Vodafone

DUBLIN, Ireland-Mobile games aggregator nGame has been acquired by its U.S. partner Mforma. The Cambridge, U.K.-based company will become part of what its new owners claim will be the largest wireless content distributor in Europe The move coincides with a …

TOKYO-The Japanese government on 18 September granted J-Phone, a Vodafone company in Japan, a license for third-generation (3G) commercial service. Based on the governmental approval, J-Phone will launch its nationwide 3G services on 29 December. NTT DoCoMo, the largest operator …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Mobile phones are among the most popular targets for petty thieves, and with the recent launch of new multimedia devices in the run up to the holiday season, more handsets than ever are expected to fall into the wrong …

LONDON-Vodafone Group plc signed a partnership agreement with Middle East operator Mobile Telecommunications Co., which serves more than 600,000 customers in Kuwait. The agreement calls for both companies to cooperate in developing products and services for international travelers and domestic …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Having been a late entrant into the Hungarian market, Vodafone is being forced to speed up the expansion of its cell-phone network after its rival, Pannon GSM, gave notice that it would terminate a roaming agreement with Vodafone …

Vizzavi’s wild ride seems to have come to an end. At least, sort of. Wireless giant Vodafone Group and media titan Vivendi Universal founded the European portal in January 2000 with a whopping US$1.6 billion investment. But Vizzavi, touted as …

TOKYO-The number of Japanese new mobile subscribers in August was merely 385,300, a significant drop from July’s 528,300, according to a survey compiled by the Telecommunications Carriers Association. Carriers tended to shrink their sales in August, just after the Japanese …

DUBLIN, Ireland-U.K. telecom regulator Oftel has launched a guide designed to help consumers get maximum value for money from their mobile phones. The document offers advice on a range of issues, including choosing between prepaid and contract payments, controlling call …

BUCHAREST, Romania-Hungarian GSM operator Pannon GSM Telecommunications said it exercised its right in its roaming contract with Vodafone Hungary to terminate the agreement. The contract had allowed Vodafone subscribers to use Pannon GSM’s network infrastructure. The termination will be effective …

LONDON-Rumors abound regarding the possible sale of Vivendi Universal’s stake in French mobile operator SFR to Vodafone Group. Vodafone has said it is interested in taking control of SFR, but not at any cost. Market analysts have valued SFR at …

While U.S. wireless carriers have often strayed from the international model when it comes to delivering service, most industry watchers anticipated the U.S.-based GSM carriers would follow a similar path as their worldly brothers when it came to deploying third-generation …

LONDON-As expected, Vodafone Group plc has acquired Vivendi Universal’s 50-percent stake in the two companies’ mobile portal joint venture Vizzavi for $140.6 million. Vivendi was forced to sell the stake to help reduce its heavy debt load. Vodafone said it …

BUDAPEST, Hungary-Hungarian telecommunications authority HIF reported the country’s wireless penetration rate increased from 57.6 percent in June to 59.1 percent in July, and is expected to rise to 70 percent by the end of the year. Westel was the country’s …

LONDON-Italy’s Vodafone Omnitel plans to upgrade its gaming platform through its deal with mobile entertainment company Cash-U Mobile Technologies. Omnitel currently uses the first version of Cash-U’s Pecan entertainment platform and now plans to upgrade to version 2.0. “This is …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Clearer signals are emerging from Portugal with regard to the likely launch date for third-generation (3G) services. Some reports suggest that Portugal Telecom has asked for the launch of Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) services to be delayed until …

TOKYO-The number of picture service users in Japan is growing rapidly. NTT DoCoMo, the leading mobile carrier in Japan, announced that the number of subscribers of its i-shot picture phone service exceeded 1 million as of 12 August. The i-shot …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-While it has become accepted that Vodafone will take control of Vizzavi, its Internet portal joint venture with Vivendi, the transaction will need careful handling to ensure Vodafone does not alienate the struggling French conglomerate if Vodafone is …

LONDON-Vodafone Group plc confirmed it is in discussions with Vivendi Universal concerning the future shareholder structure of their Vizzavi joint venture Internet portal. Vodafone said the discussions may lead to an offer to acquire all of a part of Vivendi’s …

TOKYO-J-Phone, a Vodafone Group company in Japan, announced the number of users of its popular picture phone service exceeded 6 million as of the end of July. The service, known as “sha-mail” (sha means “take a picture” in Japanese), is …

DUBLIN, Ireland-While its major competitor O2 Ireland has accepted the terms of its third-generation (3G) mobile license, Ireland’s largest mobile operator, Vodafone, has further delayed a decision on whether to accept the B license it was offered in June (see …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Trying to divert criticism about its third-generation (3G) strategy away from itself, Vodafone said the shortage of fully capable 3G handsets will now mean the launch of its high-speed data network will slip from the second half of …

TOKYO-Japan Telecom, a Vodafone company in Japan, announced it sold a base station business unit to Bovis Lend Lease, an Australian company. It is the first time that an overseas construction company has bought a Japanese construction company. As part …

LONDON-MmO2 confirmed that it accepted a third-generation license in Ireland for $112.4 million. The “B” license includes minimum requirements of 33-percent demographic coverage by the end of June 2006 and 53 -percent coverage by the end of June 2008. A …

CHICAGO-United States Cellular Corp. completed its $610 million acquisition of PrimeCo Wireless Communications L.L.C.’s Chicago major trading area market including its 20 megahertz spectrum licenses covering 13.2 million potential customers in four states and PrimeCo’s customers in the market. U.S. …

DENVER, United States-VoiceStream Wireless’ launch of wireless service last month in the U.S. states of California and Nevada not only provided the country’s smallest nationwide operator with a footprint in a pair of lucrative markets, but also was the carrier’s …