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OXFORD, United Kingdom-In an effort to drive General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) traffic, Vodafone has struck a deal with Fujitsu Siemens that will see the cell-phone operator offer a laptop, …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Barely a week after its parent company British Telecommunications (BT) revealed plans to re-enter the U.K. consumer mobile market, there are indications that Ireland’s number-two telecommunications provider Esat BT …

TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile operator in Japan, gained merely 2,200 new subscribers for its third-generation (3G) services in September, which brought NTT DoCoMo’s total FOMA or 3G service subscribers …

NEW DELHI, India-India has become the fourth country in the Asia-Pacific region to have GSM players offering multimedia messaging service (MMS), with BPL Mobile launching the new service in Mumbai, …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Telef

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-South African mobile network operator MTN claimed it has paid back more than US$370,000 in funds to prepaid subscribers since the relaunch in June of it payback incentive …

CAIRO, Egypt-Orascom Telecom Holding said it sold its shares in Yemen mobile operator Sabafone to Al Ahmar Group for US$18.5 million. With the completion of the transaction, all litigation between …

BOCA RATON, Florida, United States-Feeling financial pressure as wireless carriers continue to slash capital expenditures, wireless tower owner and operator SBA Communications has lowered its third-quarter guidance for earnings before …

VILNIUS, Lithuania-Lithuania’s Omnitel said it introduced multimedia messaging service (MMS) to its subscribers. The service is free until 1 December after a one-time set-up fee of 10 litas (US$2.85). The …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-After 10 years as president of Telecom Argentina, Juan Carlos Masjoan resigned from his post last Friday and was replaced by vice president Franco Bertone, who represents Telecom …

TOKYO-Fujitsu, a leading telecommunications vender in Japan, on 1 October launched mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services based on PHS networks owned and run by DDI Pocket. Fujitsu’s MVNO service, …

DUBLIN, Ireland-A familiar name is back on the consumer mobile market in the United Kingdom with British Telecommunications’ announcement that it is going to establish a mobile virtual network operator …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Gambian mobile network operator Africell announced it has entered a deal with national transport company The Gambia Public Transport Corporation (GPTC). The deal numbering more than 100 phones …

MOSCOW-The biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has reportedly reached a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Ukraine’s second-biggest operator Ukrainian Mobile Communications (UMC). UMC shareholders include government-owned Ukrtelecom …

HELSINKI, Finland-Following discussions with senior government ministers in Denmark, the Brussels, Belgium-based European Investment Bank (EIB) has drafted a proposal to loan Danish mobile operator TDC Mobile US$200 million to …

PARIS-Thierry Breton, former chief executive of French consumer electronics company Thomson Multimedia, was nominated as chairman and chief executive officer of France T

PARIS-French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom was awarded a third-generation (3G) license by the French regulator for about US$610 million. Bouygues Telecom opted out of the first round of licensing in …

TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo Inc. said it will report a $4.7 billion write-down on its foreign investments, including $2.8 billion from its investment in U.S. operator AT&T Wireless Services Inc., $1 billion …

TOKYO-Japanese vendor NEC Corp. has taken a 5-percent stake in two mobile-phone subsidiaries owned by Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. for a total $73 million. The stakes are in Hong Kong mobile …

Several analyst firms have highlighted Asian carriers-and not the highly watched Japanese operators-as being in the best positions to capitalize on the current mobile industry dynamics. While Europe, Japan and …

HONG KONG-With the cellular phone market saturated at 86 percent of the population, Hong Kong’s wireless engineers have wasted no time in jumping on the next bandwagon-WiFi and Bluetooth, short …

LONDON-Virgin Mobile U.K. said it signed up 232,000 customers during the third quarter, giving the company more than 2 million customers at the end of September, which is less than …

NEW YORK-Moody’s Investors Service has assigned a speculative grade liquidity rating of SGL-3 to tower owner and operator Crown Castle International Corp. Moody’s said that the company has “ample cash …

FRANKFURT, Germany-Germany’s troubled telecom firm MobilCom said it would cut 1,850 jobs and halt the rollout of its third-generation network in Germany. The German company was close to bankruptcy earlier …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Kyocera Wireless entered the Chilean cellular market as a terminal provider for the Smartcom PCS network. Smartcom is the first South American operator outside Brazil to launch a …