2001

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Plans to combine the technical and marketing skills of Ericsson and Sony for a fresh assault on the handset market appear to be in trouble. Reports from Japan claim that Ericsson is becoming increasingly worried about the success …

TOKYO—On Aug. 21, NEC Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial and Matsushita Communication Industrial, announced plans to combine forces in the third-generation (3G) mobile handset business. Based on the agreement, NEC and Matsushita will jointly develop a common architecture and application/software for …

TOKYO—NEC Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial are discussing a broad alliance to jointly develop mobile video phones and other handheld devices, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.Both companies have had problems with their third-generation (3G) handsets.

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Hi3G, the 3G license holder owned jointly by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa and the Swedish Investor group, has emerged as the most likely bidder for the bankrupt Norwegian 3G licensee, Broadband Mobile. The country’s communication ministry has already …

SANTA CLARA, California, United States—In another vote of support for Intel’s Personal Internet Client Architecture initiative, Compaq Computer said it will work with Intel on PCA-based devices running on current and next-generation networks.The announcement comes a day after operating-system designer …

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Illinois, United States—Motorola said it might sell off its chip unit if it does not generate sufficient profit within an unspecified time period, according to Ed Gams, the company’s director of investor relations.“No segment of the company is …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Ericsson said it has decided to acquire the remaining 19 percent of its joint venture EHPT from Hewlett-Packard in order to enhance its third-generation (3G) billing and business support systems. EHPT’s activities will be incorporated into Ericsson’s operations as …

BELLEVUE, Washington, United States—Teledesic said it has selected Alenia Spazio and Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems as the two finalists to build Teledesic’s satellite communications network.Teledesic will select one prime contractor and finalize the contract in the next two months.

MURRAY HILL, New Jersey, United States—Lucent Technologies claims it is the first vendor in North America and one of the first worldwide to make its third-generation cdma2000 equipment and software available for commercial launch.“Mobile operators that upgrade their current-generation networks …

SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, France—The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) reported 440 engineers from 89 companies in 20 countries attended the sixth Bluetooth UnPlugFest in France. ETSI noted nearly half of the attendees came from Europe, with 30 percent from North America …

SANTA CRUZ, California, United States—Software developers plan to expand investments in wireless application development, despite uncertainties in today’s economy and future technologies, according to a recent Evans Data study.“Even though the public has adopted wireless data devices more slowly than …

PALO ALTO, California, United States—Agilent Technologies said it would slash about 4,000 workers just as it posted a third-quarter pro forma loss of $109 million compared with a profit of $158 million last year.The job cuts, which amount to 9 …

STOCKHOLM—Ericsson said it intends to claim 20 percent of the CDMA market by 2004, even as it identified five carriers as its major customer focus. The carriers include Vodafone Group plc of the United Kingdom, France Telecom SA, Deutsche Telekom …

ATLANTA, United States—A new personal communications services (PCS) antenna was introduced to the wireless world by EMS Wireless, a division of EMS Technologies Inc.The 48-inch-long antenna, an addition to the company’s PCS product line, is available throughout the United States, …

DURHAM, North Carolina, United States—Pinpoint Networks released the newest version of its mobile applications platform, Fuel, which the company said will allow carriers to bill for content on a per-use and subscription basis.“Fuel enhances a carrier’s mobile offering by enabling …

PLANO, Texas, United States—Switching Solutions provider Santera Systems said it has secured US$110 million in its third round of funding, raising its total amount to US$200 million to date.“Santera will use the funds to further accelerate major carrier initiatives and …

LONDON—Vodafone Group plc reported it is selling its 11.68-percent equity stake in Korean telecommunications company Shinsegi Telecomm Inc. for an undisclosed amount to SK Telecom Co. Ltd.

SINGAPORE—Flextronics International Ltd. said it plans to acquire Telecom Global Solutions Inc., which provides wireless networks and radio-frequency consulting services for the wireless telecommunications industry.The company expects to close the acquisition of Irving, Texas-based Telecom Global by the end of …

PHOENIX—Under a strategic partnership, Yaahteh Communications L.L.C., a majority Navajo-owned company, and North/South Communications Corp. will work to provide a telecommunications network to the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.The companies will also work on an upgraded …

LONDON—Just days after the initial launch of MIGway, the new joint venture between TDC Mobile International and CMG Wireless Data Solutions, the companies announced they will offer wireless access to MSN Hotmail e-mail services to select European carriers.MSN Hotmail is …

NEW YORK—Tele2 AB, formerly NetCom AB, today said it will be the first mobile virtual network operator in the Netherlands under an agreement with Telfort, a GSM operator in the Netherlands that is owned by British Telecom.Tele2 said the agreement …

NEIUWEGEIN, the Netherlands—TDC Mobile International and CMG Wireless Data Solutions announced their plans to create a pan-European revenue-sharing WAP gateway, which the companies said will give content providers a simple, unified method to offer their services to Europe’s 320 million …

MOSCOW—Major Russian Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) carrier said it had completed a deal to buy an 81-percent stake in the Telecom 900 Company, which has a controlling interest in three regional carriers in the Urals, Siberia and the Far East.The statement …

BUCHAREST, Romania—GSM Kazakhstan announced that it has the largest mobile communications subscriber base in Kazakhstan with 330.000 subscribers. The company, operating under the brand name K’cell, is one of the largest investors in the field of telecommunications in Kazakhstan. At …

ISTANBUL, Turkey—Turkish mobile carrier Turkcell today said it will launch its new mobile Internet service, SurfCell for WAP and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) users.Users will be able to access Internet sites through either Turkcell’s WAP page or by entering …