March 2003

ALAMEDA, California, United States-In a cash transaction valued at US$100 million, UTStarcom will purchase some of the assets of the CommWorks division of 3Com. The deal, which the companies expect …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Leading retailers and the police have teamed up in the United Kingdom to launch a crackdown on mobile-phone theft, with stolen phones being rendered unusable and those attempting to …

HELSINKI, Finland-Sweden’s telecom regulator PTS has confirmed the receipt of a “written submission” from mobile operator Orange requesting transfer of its third-generation (3G) license to a new subsidiary company in …

S

NEW YORK-In its first privatization of a state-owned company, the government of South Africa sold a 25-percent stake in Telkom South Africa 4 March, raising US$488 million, well below expectations, …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Nigerian mobile network operators MTN Nigeria and Econet Wireless have blamed a gang of thieves called the Area Boys for the poor quality of service in some areas …

BATH, U.K.-SFR, the wireless division of France’s Groupe Cegetel, has completed the rollout of Cramer Systems’ inventory solution, which SFR is using to manage the growth and development of its …

BEIJING-Nortel Networks Ltd. said it has signed an approximately $36 million contract to expand the GSM digital cellular network of China Mobile in Hebei province. Targeting about 1.8 million subscribers, …

SINGAPORE-The telecom regulator in Singapore announced a collaboration with chip maker Intel Corp. on a Wi-Fi initiative that the Infocomm Development Authority said would help achieve “seamless connectivity in the …

NEW YORK-Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services affirmed its ‘B+’ corporate credit rating on Nextel Communications Inc. and revised its outlook from negative to stable. S&P said the action was based …

HERZELIA, Israel-Comsys Communications & Signal Processing Ltd. announced Elkana Ben-Sinai has been made chief executive officer. Ben-Sinai previously served as acting CEO, chief operating officer and vice president of marketing …

ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. launched its Voice Connect voice-activated portal across its markets enabling customers to access voice and data services using voice commands. Customers activating the service will receive a …

S

MOSCOW-Russia boasted unexpected major growth in the total number of mobile-phone users in 2002, however, various governmental bodies differed in estimates. The Communications Ministry said the number of subscribers grew …

ASTANA, Kazakhstan-Kazakhtelecom, the national operator of the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan, said it plans to buy a controlling stake in its Kirghiz counterpart. The government of the neighboring republic …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Mobile network operator Celtel Uganda recently increased its coverage to the eastern districts of Kumi, Pallisa, Kapchorwa, Iganga, Bugiiri and Kamuli. Michael Werikhe, the minister for communications, said …

LONDON-European mobile data users are set to enjoy greater competition on tariffs and devices following the decision by T-Mobile to more than halve its mobile data charges and push the …