California Microwave Inc. added $5 million to a satellite communications network project with Sudatel, a telecommunications service provider in Sudan. The contract, originally awarded during the second quarter of this year, is now valued at $10 million. The system, which is expected to be completed next year, will provide voice and data communications to 37 cities and villages throughout Sudan. California Microwave’s Flex-Net integrated digital satellite network will be used on the Sudatel network, the company said.
Northern Telecom Ltd. will provide Mandarin Communications Ltd. with a complete Digital Cellular System 1800 network valued at $60 million. Mandarin recently was awarded a personal communications services license for Hong Kong. The network is scheduled to begin operation in mid-1997, the company said. “The choice of a network technology partner is a critical element of Mandarin’s vision to provide the Hong Kong market with an affordable, innovative and high-quality PCS network,” said Richard J. Siemens, Mandarin’s deputy chairman and managing director.
Nokia Mobile Phones launched its Chinese User Interface for its 8110 phone during ExpoComm ’96 in Beijing. Nokia said the handsets have both simplified and traditional Chinese character sets. The simplified version is targeted at subscribers in China and Singapore, while the traditional version is targeted at subscribers in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. The phone is Nokia’s first with a dot matrix, full-graphics display with Chinese characters. Shipments will begin this month, the company said.
Motorola Inc.’s International Cellular Infrastructure Division will deploy a Global System for Mobile communications network in Punjab, India. The contract, valued at $34 million, calls for Evergrowth Telecom Ltd. to launch the system under the brand name Essar Cellphone by the end of 1996. Motorola estimates the network will serve more than 100,000 subscribers in Punjab’s key cities of Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jharlandhar and Patiala. Motorola said it has won contracts valued at a total of $200 million in India, and it will provide service for more than half of India’s cellular subscribers.
Telecel International Ltd. launched commercial cellular service in Abidjan, located in the Ivory Coast of Africa. The company said it plans to expand its Global System for Mobile communications system to Yamoussoukro, Bouake, San Pedro and Korhogo, and it anticipates a subscriber base of 15,000 during the first three years of service. “Telecel is proud to be part of the privatization taking place in the Ivory Coast by building a cellular system with the greatest coverage parameters including all of Abidjan and the city’s outlying suburbs,” said Joseph Gatt, chairman of Telecel.
