Orange

TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo Inc. announced it signed a memorandum of understanding with KPN Telecom, acquiring 15 percent of the voting rights in a newly formed holding company called KPN Mobile N.V. for about $4.5 billion. The announcement follows KPN’s failed merger …

BERLIN-A consortium comprised of Telefonica, Orange and Sonera will join U.S.-based MCI WorldCom and 10 other groups in bidding for third-generation licenses in Germany. The auction is set to begin in early July. The German regulator will sell 12 frequencies …

KPN Telecom is said to be in discussions with Spain’s Telefonica regarding a possible US$54 billion merger. At press time, international reports said the companies had agreed in principle to a deal that would evenly split control of the two …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Utility companies across Europe are entering the mobile communications business, hoping to simultaneously grab a slice of an extremely lucrative market and diversify their operations. But analysts are undecided on whether the companies have the requisite technical expertise or …

British Telecom (BT) could challenge an Internet alliance between Vodafone AirTouch and Vivendi announced just before Vodafone AirTouch’s takeover agreement with Mannesmann in February, the Financial Times reported. The deal may be incompatible with existing contracts among the involved companies. …

GENEVA-With auction prices of the United Kingdom’s five third-generation licenses beating even the most inflated analyst forecasts, all eyes are now on Italy, which is set to allocate five 15-year Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licenses in a few months. …

A consortium comprised of Telefonica, Orange and Sonera will join U.S.-based MCI WorldCom and 10 other groups in bidding for third-generation (3G) licenses in Germany. The auction is set to begin in early July. The German regulator will sell 12 …

After eight weeks and 150 rounds, NTL Mobile said enough and dropped out of the U.K. government auction for five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses. The withdrawal left only five bidders for the licenses, ending the auction that generated more …

MADRID, Spain-Telefonica reported reaching an agreement with Orange plc and Sonera Corp. to apply for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service license in Germany through a consortium in which Telefonica InterContinental S.A. will hold a 40-percent stake, with Orange and Sonera …

Bidders in the U.K. third-generation license auction appeared to exceed their budgets last week. Bidding for the five licenses totaled an eye-popping $35 billion, and the auction will linger on into this week. The auction seems eerily reminiscent of the …

LONDON-The European Union Commission notified Vodafone AirTouch plc last week it received Phase 1 clearance for its acquisition of Mannesmann AG, moving the companies one step closer to creating a European telecom giant with more than 54 million customers in …

WorldCom Wireless became the latest-and most high-profile-company to fall victim to the climbing bids for five Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses in the United Kingdom last week. WorldCom withdrew from the auction Thursday, reducing the number of active bidders to …

Skyrocketing bids forced five companies to drop out of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction last week, leaving eight companies to scramble for five licenses that now have a combined value of more than $22 billion. By the time round …

IRVINE, Calif.-Primal, a provider of Internet-enabled customer management software to the communications industry, signed an order to provide Metrocall Inc. with its customer care and billing system, Connect CCB. According to Primal, the new system is a Web-based, Internet Protocol …

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. extended its infrastructure supply relationship with Orange in the United Kingdom by $316.2 million. The additional equipment to be delivered includes Global System for Mobile communications base station equipment, triple-mode Nokia UltraSite and MetroSite mobile multimedia solutions, …

NEW YORK-The American wireless marketplace needs a healthy dose of innovation jump-started by foreign intervention to drive user penetration, said Hans R. Snook, chief executive of Orange plc. At the moment, Orange is otherwise engaged, so it cannot put momentum …

PARIS-France Telecom announced it will take a 28.5-percent stake in Germany’s MobilCom, which provides mobile, wireline and Internet services, for about $3.6 billion. The German company has about 2 million wireless subscribers. In connection with the deal, the companies said …

NTL Mobile closed out the latest round of bidding in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction last week in the United Kingdom with a $1.7 billion bid for license A, an increase of more than $855 million from the highest …

Furious bidding between Vodafone AirTouch plc and Orange plc on the final day of last week’s Universal Mobile Telecommunications System auction in the United Kingdom drove the top bid for license B to $1.14 billion. For the second week in …

After one week and 16 rounds of bidding, incumbent operator Orange plc led all third-generation license bids in the United Kingdom with a $632.9 million bid for License B. The auction for five licenses, which is expected to last another …

TEL AVIV, Israel-In a country like Israel where the number of mobile phone lines surpasses fixed lines (2.9 million compared with 2.8 million), where there’s intense competition among the three carriers and churn is high (sometimes 60 percent), and where …

Things are going well for most mobile companies around the globe. Penetration rates are increasing, subscriber numbers are reaching all-time highs and wireless data holds future promise for the industry. The last year has been especially profitable for wireless handset …

DENVER, United States-While Vodafone AirTouch recently advanced its merger with Germany’s Mannesmann AG, the company indicated it may look to fill in its footprint with some smaller acquisitions. In particular, the company has been closing in on a bid for …

DUBLIN, Ireland-The news that Mannesmann has conceded defeat in its battle with Vodafone AirTouch merely underlines the momentum behind consolidation in the European mobile communications industry. However, few observers appear concerned at the concentration of market power in the hands …

Approximately 318.6 million new cellular connections will be added in Europe by 2007, of which 160 million will be Global System for Mobile communications connections, according to The Strategis Group’s report, “Western European Cellular/3G Markets 2000-2007.” As a result of …