Vodafone

Time will tell if new prepaid plans offered by U.S. nationwide operators this year spur more growth in the wireless industry. Verizon Wireless plans to introduce a new nationwide prepaid pricing strategy in the third quarter. Though it won’t release …

LONDON-France Telecom is expected to make a $45 billion cash and stock bid for Orange plc early next week, according to international press reports. The French telecom company is reported to have secured a $29.7 billion bank loan to acquire …

Nortel Networks increased its presence in the European mobile-phone market last week, garnering a $700 million third-generation equipment contract with BT Cellnet in the United Kingdom and displacing several of the carrier’s traditional European manufacturers. Nortel will provide an end-to-end …

MELBOURNE, Australia-The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) announced that beginning Sept. 25, 2001, mobile-phone carriers must allow customers to keep their number when changing phone companies. The date is six months later than the date suggested in the ACA’s preliminary report …

Canada Newbridge Networks Corp. said the holders of its common shares, options and warrants have approved the plan of arrangement involving its merger with Alcatel S.A. Before the merger can close, it must be approved by Alcatel shareholders as well …

While the big names in the wireless industry usually get most of the credit for providing wireless coverage across the country, it is the smaller players who often make up the backbone of the much larger beast. Affiliations between large, …

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 …

They may be working closer these days, but make no mistake about it, the GSM Association, the CDMA Development Group and the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium remain strong competitors. All three associations will convene this week in Las Vegas at …

LONDON-Vodafone AirTouch plc announced it is testing an international Wireless Application Protocol system that would allow users to access WAP-based information when roaming between the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Participating in the pilot program are carriers …

SAN FRANCISCO-When people in Atlanta think of the top two wireless service providers, BellSouth Wireless Services and Sprint PCS come to mind. In Minneapolis, the top two are AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Sprint PCS. And in San Diego, it’s …

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 …

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. will offer customers in its Southwest region digital markets national wireless rate plans that eliminate all roaming and long-distance charges. Alltel’s Total Freedom coverage area will include all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the …

Bell Atlantic Mobile, Vodafone AirTouch plc and PrimeCo Personal Communications L.P. had a problem when they were going to merge their U.S. wireless assets into a single company. How do you combine three company names, each with strong regional appeal, …

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. …

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 …

TOKYO-J-Phone Group, Japan’s second-largest mobile phone company, plans to merge its nine member firms into three companies later this year. The announcement follows the company’s application for a third-generation license to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications earlier this month. …

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 …

Finland Priority Wireless, a unit of United Pan-Europe Communications, said it won a license to implement a wireless local loop system in Finland. The 26 GHz license covers the nine most populous areas of Finland, including Helsinki. Priority Wireless plans …

DENVER, United States- BellSouth and SBC Communications finally ended weeks of speculation, announcing plans to create a wireless joint venture that will become the second-largest wireless operator in the United States, serving 16.2 million subscribers and reaching 175 million potential …

SAO PAULO, Brazil-Anatel, Brazil’s telecommunications regulatory agency, will not divulge the frequency band-either 1.8 GHz or 1.9 GHz-that band C cellular telephony operators will use until after the World Radiocommunication Conference ends in June. Anatel President Renato Guerreiro made the …

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 …

NEW YORK-Bell Atlantic Corp. increased adjusted net income for the first quarter by 10 percent to $1.3 billion from $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 1999. The company also reported adjusted earnings per diluted share rose to 80 cents …

REDMOND, Wash.-Arun Sarin has joined InfoSpace Inc., a provider of infrastructure services for wireless devices, merchants and Web sites, as chief executive officer. Sarin, who most recently served as CEO of the US/Asia Pacific region for Vodafone AirTouch plc and …

NEW YORK-Price Communications Corp. said its subsidiary, Price Communications Wireless, added 22,677 net new cellular subscribers in the first quarter, compared with 18,720 in the first quarter of 1999, representing an increase of 21 percent. The company said it now …