Vodafone

MADRID, Spain—Spanish mobile giant Telef

LA JOLLA, Calif.—Bitfone Corp. released the company’s flagship product, iBroker, in an effort to tap into the growing multimedia messaging market. Bitfone said its product allows users to send multimedia content using pictures and animations stored on a carrier’s database, …

LONDON—Vodafone Group plc launched its first global advertising campaign, featuring television, movie, print and outdoor media. Each version of the campaign will feature the carrier’s “How Are You?” tagline.The campaign started on national television in the United Kingdom and on …

HONG KONG-On the face of it, Hutchison Whampoa is a great success story. The company is among the leading international wireless operators and part of the giant Cheung Kong (Holdings), which in May announced after-tax profits of US$8 billion on …

BUCHAREST, Romania-Most countries in Western Europe have awarded third-generation (3G) licenses at high fees to a few operators. Companies are expecting revenue from the services within a decade, according to consulting companies. A report from the UMTS Forum released in …

DUBLIN, Ireland-The recent decision of the European competition commissioner to sanction raids on U.K. and German mobile operators as part of investigations into collusion over roaming charges came as little surprise to most industry observers. It is becoming increasingly difficult …

Alcatel Paris. With Orascom Telecom for the supply and installation of GSM solutions in the Middle East and Africa. Value: Undisclosed. Brazil. With Telemar for a GSM 1800/GPRS network in Brazil. Value: US$275 million Moscow. With ZAO SMARTS for GSM …

A U.S. federal appeals court rejected a Federal Communications Commission filing asking that it not be required to return personal communications services licenses to bankrupt carrier NextWave Telecom Inc. NextWave, however, will probably not gain control of the licenses for …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Nokia Corp. said it has signed a UMTS contract to deliver core network and radio access for Europolitan Vodafone.Nokia will begin deliveries this month and will launch the network next year, according to the agreement.

STOCKHOLM—Ericsson said it intends to claim 20 percent of the CDMA market by 2004, even as it identified five carriers as its major customer focus. The carriers include Vodafone Group plc of the United Kingdom, France Telecom SA, Deutsche Telekom …

DUESSELDORF, Germany—German prosecutors are investigating whether executives of Vodafone Group plc and Mannesmann received illegal compensation from the companies’ US$180 billion merger, according to the Associated Press.Prosecutors said in a statement they were looking at both Vodafone executive Chris Gent …

TOKYO—The board of directors for the four J-Phone Communications Co. Ltd. companies; East, Central, West and Japan Telecom, agreed to merge their companies into a single J-Phone structure.The merged company, to be named J-Phone Co. Ltd., is expected to provide …

BUCHAREST, Romania—Vodafone Albania launched its GSM mobile telephone service less than six months after it secured the license. Vodafone Albania, 49-percent owned by Panafon-Vodafone, Greece’s leading mobile telecommunications operator, and 51 percent by Vodafone Group Plc, a global telecommunications operator. …

DUESSELDORF, Germany—German prosecutors are investigating whether executives of Vodafone Group plc and Mannesmann received illegal compensation from the companies’ $180 billion merger, according to the Associated Press.Prosecutors said in a statement they were looking at both Vodafone executive Chris Gent …

With several customers in Europe already under its belt, Netonomy Inc. is honing in on U.S. wireless carriers looking for a different way of providing customer service. Instead of customer relationship management tools, Netonomy touts itself as a provider of …

COPENHAGEN, Denmark—TDC said it is seeking to take control over Polish cellular operator Polkomtel, according to international press reports. It currently holds 19.6 percent of the carrier.However, the Danish company said it would likely achieve the takeover through an alliance …

BUCHAREST, Romania—Joseph C. Grioli, managing director of Vodafone Malta, officially launched the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) pilot project, which is available to all Vodafone subscribers in Malta.“It is my pleasure to bring to the Maltese public 2.5G technology and …

Even though third-generation services are not yet available on mobile phones, one Belgium-based company is betting that 3G telematics services will be just as big, if not bigger. Acunia NV, Leuven, Belgium, crossed the Atlantic at the beginning of last …

TOKYO—Christopher Gent, chief executive of Vodafone Group, on 30 July said he is planning to integrate J-Phone Group’s three operational companies by the end of this year, targeting the integrated company to be listed on a Japanese stock exchange market. …

LONDON-A major shift has occurred in the U.K. mobile market, with Vodafone Group plc, the market leader in terms of subscriber numbers for several years, falling two spots to No. 3 following the release of second-quarter subscriber numbers. Orange, owned …

Vodafone to delay 3G plans due to handset shortage Vodafone Group plc said it might delay the launch of its third-generation network until 2003 due to a shortage of handsets. Vodafone confirmed its was cutting back the deployment of 3G …

GREECE Greece has awarded three Universal Mobile Telecommunications System licenses, one less than it had planned, when a fourth bidder failed to emerge. The country’s three incumbent operators, CosmOTE, owned 59 percent by OTE; Panafon Vodafone, owned 55 percent by …

BRUSSELS, Belgium-The European Commission made surprise raids on nine mobile operators in the United Kingdom and Germany last week to investigate alleged price fixing, according to international press reports. The commission was reportedly looking for evidence of collective fixing of …

British Telecommunications’ wireless unit, BT Wireless, slipped from the No. 2 wireless operator in the United Kingdom during the second quarter, falling behind perennial leader Vodafone Group and new runner up Orange SA. BT Wireless added 301,000 customers in the …

WOODBURY, N.Y.-South African carrier Vodacom, part of the Vodafone Group, selected Comverse to provide its 5 million-customer base with call-return service, which allows users to easily return voicemail calls. “Vodacom’s Callback represents another useful service that Comverse has added to …