operator

TAMPA, Fla.-GTE Telecommunications Services Inc. signed a contract with Korean Code Division Multiple Access wireless operator SK Telecom to provide international roaming for SK’s wireless subscribers. The contract calls for GTE to provide SK with a multiservice offering including clearinghouse …

FRANKFURT, Germany-WorldCom Inc. formally pulled out of the German auction for third-generation licenses. The company is the third bidder to withdraw from the process before the auction officially begins July 31. France’s Vivendi and Talkline, an SBC Communications Inc. and …

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. and Singapore mobile operator M1 plan to begin field trials of third-generation wideband Code Division Multiple Access technology. Nokia said it will use the trial to evaluate 3G W-CDMA technology in a real operating environment, including a …

MONTREAL-Telesystem International Wireless Inc.’s Central/Eastern European subsidiary ClearWave N.V. filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States for an initial public offering of ordinary class A shares. TIW said that concurrently with the IPO, …

NEW DELHI, India-High handset prices in Thailand have become a bone of contention between operators and government authorities. Operators are offering huge airtime promotions, while keeping handset prices high, attracting the wrath of consumer groups. Although the government has resolved …

SANDTON, South Africa-The trunking industry in South Africa is in the throes of mergers, amalgamations and new acquisitions, which will change the nature of the industry. Experts believe there will eventually be only one national trunking operator catering to a …

MOSCOW-CDMA technology has been battling for a spot in Russia’s mobile market for two years, but it lost the war as Communications Minister Leonid Reiman, an opponent of the technology, retained his post in the new government formed after President …

Remarkably, protagonists of the ongoing debate over third-generation (3G) spectrum auctions assume operator licensing is an issue to be considered in isolation. It is deemed unnecessary to consider the exercise anything other than a bureaucratic and self-contained procedure. Equally remarkable …

SANDTON, South Africa-The wave of liberalization and privatization that has been sweeping the African economic markets has spread to communications, revealing rich untapped potential for future investment. Cellular markets have been the area’s most dynamic telecoms sectors, with extraordinarily high …

Germany WorldCom, Vivendi and Talkline, an SBC Communications and Tele Danmark joint venture, formally pulled out of the German auction for third-generation licenses, scheduled to begin 31 July. U.K. operator Orange also backed out of the Group 3G consortium, which …

DUBLIN, Ireland-The massive sums being invested in third-generation (3G) licenses, network development and acquisitions have placed the major European operators firmly under the financial spotlight. While observers agree there is no significant cause for concern yet, it is also clear …

TOKYO-While the Japanese cellular phone market has been rapidly expanding, the paging industry is in decline. According to the Telecommunications Carriers Association (TCA), an industry association, Japan had 1.8 million beeper users at the end of May. During its heyday …

LONDON-The fixed wireless market in Israel is set for a period of heightened activity. The Communications Ministry submitted regulations to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in early May that will pave the way for a number of fixed wireless licenses to …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Trunked radio may be dismissed by some as the poor relation of GSM and an irrelevance in the world of multibillion pound Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) license bids, but it has carved a niche in the communications world, …

GENEVA-The sky-high third-generation (3G) license fees generated by the United Kingdom’s May auction are having serious repercussions for European operators seeking a pan-regional presence. Governments on the mainland are rejigging their own forthcoming Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) license allocations …

BEIJING-China is still set to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the end of the year. Upon accession, foreign operators will be permitted a 25-percent share of Chinese mobile phone operators, increasing to 49 percent three years after accession. …

TORONTO-The major Canadian carriers are cautiously laying the groundwork for third-generation (3G) wireless networks. But true, full-blown 3G in Canada is at least three to four years away. “Canadian mobile operators are unlikely to reach the promised land of mobile …

The lure of wireless Internet promises to transform the worldwide mobile industry. Carriers across the globe are risking it all on the future potential of the mobile Web. The difference between reshaping the wireless experience as we know it-and in …

HELSINKI, Finland-Finnish mobile operator Sonera said it has had discussions with several companies regarding a merger and serious talks are expected by the end of the year, according to international press reports. Speculation centered around possible deals with Telefonica, France …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Portugal operator Telecel Comunicacoes Pessoais signed a contract with L.M. Ericsson calling for Ericsson to upgrade Telecel’s Global System for Mobile communications network and introduce mobile Internet capability using Wireless Application Protocol and General Packet Radio Service technologies. Ericsson …

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-Brazilian mobile operator Global Telecom licensed Phone.com Inc.’s UP.Link Server Suite to provide Wireless Application Protocol-based wireless Internet access to subscribers through its Code Division Multiple Access network. Global Telecom, which covers states in Parana and Santa Catarina …

TORONTO-Canadian Global System for Mobile communications operator Microcell Connexions Inc. turned on its personal communications services network between Montreal and Quebec City, expanding its coverage along highway 20 in Canada. “The first phase of our network deployment, started in 1997 …

VIENNA, Va.-Broadband wireless operator Teligent Inc. and Mannesmann Arcor AG & Co., the telecommunications subsidiary of Mannesmann AG, have formed a joint venture called ArcTel that will provide high-speed voice, data and Internet services to businesses throughout Germany. ArcTel intends …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Aeris.net said it is extending its MicroBurst service into six states as part of an agreement with operator Triton PCS. The MicroBurst service uses cellular network control channel technology to provide wireless connectivity to the Internet and telemetry …

Ellen Bork, a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer, recently wrote a marvelously illuminating piece for The Washington Post that captured President Clinton’s Pollyanna-ish view of high-technology in the New World Order. Bork contrasts, on the one hand, Vice President …