Latin America
Cellular/personal communications services handset shipments to Latin America showed a significant technology shift from analog Advanced Mobile Phone Service to digital Time Division Multiple Access technology during the first three months of 1999, according to results from The Strategis Group’s report, “Strategis dataBank TM: World Cellular/PCS Handset Shipments.” Latin America’s TDMA handset shipments accounted for 63 percent of Latin America’s total shipments for the quarter, while analog accounted for 26 percent, said the report. World cellular/PCS handset shipments reached about 56 million units for the first quarter. The report said the United States, Japan, Korea, China and Italy were the top markets in terms of volume of shipments.
Germany
LHS Group Inc. entered into a global partnership with Siemens Business Services, Munich, which will allow SBS to market, distribute and implement LHS’ customer-care and billing software, Business Support and Control System. The first joint project is underway at National Mobile Telecommunications Co. in Kuwait where LHS and SBS are implementing a customer-care and billing system for a Global System for Mobile communications start-up, said LHS.
United Kingdom
P-Com Inc. said it received $3.3 million in purchase orders from a personal communications services provider in the United Kingdom to supply digital millimeter wave radio systems. Additionally, the company said its president and chief operating officer, Pier Antoniucci, will be leaving P-Com effective Sept. 30.
Finland
Nokia Mobile Telecom Ltd. and Yunnan Post and Telecommunication Administration have signed a $170 million agreement for further expansion of the Yunnan Global System for Mobile communications network in China, said Nokia. Under terms of the contract, Nokia will deliver GSM 900 MHz and 1800 MHz equipment including switching centers, home location registers, base station controllers and base stations. With this latest expansion, the Yunnan network will more than double to serve approximately 2.3 million subscribers, said Nokia.
