Australia
Australian wireless carrier Telstra Corp. now offers commercial W-CDMA services. The carrier, which operates both GSM- and CDMA-based networks, previously offered EV-DO service in some markets in Australia. The carrier is offering four new handsets for the service-Motorola Inc.’s V975, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.’s Z500, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P.’s K600i, and the N600i i-mode device from NEC Corp. Telstra has an i-mode licensing agreement with NTT DoCoMo Inc. that will see the Australian carrier offer i-mode content services on its W-CDMA network.
China
Bitfone Corp. said Chinese mobile-phone maker Ningbo Bird will use the company’s device management technology in its handsets. Bitfone provides firmware over-the-air update technology. Ningbo Bird is embedding Bitfone’s device management agents in its devices to learn more about device lifecycle after market, said the companies. The company’s SmartCare agent will provide an auto-registration function that will allow Ningbo Bird to manage channel sales and regional market penetration by getting an immediate status upon device activation.
Caribbean
Caribbean telecommunications provider Digicel Group said it has been given governmental approval to acquire Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s operations in Bermuda and to launch a GSM network in the eastern Caribbean island of Anguilla. Digicel was granted similar approval to acquire Cingular’s assets in Dominica last month.
India
Nokia Corp. said it plans to open a Global Networks Operation Center in India by the end of the year. The center will perform network operation tasks for selected operators in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as part of its managed services offering. The location of the site, which will initially employ up to 100 people, will be unveiled later, said Nokia.
