March 2001

If professionals need to be productive on the go, vVault thinks it has a platform on which they can walk. A mobile productivity applications provider, the company sets out to provide a technology platform to power network operators, ISPs, telecom …

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.-The Westchester County Legislature voted unanimously last Monday to prohibit drivers from talking on handheld cellular phones. The measure authorizes fines of up to $150 for an offense in the county unless the driver is using a hands-free …

NEW DELHI, India-HFCL, a leading Indian telecom equipment manufacturer, has bagged a contract in Nepal to supply 5000 wireless local loop (WLL) lines. The contract, part of a World Bank-aided project in the Himalayan kingdom, is said to be worth …

The results of a wireless advertising study released today show consumers are extremely open to receiving advertisements on their wireless devices, and that wireless marketing may be so effective it will drive the adoption of mobile commerce and the usage …

AT&T Wireless Group jumped into the very active debt capital market last week selling off $6.5 billion worth of senior unsecured notes, the largest private bond sale ever by a U.S. company. The bond sale followed Qwest Communications International Inc., …

MOSCOW-The Russian Agency for Radio Frequencies (GKRCh) decided to allow the creation of 3G trial zones in Moscow and St. Petersburg. GKRCh passed the decision after the Russian 3G Association submitted its research on 3G trial network creation. The applications …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Having paid handsomely for their licenses at a time when wireless auctions were the flavor of the month around Europe, wireless local loop (WLL) operators face an uncertain future. Capital has dried up as the financial markets review their …

WASHINGTON-Huawei Technologies is reportedly suspected of violating U.N. sanctions by supplying Iraq with fiber optic cable to improve its air defense capability. The Washington Post, citing Western and Asian sources, said Western officials have asked Beijing to investigate whether Huawei …

BEIJING-While China’s mobile-phone subscribers nearly doubled to 85.26 million last year, the country’s paging manufacturers and operators fought a rearguard battle. With continuing price drops in handsets and mobile services, more pager users are switching to mobile phones. The number …

BEIJING-Huawei Technologies, based in China’s southern boomtown of Shenzhen, is poised to become a global player in the telecommunications field. Already China’s largest producer of telephone switches, the company is now branching out into the mobile field and aggressively moving …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The many delays that have beset South Africa’s third mobile network license process could be at an end. In February, the Minister of Communications Dr. Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri announced the winner was the Saudi Oger-financed Cell C consortium, despite …

What is the future of the TDMA wireless interface? The issue is far from trivial. TDMA serves more than 60 million digital and 15 million analog customers and stands as the number-one technology in terms of subscribers, operators and coverage …

TOKYO-Mobile Internet shopping is no longer a futuristic idea, but a daily practice, at least for early adopters in the browser phone-advanced nation of Japan. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications estimates the Japanese mobile-commerce market will expand from 4.2 …

SAN JOSE, California, United States-Top executives from several multichannel multipoint distribution services (MMDS) operators throughout Latin America announced the creation of Latin American Networking (LaNet), an alliance formed to advance MMDS networks and services in that part of the world. …

The fact that the telecom sector, including the mobile industry, is shivering in the cold right now after months of basking in the sun of favor from the financial community is certainly not breaking news. It seems no category-broadband wireless, …

Mobile phones are an effective comfort blanket for many people. The knowledge that help and support is just a phone call away no matter where you are is incredibly reassuring. Help and support is not limited to the owner of …

WASHINGTON-The Bush administration has proposed to delay key spectrum auctions and to phase out past Internet programs, as components of the president’s US$1.96 trillion budget that signals the White House’s desire to improve spectrum management and its intention to end …

BUCHAREST, Romania-Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are a new and hopeful concept in the European communications market. The region’s mobile market is growing, with strong potential for new operators. The largest problem faced by European operators hoping to break into …

UTICA, New York, United States-Nearly two years since cessation of hostilities on 10 June, 1999, numerous roadblocks still stand in the way of any attempt to restore and expand telecommunications network services in post-war Kosovo. In a province roughly the …

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados-Barbados has identified wireless and the Internet as the first segments of its telecommunications market to be opened to competition. A three-phase timetable announced by the government anticipates full liberalization by 2002. Minister of International Business Reginald Farley, who …

MELBOURNE, Australia-Cable & Wireless Optus established a subsidiary, Agility Networks, responsible for rolling out Australia’s first tail-end broadband wireless network using local multipoint distribution system (LMDS) technology. The new company’s role was confirmed late last year after Optus paid US$19.7 …

DENVER, United States-While some countries in Latin America are moving forward with advanced wireless networks, Central American nations are not likely to see commercial next-generation systems any time soon. Mass-market demand for data services remains weak due to low incomes, …

Mobile computing company Psion shook the European wireless market-and sent its stocks rocketing to a new 27-month low-with news that it is dropping out of the running in the smart-phone industry and cutting its work force. The company now plans …

TOKYO-Matsushita Communications Industrial, the leading cellular vendor in Japan, is putting the final touches on its new third-generation (3G) mobile terminals for NTT DoCoMo. NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s leading mobile carrier, is scheduled to launch its 3G services by the end …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-A year after the launch of mobile Internet services in South America, almost all the cellular telephony operators are offering Internet services, although exclusively in the major cities of the region and without generating profits. Entel PCS of …