operator

BULGARIA-The sole Bulgarian Global System for Mobile communications mobile operator MobilTel awarded Siemens Information and Communication Networks Group a contract to equip its mobile radio network with intelligent network services. MobilTel will implement Siemens’ INXpress as a basis of its …

STOCKHOLM-Ericsson Inc. said Turkish telecommunications operator Turkcell signed an agreement for Ericsson’s WISE high-speed Internet solution, a five-component system designed to provide fast connections from a Global System for Mobile communications network to the Internet, and to maximize the throughput …

HELSINKI-Finnish telecommunications operator Sonera posted profits before taxes and extraordinary items of $238.9 million (EUR224 million), a 19-percent increase over the same period in 1998. Its earnings per share were 25 cents, up from 20 cents per share for the …

News that Nextel Communications Inc. received government approval to pursue 95 personal communications services licenses held by bankrupt designated entity NextWave Telecom Inc. dumbfounded and angered several large carriers last week and put into question whether the Federal Communications Commission …

Sprint PCS’s awaited introduction of nationwide commercial Internet-access services will begin in late September, announced the company. Targeting business users and a wide range of consumer customers that are heavy Internet and e-mail users, Sprint PCS will hit the market …

The economy is rolling along, wireless subscriber additions are climbing and merger and acquisition activity is heating up. This is good news for the personal communications services industry, which last year found itself suffering from tight financing and a general …

LONDON-Mannesmann Aktiengesellschaft and its financing subsidiary, Mannesmann Finance B.V., plan to sell up to $2 billion in euro-denominated commercial paper that will, in part, help finance planned telecommunications investments. Mannesmann, headquartered in Dusseldorf, Germany, is engaged primarily in three business …

HONG KONG-Smart-card solution provider Schlumberger said Hong Kong mobile operator Sunday plans to upgrade its subscribers’ phones to user-programmable multiservice terminals using Simera 32 Java-compatible subscriber identity modules and an Aremis application management server, both from Schlumberger. The system would …

Analysts have long criticized operator-assisted dispatch as the weak link in the alphanumeric paging chain, citing its inherent lack of privacy and potential for misinterpreted messages. But users have accepted these faults because there was no other way to get …

A Baltimore-based company called reachNET introduced a wireless messaging solution that provides a direct connection between a wireless device and the telephone teletype machines commonly used by the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Called Wireless TTY, the service uses the Inter@ctive …

The desire of European paging carriers to migrate to a two-way paging paradigm has opened the paging market there-once dominated by the ERMES transmission standard-to FLEX-based paging systems. Although prepaid paging plans have resulted in explosive growth in the European …

COPENHAGEN-Danish telecommunications operator Tele Danmark said it bought into the Norwegian wireless market and raised its stake in Polish mobile carrier Polkomtel. Tele Danmark is 42-percent owned by Ameritech Corp. Tele Danmark said it acquired 19.6 percent of Norwegian NetCom …

Any hopes Vodafone AirTouch plc had in linking up with Bell Atlantic Corp. to create a nationwide wireless footprint in the United States were likely dashed last week when the two agreed to split up jointly owned PCS operator PrimeCo …

France France Telecom said it signed a partnership agreement with the Sonae group in Portugal. The two already have a working relationship as stakeholders in Optimus, the third mobile operator in Portugal. The new partnership would be held 43.33 percent …

LONDON-British Telecommunications plc and AT&T Corp. said they are jointly buying a 33-percent stake in Canadian operator Rogers Cantel Mobile Communications for $937 million. BT and AT&T also announced BT will acquire a 9-percent stake in AT&T Canada by acquiring …

AT&T Wireless Services Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse says enough is enough when it comes to the press his company has received in recent weeks about capacity problems in New York. “It isn’t a story anymore,” said Hesse in …

BOSTON-Smart cards are poised to move beyond their role in identifying Global System for Mobile communications subscribers, due to momentum outside wireless and beyond U.S. borders. The challenge both for telecommunications carriers and for smart-card manufacturers is to harness these …

HELSINKI-Primatel, the new Global System for Mobile communications 1800 mobile operator in Hungary, selected Nokia Corp. to supply its GSM 1800/GSM 900 network, said Nokia. Nokia will supply a complete GSM 1800/GSM 900 system, including equipment and services. Primatel expects …

LA PAZ, Bolivia-The Government of Bolivia’s Superintendent of Telecommunications, Guido Loayza, is accepting international bids for a 20-year concessionary contract for the provision of personal communications services service in Bolivia. Bidding documents must be submitted by Sept. 23, said the …

FRANKFURT, Germany-Deutsche Telekom AG is rumored to have entered an $11.75 billion bid to acquire British mobile phone company One2One, according to a Reuters report. “We have no comment,” Deutsche Telekom spokesman Stephan Broszio told Reuters. One2One was put up …

The popularity of prepaid wireless services has skyrocketed in the United States, but carriers are experiencing a not-so-pleasant side effect- high churn-and many are challenged by the need to expand prepaid offerings without exposing themselves to this phenomenon. Prepaid wireless …

WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. was dealt a major blow last week by the Federal Communications Commission, which told the nation’s top dispatch operator it cannot use private wireless spectrum to build out its nationwide network. “This portion of Nextel’s [waiver] request …

JERUSALEM-Hutchison Whampoa is considering listing its Israeli mobile phone unit, Partner Communications Co. Ltd., in London or on the Nasdaq National Market to secure financing to expand its network, according to a report in the Financial Times. GSM 900 operator …

A U.S. Court of Appeals Friday ordered the Federal Communications Commission to grant Qualcomm Inc. a pioneer’s preference license, ending the seven-year battle between the commission and the cdmaOne innovator. Qualcomm had been waging a seemingly uphill battle with the …

Telecom Italia and France Telecom have agreed to increase their stakes from 32.5 percent each to 50 percent each in Nortel Inversora, the holding company that owns 60 percent of Telecom Argentina. The companies paid $265 million each for their …