WAP

Subscription fraud is as old as the wireless industry itself, and responsible for the creation of numerous companies and products that exist solely to develop new ways to combat this revenue-stealing problem. While carriers continue to battle fraudsters on the …

LAS VEGAS-Those who got an early view of the new Ericsson R380 World Smartphone at Comdex here last week quickly dubbed it a “spork.” Developers Ericsson and Symbian didn’t seem to mind the term for their new integrated device that …

PAKISTAN Millicom International Cellular SA announced it acquired Paktel Ltd., Cable and Wireless plc’s cellular operation in Pakistan. Millicom said Paktel is the No. 3 operator in the country. “MIC’s acquisition of Paktel will enhance the value of our investments …

LONDON-France Telecom’s Orange, a United Kingdom mobile-phone provider, decided to standardize on Nortel Networks’ Alteon Web switching products to support the expansion of its infrastructure. Orange is deploying ACEdirector 3 and Alteon 180e Web switches in its European Web data …

BELLEVUE, Wash.-Samsung Telecommunications America Inc. and VoiceStream Wireless Corp. have agreed to develop GPRS phones using Microsoft Corp.’s Stinger smart phone platform and Mobile Internet Explorer microbrowser software for VoiceStream’s GSM network. VoiceStream has stated it plans to launch GPRS …

The evolution of the Symbian initiative advanced last week as the company held its first developers conference in London, supporting the release of version 6.0 of its open software platform for next-generation wireless Internet-enabled devices, and made several other significant …

UTRECHT, The Netherlands-NewsEdge Corp. and CMG Telecommunications announced an alliance to combine NewsEdge’s eTopics with CMG’s WAP Service Broker, which will allow CMG to offer specific information to their mobile-phone customers. “NewsEdge eTopics is the only service that we have …

SINGAPORE-StarHub announced it will invest another US$58.8 million to enhance its Singapore mobile network during the next few months. This will bring its investment in the network to US$232 million. The added investment will allow StarHub to increase its capacity …

Spirent Spirent Communications, which provides performance analysis solutions, announced the InfoDM v2.0 release, which is part of the company’s acquisition of InfoSoft Technologies, will supplement Spirent’s CDMA test solution with high-speed, over-the-air data logging and a data playback feature. The …

While wirelessly enabling various types of applications is generally the one common element among wireless application service providers, most agree that value-added services and applications added to this core platform will be the basis of wireless ASP competition. With this …

In the effort to alter consumers’ perceptions of wireless phones, Sprint PCS turned up the volume last week with the introduction of an online music service offered in conjunction with the first combination MP3 player/wireless phone available in the United …

NEW YORK-Mobileum, a Pleasanton, Calif., start-up, has filed for nine patents and received $45 million in first-round venture funding for its system to simplify communications between corporate enterprises and their mobile workers. The company’s software platform approach to linking corporate …

LONDON-Ericsson launched its new T20 mobile phone, available in November, which features Swatch Internet time and WAP mobile chat. The company said the Swatch Internet time feature will help customers keep track of all the time differences and daylight savings …

NEW YORK-The battle over customer ownership in the emerging mobile-commerce market will evolve, by necessity, into a model of “coopetition,” said Philip Yen, executive vice president of e-Visa International. Banks, credit-card companies, middleware providers, telecommunications operators and equipment manufacturers must …

NEW YORK-Chase Manhattan Bank announced it will use Tantau Software Inc.’s Wireless Internet Platform in the company’s new wireless infrastructure. Chase said it intends to offer wholesale and retail customers the ability to conduct financial transactions via wireless devices. Tantau’s …

SAN DIEGO-In a move to get access to BEA Systems Inc.’s WebLogic E-Business Platform and other m-commerce tools and services, Stellcom Inc. agreed to join BEA’s Professional Service Provider program. Stellcom, a wireless systems integration firm, was previously a BEA …

HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. launched a global cooperation agreement with Andersen Consulting to help corporations and service providers build their own WAP-based solutions. The initiative calls for the two to provide a packaged offering of wireless technologies and integration skills to …

HONG KONG-The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is generally regarded with something between scorn and indifference in Hong Kong among industry sources, and mobile operators will not even reveal subscriber numbers for the service. This contrasts with the bullish claims of …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Operators in the Middle East are focusing on extending coverage and considering networks upgrades. The region offers enormous potential, considering the cellular penetration is only 3.5 percent-very low in comparison with world standards. However, penetration rates in some …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Unlike the hype that surrounded the launch of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) services, European mobile operators are taking a conservative approach to how General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) will be commercially deployed. This time, no TV advertisements proclaim …

China Mobile began charging for wireless Internet services beginning 21 October after twice delaying the date due to slack demand for the services, particularly by many industry professionals. However, Frost & Sullivan believes wireless Internet is exactly what the Chinese …

PRAGUE, Czech Republic-Cesky Mobil, the Czech Republic’s third mobile telephone operator, is seeking to differentiate itself from its competition by offering low start-up costs and emphasizing ease of use. The formula has paid quick dividends. In its first four operational …

MOSCOW-Russian wireless carriers, which this year considerably expanded their client bases thanks to radically decreased prices, registered a major average revenue per user (ARPU) decrease from more than US$215 two years ago to US$36 for one Russian carrier this year. …

NEW YORK-More than any other part of telecommunications, the handset business “will go through the most severe changes in the next several years,” said Jeffrey Schlesinger, wireless technology analyst for UBS Warburg in New York. Slowing rates of growth in …

Handsets Neopoint The company released new dual-band and tri-mode smart phones that include increased capacity for personal digital assistant functions, built-in e-mail capabilities and a NeoPad Qwerty keyboard. The dual-band NeoPoint 2000 and tri-mode NeoPoint 2600 phones hold more than …