Mobile Phones

Only here, in the democratic power center of the world, could leaking and stonewalling simultaneously be art forms worthy of the Smithsonian Institution. But it’s true. In fact, this is the Golden Age of leaking and stonewalling. We are blessed …

TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo announced it entered arrangements with Hutchison Whampoa and KPN Mobile to cooperate on European third-generation mobile networks. The agreements cover four European markets-the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Belgium. The announcement comes as U.S. mobile-phone carriers begin to …

WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, seeking to foster better public understanding of controversial wireless health issues, will require beginning Aug. 1 that all mobile phones seeking certification include radiation exposure data. CTIA’s board of directors approved the policy at its …

WASHINGTON-The skyrocketing consumer consumption and subsequent disposal of computers, pagers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants and other electronic devices has created new environmental challenges in the Digital Age, which Europe is addressing far more aggressively than the United States. The …

For those people still neglecting to turn off their cellular phones in public places like movie theaters, churches and restaurants, a technology is in the works that will take the monitoring responsibilities away from the cell- phone user and automatically …

NEW YORK-Telstra Corp., Australia’s dominant telecommunications provider, “hates to be considered an incumbent because we transitioned to a New Age company years ago,” said Philip Wise, managing director of its Mobile Consumer Division. To provide a full suite of services, …

OWINGS MILLS, Md.-Aether Systems Inc.’s Sila Communications joint venture with Reuters signed a worldwide licensing agreement with Gemplus, a provider of smart-card solutions. The agreement means that Sila’s decompression software will be embedded in a new Gemplus SIM card, allowing …

WASHINGTON-An uncertain wireless industry realignment could be in store as a result of Justice Department’s rejection last week of the WorldCom Inc.-Sprint Corp. merger and new legislation forbidding foreign government ownership of U.S. telecommunications firms. “Instead of two wireless players …

Stripped to its essence, you have to wonder whether euro pride had anything to do with European Commission antitrust chief Mario Monti’s heartburn over the WorldCom-Sprint merger he helped kill. You couldn’t blame him if it did, seeing that the …

WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court last week agreed to decide whether individuals who divulge illegally intercepted electronic communications are as liable as eavesdroppers themselves, setting a showdown between free speech and wireless privacy. The case has major implications for the wireless industry, …

NEW YORK-Streaming multimedia via portable devices may be down the road a bit, but the image of a handheld computer or cellular phone as a photograph viewer already is moving sharply into focus. With a newly announced Secure Digital plug-in …

I am becoming a bore. I wrote about the health issue in the last edition of Global Wireless. I wrote about it in the first issue of the year. Now I am writing about it again. I make no apologies. …

MOSCOW-CDMA technology has been battling for a spot in Russia’s mobile market for two years, but it lost the war as Communications Minister Leonid Reiman, an opponent of the technology, retained his post in the new government formed after President …

Two-way messaging equipment Motorola Motorola introduced its Talkabout T900 two-way messaging device, featuring a full Qwerty keyboard with a flip-top screen and a four-line, 80-character display. It supports two-way messaging, wireless Internet e-mail and on-demand information services. It also features …

HONG KONG-The government of Hong Kong is likely to be among the first in the Asia-Pacific region to clear spectrum and issue licenses for third-generation (3G) mobile phones, according to the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA). “While the USA …

TOKYO-Since NTT DoCoMo launched its iMode wireless data service in February 1999, the number of mobile Internet users in Japan-more than 10 million as of the end of May-has taken off. As more users acquire browser phones, more content providers …

SINGAPORE-Governments in Asia will issue licenses of third-generation (3G) cellular networks to around 40 operators in 11 countries within the next year, representatives from several equipment vendors said at the CommunicAsia show here recently. And 3G deployments may begin in …

BEIJING-China is still set to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the end of the year. Upon accession, foreign operators will be permitted a 25-percent share of Chinese mobile phone operators, increasing to 49 percent three years after accession. …

BUCHAREST, Romania-At the end of May, the principle vendors of mobile telephones in Romania held a meeting to discuss the country’s black market for mobile handset sales. In the other Eastern and Central European countries, the illegal import level is …

BEIJING-The mobile Internet revolution is knocking on China’s door. With 60 million mobile-phone subscribers and only 10 million people surfing the Internet using personal computers, Web access through mobile phones is a hot topic in China. Web portals, such as …

SINGAPORE-The dominant rise of prepaid cards compared with subscription-based accounts has been the defining element of Vietnam’s mobile phone environment during the last six months. Almost entirely due to the introduction of these cards, by the end of May, the …

PARIS-Nortel Networks introduced a wireless data initiative and noted its commitment to the European market here last week. Included in the announcements was a partnership with Hewlett-Packard Co. to integrate Nortel’s wireless data technology into HP’s wireless hardware. Nortel is …

Ellen Bork, a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer, recently wrote a marvelously illuminating piece for The Washington Post that captured President Clinton’s Pollyanna-ish view of high-technology in the New World Order. Bork contrasts, on the one hand, Vice President …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry, breaking with the public-safety community, last week urged the Federal Communications Commission to scrap efforts to improve technical capabilities of 911-only mobile phones donated to charitable organizations and instead recommended an educational campaign to tackle the problem …

WASHINGTON-The mobile-phone research pact between the Food and Drug Administration and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association has come under attack by the former chairman of the leading Canadian wireless association, adding fuel to a controversy that could become mired in …