Monthly Archives: August, 2002
Java games service unveiled by MmO2
OXFORD, United Kingdom-The cell-phone operator MmO2 has launched a Java-based games service that will be offered free for this month to U.K. users before...
Tower Ventures forms new company, gets investment
PROVIDENCE, R.I.-Tower Ventures Inc. (TVI) announced it has formed Tower Ventures II L.L.C. (TVLLC) and has contributed all of its assets to the company....
Cracks appearing in support for Sony Ericsson venture
OXFORD, United Kingdom-While Sony has stated that its cell-phone joint venture with Ericsson has its full backing, the troubled Swedish telecom company has revealed...
Vodafone takes full control of Vizzavi
LONDON-As expected, Vodafone Group plc has acquired Vivendi Universal's 50-percent stake in the two companies' mobile portal joint venture Vizzavi for $140.6 million. Vivendi...
Speedcom division ships new version of broadband wireless router
SARASOTA, Fla.-The Wave Wireless Networking division of Speedcom Wireless Corp., has begun shipping version 2.0 of its SPEEDLAN 9000 broadband wireless router, the company...
Samsung bypasses Microsoft for Nokia smart-phone platform
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. said Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will license its Series 60 software platform, which Nokia licenses as a source code product to...
Unsolicited text messages growing
OXFORD, United Kingdom-A survey of 38,000 text messaging users conducted by SMS.ac claimed that nearly 70 percent stated they are open to receiving messages...
Verizon to be major gate sponsor at Lambeau Field
GREEN BAY, Wis.-Verizon Wireless entered a long-term agreement with the Green Bay Packers to be one of the major gate sponsors at Lambeau Field.The...
Siemens to implement Aircom enterprise tools
LONDON-Siemens AG and Aircom International have signed an agreement calling for Aircom to supply its Enterprise Suite of network engineering software tools to Siemens'...
Interconnection changes could cost wireless carriers
WASHINGTON-A debate is simmering at the Federal Communications Commission that could result in wireless carriers having to pay incumbent local exchange carriers significantly more...
Sonera delays commercial 3G launch until 2003
HELSINKI, Finland-Sonera Corp. has delayed the commercial launch of its third-generation network in Finland until 2003 from the initial Sept. 26 launch plan due...
Moody’s downgrades Agere’s debt
NEW YORK-The $410 million in outstanding subordinated convertible debt issued by Agere Systems Inc., Allentown, Pa. received a speculative-grade ratings downgrade August 30 from...
Efforts to deter mobile-phone scams stepped up
TOKYO and DUBLIN, Ireland-Mobile operators around the globe are feeling the negative effects of scam efforts by third-party companies. Operators and regulatory agencies alike...
Yozan to launch services combining WLAN and PHS
TOKYO-Yozan, a venture business in Tokyo, is going to launch a new service combining PHS, wireless local area network (WLAN) and paging, the firm...
Ecuador to hold PCS auction on 26 September
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-The National Telecommunications Council in Ecuador (Conatel) announced that the auction of a personal communications service (PCS) licence at 1900 MHz will...
Telstra sees falling overall revenue despite higher mobile sales
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA-A 10.3-percent lift in revenue from mobile services to A$3.24 billion (US$1.7 billion) failed to return an increase in overall revenues to Telstra,...
OMA releases first technical specs for public review
ROME-The Open Mobile Alliance-a massive, overarching wireless standards group formed in June-released its first set of technical specifications for public review, covering the increasingly...
Nokia announces additional MMS contracts
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia announced a rash of multimedia messaging service (MMS) deals, further solidifying the company's leadership in the MMS infrastructure space.Nokia said it will...
Japan’s Kyocera believes in Chinese market
BEIJING-Kyocera President Yasuo Nishiguchi launched a new CDMA handset in China, produced by the Kyocera Zhenhua Communication Equipment Company, based in China's southwest Guizhou...
Japanese government to submit a revision bill for the telecom law to Diet
TOKYO-The Japanese government is going to submit a revision bill for the current telecom law during the next Diet session, governmental sources said on...
China’s Konka profitable thanks to mobile-phone business
BEIJING-China's second-largest television producer, Konka Group, reported a net profit of 24.2 million yuan (US$2.93 million) in the first half of the year, up...
China: Surge in CDMA subscribers finally materializing
BEIJING-The number of China Unicom's CDMA subscribers broke the 2 million mark on 15 August, according to the company. On 10 June, Unicom counted...
TIW subsidiary secures loans of US$300 million
TORONTO-Shares of Telesystem International Wireless (TIW) rose Wednesday after the wireless phone network operator announced its Romanian subsidiary MobiFon had closed US$300 million in...
Leap hires UBS Warburg to explore financial options, stock hits all-time low
SAN DIEGO, United States-U.S. operator Leap Wireless International has retained UBS Warburg to help the carrier explore new sources of financing and restructuring for...