operator

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. said it signed $150 million and $30 million contracts, respectively, with cellular operator Smart Communications Inc. and telecom company Globe Telecom, both in the Philippines, for the supply of Nokia’s General Packet Radio Service core network solution …

OTTAWA, Ontario-The Federal Communications Commission gave Ottawa-based mobile satellite system operator TMI Communications the go-ahead to provide service in all 50 U.S. states via the MSAT-1 satellite, which has a coverage area of North and Central America, as well as …

Sprint Corp. is in deep negotiations with owners of Mexican wireless operator Pegaso PCS to gain a stake in the carrier, sources close to the companies say. An ownership agreement would give Sprint, which agreed to merge with MCI WorldCom …

HONG KONG-Hong Kong mobile telephone operator SmarTone Communications said it is looking to secure a wireless fixed network license. SmarTone is among 14 companies that have applied to the Hong Kong government for wireless local fixed-telephone network licenses. SmarTone is …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Nextel Communications Inc. is eyeing the African continent as an ideal market for iDEN, the technology it uses in the United States. So much so that a consortium, AfricaSpeaks, included iDEN, in partnership with Nextel, in its business …

WASHINGTON-The No. 1 issue for the wireless telecommunications industry is access to additional spectrum, whether it is the incumbent cellular operators wanting the spectrum cap lifted (and start-up operator attempts to thwart that), spectrum for third-generation wireless or uses for …

SAN FRANCISCO-North American Global System for Mobile communications operators had an upbeat story to tell international GSM carriers this year at the GSM in North America conference last week. Last year’s conference saw frustrated European and other international GSM operators …

Dear Editor: I’d like to offer a short response to Scott Adam’s letter to the editor in your Nov. 8 edition, “Protected spectrum counters efficient use of spectrum.” I believe Mr. Adams is much closer to AMTA’s position than he …

GENEVA-A group of radio experts on IMT-2000, which met in Helsinki, Finland between Oct. 25 and Nov. 5, have approved a set of terrestrial and satellite radio interface specifications for IMT-2000 that will allow mobile operators to evolve their pre-IMT-2000 …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson announced it received orders from three European mobile operators for its GSM Pro system. GSM Pro enables mobile phones to operate like two-way radios, adding group communications functions to Global System for Mobile communications technology. Switzerland’s Swisscom, …

CARACAS, Venezuela-Venezuelan regulatory agency Conatel expects to award an additional cellular operating license early next year, according to a Reuters report. There currently are three other cellular carriers operating in Venezuela, with two others licensed. The dominant operator is Telcel, …

It could have been an isolated path for TDMA operators going forward as they struggled for economies of scale in their businesses, but with a new agreement with the GSM Association, the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium hopes to gain access …

The wireless industry had only just begun to discuss the idea of purchase leaseback arrangements last year when SpectraSite Communications Inc. forged the first such deal. The company in August 1998 agreed to buy 47 towers from personal communications services …

Fear over Y2K effects has become quite a boon for the satellite telecommunications industry, even during a time when a negative cloud looms over the industry in light of Iridium L.L.C.’s bankruptcy woes. The blessing came by accident. Satellite companies …

TOKYO-Chubu Telemessage Inc., a beeper carrier based in the Nagoya metropolitan area of central Japan, will shut down its business by March 2000. The carrier’s subscribers-109,000 at the end of September-are expected to be taken over by NTT Tokai Mobil …

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 …

Some confusion exists in the wireless industry over whether mobile-phone-component shortages are affecting the handset supply in the United States. Major handset suppliers say they aren’t struggling with component shortages, but one major carrier said its lower subscriber additions in …

Canada Microcell Telecommunications Inc. in a preview to its third-quarter results, to be released in mid-November, said it acquired 54,815 new subscribers during the third quarter. This represents a 77-percent year-over-year increase compared with third-quarter 1998, said Microcell, and brings …

The first satellite for the Asia Cellular Satellite (ACeS) mobile telephony and data services communication system is scheduled to be launched in November from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to the satellite’s manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The ACeS System is …

The recession enveloping Colombia is having strong effects on the wireless industry. Cellular carriers, in particular, saw first-half 1999 losses and declining user numbers. And the future will include competition from new PCS licensees. Colombia, which is experiencing its worst …

“Long live Global Wireless newspaper.” That’s what one of our readers wrote to me in a letter recently (see facing page), and I liked it so much I decided to borrow his words. So at risk of sounding a bit …

BEIJING-Tough times lie ahead for equipment suppliers and operators with the establishment of China Mobile expected to slow equipment purchases and with China Unicom still struggling to end its China-China-Foreign contracts and feverishly trying to secure alternative financing. With China …

WASHINGTON-The U.S. wireless industry was rocked on 10 August by revelations that iDEN operator Nextel Communications had entered into an agreement with federal government officials to allow Nextel to buy bankrupt NextWave Telecom’s PCS licenses. NextWave was one of the …

Cameroon Cameroon’s Camtel and Camtel Mobiles are scheduled to be privatized in 2000. Camtel is the incumbent state-owned cellular carrier and operates a GSM 900 network, which had just over 5,100 subscribers as of early this year. A second carrier, …

TEL AVIV, Israel-Just as the cellular fight in Israel intensified with the latest marketing campaigns, the Ministry of Communications announced it may license a fourth and maybe a fifth provider by the end of next year. Deputy Prime Minister and …