DENVER, United States-AT&T Wireless Services' two largest affiliates, TeleCorp PCS and Tritel, agreed to merge in an all-stock, tax-free transaction. The deal is valued at about US$5.3 billion. Both carriers operate TDMA networks.TeleCorp is AT&T Wireless' largest affiliate with 142,231 subscribers at the end...
DENVER, United States-Qualcomm is putting a financial stake in the ground to push CDMA technology in Europe.Qualcomm announced plans to acquire U.K.-based Tellit Communications, a cellular handset design and manufacturing company with expertise in NMT 450 technology. The purchase price is around US$20 million,...
WASHINGTON-Baltimore superlawyer Peter Angelos is teaming with George Carlo, who headed the U.S. industry-funded mobile phone-cancer research program before breaking with the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) last year, to create a new radiation-protection project that will include follow-up studies and establish a comprehensive...
DENVER, United States-Globalstar USA became the latest Globalstar L.P. partner to launch full commercial service, completing the company's North American coverage for its mobile satellite phone service, perhaps Globalstar's most important service region.Globalstar USA launched at the same time as Globalstar Canada, while Globalstar...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The new cellular strategy of Mohamed Ibrahim, telecom leader and chief executive officer of Mobile Systems International Cellular Investment Holdings (MSI Cellular), includes a plan to create a pan-African wireless network covering the whole of Africa from Cape Town, South Africa, to...
MEXICO CITY-In Mexico, paging has been around for more than 40 years, and for a long time, only a handful of companies provided the service. That presented a perfect situation for the industry to have achieved a strong product, brand recognition, a well-developed distribution...
Motorola and SkyTel announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand two-way wireless communications solutions to Latin America. In particular, SkyTel said it will make Motorola's PageWriter 2000X two-way pager available in Latin American markets. The pagers previously were available only in...
SEOUL, South Korea-Korean mobile telecom carriers are looking to stake out the biggest share in the fast-growing wireless Internet and data market, shifting from a voice-oriented strategy.The explosion of the Internet and mobile-phone use is driving the convergence of the two high-tech media, offering...
Kansai Tele-Message and Hokkaido Telemessage became the latest victims in Japan's declining paging industry. Kansai Tele-Message filed for liquidation with US$183 million in debts, and Hokkaido had US$6.3 million in debt in excess of assets at the end of 1999, according to a Kyodo...
TOKYO-Three Japanese carrier groups are gearing up their efforts to launch IMT-2000 services-earlier than any other wireless carriers in the world. The three players are NTT DoCoMo Group, Japan Telecom (JT) Group and DDI Group.NTT DoCoMo plans to be the first carrier in the...
MANILA, The Philippines-Globe Telecom, the second-largest cellular telephone operator in the Philippines, announced a US$2.3 billion merger with another Philippine wireless service provider, Isla Communications. The agreement allows Ayala Corp., Singapore Telecom and Deutsche Telekom to partner on the island nation.Globe Telecom is a...
British Telecom and AT&T said they are beginning trials to test roaming services for high-speed Internet phones. The tests will involve General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology and partnerships with wireless operators SmarTone of Hong Kong and Taiwan's FarEasTone. The trials will begin in...
HONG KONG-In January, the Hong Kong government awarded five licenses for wireless fixed telecommunications network services (FTNS), signaling a major advance in Internet access.The licensees will use base stations to transmit voice, data and video signals via microwave links to rooftop antenna dishes on...
ItalyNEC and Telecom Italia Mobile said they have agreed to work together in technical trials in March for Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems. Siemens also will cooperate in the trial. NEC will provide infrastructure and handsets. A series of further trials will be based around...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-The Latin American data-transmission industry has been surprised at the unusual technological and financial display of Diginet Americas, which plans to offer fixed-wireless broadband communications in some of Latin America's largest cities by year-end.Only a year after its first commercial launch, a...
TEL AVIV, Israel-In a country like Israel where the number of mobile phone lines surpasses fixed lines (2.9 million compared with 2.8 million), where there's intense competition among the three carriers and churn is high (sometimes 60 percent), and where price is less and...
AlcatelChina. For GSM network extensions in Jilin, Zhejiang, Ningxia and Shaanxi provinces.Value: US$80 millionGermany. With T-Mobil for a network extension.Value: US$71.2 millionKosovo. With the Kosovo Post Office and Telecommunications for a GSM Network with a 30,000 capacity.Value: UndisclosedSri Lanka. With Celltel Lanka for a GSM network contract...
BOGOTA, Colombia-The Colombian telecommunications sector has experienced growth over the last year despite the 1998-1999 economic recession. Although expectations that the sector would boom in 1999 were overshadowed by economic problems, several government initiatives promise to pave the way for future growth.The Colombian government...
Things are going well for most mobile companies around the globe. Penetration rates are increasing, subscriber numbers are reaching all-time highs and wireless data holds future promise for the industry. The last year has been especially profitable for wireless handset manufacturers.Nokia reported its strongest...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-With four operators competing nationwide, Chile boasts a wireless client base that grew 175 percent during 1999, thanks to the implementation of calling party pays. CPP also has facilitated a wireless-penetration rate that is now almost 15 percent.When CPP was launched in...
DENVER, United States-While Vodafone AirTouch recently advanced its merger with Germany's Mannesmann AG, the company indicated it may look to fill in its footprint with some smaller acquisitions.In particular, the company has been closing in on a bid for a stake in Spain's second-largest...
IBM and AT&T announced an alliance to offer wireless data services to their business customers. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. The companies said they expected significant opportunities for wireless services linking corporate information systems with a wide range of portable computer...
The U.K. government in March began the auction of five licenses, with one license exclusively reserved for a player currently not represented in the U.K. market. The 13 bidders each submitted the required deposit of about US$82.3 million.More than US$1 billion was bid during...
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados-While plans for a second cellular license in Trinidad and Tobago remain stalled by a court action, Jamaica has reaped another windfall with a second license going to Irish company Mossel Ltd.Mossel, based in Dublin, bid US$47.5 million to operate a GSM 900...
