BROWSING: One 2 One

After eight weeks and 150 rounds, NTL Mobile said enough and dropped out of the U.K. government auction for five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses. The withdrawal left only five bidders for the licenses, ending the auction that generated more than $35 billion for...

Bidders in the U.K. third-generation license auction appeared to exceed their budgets last week. Bidding for the five licenses totaled an eye-popping $35 billion, and the auction will linger on into this week.The auction seems eerily reminiscent of the U.S. personal communications services C-block...

After one week and 16 rounds of bidding, incumbent operator Orange plc led all third-generation license bids in the United Kingdom with a $632.9 million bid for License B. The auction for five licenses, which is expected to last another one to five weeks,...

PARIS-Nortel Networks announced that U.K. operator One 2 One recently signed a series of orders valued at $100 million for expansion of the carrier's national Global System for Mobile communications network. The orders include General Packet Radio Service equipment for commercial launch later this...

LONDON-The U.K. government said it qualified all 13 applicants for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses to bid in a March auction."I am delighted that we have been able to qualify all the applicants and that we are on track for the auction beginning in...

Driven by the collision of wireless and the Internet, wireless e-commerce represents the single most powerful market disrupter of this decade. It will entice new "virtual" operators that will help redefine both the nature of wireless competition and the business and operational models required...

BONN, Germany-Deutsche Telekom announced it will bundle its cellular phone activities into a new holding company called T-Mobile International AG.Kai-Uwe Ricke, currently head of Deutsche Telekom's German wireless operator T-Mobil, will become chairman of the management board of the new company and act as...

Thirteen groups have applied to bid in the United Kingdom's auction of third-generation mobile-phone licenses.The U.K. government by March plans to auction five licenses, with one license exclusively reserved for a player currently not represented in the U.K. market. Each bidder was required to...

OXFORD, United Kingdom-While the use of mobile communications in Europe continues to grow beyond everyone's wildest expectations, the latest bid of $140 billion by Vodafone AirTouch plc for the Mannesmann empire has caused many a jaw to drop in stunned amazement.This record-breaking bid has...

DUBLIN, Ireland-Service providers and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are viewed by many network operators as parasites feeding off their infrastructure investment. At the same time, many consumers view them as developers of value-added services that drive down costs in the market.Service providers do...

DUBLIN, Ireland-Northern Ireland is a complex country with an intriguing cellular industry. As part of the United Kingdom, it is covered by the same mobile networks (BT Cellnet, Vodafone AirTouch plc and Orange plc) as the rest of the United Kingdom. Yet those three...

Finland. Sonera began offering High Speed Circuit Switched Data services to its data customers 6 September, but without available handsets. Sonera said it wanted to be ready when handsets are available later this year.France. At Telecom '99 in Geneva, Alcatel, French carrier SFR/Cegetel, Phone.com...

During the last five weeks, merger and acquisition announcements have flooded the telecommunications arena. Carriers in Asia, Europe and North America continue to jockey for positions in an industry that promises to exclude players without multinational footprints.Telia/TelenorThe merger of Telia of Sweden and Telenor...

United KingdomBritish Telecommunications plc announced it licensed PocketScience Inc.'s PocketMail mobile e-mail service via a revenue sharing agreement that allows BT's Internet and Multimedia Services Division to exclusively license and market PocketMail in the United Kingdom. PocketMail is a service that allows users to...

Mannesmann AG, parent of Germany's top mobile communications company, confirmed last week it made a bid to buy U.K. mobile carrier Orange plc, which Orange's largest shareholder accepted.The bid values Orange, the United Kingdom's third-largest mobile operator, at about $32 billion.Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa,...

NEW YORK-Contrary to headlines about heavy merger activity in all sectors, the $234 billion worth of transactions for which dollar values were disclosed last quarter doesn't come close to either of the prior two quarters.Nevertheless, aggregate merger and acquisition deal values stood at $992...

ScandinaviaAs expected, the European Commission approved the merger of Telia of Sweden and Telenor of Norway. To secure the approval, the two companies have consented to sell their cable TV operations and eliminate overlapping activities in Sweden, Norway and Ireland. The merger will create...

NEW YORK-Deutsche Telekom, which bought England's One-2-One last month, considers its 10-percent stake in Sprint Corp. too minuscule a toehold in the burgeoning and beckoning American market, company executives said at a press conference Sept. 9.Make no mistake, the German giant is pleased with...

WARWICK, United Kingdom-Castle Transmission International, the U.K. subsidiary of Crown Castle International Corp., said it is working in cooperation with One 2 One on plans for a mobile network in Northern Ireland.Under terms of a preliminary agreement, CTI will design the One 2 One...

LONDON-Cable & Wireless plc announced it is considering selling some of its interests in cellular phone companies, particularly in Japan.The company said it will focus on providing data services to business customers, and will dispose of shares in companies not central to that focus,...

LONDON-Following weeks of industry speculation, Deutsche Telekom on Friday won its bid to buy U.K. mobile carrier One 2 One in a deal valued at about $13.6 billion.The deal is made up of about $11.2 billion in cash and the assumption of about $2.4...

Second-quarter subscriber growth in the U.K. mobile-phone market exceeded analysts' expectations as prepaid services continue to provide a growth engine for the industry."The market has been ahead of expectations since the fourth quarter" when carriers introduced aggressive prepaid pricing plans, said Jake Saunders, European...

EricssonBrazil. With Tele Norte Celular for upgrade and new TDMA.Value: US$50 millionChile. With Entel PCS for GSM 1900 equipment.Value: UndisclosedChina. With Liaoning Post & Telecommunications Administration for its GSM network.Value: US$150 millionCroatia. With VIP-Net to supply base station subsystems for its new GSM network.Value: UndisclosedUkraine. With Digital Cellular...

United KingdomL.M. Ericsson and U.K. operator One 2 One signed a $320 million contract under which Ericsson will supply radio base stations and base station controller equipment to expand One 2 One's Global System for Mobile communications network.CanadaPhilsar Electronics announced an agreement with IBM...