Hutchison

NEW YORK-Domestic wireless carriers “now have prepaid (services) fully introduced throughout their geographic territories,” but they lag behind their peers abroad in fully tapping its potential, said Scott R. Cassell, president of Globalnet Communications, an Indianapolis consulting firm. “It’s exciting …

JERUSALEM, Israel-In the southern town of Ashkelon stands a larger-than-life black marble grave stone that is as much a monument to the teenager buried in the plot as it is to the cell phone he loved to cradle: the stone, …

JERUSALEM, Israel-Afraid of scaring Israeli consumers, wireless carriers operating in this nation of 2 million cellular phone users are awaiting the arrival of a third player, Partner Communications Co. Ltd., before tackling head-on the thorny issue of possible health risks …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-The United Kingdom likes to portray itself as a pioneer in cellular. Certainly it was early on the scene, with two analog TACS (Total Access Communications System) networks entering commercial service in January 1985. In mid-1992, the United …

SINGAPORE-One of the strongest indications Singapore’s paging market may have reached saturation was given in July when three of Hutchison Paging’s top executives quit en masse, reportedly over poor sales and disagreements over the running of the 15-month-old firm. Chief …

MELBOURNE, Australia-Telstra Corp., Australia’s largest communications company, announced it is getting out of the paging business. It hopes to complete the sale to Link Telecommunications Pty. Ltd. by October, giving Link about a two-thirds share of the market. Telstra made …

BANGLADORE, India-Bangladesh is one of the world’s least-developed countries, and most of the rural heartland lacks roads and electricity, as well as telephones. For its 140 million people, Bangladesh has just 500,000 phones, nearly all in the urban centers of …

MELBOURNE, Australia-Seven of the nine bidders won lots in Australia’s PCS (Personal Communications Services) spectrum auction, which raised almost A$350 million (US$218.5 million) for the federal government. Four winners-AAPT Wireless, Hutchison Telephone, OzPhone and Catapult Communications-were first-time entrants into the …

CHINA L.M. Ericsson signed a $50 million framework agreement to expand capacity on SmarTone’s Global System for Mobile communications network in Hong Kong during the next year. SmarTone acquired an 1800 MHz license when it bought the original holder, P …

MELBOURNE, Australia-Australia’s long-awaited PCS spectrum auctions began at the tail end of April with nine bidders vying for 230 lots in the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum bands. Marking a key stage in Australia’s long-term plans to establish a …

British Aerospace plc, one of Europe’s largest defense contractors, sold a 16.11-percent stake in U.K. personal communications network operator Orange plc to SBC Warburg Dillon Reed for about $1.3 billion, announced the company. British Aerospace, which originally acquired the Orange …

Nine companies are set to bid in the Australian personal communications services spectrum auction April 14, amid uncertainties surrounding the auction process and an economic crisis gripping many nations in the Asia-Pacific region. The Australian Communications Authority will auction 10 …

The new GSM licensee in Israel, Partner Communications Co., signed a letter of intent with L.M. Ericsson for the supply of equipment for the operator, a joint venture between Hutchison Telecommunications, Matav Cable Systems Media and Elbit, reported The Financial …

WASHINGTON-Western Wireless Corp., parent company of personal communications services provider Western PCS Corp., was granted permission by the Federal Communications Commission to boost its foreign ownership to a possible 39.9 percent. The FCC’s International Bureau ruled it “would serve the …

Players in the crowded Hong Kong market may finally get a little elbow room, as Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd. announced its wholly owned subsidiary, Hongkong Telecom CSL, plans to acquire full ownership of Pacific Link Communications Ltd. Hongkong Telecom signed …

HAIFA, Israel-Elbit Ltd., a communications company in Israel, announced it has formed a joint company with Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd. and Matav-Cable Systems Media Ltd. to bid on a cellular license tender in Israel. The country’s Ministry of Communications issued the …

WASHINGTON-As the end of the first session of the 105th Congress nears, the wireless telecom industry is left hanging with key policy issues unresolved. In limbo are antenna siting moratoria, wireless privacy, digital wiretap funding and implementation, wireless cloning, encryption, …

NEW YORK-“Show me the money!” Flush with capital pouring in and looking for places to invest, that is exactly what Wall Street hopes to do for the wireless industry. “There is a lot of money out there, so much money …

WASHINGTON-The federal pre-emption debate has become much bigger than antenna siting moratoria, with no clear political line on the explosive question of whether state and local regulators should be bypassed to further national policy objectives. As the issue gains steam …

Beating other U.S. personal communications services carriers to the punch, Western Wireless Corp. announced Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd.’s intention to invest about $248 million in its Global System for Mobile communications PCS business. HTL, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa …

NEW YORK-Competition, as intended, is causing the telecommunications pie to enlarge. But it also is creating numerous consolidation plays among carriers as they strive for dominance and economies of scale within and across borders. “You have to wonder where it’s …

WASHINGTON-Having failed to secure antenna siting moratoria relief from Congress, the wireless telecom industry now faces the bitter prospect of legislation to limit federal intrusion into local zoning matters along with an unwanted battle with powerful organized labor. Warnings by …

Mandarin Communications, a Hong Kong wireless operator, launched its new personal communications services offering, touted as the region’s cheapest, featuring an $88 flat monthly charge for unlimited airtime. The company is the first of Hong Kong’s eight mobile operators to …

WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee members sternly advised Federal Communications Commission chairman nominee William Kennard to rethink agency positions on federal pre-emption and wireless universal service funding and to stop dragging its feet on little low-earth orbit satellite licensing. But despite sharp …

WASHINGTON-The Senate Commerce Committee last week rejected spectrum fees and toll-free telephone number auctions, but embraced lease fees for private wireless licensees in budget legislation lawmakers concede will fail to generate $26.3 billion from wireless license sales during the next …