Vodafone

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Orange SA has requested from the Swedish telecom regulator a three-year extension for building out its third-generation network in Sweden. Sweden’s 3G license conditions include having an operational network by the end of 2003. Orange would like to delay …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Vodafone and consumer groups in Ireland are once again at odds over the price of calls following the publication of figures showing that average revenue per user (ARPU) in Ireland is significantly higher than the other European countries in …

MELBOURNE, Australia-Vodafone New Zealand has chosen Ericsson to provide end-to-end multimedia messaging service (MMS) services between New Zealand and Australia. Vodafone New Zealand plans to launch extended MMS services in September. According to Ericsson, it will establish a “push-proxy gateway” …

LONDON-Vodafone Group plc said it added 2.7 million proportionate customers during its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, including 1.3 million subscribers from stake changes, bringing its total registered proportionate customer base to 103.9 million worldwide. The percentage of contract …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Software firms across Europe have developed myriad mobile applications aimed at the business market during the past few years, raising hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital to fund their development. But with few applications being widely used …

As the battle for the multimedia messaging service (MMS) market in Europe begins to heat up among the region’s wireless carriers, the fight for the MMS infrastructure market has largely drawn to a close-and the undisputed winner is Ericsson. “The …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, and TORONTO-In the aftermath of their quarterly earnings report, the stocks of both Nortel Corp. and Ericsson AB plummeted, highlighting the struggles of the major players in the telecom equipment space. Nortel Networks, which has wobbled during the …

LONDON-Hewlett-Packard Company launched its new wireless personal digital assistant in the United Kingdom through wireless giant Vodafone, the second device to hit European shelves running on Microsoft Corp.’s wireless-capable Pocket PC operating system. The first was Mmo2’s XDA wireless phone/PDA …

HELSINKI, Finland-Comptel said it will deliver advanced provisioning solutions for Vodafone Omnitel’s third-generation (3G) and value-added services in Italy. The value of the contract was not disclosed. The system will activate Vodafone Omnitel subscribers to the network and a large …

VANCOUVER, British Columbia-Vodafone U.K. and Sierra Wireless have teamed to make Sierra Wireless’s AirCard 750 wireless PC card modem available on Vodafone’s GPRS data network in the U.K. Through the partnership, Vodafone U.K. becomes the first European operator to offer …

TOKYO-Shipments of mobile phones with cameras surged from 6 million units in 2001 to 23 million units in 2003 in Japan, according to a survey conducted by a research institute. Mobile phones with cameras have become popular in Japan after …

DUBLIN, Ireland-Vodafone Group announced it will launch the “Sha-mail” service in Europe in the fourth quarter. The company revealed its plans to begin marketing the new camera-enabled phones in seven European markets. The Sha-mail service enables mobiles subscribers to take …

Portugal-Portuguese company Sonae.com has approached EDP regarding an acquisition of its telecom subsidiary Oni Group, which owns a third-generation license in Portugal. Sonae owns 45 percent of Portuguese mobile operator Optimus, and Oni operates a fixed-line network in Portugal as …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Saturated market conditions are being blamed by cell-phone operators for a 50-percent drop in handset sales for the first six months of 2002 compared with last year. According to statistics provided by the companies, only 1.4 million cell …

MELBOURNE, Australia-Commercial interest is growing in wireless Internet in Australia with news of a $A25 million (US$14 million) national rollout of an i-BURST mobile wireless broadband network beginning in Sydney. In charge of the rollout is CKW Wireless, a wholly …

CINCINNATI-Convergys Corp. announced it has acquired the business and assets of bankrupt TelesensKSCL Ltd. of Edinburgh, Scotland, a subsidiary of TelesensKSCL AG of Cologne, Germany. TelesensKSCL, which was a developer and licenser of billing systems for voice and data services …

MADRID, Spain-Telef

LONDON-A new mobile virtual network operator service launched in the United Kingdom through One.Tel, which is leasing capacity from Vodafone Group plc. The group is touting its service, priced at less than

OXFORD, United Kingdom-By 2007, the number of cell-phone users in South Africa will be 19 million-double the current number-claimed the country’s largest operator, Vodacom. The company, which recently responded to the entry of a third operator by drastically cutting prices, …

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Arraycomm Inc. announced that its Australian subsidiary has formed a consortium that includes Vodafone Australia to launch its I-Burst mobile broadband Internet access system in Australia. The commercial rollout of the service is scheduled to start in mid-2003. …

BUDAPEST, Hungary—Euronet Worldwide Inc., provider of electronic financial transaction solutions, and Vodafone Hungary announced the implementation of Euronet ATM Recharge, which will enable Vodafone subscribers to purchase prepaid airtime at Euronet-branded ATMs throughout Hungary. Euronet now offers the service to …

DUBLIN, Ireland—There is some confusion in the European mobile sector about the likely impact of the European Commission’s decision to authorize governments to change the parameters of third-generation (3G) licenses. The debt burdens created by the billions of dollars spent …

HELSINKI, Finland—The uphill battle to meet Sweden’s December 2003 national rollout deadline for third-generation (3G) networks has taken a significant new twist, after Sweden’s leading mobile operators assigned Stockholm-based telecom consulting firm Teleca to deliver a technical solution and a …

Permit issues could delay operator rollouts HELSINKI, Finland-PTS, Sweden’s telecom regulatory authority, appears to have accepted the general position adopted by operators that meeting the 2002 deadline for rollout of third-generation (3G) services will not be feasible. The position taken …

DUBLIN, Ireland—The pressure on dominant Irish mobile operator Vodafone Ireland has intensified with the revelation that Vodafone Group is expecting its Irish operation to improve its performance in line with that of its sister companies in other parts of the …