September 2003

SINGAPORE-Wireless streaming video company RealNetworks Inc. announced two Asian carriers purchased the company’s Helix server and technology, a move to offer streaming video services to wireless users. MobileOne Ltd. (M1) of Singapore and PT Indosat Multimedia Mobile (IM3) of Indonesia …

FRANCE Nortel Networks Ltd. has won a $200 million, 15-year GSM-Railway contract with French railway operator SNCF. The new system will handle all voice and data communications for train operations within 15,000 kilometers of track and replace the existing analog …

WASHINGTON-Universal service was a hot topic in Washington last week with two House panels hearing testimony, a think-tank seminar and an ad campaign by TracFone Wireless. “The Federal Communications Commission’s proposed change would impact every landline and cell phone, charging …

LONDON-ITU Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi has been accused of “atrocious financial management” and threatened with dismissal, according to a report in the respected Swiss business magazine L’Hebdo. The revelations come just two weeks before the opening of the International Telecommunication Union’s …

RESTON, Va.-Citing false and unsubstantiated advertising claims, Nextel Communications Inc. filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court against Verizon Wireless seeking unspecified damages and an injunction prohibiting Verizon Wireless’ current advertising campaign touting its recently launched Push to …

WASHINGTON-Verizon Wireless broke with its industry brethren again when it said it had signed a service-level agreement with its wireline parent, Verizon Communications Inc., to enable numbers to be ported starting Nov. 24. “The two companies have demonstrated that, when …

LOWELL, Mass.-M/A-COM Inc. has been awarded an $11 million contract by the U.S. Army to deploy and link critical communications to 10 Army installations, including more than 5,000 Army base personnel, in and around the National Capital Region (NCR). Under …

Loss has become a constant feature in the telecom world, and Japan offers a chilling example, according to a study by Plimsoll Publishing Ltd. The report, which covers all of telecom, reveals that 83 percent of Japanese companies use formal …

WASHINGTON-L. Paul Bremer, head of the U.S.-led occupational authority in Iraq, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that mobile-phone licenses in the war-torn country are close to being issued. Bremer’s remarks came in response to questioning by Sen. …

SAN FRANCISCO-Cellular-phone users are uniting via the Cellular Telecom Users Alliance Inc., a newly formed organization that plans to negotiate cell-phone rates on behalf of its members. The group hopes to bargain low rates from carriers in exchange for bringing …

Having cast his shadow over the company for more than half a decade, the resignation of Christopher Galvin as chief executive officer of Motorola Inc. has foisted on the company the challenge of which path to follow next. The appointment …

SYDNEY, Australia-Australian mobile operators Vodafone Australia and Telstra Wholesale announced a network-partnering trial that will see the operators share mobile base-station infrastructure in areas where duplicate coverage exists. If the pilot project in central regional Victoria is successful, Vodafone will …

RICHMOND, Va.-A three-judge federal appeals court panel wrestled with arguments over whether U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake abused her discretion or appropriately carried out her gate-keeping role in rejecting scientific testimony of Dr. Lennart Hardell that proved pivotal in her …

New research shows global sales of camera phones hit 25 million in the first half of this year, surpassing digital camera sales and marking perhaps the most notable event in the mobile-phone industry in recent years. According to research firm …

BRASILIA, Brazil-Brazil’s lower house social and family safety commission has approved a bill to create rules for the installation of wireless communications towers. The bill calls for wireless operators to share towers in urban areas, construct them 30 meters high …

WASHINGTON-The House telecommunications subcommittee passed the E911 Implementation Act of 2003, changing the rural provisions and making it possible for public-safety answering points to go forward with Phase II wireless E911 implementation even if a state has used 911 funds …

WALL, N.J.-Centennial Communications Corp. said it is withdrawing its previously announced public offering of common stock due to the offer’s inability to garner the company’s “valuation requirements.” Centennial had originally hoped the offering, which was to include 30 million shares …

Alan Dick & Co. has acquired telecommunications infrastructure service company EXi Ltd., making Alan Dick & Co. a single-source supplier for the telecommunications industry. “Acquiring the resources and expertise that have driven EXi rapidly forward since its creation in 1995 …

Wireless local area network infrastructure company AirFlow Networks has developed a system intended to simplify the installation and administration of WLANs, a critical need for the technology to gain traction in the enterprise market. AirFlow’s system, which includes its AirServer, …

A new wireless local area network standard is being developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-the 802.11n protocol. According to the standards body, the new 802.11n protocol will raise the effective throughput for wireless LAN to at least …

ALAMEDA, Calif.-UTStarcom Inc. said it expects its third-quarter handset sales to leap above 4.5 million units, representing approximately 50 percent of revenues. The company describes the estimate as its highest revenue to date for handset shipments. “UTStarcom has maintained strong …

Hollywood, meet wireless. It seems the Boob Tube is the latest mobile phone add-on for the world’s wireless industry, a business constantly hunting the next new technology to astound and astonish the average phone shopper. Indeed, U.S. shoppers will get …

WASHINGTON-The California Public Utilities Commission again will postpone a vote on a controversial bill of rights for telecom consumers, increasing prospects for either major changes to the current draft or the introduction of alternative proposals that may be more to …

Nokia Corp. said it will reorganize the company into four divisions to focus on convergence, new mobility markets and growth. The four segments include mobile phones, multimedia, networks and enterprise solutions. The reorganization, the most far-reaching in a half-decade, sets …

Motorola Inc. will miss out on the critical camera-phone rush during the holiday season, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless said. Jim Gerace, a spokesman for the nation’s largest carrier, said Motorola delayed the introduction of its new camera phone for …