BUCHAREST, Romania-Most countries in Western Europe have awarded third-generation (3G) licenses at high fees to a few operators. Companies are expecting revenue from the services within a decade, according to consulting companies.A report from the UMTS Forum released in April said users of 3G...
DUBLIN, Ireland-The recent decision of the European competition commissioner to sanction raids on U.K. and German mobile operators as part of investigations into collusion over roaming charges came as little surprise to most industry observers. It is becoming increasingly difficult for operators to explain...
AlcatelParis. With Orascom Telecom for the supply and installation of GSM solutions in the Middle East and Africa.Value: Undisclosed. Brazil. With Telemar for a GSM 1800/GPRS network in Brazil.Value: US$275 millionMoscow. With ZAO SMARTS for GSM 900 MHz solutions to extend networks in the...
A U.S. federal appeals court rejected a Federal Communications Commission filing asking that it not be required to return personal communications services licenses to bankrupt carrier NextWave Telecom Inc. NextWave, however, will probably not gain control of the licenses for some time and the...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Nokia Corp. said it has signed a UMTS contract to deliver core network and radio access for Europolitan Vodafone.Nokia will begin deliveries this month and will launch the network next year, according to the agreement.
STOCKHOLM—Ericsson said it intends to claim 20 percent of the CDMA market by 2004, even as it identified five carriers as its major customer focus. The carriers include Vodafone Group plc of the United Kingdom, France Telecom SA, Deutsche Telekom AG, Telefonica SA of...
DUESSELDORF, Germany—German prosecutors are investigating whether executives of Vodafone Group plc and Mannesmann received illegal compensation from the companies' US$180 billion merger, according to the Associated Press.Prosecutors said in a statement they were looking at both Vodafone executive Chris Gent and former Mannesmann executives,...
TOKYO—The board of directors for the four J-Phone Communications Co. Ltd. companies; East, Central, West and Japan Telecom, agreed to merge their companies into a single J-Phone structure.The merged company, to be named J-Phone Co. Ltd., is expected to provide faster decision-making processes, increased...
BUCHAREST, Romania—Vodafone Albania launched its GSM mobile telephone service less than six months after it secured the license. Vodafone Albania, 49-percent owned by Panafon-Vodafone, Greece's leading mobile telecommunications operator, and 51 percent by Vodafone Group Plc, a global telecommunications operator. Vodafone Albania will initially...
DUESSELDORF, Germany—German prosecutors are investigating whether executives of Vodafone Group plc and Mannesmann received illegal compensation from the companies' $180 billion merger, according to the Associated Press.Prosecutors said in a statement they were looking at both Vodafone executive Chris Gent and former Mannesmann executives,...
With several customers in Europe already under its belt, Netonomy Inc. is honing in on U.S. wireless carriers looking for a different way of providing customer service.Instead of customer relationship management tools, Netonomy touts itself as a provider of "customer managed relations" software. The...
COPENHAGEN, Denmark—TDC said it is seeking to take control over Polish cellular operator Polkomtel, according to international press reports. It currently holds 19.6 percent of the carrier.However, the Danish company said it would likely achieve the takeover through an alliance with Vodafone Group, which...
BUCHAREST, Romania—Joseph C. Grioli, managing director of Vodafone Malta, officially launched the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) pilot project, which is available to all Vodafone subscribers in Malta."It is my pleasure to bring to the Maltese public 2.5G technology and make it available to...
Even though third-generation services are not yet available on mobile phones, one Belgium-based company is betting that 3G telematics services will be just as big, if not bigger.Acunia NV, Leuven, Belgium, crossed the Atlantic at the beginning of last year to set up a...
TOKYO—Christopher Gent, chief executive of Vodafone Group, on 30 July said he is planning to integrate J-Phone Group's three operational companies by the end of this year, targeting the integrated company to be listed on a Japanese stock exchange market. Vodafone is the largest...
LONDON-A major shift has occurred in the U.K. mobile market, with Vodafone Group plc, the market leader in terms of subscriber numbers for several years, falling two spots to No. 3 following the release of second-quarter subscriber numbers. Orange, owned by France Telecom, claimed...
Vodafone to delay 3G plans due to handset shortageVodafone Group plc said it might delay the launch of its third-generation network until 2003 due to a shortage of handsets. Vodafone confirmed its was cutting back the deployment of 3G base stations in the United...
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,...
BRUSSELS, Belgium-The European Commission made surprise raids on nine mobile operators in the United Kingdom and Germany last week to investigate alleged price fixing, according to international press reports. The commission was reportedly looking for evidence of collective fixing of consumer retail prices and...
British Telecommunications' wireless unit, BT Wireless, slipped from the No. 2 wireless operator in the United Kingdom during the second quarter, falling behind perennial leader Vodafone Group and new runner up Orange SA.BT Wireless added 301,000 customers in the United Kingdom during the quarter,...
WOODBURY, N.Y.-South African carrier Vodacom, part of the Vodafone Group, selected Comverse to provide its 5 million-customer base with call-return service, which allows users to easily return voicemail calls."Vodacom's Callback represents another useful service that Comverse has added to its current voicemail boxes, which...
AustraliaTelstra Wholesale and Vodafone Australia announced a new three-year generic access agreement deal that they said will replace previous agreements and further enhance the ongoing relationship between the two companies. The new agreement, which takes effect immediately, is for transmission and interconnect products.CanadaSiGEM Inc.,...
Just beating a federally mandated deadline, Verizon Wireless sold off its Chicago interests in PrimeCo Personal Communications last week to a telecommunications investment group led by Southern California-based Clarity Partners L.P. Other members of the investment group include Pacific Capital Group Inc., Trimaran Capital...
Telia sells remaining Vodafone sharesSTOCKHOLM, Sweden-Telia said it sold the remaining 66.5 million Vodafone shares it owned for about $147.1 million.When Irish telecom operator Eircom disposed of its mobile business, Eircell, Eircom shareholders were offered Vodafone shares as consideration. Telia, which indirectly holds 14...
