operator

MUNICH, Germany-Siemens said Portuguese mobile operator TMN chose it as its preferred supplier for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System technology. Siemens will be the main supplier for the network. Siemens will set up 1,000 base stations in the first phase and …

With celebrity endorsements becoming common in advertisements for wireless carriers, Cingular Wireless knew it needed a recognizable figure to kick off the advertising campaign promoting its nationwide service. The country’s second-largest wireless operator, formed by the combination of BellSouth Corp.’s …

Indiqu Inc. wants to make your cell phone fun. The mobile games developer and marketer has signed several deals in the past few weeks to expand its coverage and improve its games offerings, all in a push to “transform wireless …

Twenty years ago, in a dangerous neighborhood in the slums of Denver, a monthly newspaper called Radio Communications Report was first published. Its mission: to cover the emerging land mobile communications industry. From those humble beginnings (and trust me, there …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry last week suffered two stunning legal setbacks in health-related litigation, capped by the decision of wealthy Baltimore superlawyer Peter Angelos to take control of an $800 million mobile phone-cancer lawsuit in Maryland. It was an unprecedented week …

CHINA China Unicom reported it had more than 12.7 million wireless customers at the end of last year, an increase of more than 300 percent from 1999. China’s second largest wireless operator also said it added more than 1 million …

LISBON, Portugal-Portugal Telecom announced its Brazilian cellular subsidiary, Telesp Celular Participacoes S.A., acquired 49 percent of the common shares and 100 percent of the preferred shares of mobile operator Global Telecom S.A. TCP purchased the stake from holding companies belonging …

GENEVA-With the world’s first third-generation (3G) mobile systems due to come online in Japan in less than a year, Europe’s wireless operators are gearing up for an intense round of bidding for the right to be among the first to …

Twenty million mobile phones in use in the United Kingdom early last December. Soaring to almost 25 million after all the Christmas presents had been opened. What an industry! Mobile communications manufacturers and operators certainly have reason to celebrate the …

TORONTO-To the relief of the wireless industry, the Canadian government raised the four-year-old spectrum cap that limits the amount of radio spectrum each PCS provider may operate. Wireless carriers in Canada can now each use 55 megahertz of spectrum, an …

North American GSM operators finally are presenting a united front to the rest of the world when it comes to roaming into the United States and Canada. European and other GSM international operators, anxious to offer their customers roaming in …

SINGAPORE-Four years after it was first introduced in Japan, PHS technology finally has made some headway in the international telecommunications arena. Taiwanese paging operator First International Telecom (Fitel) recently was awarded a license to operate PHS service in Taiwan. Ching-Chich …

BUCHAREST, Romania-In the early 1990s in Romania, paging terminals came to be well-known. Since then, the market has gone through a period of quick penetration, followed by market uncertainty and consolidation. In the beginning, the paging market was represented by …

MELBOURNE, Australia-In a part of the world that still relies on word of mouth as a means to keep in touch, cellular communications-both digital and analog-is continuing to spread through the Pacific Islands as greater numbers of people in the …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Globalstar could be the last hope for global mobile personal communications by satellite (GMPCS) survival in Africa. During a heated debate at the Satcom Africa ’99 conference held recently in Midrand, South Africa, many participants concluded that after …

MADRID, Spain-Last March, when the Spanish government’s beauty contest awarded Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licenses to Telef

BUCHAREST, Romania-Eastern and Central European countries began to improve and modernize their telecommunications networks more than a decade ago, after the fall of communism. A great deal of work needed to be done. According to a report from Frost & …

Bulgaria Ote Telecom won Bulgaria’s third mobile-phone license for US$135 million, beating out Telecom Italia Mobile through an auction. Ote plans to partner with Bulgarian Telecommunications Co. (BTC), the country’s fixed-line provider, to build out the GSM network. France Martin …

DENVER, United States-When the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set aside a portion of the permits up for bid in its 1996 auction of personal communications services (PCS) licenses, the intent was to foster competition in the wireless industry by …

When the Federal Communications Commission set aside a portion of the licenses up for bid in its 1996 personal communications services auction, the intent was to foster competition in the wireless industry by allowing minority-owned companies, known as designated entities, …

PARIS-Bouygues Telecom Chairman Martin Bouygues has asked the European Union commission to intervene and delay the award of French Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses. Bouygues wants to ensure France’s UMTS award process meets European guidelines and is in line with …

TOKYO-FunMail Inc. will start Beta testing its wireless animated instant messaging service on Japanese wireless operator NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode system. The service is designed to allow i-mode users to send color animated messages by entering a few Japanese characters on …

GERMANY Sonera is looking to reduce its stake in Group 3G, the consortium that won a third-generation license in Germany last year. Sonera, which currently holds 42.8 percent of the consortium, would like to reduce its stake to around 20 …

OKLAHOMA CITY-Wireless operator Dobson Communications Corp. added 109,800 gross subscribers during the fourth quarter, well ahead of projected additions of 95,000 to 105,000 customers. Dobson also said its churn rate came in at 2 percent, at the bottom of the …

TOKYO-Japanese wireless phone operator NTT DoCoMo plans to borrow $10.3 billion from five banks to pay for its 16-percent investment in U.S. operator AT&T Wireless Services Inc., according to a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. To …