KARLSKRONA, Sweden-Europolitan and Hi3G, two companies granted Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in Sweden last year, agreed to jointly build part of their UMTS infrastructure.The companies will form a common entity designated to build and provide UMTS infrastructure, mainly outside the three major metropolitan...
PARIS-Austrian mobile operator Tele.ring launched GPRS services networkwide, according to Alcatel, which supplied the equipment. Tele.ring is owned 100 percent by Vodafone Group plc. Tele.ring is the first Austrian operator to launch GPRS services, Alcatel said.
Wireless service providers offering analog phone service to their subscribers are forced to walk a fine line between alienating established customers who rely on analog service and the increased profitability possible from value-added services offered on digital networks.As carriers acknowledge, analog service is still...
Most analysts expected the Federal Communications Commission's auction of 422 personal communications services licenses to finish up late last week. Instead, there were 37 eligible bidders placing 27 new high bids on licenses during round 70 of the auction. The new high bids brought...
MELBOURNE, Australia-In a part of the world that still relies on word of mouth as a means to keep in touch, cellular communications-both digital and analog-is continuing to spread through the Pacific Islands as greater numbers of people in the region adjust to using...
BulgariaOte Telecom won Bulgaria's third mobile-phone license for US$135 million, beating out Telecom Italia Mobile through an auction. Ote plans to partner with Bulgarian Telecommunications Co. (BTC), the country's fixed-line provider, to build out the GSM network.FranceMartin Bouygues, chairman of Bouygues Telecom, called on...
DUBLIN, Ireland-When companies with international aspirations make their cases for being allowed to own mobile networks across a number of countries, one argument put forward is that pan-European operators will hasten the standardization and even reduction of roaming call charges. However, developments to date...
PARIS-France Telecom announced plans to float up to 15 percent of its mobile subsidiary, Orange SA, in an effort to reduce its debt. The float will take place by the end of January on the Paris and London stock exchanges. The company also said...
MEXICO CITY-U.K.-based Vodafone Group purchased a 34.5-percent stake in Iusacell, Mexico's second-largest mobile operator, in an effort to expand into the Latin American wireless market, according to international press reports. The US$973.4 million purchase was made from Grupo Peralta, the firm that introduced Mexico...
LONDON-Hutchison Whampoa plc is selling $2.5 billion in exchangeable notes, which can be converted for part of its 3.47-percent stake in Vodafone Group plc, according to international press reports. Vodafone's share price slipped on the news.Hutchison obtained a 5.2-percent stake in Vodafone when the...
TOKYO-KDDI, the sole cdmaOne operator in Japan, has been expanding its international roaming services, fully using its universally standardized cdmaOne technology.In January, KDDI launched international roaming services in Canada in cooperation with Telus Mobility, a major Canadian carrier. Canada will become the fifth country...
The millennium is off to a good start for Vodafone Group.The U.K.-based carrier began 2000 with a hostile takeover of Mannesmann, parent of its rival Orange, and continued with a spending spree for third-generation (3G) licenses across Europe. The year also marked the finalization...
MELBOURNE, Australia-The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) will hold the keenly awaited auction of third-generation (3G) spectrum in the 2 GHz radio-frequency band in early March.The new 3G mobile services are expected to combine popular communications forms, such as mobile phones, the Internet and computers,...
WASHINGTON-Baltimore superlawyer Peter Angelos confirmed he may take over mobile phone-cancer litigation in Maryland that was dealt a major legal setback recently, but he distanced himself from press reports last week that said his law firm intended to file lawsuits around the country against...
At the end of each year, the RCR Wireless News editorial staff looks back on the new events that made RCR headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting stories of the past 12 months. Here are our picks for 2000 in chronological...
LISBON, Portugal-Portugal's Institute for Communications of Portugal awarded four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses.The license winners are the country's three incumbent mobile carriers-TMN, owned by Portugal Telecom; Telecel, majority owned by Vodafone Group plc; and Optimus, in which France Telecom has a stake. The...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-In a surprise announcement, the Swedish government awarded four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses on Dec. 16, dismissing a proposal from Telia, the country's current mobile leader. Sweden's other two incumbent operators, NetCom and Europolitan, won licenses through a "beauty contest," along with...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Vodafone Group plc and Ireland's Eircom plc reached an agreement calling for Vodafone to acquire the business of Eircell, Eircom's mobile operator, for about $4.1 billion in stock.According to the deal, Eircell will be demerged from Eircom into a newly incorporated company, Eircell...
HOUSTON-Crown Castle International Corp.'s Australian subsidiary will purchase 669 wireless communications towers for about $130 million from Vodafone Australia.The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of next year, will bring Crown Castle's number of towers in the country to 1,400. The company...
Chris Gent has had quite a year.For the chief executive of Vodafone Group plc, 2000 began with a hostile takeover of Mannesmann AG, parent of its rival Orange plc, and continued with a spending spree for third-generation licenses across Europe. The year also marked...
Extolling them as "wings of light," Nortel Networks hopes to illumine the wireless Internet space with four new initiatives. Basking in a 55-percent third-quarter growth, the Internet and communications company identifies the four-pronged blitz as optical infrastructure, wireless access, Internet Protocol services to create...
TOKYO-British Telecommunications plc is in the process of increasing its current 15-percent stake in Japan Telecom Co. Ltd., according to Reuters. The move comes at the same time BT rival Vodafone Group is also trying to gain a larger share of Japan's third-largest telecom...
SOFIA, Bulgaria-Five companies have submitted applications to bid for a 15-year GSM license in Bulgaria. The minimum price for the license, to be awarded Dec. 15, is $40 million.Vodafone Bulgaria, a partnership between Vodafone Group plc and United Bulgarian Bank; TIM International, the mobile...
SAN JOSE, Calif.-SnapTrack Inc., a Qualcomm Inc. subsidiary, announced a year-long test of its position-location technology is over and the results are positive.The tests of SnapTrack's Wireless Assisted global positioning system solution, conducted by a consortium of various industry representatives, found the technology can...
