Hutchison

LONDON-Hutchison 3G U.K. Ltd. announced agreements with five companies to deliver location-based services to its future U.K. third-generation subscribers. The agreements are with the U.K. national mapping agency Ordnance Survey and vendors Tele Altas, Whereonearth, Ionic Software and TCS. The …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-The Paraguayan Communications Company (Copaco) approved a 100-day reconstruction plan, which will help its search for a partner to install and operate a personal communications services (PCS) cellular telephone service in the cities of Asunci

OXFORD, United Kingdom-In an attempt to stimulate the third-generation (3G) content market, Hutchison 3G, which now wants to be known simply as 3, has launched a competition targeted at developers with a prize fund of

MELBOURNE, Australia-Australian carrier Hutchison Telecommunications has raised concerns about the launch of third-generation (3G) mobile communications if Telstra, which has a half stake in pay-television operator Foxtel, is permitted to bundle subscription television with other services. Hutchison’s fears come in …

LONDON-Vodafone Group plc has accepted the third-generation license it was offered in Ireland, after conducting a review. The operator made its initial $43.5 million payment for the $112 million “B” license. Last month, U.K.-based MmO2 also accepted a B license, …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Sweden-based Telia Mobile said it signed a framework agreement with third-generation operator Hi3G for colocating masts. Hi3G is the Swedish 3G subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and is building a UMTS network in the Nordic country. Under the agreement, …

HELSINKI, Finland-Four telecom groups, including Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, Finnish-headed consortium Jippii/3i Venture, Radiolinja and 2G, confirmed they are vying to acquire Telia Mobile’s third-generation (3G) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) license in Finland. The sale by Sweden’s Telia represents …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Regardless of the decision by KPN to make a 1.2 billion euros (US$1.2 billion) write-off on its 15-percent stake in Hutchison 3G, Hutchison Whampoa Managing Director Canning Fok has calmly stated that it does not plan to make …

BEIJING-Motorola Inc. said a variety of carriers have signed contracts valued at more than $30 million for its customized Network Support Program, which allows customers to maximize the use of their networks for specific needs. Some of the customers include …

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-KPN Telecom has placed its U.K. third-generation stake up for sale in conjunction with reporting a record net loss in the second quarter. KPN Telecom, which owns 15 percent of Hutchison 3G in the United Kingdom, wrote down …

NEW DELHI, India-Navin Communications, which supplies voice messaging services, has partnered with another Indian cellular operator, BPL Mobile, for its VMS services for prepaid subscribers. “The service is free and allows BPL subscribers to be reachable whether their mobile phones …

MELBOURNE, Australia-Mobile operator Orange announced this week it is on course to record a profit by the fourth quarter of 2002. A subsidiary of Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia), Orange also declared that it is on target with its plans for the …

LONDON-MmO2 confirmed that it accepted a third-generation license in Ireland for $112.4 million. The “B” license includes minimum requirements of 33-percent demographic coverage by the end of June 2006 and 53 -percent coverage by the end of June 2008. A …

NEW DELHI, India-Two consortia led by United Communications Industry (Ucom) and Lucent Technologies have been short listed at the end of the first round of bidding for the 15 billion baht (US$353.6 million) CDMA expansion project of Thai government agency …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Orange SA has requested from the Swedish telecom regulator a three-year extension for building out its third-generation network in Sweden. Sweden’s 3G license conditions include having an operational network by the end of 2003. Orange would like to delay …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-In an effort to calm the nerves of the third-generation (3G) community, Canning Fok, Hutchison’s managing director, said reports of call handover problems between current-generation and 3G networks would not result in an excessive number of connections being …

HELSINKI, Finland-Tele2, Sweden’s second-largest telecom operator after Telia, has confirmed plans to present a joint bid with London-based Star Capital Partners to acquire Italian mobile operator Blu’s network. A sale has been in the cards since 2000, when Blu failed …

PARIS-Alcatel said it won a contract with Italian third-generation license holder H3G to supply its backbone and metropolitan transmission networks. Under the terms of the agreement, Alcatel will supply its DWDM and SDH multiservice transport systems, along with its latest …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Recent financial moves by Meteor have increased speculation that the operator of Ireland’s third GSM license is clearing the decks for an acquisition attempt by Hutchison, which recently secured the country’s prime third-generation (3G) license following a lengthy competition …

NEW DELHI, India-Hutchison Essar has launched its GSM services in Karnataka circle in south India. It is the third private cellular operator in the state. Last month, the company launched its service in another southern area, Andhra Pradesh. It is …

OXFORD, United Kingdom and DUBLIN, Ireland-Looking to become the first company to launch third-generation (3G) services in the United Kingdom, Hutchison 3G has denied press reports that it is quietly slipping the launch date due to fears of handset shortages …

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Sierra Wireless, M499.com Ltd. and Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd. announced the launch of Sierra Wireless’s AirCard 750 GSM/GPRS wireless PC Card in Hong Kong. M499.com will distribute the AirCard 750 to Hong Kong mobile operator Hutchison Telecommunications, who in …

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Carriers continue to work to bolster their wireless content offerings, with Hutchison Telecommunications and Globe Telecom announcing new content distribution deals. Hutchison said it will offer financial service updates on BlackBerry devices through a new deal with SmartServ …

Permit issues could delay operator rollouts HELSINKI, Finland-PTS, Sweden’s telecom regulatory authority, appears to have accepted the general position adopted by operators that meeting the 2002 deadline for rollout of third-generation (3G) services will not be feasible. The position taken …

WAKEFIELD, Mass.—The worldwide field of mobile payments continues to grow—albeit more slowly than previously forecast—with increasing interest in standards bodies and payment services popping up. The Mobile Payment Forum, which was formed late last year by several major credit card …