VimpelCommunications said shares of its common stock are authorized to trade on the Russian Trading System market, an online, screen-based trading system used by brokers in Moscow and throughout the Russian Federation. Dmitri Zimin, president and chief executive officer of VimpelCom, said the company wants to give Russian investors the opportunity to invest in a well-known Russian company. However, Zimin said the New York Stock Exchange remains the primary market for the shares. VimpelCom said it is the first and only Russian company on the NYSE.
L.M. Ericsson and Eesti Mobiiltelefon signed contracts that authorize Ericsson to continue as the exclusive supplier of Global System for Mobile communications systems to Eesti. In addition, Ericsson will deliver a Digital Cellular System 1800 test network to the Estonian operator. Construction of the DCS 1800 network will begin late this year, Ericsson said. Telecom Finland Ltd. and Telia International each own a 24.5 percent share of Eesti’s stock, with the rest of the company held by Estonian owners.
Teklogix International Inc. will provide narrowband and spread spectrum wireless data communications networks to DFDS Transport, a Scandinavian transport and distribution organization. The system allows mobile users to collect, send and receive information from a host computer. Over the next two years, DFDS plans to install the system in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Benelux, England and Ireland. The company said it will use the system at truck terminals where goods are unloaded from one truck and redistributed among smaller delivery trucks.
Motorola Inc.’s Asia Pacific Cellular Infrastructure Group signed a contract to expand the Beijing Telecommunications Administration’s Global System for Mobile communications network in Beijing. Motorola will install more than 100 base stations including the M-Cell 2, M-Cell 6 and M-Cell micro base stations as part of the fourth phase of Beijing’s network expansion. The GSM system initially was installed in 1993, and has been expanded in phases to meet the demand for wireless telephony in Beijing. The expansion, which will double the system’s capacity to 500,000 users, is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
Sprint Spectrum signed six international roaming contracts for its Washington/Baltimore network operated by American Personal Communications, allowing European and Asian travelers to roam on APC’s Global System for Mobile communications network. The new roaming partners include France Telecom Mobiles, Mobistar of Belgium, T-Mobil of Germany, Cellnet of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong Telecom CSL of Hong Kong and PTT Telecom of the Netherlands. The roaming partnerships are possible through using France Telecom Worldwide Networks and Services Gateway, which performs two-way conversion between the U.S. 1900 MHz standard and the European and Asian 900 MHz systems.
