LONDON-London-based telecommunication companies are riding the wave of increased demand for wireless communications with three companies reporting strong growth in new mobile phone customers during the fourth quarter of 1999.Vodafone AirTouch plc announced it received a record 3.98 million new customers in the fourth...
There is a chink in Nokia Mobile Phones' armor, and it is the vendor's market share in the cdmaOne handset business.While Nokia sells the most popular handsets in the world, holding more than 30 percent of the total business, its share in the cdmaOne...
LONDON-Mannesmann AG is stepping up its defense against Vodafone AirTouch plc's $128.7 billion hostile takeover bid. Klaus Esser, Mannesmann chairman, is warning investors of potential risks, the Financial Times reported.Esser said Vodafone AirTouch may need as much as $60 billion cash to buy out...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-While the use of mobile communications in Europe continues to grow beyond everyone's wildest expectations, the latest bid of $140 billion by Vodafone AirTouch plc for the Mannesmann empire has caused many a jaw to drop in stunned amazement.This record-breaking bid has...
Aether Systems Inc. said it will license Diversinet Corp.'s Passport software to enhance the security of wireless e-commerce applications. The agreement integrates Aether's wireless data enterprise solutions with Diversinet's ability to capture digital signatures. Aether said the agreement will allow it to use digital...
NEW YORK-The discriminatory patchwork of state and local taxes on telecommunications carriers imposes a roadblock to providers of the highways over which all Internet traffic travels, according to recent testimony before a federal commission.To remedy that disparity and confusion, the vice chairman of the...
NEW YORK, LONDON-Bell Atlantic Corp. and Vodafone AirTouch Plc announced they purchased full ownership in PrimeCo Personal Communications LP's Texas market for $357 million. The deal buys out TXU Communications 20 percent share in PrimeCo and gives Bell Atlantic and Vodafone a partnership in...
LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc and British Telecom are in a race to take control of Spain's wireless operator, Airtel. Banco Santander Central Hispano is looking to sell its 30.45-percent stake in Spain's No. 2 cell phone group.British Telecom has offered more for Airtel than Vodafone...
Mergers and acquisitions are proliferating worldwide, with the strongest mark being made in Western Europe. Carriers are scrambling to maintain their footholds, while looking to the next potential market investment.Vodafone/MannesmannThe battle between Vodafone AirTouch and Mannesmann continues, as Vodafone AirTouch revealed its wireless data...
AlcatelCameroon. With Societe Camerounaise de Mobiles (SCM) for a GSM network for the area between the cities of Yaounde, Douala and Bafoussam.Value: US$21.15 millionChina. With Post and Telecommunications Administration of Hubei province for DECT wireless local loop systems.Value: US$20 millionMozambique. With Telecomunicacoes Moeis de Mocambique for...
At the end of each year, the RCR editorial staff looks back on the news 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 1999 in chronological order.1. Jan....
NEWBURY, United Kingdom-Vodafone UK and Nortel Networks said they are planning a trial early next year in London of wideband Code Division Multiple Access third-generation wireless radio and Internet Protocol network technologies."Through this trial with Nortel Networks, we hope to gain a clearer understanding...
At the recent Practicing Law Institute's Telecommunications Conference, Thomas Sugrue, chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, gave a humorous presentation describing the wireless industry. Here is how the wireless industry's chief regulator sees the industry: 1. Why can't we be more European? or ......
In a bid to strengthen its position in the wireless industry and expand its influence overseas, Internet infrastructure provider InfoSpace.com announced it signed a definitive agreement to acquire wireless Internet portal Saraide Inc.According to the agreement, InfoSpace.com will issue about 2.4 million shares of...
LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc said it awarded Ericsson a contract to supply General Packet Radio Service in Britain, the Netherlands and Greece. Vodafone UK, Libertel in the Netherlands and Panafon in Greece will be the first Vodafone wireless networks to integrate GPRS into their Global...
ATLANTA-BellSouth Corp. became the first U.S. operator to enter the European wireless industry's recent merger and acquisition frenzy by exercising its right of first refusal to acquire 100 percent of E-Plus, Germany's third-largest mobile operator. As part of the deal, The Netherlands' KPN Telecom...
Several important wireless markets will be up for grabs during the next year-a result of overlapping wireless markets created by the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. with GTE Corp. as well as Bell Atlantic's agreement to merge its wireless assets with those of Vodafone...
WARSAW, Poland-KGHM Polska Miedz, Poland's copper and silver concern, and Polski Koncern Naftowy, the country's oil group, raised their stakes in the country's mobile phone firm Polkomtel, according to a Reuters report.Both firms exercised their first refusal rights, as major shareholders, over part of...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry will enter the third millennium A.D. as the envy of the telecommunications industry. It is arguably the most competitive sector. It is innovative, with three different digital standards and third-generation wireless becoming reality. And it has conquered a huge nemesis: cloning."Cloning is...
The Operators Harmonization Group began work more than a year ago as a loosely tied group of four operators trying to end the world's heated battle over third-generation technology standards. Today this ad hoc group, which now numbers 40 operators from around the world,...
Vodafone AirTouch plc last week continued its efforts to win support for its hostile takeover bid for Germany's Mannesmann AG. At the same time, Mannesmann executives began a road show aimed at convincing shareholders to reject the bid.Mannesmann has been bolstering its defenses since...
LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc is pushing forward with details to secure its takeover efforts of Mannesmann AG, while Mannesmann is making its own preparations to ward off the bid. Vodafone launched a $128 billion hostile takeover bid-the largest takeover bid in history-for Mannesmann Nov. 19...
Vodafone AirTouch plc Friday launched a hostile takeover bid for Mannesmann AG after the German company flatly rejected an earlier all-stock bid of about $106 billion."We made a friendly approach to Mannesmann last Sunday," said Chris Gent, Vodafone AirTouch's chief executive officer. "That proposal...
NEW YORK-Not unexpectedly, the multiservice telecommunications giants led the way in revenues and profits for the first half of this year.Profit leadersBell Atlantic Corp. led in profits for the period, posting $2.315 billion, a 19.5-percent increase from the same period of 1998. It traded...
