STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Three companies formed a consortium to apply for a Swedish Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service third-generation license.The companies are Swedish private equity firm Ratos; Nomura International plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of investment bank The Nomura Securities Co. Ltd.; and Teracom, a network operator for...
OSLO, Norway-Seven groups plan to participate in Norway's selective tender or "beauty contest" process to award four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses. The licenses will be awarded by the end of October.Incumbents NetCom ASA and Telenor AS applied to participate in the UMTS license...
In a surprise ending, six groups walked away with Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in Germany at a total cost of $45.85 billion, the largest amount raised yet in a third-generation spectrum auction, hitting the ceiling of most analyst predictions.Each of the winners-Deutsche Telekom...
Bids in the German auction of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses have jumped substantially during week two, with the total bid amount standing at around $22 billion at the end of nine days and 115 rounds. The price tag thus far is nearly 65...
BEAVERTON, Ore.-Tektronix Inc., developer of test and monitoring equipment, and Siemens' Information and Communication Mobile plan to develop a custom core network test and simulation solution for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System-based networks.Tektronix said the partnership covers the development of UMTS test software for the...
MILAN, Italy-Italian communications group Tiscali is said to be looking for a partner for its consortium to bid for a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System license in Italy later this year. Deutsche Telekom AG and Hutchison Whampoa were cited in international press reports as possible...
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-Versatel Telecom International N.V. said it ceased bidding in the Dutch Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction, ending the award process of five licenses. The bids at the end of 305 rounds totaled about $2.5 billion, much less than original estimates.The U.K. government...
Deutsche Telekom AG executives found themselves justifying the price the German company paid for Voice-Stream Wireless Corp. as it detailed the new deal to analysts last week."The price is fair," said Kai-Uwe Ricke, chief executive officer of T-Mobil International, DT's mobile carrier arm. "Traditional...
TantauTantau Software Inc. released its Wireless Internet Platform version 2, which features enhancements for back-end connectivity, content personalization and information delivery. In addition, the company announced a strategic agreement with Hewlett-Packard Co. to co-market mobile e-services solutions designed for financial institutions that combine the...
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands-Bids in the Dutch Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction topped $1 billion at the end of bidding Thursday, 10 days and 258 rounds into the sale of five licenses.The prices are far below the final U.K. UMTS license prices, which topped...
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-KPN, the former telecommunications monopoly in the Netherlands, plans to offer a new issue of shares to the public this year. The Dutch government currently holds a 43.5-percent stake, which will be reduced through the sale, in KPN.Funds from the sale will...
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...
It's been a wild roller-coaster ride for Qualcomm Inc.'s stock this year.The former Wall Street angel is fighting a public-relations battle that says a move to wideband Code Division Multiple Access technology is a move away from Qualcomm.Such is the story in South Korea,...
As regulators seemingly around the world wrestled the life out of the Sprint-WorldCom merger last week and everyone and their brother speculated about who now might partner with whom as a result, I couldn't keep my mind off the contradictory stage being set across...
BRUSSELS, Belgium-The mobile subsidiaries of Belgacom and Deutsche Telekom are partnering to jointly bid for a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System license in the Netherlands. The combined company, 3G Blue, will be held 50 percent plus one share by Ben, the Dutch mobile operator, and...
SANDTON, South Africa-The wave of liberalization and privatization that has been sweeping the African economic markets has spread to communications, revealing rich untapped potential for future investment.Cellular markets have been the area's most dynamic telecoms sectors, with extraordinarily high growth rates and numerous new...
GermanyWorldCom, Vivendi and Talkline, an SBC Communications and Tele Danmark joint venture, formally pulled out of the German auction for third-generation licenses, scheduled to begin 31 July. U.K. operator Orange also backed out of the Group 3G consortium, which also includes Telefonica and Sonera,...
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...
GENEVA-The sky-high third-generation (3G) license fees generated by the United Kingdom's May auction are having serious repercussions for European operators seeking a pan-regional presence. Governments on the mainland are rejigging their own forthcoming Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) license allocations to take advantage of...
Alcatel.Benin. With Office des Postes et Telecommunications (OPT) for a GSM network, along with fiber-optic and switching equipment.Value: US$32.8 millionKenya. With KenCell for a 50,000-subscriber capacity GSM network.Value: UndisclosedMorocco. With Maroc Telecom for mobile switching centers.Value: UndisclosedPortugal. With Portugal Telecom's TMN for a GPRS network.Value: UndisclosedQatar. With Q-Tel...
Europe is embarking on a third-generation license auction frenzy the rest of this year, and operators are not happy about it.Since the United Kingdom raked in a whopping $35 billion earlier this year, other countries are moving away from the traditional method of granting...
LONDON-France Telecom is expected to make a $45 billion cash and stock bid for Orange plc early next week, according to international press reports. The French telecom company is reported to have secured a $29.7 billion bank loan to acquire the United Kingdom's third-largest...
Nortel Networks increased its presence in the European mobile-phone market last week, garnering a $700 million third-generation equipment contract with BT Cellnet in the United Kingdom and displacing several of the carrier's traditional European manufacturers.Nortel will provide an end-to-end Universal Mobile Telecommunications System network,...
PARIS-Bouygues Telecom and Nortel Networks Corp. announced they signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on third-generation mobile voice, data and multimedia networks based on the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System standard, in anticipation of the upcoming UMTS license auction in France."We are eager to...
