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...
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...
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,...
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...
LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc acknowledged speculation circulating last week that it was interested in making a bid for Germany's Mannesmann AG and hinted that a future tie-up of the two could occur."Vodafone AirTouch and Mannesmann are long-standing partners in three of Europe's largest wireless markets...
After scoring an agreement with Vodafone AirTouch plc to deploy its location-based technology in the carrier's U.K. network, Cambridge Positioning Systems is ready to push its product in the United States."We have not done a lot of marketing in the United States on purpose,"...
WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration, bowing to industry pressure here and across the Atlantic, last week signaled for the first time a willingness to consider supporting global harmonization of third-generation mobile spectrum at next year's World Radiocommunication Conference in Turkey."We've started a process to reopen discussions...
SAN FRANCISCO-North American Global System for Mobile communications operators had an upbeat story to tell international GSM carriers this year at the GSM in North America conference last week.Last year's conference saw frustrated European and other international GSM operators that had hoped GSM technology...
NEW YORK-The astounding success of NTT DoCoMo's mobile Internet access service is a resounding note of affirmation to proponents of wireless Web services, said Crispin K. Vicars at the Yankee Group's conference Nov. 8.By the end of September, DoCoMo's wireless Internet service had 1.7...
TOKYO-DDI Corp. announced it acquired the stakes held by Nissan Motor Co. in three Tu-Ka cellular phone firms, completing a deal that was announced in August, according to The Nihon Keizai Shimbun.Japan Telecom Co. and a member of the Vodafone AirTouch plc group also...
NEW YORK-Through an underwriting syndicate led by Salomon Smith Barney, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. plans to sell up to 982,000 shares of stock, the Japan Ministry of Finance announced late last month.The sale, which is to include 131,000 shares sold in the United...
NEW YORK-For strategic and financial investors, many domestic wireless carriers possess a strong desirability quotient because they own scarce spectrum in a huge and growing market.Lehman Brothers Inc. projects that wireless penetration in the United States will reach 50 percent by 2002 and 70...
