Telecom Asia articles from February 2003

Telecom Asia archives from February 2003

WorldCom's last scam. (Inside Line).
February 1, 2003... If 2002 were the year of the insolvent carrier, 2003 will be the year of the telco in recovery. There is a certain psychodrama at work here. Hubristic entrepreneurs mainline on loose capital, wipe out, and then emerge suitably chastened...

Telecom's typhoon crisis.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The mobile operators blamed the incumbent, who pointed the finger of blamed back at the operators. Critics said government policies discouraged investment. The regulator called an inquiry. Meanwhile, millions panicked as one of the world's...

Wi-Topia still a way off: to move from proprietary networks to a system of cooperative smart devices would be a major-league change for everyone. (Tanner).(Wi-Fi)
February 1, 2003... Call it portability. Call it mobility. Call it free space access, the LAN of opportunity or the untethered wonderLAN. Call it Jim. Whatever--it's Wi-Fi, and I'm hooked for life. Or at least I am for as long as it's free. In Hong Kong,...

Bringing fresh satellite capacity to China. (First Mile).
February 1, 2003... With two new satellites now poised over the Asia-Pacific region, global satellite operator New Skies is gearing up for the coveted Chinese market after opening a new office in Beijing and signing a transponder resale agreement with China's...

Going broadband. (Stat Snap).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... For small and medium-sized businesses, broadband is becoming more of a necessity than a luxury, but their choices remain limited. DSL is often hawked as a cheaper alternative to T1 offerings, but a recent survey from Yankee Group, The Future of...

No longer a luxury: broadband usage by small business. (Stat Snap).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... No longer a luxury Broadband usage by small business Internet Technology Percentage of Users Cable Modem 43% DSL 42% T1 (any form) 11% Other 4% Source: Yankee...

Little Smart's big opportunity. (News Analysis).
February 1, 2003... China Telecom's public listing has given cover to the fixed line incumbent as it muscles in on the wireless market with its "Little Smart" service. Telecom, the fixed line franchisee for southern China, and its northern counterpart China...

Broadband makes content pay. (Insight).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... A Jupiter Research survey has found that Internet users are significantly more likely to pay for online content if they have a broadband connection. Jupiter said interviews with 10,000 Internet users in the UK, Germany, France and...

Limited mobility set to roam. (Insight).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Asia is home to the world's most successful limited mobility services, with the adoption of PHS/PAS, in Japan, China and India, and Pyramid Research foresees the expansion of the formula to other regions such as central Europe. China...

Termination rates in decline. (Insight).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Is the writing on the wall for high mobile termination charges? It seems that way in Europe, where a new law effectively defines termination on each network as a separate market, "thus making each mobile operator a monopolist ripe for...

IDC'S `03: WLAN, VoIP and broadband. (Insight).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Wireless LANs and VolP will get market "traction" in 2003, says IDC, while online games will drive demand for broadband and the phones-PDA market will nearly double. Overall, the Asia/Pacific (ex-Japan) telecom services market will grow by...

MOTC rewrites the rules after TCC's Chunghwa swoop. (News Analysis).
February 1, 2003... After seeing its stock sales repeatedly spurned, Chunghwa Telecom has finally found a willing suitor in its biggest rival, resulting in a shotgun wedding that has prompted the government to rethink the privatization process. Taiwan...

Paradise found regulated. (News Analysis).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Does size matter in determining the takeup of mobile services? No, according to the latest ITU Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Indicators, which probes the low level of mobile ownership in the small Pacific states. It noted that of the region's...

India: take-off imminent? India could add another 175 million connections by 2000--if it can attract enough investment. (News Analysis).
February 1, 2003... The telecom world's last bastion of great growth, the Indian market is busy adding impressive numbers to the cellular and fixed line subscriber base. In the last 12 months, the number of cellphone customers surged nearly 90% to around 9...

Xinhua goes Down Under: flashbacks, updates and nostalgia: Telecom Asia, February 1998. (Resend).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... SYNOPSIS: China's Xinhua News Agency--the fourth largest news gathering operation in the world--decides to break into the telecoms business by way of Australia, where its local subsidiary NewStar applies for a carrier license under the market's...

