MILAN, Italy-The Italian government has proposed to use a two-stage process to award five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses later this year. The proposal combines a "beauty contest" with an auction, with the government expecting to raise more than $11.2 billion.The first phase of...
SWINDON, United Kingdom-Lucent Technologies Inc. and Siemens Information and Communications Mobile Group will form a third-generation Universal Mobile Telecommunications System terminal collaboration to prepare for the rollout of 3G UMTS networks.According to the companies, the collaboration will include joint marketing, pre-sale support, terminal supply,...
BulgariaKPN Telecom and Greece's Ote raised their offer to US$600 million for a 51-percent stake in Bulgarian Telecommunications Co. The companies previously offered US$510 million, Reuters reported. If the purchase is successful, KPN and Ote will acquire 51 percent of Mobikom and 100 percent...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-The commercialization of mobile data services continues its headlong rush as cellular operators look to differentiate themselves in the market. The heavy promotion of an ever-increasing portfolio of data services by many of Europe's leading operators is setting the trend for others...
GENEVA-With auction prices of the United Kingdom's five third-generation licenses beating even the most inflated analyst forecasts, all eyes are now on Italy, which is set to allocate five 15-year Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licenses in a few months.Europe's largest mobile market with...
GENEVA-As WRC-2000 delegates prepare to pack their bags and head off for four grueling weeks of debates and technical deliberations in Istanbul, Turkey, Europe's Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) lobby is gearing up for a battle to secure the right to additional third-generation (3G)...
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...
After eight weeks and 150 rounds, NTL Mobile said enough and dropped out of the U.K. government auction for five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses. The withdrawal left only five bidders for the licenses, ending the auction that generated more than $35 billion for...
MADRID, Spain-Telefonica reported reaching an agreement with Orange plc and Sonera Corp. to apply for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service license in Germany through a consortium in which Telefonica InterContinental S.A. will hold a 40-percent stake, with Orange and Sonera sharing the remaining 60...
Wireless Application Service Provider 2Roam Inc. announced strategic alliances with AdForce, MediaPlex, eCoupons and iQ.com to deliver advertising, coupon and e-marketing services to mobile consumers.Arch Communications Group Inc. said it has been named a preferred messaging provider of paging and messaging services for BellSouth...
Bidders in the U.K. third-generation license auction appeared to exceed their budgets last week. Bidding for the five licenses totaled an eye-popping $35 billion, and the auction will linger on into this week.The auction seems eerily reminiscent of the U.S. personal communications services C-block...
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...
MADRID, Spain-Spain's Telefonica plans to spin off its mobile-phone business before the fall, published reports indicate.Analysts value the unit at as much as $71.3 billion. Telefonica reported about 9 million wireless subscribers in Spain and 10.5 million in Latin America at the end of...
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil-Jim Murrell, chairman of the North American GSM Association, could not use his Global System for Mobile communications phone last week in Brazil during Telecom Americas 2000. But depending on a decision by the Brazilian telecommunications regulatory agency later this month,...
PARIS-The French government said it will issue this month calls for tender for four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System phone licenses, Reuters reported. The third-generation licenses will be granted through a "beauty contest."Three of the licenses are expected to be awarded to the country's incumbent...
REDMOND, Wash.-British Telecommunications plc, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announced they plan to work together to create high-speed data applications for mobile devices domestically and abroad.Under the agreement, Microsoft will dedicate a development team to create mobile applications configured for existing and...
A growing number of operators, vendors and analysts are not convinced EDGE technology will make significant inroads in Europe."In Europe, I'm not expecting a major deployment of EDGE," said Lothar Pauly, head of Siemens AG's global wireless business.EDGE, or Enhanced Data rates for GSM...
European regulators this year will auction, grant or selectively tender 70 to 80 licenses. It's a double-edged sword for the incumbent operators, which in many places have to compete for a license. If they don't win a license, their value as a company goes...
Bids for each of the five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in the United Kingdom reached or topped $3 billion last week. All 13 original bidders are still are in the auction, now in its fifth week."I think it speaks volumes that of the...
PARIS-France Telecom announced it will take a 28.5-percent stake in Germany's MobilCom, which provides mobile, wireline and Internet services, for about $3.6 billion. The German company has about 2 million wireless subscribers.In connection with the deal, the companies said they will create a joint...
The Operators Harmonization Group-which began work more than a year ago as a loosely tied consortium of four operators trying to end the global debate over third-generation technology standards-is now an official organization.Earlier this month, 26 operators from around the world approved an international...
MADRID, Spain-A Vivendi-led consortium and Spain's three incumbent mobile phone operators won Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in Spain. The third-generation licenses were awarded through a selective tender process.The Xfera consortium plans to invest about $4.8 billion in its 3G network during the next...
Furious bidding between Vodafone AirTouch plc and Orange plc on the final day of last week's Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction in the United Kingdom drove the top bid for license B to $1.14 billion. For the second week in a row, Orange held...
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,...
