operator

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN), the South African mobile network operator, recently secured one of four mobile operator licenses in Nigeria. The network must pay a license fee of US$285 million, which could be regarded as either reasonable or …

BOSTON, United States-As the South African telecommunications industry prepares to map out the legal future of communications in the country, Telecom Namibia said it fears no competition when its own market is liberalized. Speaking at the African Convergence conference in …

Centralizing access to e-mail boxes can be a complicated matter that is often further hampered by solutions requiring an additional e-mail account. Instead of making access easier, the user ends up with another e-mail address. ViAir Inc., a mobile applications …

In one simple moment last week, when all my usual technology aids disappeared, the need for the United States to have a 3G spectrum policy that uses the same frequencies as the rest of the world crystallized. It was just …

As carriers and companies worldwide rush to offer all kinds of location-based services, one consulting firm is warning that location-based services may not live up to the wireless industry’s expectations. Telecommunications and new media advisor firm Analysys released a report …

A variety of wireless operators released fourth quarter results last week, including national carrier VoiceStream Wireless Corp., regional operator Western Wireless Corp. and flat rate, local calling provider Leap Wireless International Inc. VoiceStream VoiceStream, which is in the midst of …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-French telecom manufacturer Alcatel has relaunched its GSM micro base station concept that it claims will work with PBXs from other developers. The success of the micro base station concept, which was unveiled two years ago, has been …

Deutsche Telekom AG’s $35 billion proposal to buy U.S. GSM operators VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and Powertel Inc. has been delayed as DT and VoiceStream are said to be re-negotiating the acquisition price due to DT’s stock slump, according to The …

WASHINGTON-The battle over automatic roaming crystallized between entrenched carriers and their would-be competitors as parties recently filed reply comments in a proceeding that could change the rules by which carriers enter roaming agreements. Large carriers do not want the Federal …

Nine months after investing an initial $33 million into its mobile Internet services development company Microcell i5 Inc., Canadian wireless operator Microcell Solutions Inc. introduced its i.Fido wireless data services to its Fido personal communications services customers. Microcell’s wireless Internet …

NEW YORK-Borrowing the vernacular of a traffic engineer, a financier compared the current capital market conditions for telecommunications companies to rush-hour congestion, but observed that the tie-up looks like it is slowly beginning to clear. Investors still are sorting out …

As the South African telecommunications industry prepared for a meeting to map out the legal future of communications in the country, Telecom Namibia said it fears no competition when its own market is liberalized. Speaking recently at the African Convergence …

TOKYO-Japanese wireless operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. said it was adding Internet services to its second-tier personal handyphone system, in an attempt to cut into a market dominated by its rival KDDI Corp. NTT said the service will offer faster transmission …

BERWYN, Pa.-Lafayette Communications L.L.C., in which wireless operator Triton PCS owns a 39-percent interest, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 10 megahertz of spectrum from subsidiaries of Carolina PCS 1 Limited Partnership for an undisclosed purchase price. The licenses …

After 101 rounds and $16.85 billion, the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of 422 personal communications services licenses ended last Friday. The auction, which began Dec. 12, broke the previous record of $9.2 billion for PCS spectrum set in 1996. “This …

At the end of bidding last Thursday, total bids among the five Canadian companies still vying for 40 megahertz of additional spectrum in the 2 GHz frequency band had reached about $557 million. A second company dropped out last week, …

KARLSKRONA, Sweden-Europolitan and Hi3G, two companies granted Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in Sweden last year, agreed to jointly build part of their UMTS infrastructure. The companies will form a common entity designated to build and provide UMTS infrastructure, mainly …

A year ago, if a company was looking for a few million dollars in investment money, all it needed to do was call on Wall Street and wait for the flood of dollars to come. But in the past year, …

PARIS-Austrian mobile operator Tele.ring launched GPRS services networkwide, according to Alcatel, which supplied the equipment. Tele.ring is owned 100 percent by Vodafone Group plc. Tele.ring is the first Austrian operator to launch GPRS services, Alcatel said.

Early expectations of the wireless Internet sweeping the country have suffered the realities of the limitations the service offers in comparison to the wired Web. While the number of wirelessly enabled sites grows daily, the lack of access and content …

Wireless service providers offering analog phone service to their subscribers are forced to walk a fine line between alienating established customers who rely on analog service and the increased profitability possible from value-added services offered on digital networks. As carriers …

COPENHAGEN, Denmark-Denmark awarded two new GSM 900 MHz licenses to Mobilix and Telia Denmark, the country’s two incumbent operators that had only GSM 1800 MHz licenses. Telia said the GSM 900 MHz license enables it to build a mobile network …

NTT DoCoMo became the largest investor in AT&T Wireless Group last week when the previously announced strategic alliance between the two wireless giants officially commenced. For its $9.8 billion investment, DoCoMo gained an approximate 16-percent interest in the country’s third-largest …

It has been less than 20 years since the first commercial cellular phone call was completed in the United States. The date was Oct. 13, 1983. Bob Barnett, then president of Ameritech Mobile Communications Inc., placed a call from a …

STAMFORD, Conn.-Wireless operator Triton PCS Inc. sold $350 million of 10-year senior subordinated notes in the 144a private placement market. Triton said it would use proceeds from the sale for capital expenses, including the buildout of it network, as well …