Beijing: China Mobile is subsidizing the sale of 300,000 handsets in a bid to encourage subscribers to use its new MMS service. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Beijing: China Mobile is subsidizing the sale of 300,000 handsets in a bid to encourage subscribers to use its new MMS service. A China Mobile spokesperson says subscribers can use bonus points they earn from their current consumption to help...

Guangdong: Guangdong Telecom stops promoting its controversial call-forwarding devices, which are designed to help mobile users forward calls to their fixed phones without having to pay the usual forwarding fee. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Guangdong: Guangdong Telecom stops promoting its controversial call-forwarding devices, which are designed to help mobile users forward calls to their fixed phones without having to pay the usual forwarding fee. China Mobile--who complained to...

Hong Kong: Hutchison Whampoa chairman Li Ka-shing says the company will wait until after the first quarter of this year to launch 3G in Hong Kong. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Hong Kong: Hutchison Whampoa chairman Li Ka-shing says the company will wait until after the first quarter of this year to launch 3G in Hong Kong, adding it will concentrate on its European 3G launches first.

Hong Kong: OFTA will provide consumers information on RF radiation levels of mobile phones. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Hong Kong: OFTA will provide consumers information on RF radiation levels of mobile phones. Starting from 1 April, mobile phones type-approved in Hong Kong will comply with the SAR (specific absorption rate) limits set by either the ICNIRP or...

Hong Kong: HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia become the first foreign lenders to launch online banking in China. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Hong Kong: HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia become the first foreign lenders to launch online banking in China, which holds an estimated $1 trillion in savings.

Hong Kong: BT finally agrees to sell its stake in SmarTone after property developer Sun Hung Kai Properties raised its price of a general offer for SmarTone shares 3% to HK$8.50 each from HK$8.25. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Hong Kong: BT finally agrees to sell its stake in SmarTone after property developer Sun Hung Kai Properties raised its price of a general offer for SmarTone shares 3% to HK$8.50 each from HK$8.25. That amounts to about $132 million--the share...

Bangkok: TOT shelves its planned IPO of 30% of its shares, pending new telecoms regulations. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Bangkok: TOT shelves its planned IPO of 30% of its shares, pending new telecoms regulations. Under a concession framework still being worked out, the finance ministry will require private operators to pay taxes instead of sharing their revenues...

Bangkok: Shin Sat expects 2003 revenues to grow by 25% to 7 billion baht ($164 million). (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Bangkok: Shin Sat expects 2003 revenues to grow by 25% to 7 billion baht ($164 million), mainly due to contributions from its Internet units and Indochina business.

Ho Chi Minh City: Vietnamese police detains Nguyen Gia Thieu, the head of Nokia's sole distributor in the country, and two other executives after launching a tax investigation. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Ho Chi Minh City: Vietnamese police detains Nguyen Gia Thieu, the head of Nokia's sole distributor in the country, and two other executives after launching a tax investigation. The company is accused of paying insufficient custom taxes on...

Jakarta: Indosat's shareholders approve changes to its top management following a major stake sale to Singapore-based ST Telemedia. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Jakarta: Indosat's shareholders approve changes to its top management following a major stake sale to Singapore-based ST Telemedia, which drew protests by hundreds of its workers demanding the sale be scrapped due to fears that Singapore would...

Jakarta: Ericsson wins a contract. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Jakarta: Ericsson wins a contract to supply cdma2000-1x infrastructure for 631,800 lines to PT Telkom in Bali.

Beijing: Chinese state media say China Unicom met its target of 7 million CDMA users by the end of 2002. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Beijing: Chinese state media say China Unicom met its target of 7 million CDMA users by the end of 2002, and is now targeting 20 million by the end of this year.

Kuala Lumpur: Time dotCom expects revenue from Internet services will double to 80 million ringgit ($21 million) in 2003, most of it from broadband services. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Kuala Lumpur: Time dotCom expects revenue from Internet services will double to 80 million ringgit ($21 million) in 2003, most of it from broadband services. To cope with the growth, Time dotCom plans to spend 60 million ringgit on Internet...

