operator

TOKYO—Vodafone Group, world’s largest mobile operator, on Friday said it successfully purchased 693,368 shares, which represents 21.7 percent, of Japan Telecom. Due to the purchase, Vodafone’s stake in Japan Telecom, …

S

SYDNEY, Australia—Cable & Wireless Optus, Australia’s second-largest mobile operator owned 52.8 percent by Singapore Telecommunications, said it would cut 250 staff and 100 contractors to reduce costs in the economic …

TOKYO—NEC said it will supply a mobile Internet platform to Taiwan’s KG Telecom, which will begin its i-mode-like mobile Internet service in mid-2002. The contract value is 1 billion yen …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Cell-phone operator BT Viag, the German subsidiary of BT’s MmO2 mobile division, said it plans to launch Microsoft’s combined Pocket PC and mobile device in early 2002. The …

LONDON—Diederik Karsten, chief executive of KPN’s mobile-phone division, intends to leave the company next month, according to a report by The Financial Times. Board director Paul Smits, who recently stepped …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Five companies have applied to participate in the privatization of the Paraguayan National Telecommunications Administration (Administraci

TOKYO—NEC said it will supply a mobile Internet platform to Taiwan’s KG Telecom, which will begin its i-mode-like mobile Internet service in mid-2002. The contract value is $8.2 million. NEC …

SAN DIEGO—Qualcomm Inc. says it has begun production shipment of its MSM5100 third-generation cdma2000 1x chipset and system software. “The MSM5100 chipset and system software is pin-compatible with the proven …

BEIJING, China—Ericsson AB says it has signed a deal to deliver Mobitex system to Chinese operator Sky Networks Communication Group Co. Ltd. here and north of the country. “This will …

LONDON—Diederik Karsten, chief executive of KPN’s mobile-phone division intends to leave the company next month, according to a report by The Financial Times. Board director Paul Smits, who recently stepped …

PARIS—The standoff between the French government and mobile-phone operator SFR, which is backed by Vivendi Universal, was at least delayed this week, with SFR paying the initial US$566 million payment …

BUCHAREST, Romania—Hungary’s Westel began commercial General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) to its clients throughout country. Westel’s GSM network is based on Ericsson system elements in about 70 percent of the …

LONDON—Mobile virtual network operator Virgin Mobile launched a new range of short message service and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-based wireless Internet applications built on InfoSpace’s wireless platform, the companies announced. …

NEW DELHI, India—The government-owned fixed-line operator, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), awarded Ericsson and Motorola contracts to build out its GSM network. BSNL is slated to launch a nationwide GSM …

HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia said Birla Tata AT&T, the fourth GSM operator in New Delhi, India, chose Nokia’s GSM infrastructure equipment and services. Nokia will supply a GSM 1800 MHz network, including …

CARACAS, Venezuela—The board of directors of Venezuelan telecom company CANTV rejected the US$1.4 billion takeover plan of U.S.-based power company AES. CANTV called the offer unsatisfactory. CANTV, in which U.S.-based …

LUXEMBURG—Gemplus said it partnered with Mexican operator Grupo IUSACELL to successfully trial its reusable User Identity Module (UIM), which will allow end users to roam between standards. The similar subscriber …

LONDON—The mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) business model has arrived in the United States. Sprint and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group officially announced their teaming, a saga that has been …

BEIJING—Officials at the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) indicated they may issue up to three new mobile-phone licenses to offer increased competition to the current two operators, China Mobile and …

CARACUS, Venezuela—The US$1.4 billion takeover plan of U.S.-based power company AES for Venezuelan telecom company CANTV was approved by Venezuela’s National Securities Commission. CANTV, in which Verizon Wireless holds a …

HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia announced plans for a wide-ranging test of mobile commerce products and services, moves that include making secure credit card payments using a mobile phone wallet application. Nokia is …

BONN, Germany—Mat

VILNIUS, Lithuania—Wireless operator Omnitel began a new telephone numbering system, with the prefix of mobile telephone services in Lithuania beginning with a digit six. Lithuania’s National Telephone Numbering Plan introduced …

SYDNEY, Australia—Australia rolled out mobile number portability (MNP) on Tuesday, allowing mobile-phone users to change phone companies without changing their phone numbers. The country’s small business community will benefit the …