Mobile Phones

The Finnish government moved swiftly to award four third-generation mobile phone licenses. All four companies plan to use the European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s chosen 3G standard, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. Industry group The UMTS Forum announced the Ministry of …

To create some excitement before his swing through New Hampshire last week, Al Gore declared he invented the Internet. It worked. A dumbfounded James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Science Committee, exclaimed: “I had no idea!” Senate Majority Leader …

PARIS-Groupe Sagem, a French mobile phone manufacturer, introduced a dual-band Global System for Mobile communications handset using Unwired Planet Inc.’s UP.Browser. The company demonstrated the phone at CeBIT in Germany. With the microbrowser, Sagem said the phone can access e-mail, …

HELSINKI-Nokia Corp.’s board of directors elected Nokia’s Chief Executive Officer Jorma Ollila chairman, and Iiro Viinanen vice chairman. Ollila joined Nokia in 1985, became president and CEO in 1992, and has been a member of the board of directors since …

The Federal Communications Commission could rule today on whether Leap Wireless International Inc. is qualified to own C-and F-block personal communications services licenses and bid in tomorrow’s reauction of C-block spectrum. Leap’s U.S. subsidiary, Cricket Communications, launched service last week …

As Telecom Italia Spa shareholders prepare to vote April 16 on the company’s proposed new corporate plan, Olivetti Spa outlined its own plans for the company should its hostile takeover bid of Telecom Italia succeed. According to reports from the …

HANNOVER, Germany-From the CeBIT ’99 show in Germany, L.M. Ericsson made several announcements. Ericsson unveiled the R380 dual-band mobile phone with built-in personal digital assistant functionality including address book, calendar, voice note recorder and notepad. It also features hand writing …

HANNOVER, Germany-Motorola Inc. introduced a portfolio of digital wireless devices at the CeBIT exhibition and promised to offer Internet-browsing capability on its entire line of digital mobile phones by 2000. The new product line includes what the company called the …

A new pricing study released by Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. indicates U.S. mobile phone carriers battled it out for high-end wireless customers in 1998. Prices did not fall as quickly in 1998 as they did the previous year, indicated …

DENVER-Telecom Italia Spa has received permission from its board of directors to merge with its mobile phone operator subsidiary, Telecom Italia Mobile, as a defensive measure against a hostile takeover bid from rival Olivetti Spa, according to Italian news agencies. …

Qualcomm Inc. seems to be waging an uphill battle with the Federal Communications Commission over its quest for a pioneer’s preference mobile phone license it believes it deserves for cdmaOne technology. The U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of …

Global wireless gatekeepers have been on high alert in recent weeks, preparing for next month’s publication of a U.K. study linking mobile phones to short-term memory loss and prepping for an April 5 court date on appeals to the FCC’s …

NEW YORK-The promises of wireless voice communications as a landline replacement and of mobile data as a significant wireless revenue generator are moving closer to fulfillment but remain a few years away, chief technology officers of three carriers said at …

Reuters and other national news agencies reported Sony Corp. is undergoing a restructuring process that will consolidate various business segments and lay off 10 percent of the company’s work force. But according to U.S.-based employees, the measure will not affect …

WASHINGTON-Just when it appeared the United States and China were on the verge of a major trade agreement promising huge wireless export opportunities and Chinese membership in the World Trade Organization, a high-tech espionage controversy has erupted that throws both …

NEW YORK-Vodafone Group plc, based in Berkshire, England, announced it signed up its 10 millionth proportionate customer March 1. Vodafone, which is acquiring AirTouch Communications Inc., said the subscriber count includes 5.37 million customers in the United Kingdom and 4.63 …

WASHINGTON-The fallout over alleged technology transfers, increasingly testing the mettle of fledgling mobile satellite firms, has prompted new bills to aid the U.S. space launch industry and to ban satellite exports to China altogether. Sens. John Breaux (D-La.) and Conrad …

Italy’s stock market regulatory agency Consob has ruled Olivetti Spa’s revised hostile takeover bid of Telecom Italia can take place, severely hampering the latter company’s efforts to block the endeavor. Olivetti’s original bid was ruled inadmissible by the agency the …

Customers want their questions answered the way they want and in the most convenient manner possible, say mobile phone carriers and analysts. As carriers try to understand how their customers want their questions addressed and problems resolved, many are finding …

WASHINGTON-Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), chairman of the Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, has introduced legislation to speed up Federal Communications Commission review of telecom mergers. Two deals before the FCC-the proposed $53 billion Bell Atlantic Corp.-GTE Corp. merger and $61 billion SBC …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week adopted proposed rules that should make it easier for users of global mobile phones and pagers to cross international borders. The rules implement a memorandum of understanding that was signed by the United States …

The Wireless Application Protocol effort gained momentum last week at the GSM World Congress in Cannes, France, with several Global System for Mobile communications carriers and handset manufacturers announcing WAP-compatible products. Nokia Corp. announced both a WAP-compatible handset and an …

COLUMBIA, Md.-Tecore said it plans to deploy its AirCore platform prepaid solution in Nigeria for cellular operator Bourdex Telecommunications. The Tecore system will connect to Nitel, the public switched telephone network, and will interface to Bourdex Telecom’s existing Advanced Mobile …

WASHINGTON-The House last week overwhelmingly passed wireless E911 and privacy bills, leaving it now to the Senate to move on the two measures that will curb eavesdropping on the 68 million mobile phone users and help save lives of emergency …

WASHINGTON-Wireless Technology Research Chairman George Carlo has informed federal regulators that five cell-culture studies under his purview raise questions about possible bioeffects from radio-frequency radiation emitted from mobile phones. Carlo, according to sources, told federal regulators of the findings at …