November 2001

PARIS—Alcatel said it was awarded a contract by Djibouti Telecom to supply a turnkey GSM network with a 25,000-subscriber capacity. The value of the contract was not disclosed. The network …

TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo said it discovered a software glitch in about 1,500 FOMA N2002 third-generation (3G) handsets causing the phones to malfunction when accessing some Web sites using certain site construction …

PHILADELPHIA—XO Communications Inc. announced it is fighting bankruptcy by accepting an $800 million investment that will put Mexican telecommunications company Telefonos de Mexico SA de DV and buyout firm Forstmann …

BEIJING-Samsung Electronics said it formed a joint venture with Shanghai Bell to develop, produce and market CDMA systems in China. The Chinese government approved the new company, named Shanghai Bell …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Just as recently happened with the privatization of Paraguay’s telecom company Administraci

SOUTH WALES, United Kingdom—Gamma Projects said it was awarded a contract with Czech Republic mobile operator Oskar to supply its Gamma NetOne software for network optimization and maintenance.

HELSINKI, Finland—The research and development (R&D) divisions of Nokia and France T

HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia has signed an agreement with Omnitel, a Lithuanian GSM operator, for the supply and installation of additional switching capacity to expand Omnitel’s network capacity and modernize its switching …

MUNICH, Germany—Polish mobile operator PTC-Era has chosen a location-based services platform from Siemens and SignalSoft for delivery via Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and short message service (SMS). PTC-Era is the …

BELLEVUE, Washington, United States—MobileGIS announced the availability of GeoMobilIT, its single platform for development and deployment of location-based services. According to MobileGIS, the new platform geographically covers the entire Earth; …

CARACAS, Venezuela—Venezuelan telecom company Cantv said it received offers for 39.7 percent of the company’s outstanding shares in its buyback offer. The company launched the offer to thwart a hostile …

LISBON, Portugal—Portuguese mobile carrier Optimus and equipment vendor Nortel Networks have completed live calls using Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) technology, according to a statement. Nortel Networks said both companies …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Tele2, the holder of a Swedish third-generation (3G) license, has admitted that Ericsson may not be able to deliver the promised base stations in time to launch the …

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SEATTLE, United States—Brazil’s Varig Airlines will launch an e-mail and Web service using technology from Tenzing Communications next year. Varig, South America’s largest airline, installed the service on the first …

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom—More than 20 million Europeans will use public wireless local area networks (WLANs) by 2006, according to a new report from Analysys, a U.K.-based research firm. According to …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Nokia claims it will see solid sales growth of 15 percent next year as new mobile devices trigger an upsurge in the mobile market. The company predicts things …

SANTIAGO, Chile—Nortel Networks partnered with Smartcom PCS to complete its first call using cdma2000 1x equipment. “We are advancing on our plan to expand the coverage of our network and, …

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados-Centennial Digital Jamaica has become the third company to bring mobile cellular service to Jamaicans. Chief Operating Officer James Beneda said the company’s use of CDMA technology will allow …

WLIA adopts privacy policyWASHINGTON, D.C.—The Wireless Location Industry Association (WLIA) has adopted a new privacy policy based on the Federal Trade Commission’s Fair Information Practices policy. “No public policy issue …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-The Spanish cell-phone operators Telef

PRAGUE, Czech Republic—The Czech government has reduced the price of its third-generation (3G) licenses from 6.7 billion crowns (US$178 million) to 3.5 billion crowns (US$94 million). The announcement is based …

LONDON—Finnish company Tecnomen was awarded a contract by the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CYTA) to supply a new messaging system. The system will be delivered in December and is scheduled for …

HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia has allied with companies with banking and financial expertise to produce and market software for mobile and online financial services using open standards. The companies are 3I, an …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Telia announced a new initiative to offer an open interface to content providers for mobile Internet services. The initiative is based on a mobile service platform by BlueFactory and …