Hutchison

VIENNA, Austria-Europe’s fifth auction of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses ended after less than two days of bidding. All six participants gained licenses to operate UMTS systems in Austria, drawing about $728 million, much less than anticipated. The auction came …

VIENNA, Austria-The Austrian auction of third-generation licenses began today, amid investigations into illegal activities among some of the already-completed European 3G auctions. In Austria, six bidders are competing for 12 licenses. Companies are expected to acquire up to three licenses. …

HONG KONG-The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is generally regarded with something between scorn and indifference in Hong Kong among industry sources, and mobile operators will not even reveal subscriber numbers for the service. This contrasts with the bullish claims of …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Israel is determined not to be shaken from its pristine position of having one of the highest cellular penetration rates in the Middle East by the current unrest in the region. “Penetration in Israel is growing steadily at …

BUCHAREST, Romania-Although most of the third-generation (3G) licensing attention in Europe is focused on Western Europe, Eastern European countries are also moving forward with licensing plans. The region, with lower wireless penetration rates than many Western European countries and improving …

Alcatel Europe. With Orange as a strategic supplier for its third-generation networks throughout Europe. Value: Undisclosed Italy. With Wind Telecomunicazioni as a preferred third-generation network supplier. Value: Undisclosed Ericsson China. With China Telecom and Guangdong Mobile Communications to build a …

The controversy surrounding European third-generation (3G) spectrum auctions reached a new peak with Dutch and Italian competition authorities launching investigations in early November into possible collusion between rival bidders. These moves put further pressure on the European Community (EC) to …

Hong Kong Hong Kong’s Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) will use a “hybrid” method-a prequalification followed by an auction-to allocate four third-generation (3G) mobile services licenses early next year. New market entrants must compete with Hong Kong’s six incumbent …

ROME-The results of the Italian third-generation license auction are unfortunate for the Italian government and British Telecommunications plc, while most opportune for the five companies that have unofficially won licenses at prices much lower than anticipated. After just two days …

ROME-The Italian auction for five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses began last Thursday. Italy is Europe’s largest cell-phone market, with six groups participating in the auction process, which is expected to raise around $21 billion. The German UMTS auction, which …

BEIJING-Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile-phone operator by total subscriber numbers, is set to take a 2-percent stake in China Mobile (Hong Kong), the listed subsidiary of parent China Mobile Telecommunications in Beijing. Vodafone agreed to purchase shares valued at $2.5 …

TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo said it signed a memorandum of understanding with KPN Mobile of the Netherlands, in which DoCoMo holds 15 percent, to consider establishing a joint venture to provide mobile Internet services based on DoCoMo’s i-mode technology and business model …

TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo Inc. and America Online Inc. last week announced their long-expected business alliance. The combination of the largest mobile carrier in Japan and the largest Internet service provider in the world will give NTT DoCoMo a foothold to launch …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Now that NTT DoCoMo has a financial interest in a U.K. third-generation license holder, the prospect of i-mode mobile Internet services being deployed in Europe is firmly on the agenda. The Japanese operator earlier this year formed a …

HONG KONG-Hutchison’s Orange, the Hong Kong CDMA operator, said it now offers automatic roaming in Australia through Hutchison Telecom Australia, which recently launched CDMA mobile-phone service. The new roaming service covers Sydney, for use at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, …

WASHINGTON-Is Deutsche Telekom AG’s proposed purchase of VoiceStream Wireless Corp. a case of foreign investment or a protectionist grab of a foreign government? This was the question examined last Thursday by the House telecom subcommittee in a five-hour hearing. “We …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Although cellular telephony client bases doubled last year in Uruguay and Paraguay, at this point it seems only Paraguay will be able to achieve this objective again in 2000. Uruguay’s strong cellular growth has slowed during the year, …

MELBOURNE, Australia-Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) had more than 18 months to sweat on its marketing. That is how long it took the wireless carrier, with Samsung, to develop a “revolutionary” wireless local loop (WLL) technology using CDMA mobile-phone infrastructure. Claimed by …

NEW YORK-In November and December, Sonera zed U.S. Inc. “will dip its big toe into the waters of mobile commerce to see if they’re warm,” and it plans user trials by next spring, said J. Paul Hughes, vice president of …

NEW YORK-The number of licenses awarded, not the prices paid for them, likely will lead Standard & Poor’s Corp. to downgrade the debt ratings of many winning bidders in Germany’s recent third-generation wireless auctions. “The total paid, 50.5 billion euros …

TOKYO-Japan’s dominant wireless carrier, NTT DoCoMo, is in talks with SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. about taking a minority stake in the combined mobile venture between the two U.S. carriers, according to a report in the Aug. 17 edition …

In a surprise ending, six groups walked away with Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in Germany at a total cost of $45.85 billion, the largest amount raised yet in a third-generation spectrum auction, hitting the ceiling of most analyst predictions. …

NEW DELHI, India-Singapore Telecom said it is acquiring minority stakes in two companies within India’s Bharti Group for $400 million. The investment is the single- largest investment by an international investor in India’s telecom industry and the largest to date …

MILAN, Italy-Italian communications group Tiscali is said to be looking for a partner for its consortium to bid for a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System license in Italy later this year. Deutsche Telekom AG and Hutchison Whampoa were cited in international …

In this age of politics of destruction, it does my heart good to see Republicans and Democrats-from the far right to the far left-unite against a common foe: Big Brother. Yep, Big Brother is the Great Unifier. So it was …