nortel did not disclose the value of the contract, but said it will provide circuit and packet core...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-In its second W-CDMA contract announcement in a week, L.M. Ericsson said Connex, a wireless operator in Romania, has selected the Swedish vendor to supply gear for its W-CDMA rollout. The network will be the first to offer third-generation services to mobile users...
VIENNA, Austria-Mobilkom Austria said Thursday it will incorporate EDGE technology to expand its UMTS network coverage.The carrier said it currently has UMTS coverage across 60 percent of Austria's population, and the EDGE addition will allow for 95-percent population coverage. The new network is scheduled...
T-Mobile International AG announced a "savings and efficiency program" that will see the European carrier slash 2,200 jobs and reduce its handset range in Europe by almost half. The program, focused on the carrier's operations in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria and...
ANDORRA LA VELLA, Andorra-Wireless carrier Servei de Telecomunicacions d'Andorra, which operates in the European country of Andorra, selected Nortel Networks Ltd. to provide a UMTS network.Nortel did not disclose the value of the contract, but said it will provide circuit and packet core second-...
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. reported a solid fourth quarter, positive news for the Sony Corp.-L.M. Ericsson joint venture as it appears to be coming into its own in the worldwide handset market. "2004 really was a turning point for Sony Ericsson," said Martin...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson was selected as a supplier to build the first phase of Telenor Hungarian wireless subsidiary Pannon GSM's third-generation mobile network. The value of the UMTS contract was not disclosed. Ericsson said Pannon customers in Budapest will have access to the 3G...
ALGERIAChinese vendor ZTE Corp. said it will supply CDMA gear for a network covering the three provinces of Tizi Ouzou, Bouira and Bejaia in northern Algeria. The contract value was not disclosed, but ZTE said the new network will include switching systems; base-station systems;...
BERNE, Switzerland-Swisscom Mobile said it has launched the first UMTS mobile phone with a 2-megapixel camera. The Sharp V902 UMTS mobile supports services such as live TV and video telephony.The phone also has autofocus and optical 2-times zoom, as well as digital 10-times zoom...
BERLIN-German mobile portal Jamba AG said it is offering stereo ringtones. The company offers more than 80 stereo-quality ringtones, and it expects to increase that number to 2,000 by the end of the year. The ringtones cost about $2.60 per tone to download.The company...
OBERHAUSEN, Germany-ConVisual said it has acquired international licenses to offer movie scenes on UMTS mobile phones.Movies for which the company has obtained licenses include "Back to the Future," "Terminator 2" and "American Pie."Customers will be able to load key scenes from the movies as...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Kristin Rinne, Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s chief technology officer, has been elected the 2005 chairwoman of the 3G America's board of governors. Rinne succeeds former AT&T Wireless Services Inc. CTO Rod Nelson, who served as 3G America's chairperson for the past two years."It's going...
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. made headlines last week by announcing it was part of an effort to develop standards for a new mobile-phone technology that would transfer data more than 10 times faster than current third-generation networks. But exactly what that technology will...
OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-Fixed-line operators should be concerned about competition from High-Speed Downlink Packet Access technology, according to a report from ABI Research titled, "HSDPA-Mobile Broadband."Trial systems using the technology-which will bump typical transmission speeds up from 300 kilobits per second with UMTS technology to...
LONDON-Motorola Inc. said it recorded speeds of 2.9 megabits per second during outdoor High Speed Downlink Packet Access trials with five major European operators.Motorola did not name the carriers.The technology, which is expected to launch in the second half of 2005, is designed to...
