Mexico
Grupo Iusacell inaugurated its new Code Division Multiple Access network with a phone call by the company’s president, Fulvio del Valle, from its headquarters in Mexico City to a nearby community. The launch marks the first phase of Iusacell’s $200-million network modernization plan to make CDMA service widely available in Mexico’s Regions 5, 6, 7 and 9. The company plans to market the service with dual-mode analog and digital handsets.
Australia
Telstra Corp. announced it will host the first Australian board meeting of the Global Chipcard Alliance Feb. 23-27 in Sydney. The Alliance, comprised of Bell Canada, Deutsche Telekom AG, GTW, PTT Telecom Netherlands/Unisource, Telekom Malaysia, Telstra and U S West Inc., hopes to accelerate the development of smart/chipcard technology so consumers will be able to access their solutions wherever they are in the world.
China
Northern Telecom Ltd. won a $27 million contract for a major expansion of China United Telecommunications Corp.’s Global System for Mobile communications network, Nortel said. The expansion, expected to be completed by mid-1998, will increase the capacity of Zhejiang’s GSM network by 130,000 subscribers, said Nortel, expanding existing coverage in Hangzhou and Wenzhou and adding coverage in Shaoxing.
England
Orange plc and the Dutch telecommunications group Royal PTT Nederland NV said they formed an equally owned consortium to bid for the 1800 MHz Global System for Mobile communications license in Belgium. If the bid is successful, the consortium said it plans to set up a Belgian company that will create more than 1,000 new jobs.
Canada
Tekelec recently announced that Canadian wireless provider Rogers Cantel Inc. selected its Eagle Signaling Transfer Point for its wireless network. The Eagle STP pair will be installed in Toronto and is scheduled to go into service during the first quarter.
