Japan
Conductus Inc. announced it shipped a 16-pole ClearSite wireless subsystem to a major Japanese cellular operator for performance testing. The system will be used for testing within Japanese frequency bands for potential field deployment.
SENEGAL
SENTELgsm launched Global System for Mobile communications 900 service in the Republic of Senegal in western Africa, said Millicom International Cellular S.A., which owns 75 percent of SENTEL. The launch marks MIC’s first prepay only cellular service. The service area covers 10 main regions and a population of 1.9 million. The license is for a period of 20 years, renewable every five years thereafter, said MIC.
China
Motorola Inc.’s Network Solutions Sector said Motorola Electronics Ltd., Hangzhou Motorola Cellular Systems Co. Ltd. and Beijing Telecommunication Administration have signed a contract to expand the Code Division Multiple Access network in Beijing. According to the terms of the contract, Hangzhou Motorola Cellular System Co. Ltd. will manufacture and supply Motorola NSS’ SC 2450 CDMA base stations for the expansion.
United Kingdom
BT Asia Pacific Investments, a unit of British Telecommunications plc, is buying 120.8 million SmarTone Telecommunications shares at $3.23 per share in an attempt to better position itself to do business in mainland China. The $390 million purchase accounts for about one-fifth of SmarTone, Hong Kong’s number three ranked mobile phone company, said BT. The company said it has been able to take advantage of the economic problems in Asia and enter the Chinese, South Korean, Malaysian and possibly the Japanese and Indonesian mobile phone markets, which are expected to grow at exponential rates during the next few years.
Having received a significant yet surprising boost during the past year from its markets in Asia, Cable & Wireless plc said its mobile subscribers now total more than 3.7 million worldwide. The success of Hongkong Telecom’s two mass market brands, One2Free and 1+1, helped increase HT’s customer base to more than 900,000. In Macau, mobile operator CTM registered a 31-percent jump in customers while M1 in Singapore experienced a 14-percent increase, said Cable & Wireless.
