CANADA
Canada’s Minister of Industry, David Emerson, announced a full review of Industry Canada’s spectrum policy framework. The initiative aims to bring Canadian policy and regulatory regimes overseeing telecom and radio communications systems up to date to accommodate demand for wireless service.
UNITED KINGDOM
Air2Web acquired Consult Mobile, a U.K.-based mobile content company. Air2Web said the move would further expand its reach into Europe. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Air2Web moved into the European market last year with its acquisition of France-based Wokup SA, a mobile application developer. Air2Web’s European customers include Credit Lyonnais, Societe Generale, BRED, France Telecom, SFR, Etisalat, Cofinoga, Geopost and NMPP.
Vodafone Group plc enhanced its mobile roaming rates, offering its customers “simplicity and better value for roaming services.” Vodafone and other European operators have been criticized by consumers and regulators for charging expensive, complex international roaming rates. Vodafone said its new Vodafone Passport service offers a one-off connection fee per call and allows users to make voice calls at domestic rates while travelling in Vodafone subsidiary and selected affiliate markets. In addition, when receiving calls abroad, customers will pay the same connection fees, allowing them to talk for up to 60 minutes at no additional charge.
BRAZIL
Brazilian GSM operator Oi announced plans to roll out a new generation of location-based services in partnership with Cambridge Positioning Systems. Oi selected CPS’s software-only Matrix technology to power the new service following successful trials-including testing in dense urban, suburban and rural areas. Oi said because Matrix consistently performs with high accuracy and quick response times, it will allow the continuous deployment of several high quality LBS services for both consumer and corporate markets. Since its launch in 2002, Oi has built a customer base of 7 million.
