MOSCOW—Sonic Duo, which has the third GSM license in Moscow, received the first frequencies shared by its major competitor Mobile TeleSystems (MTS). The news was followed by a change of Sonic Duo's major shareholder. The carrier is to launch commercial operations in the third...
GREECEGreece has awarded three Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses, one less than it had planned, when a fourth bidder failed to emerge. The country's three incumbent operators, CosmOTE, owned 59 percent by OTE; Panafon Vodafone, owned 55 percent by Vodafone Group; and Stet Hellas,...
EDGE is dead. Long live EDGE.Depending on where they stand on the EDGE debate, some operators want EDGE born alive. Others think it should be left as merely an idea.Andrew Seybold of the Andrew Seybold Group is not amused by the optimism expressed about...
MOSCOW-Russian Communications Minister Leonid Reiman said a third GSM license can be issued in major Russian cities and territories only after penetration exceeds 10 percent of the population there.He cited world experience as showing that no competition emerges if the penetration is less than...
MOSCOW-Major Russian Moscow-based carriers recently have been expanding their short message service (SMS) capacities to meet the demand of an anticipated boom. However, experts fear the expected SMS incomes will hardly compensate for the average revenue per user (ARPU) decrease registered last year.Mobile TeleSystems...
MOSCOW-The major Russian Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) carrier decided to expand eastward and launched a GSM 900 MHz service in the Urals republic of Udmurtia in November.Udmurtia, which has numerous industrial and manufacturing enterprises, became the 21st of 89 Russian regions where MTS is currently...
MOSCOW-Russian wireless carriers, which this year considerably expanded their client bases thanks to radically decreased prices, registered a major average revenue per user (ARPU) decrease from more than US$215 two years ago to US$36 for one Russian carrier this year. Therefore, carriers have launched...
BELFAST, United Kingdom-With a mobile penetration of just 1.4 percent, less than that of many third-world countries, the Russian mobile segment appears to offer little excitement. At closer glance, however, most factors that contribute to investor satisfaction are securely in place.The country's hot spots...
MOSCOW-Russia is determined not to lag behind the industrialized world in wireless communications and is planning to issue the country's first third-generation (3G) licenses in the beginning of 2001."Our goal is to start issuing licenses for the construction of 3G networks early next year,"...
MOSCOW-Russia finally returned cellular frequencies to two major carriers after Communications Minister Leonid Reiman canceled the orders stripping Mobile Telesystems (MTS) and Vimpelcom (BeeLine) of the spectrum.Earlier, Reiman suspended the orders of the frequency control agency Gossvyaznadzor that annulled the permission to use the...
BUCHAREST, Romania-The Moldova republic, a former Romanian region, is a small country with a population of 4.3 million and a small economy. The mobile market is not currently dynamic, reflecting the general situation of the country. Licensing problems are affecting growth potential for several...
AlcatelChina. For GSM network extensions in Jilin, Zhejiang, Ningxia and Shaanxi provinces.Value: US$80 millionGermany. With T-Mobil for a network extension.Value: US$71.2 millionKosovo. With the Kosovo Post Office and Telecommunications for a GSM Network with a 30,000 capacity.Value: UndisclosedSri Lanka. With Celltel Lanka for a GSM network contract...
AlcatelAustria. With Tele.ring for its new GSM 1800 network.Value: US$298 millionEricssonBrazil. With Telecom Italia Mobile to expand its TDMA network.Value: US$100 millionChina. With China Telecom (Hong Kong) Ltd. for GSM equipment to expand its network in Guangdong province.Value: US$290 millionFinland. With Sonera for a GPRS system.Value: UndisclosedJapan. With...
MOSCOW-Telenor AS, a fixed, mobile, satellite and Internet services provider, will purchase a strategic ownership interest in Russian cellular carrier Vimpel-Communications, announced the companies.According to the agreement, Telenor will acquire 25 percent plus one share of VimpelCom's total voting stock for a cash payment...
While the short-term forecast for wireless operators in financially troubled parts of the world could be turbulent, carriers remain optimistic the wireless industry will weather the current financial crisis without many lasting repercussions.Stock markets around the globe-in Europe, Japan, Latin America and the United...
Wireless operators, especially those in emerging markets, will have to operate leaner to survive the second stage of a financial crisis that originated in Asia a year ago, spread to Russia more recently-and within a matter of days fanned out like wildfire to markets...
L.M. EricssonBelgium. With KPN-Orange Belgium N.V. for a DCS 1800 network.Value: US$269 millionBrazil. With ATL-Algar Telecom Leste S.A. for a TDMA network.Value: up to US$350 millionEcuador. Five-year contract with BellSouth Ecuador to upgrade its AMPS network to TDMA IS-136.Value: more than US$250 millionEgypt. Contract from Misrfone to...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson said it received an order from Russia's Vimpel Communications for equipment to expand the operator's Digital-Advanced Mobile Phone Service network.Ericsson values the contract at $54 million.The seventh expansion of the VimpelCom network will allow the operator to provide service in regions...
VimpelCommunications said shares of its common stock are authorized to trade on the Russian Trading System market, an online, screen-based trading system used by brokers in Moscow and throughout the Russian Federation. Dmitri Zimin, president and chief executive officer of VimpelCom, said the company...
MOSCOW-Vimpel Communications received clarification from the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation concerning licensing policies and frequency allocations for cellular communications in the Moscow area.In a letter to VimpelCom, the ministry addressed the development of cellular communications networks at 800 MHz and the...
FORT WORTH, Texas-Motorola Inc.'s Advanced Messaging Group and Radiomensaje, an Argentina-based national and regional paging service provider, signed an agreement to expand Radiomensaje's FLEX protocol-based infrastructure network.The new channel will be launched this month in Argentina, Motorola said."The current Argentina paging subscriber base is...
AT&T Corp. and Saudi Arabian company A.S. Bugshan & Bros. won a contract to expand the Global System for Mobile communications cellular network of the Saudi Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telephone. An additional 300,000 subscribers can be added. The expansion will cover 16...