Manila: PLDT orders striking employees back to work after Labour Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas asks a national labor committee to arbitrate. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Manila: PLDT orders striking employees back to work after Labour Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas asks a national labor committee to arbitrate. The 6,700-strong PLDT union went on strike on December 23 after the company announced plans to sack...

New Delhi: Indian carriers are expected to spend over $20 billion over the next five years in building fiber-networks, according to a member of the Planning Commission. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... New Delhi: Indian carriers are expected to spend over $20 billion over the next five years in building fiber-networks, according to a member of the Planning Commission. The figure is based on projections for fiber-network spending outlined in...

New Delhi: Competition between Indian telcos and cellcos escalates as telcos slash their national mobile-to-mobile long-distance call rates, while cellular operators cut their national mobile-to-mobile rates 67% to protect their turf from cheaper WLL services. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... New Delhi: Competition between Indian telcos and cellcos escalates as teIcos slash their national mobile-to-mobile long-distance call rates, while cellular operators cut their national mobile-to-mobile rates 67% to protect their turf from...

Seoul: Hanaro Telecom abandons a plan to purchase a 71.95% stake in rival Thrunet, saying "the short-term financial burden is too significant in relation to the synergy". (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Seoul: Hanaro Telecom abandons a plan to purchase a 71.95% stake in rival Thrunet, saying "the short-term financial burden is too significant in relation to the synergy". In response, Thrunet releases a statement in which it questions Hanaro's...

Seoul: the Information and Communications Ministry expects South Korea's mobile handset output in 2003. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Seoul: the Information and Communications Ministry expects South Korea's mobile handset output in 2003 to rise 20% to 23.3 trillion won ($19.42 billion), powered by a 27% growth in exports.

Taipei: Taiwan government sells 13.5% stake in state-owned Chunghwa Telecom to a consortium led by Cathay Financial, the island's largest listed financial group for T$65.4 billion ($1.88 billion). (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Taipei: Taiwan government sells 13.5% stake in state-owned Chunghwa Telecom to a consortium led by Cathay Financial, the island's largest listed financial group for T$65.4 billion ($1.88 billion). After the sale, the Ministry of Transportation...

Tokyo: after a number of postponements, J-Phone finally launches its W-CDMA service, but with only 150 handsets being available nationwide on launch day, while another 800 are shipped out the following week. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Tokyo: After a number of postponements, J-Phone finally launches its W-CDMA service, but with only 150 handsets being available nationwide on launch day, while another 800 are shipped out the following week. J-Phone targets million users for...

Tokyo: TTNet, a unit of Tokyo Electric Power, launches a tender offer bid for local ISP Dream Train Internet. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Tokyo: TTNet, a unit of Tokyo Electric Power, launches a tender offer bid for local ISP Dream Train Internet. TTNet, which already holds a 30% stake in Dream Train, will offer 230,000 yen per share.

Wellington: Telecom Corporation of New Zealand will raise domestic line rentals between NZ$1.05 ($0.58) and NZ$1.25 a month from February to between NZ$32.4 and NZ$39.3. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Wellington: Telecom Corporation of New Zealand will raise domestic line rentals between NZ$1.05 ($0.58) and NZ$1.25 a month from February to between NZ$32.4 and NZ$39.3. The rise is line with the movement in the consumer price index, says TCNZ,...

Singapore: StarHub launches its residential fixed-line service, using the island-wide fiber-optic network it acquired after its merger with cable television operator Singapore Cable Vision (SCV) in July. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Singapore: StarHub launches its residential fixed-line service, using the island-wide fiber-optic network it acquired after its merger with cable television operator Singapore Cable Vision (SCV) in July. StarHub says it's targeting about 5,000...

Federal prosecutors decide not to file criminal charges against bankrupt telecoms carrier Global Crossing or its former executives, including former chairman and CEO Gary Winnick, for accounting fraud or destruction of documents due to lack of evidence, according to the Los Angeles Times. (movements).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Federal prosecutors decide not to file criminal charges against bankrupt telecoms carrier Global Crossing or its former executives, including former chairman and CEO Gary Winnick, for accounting fraud or destruction of documents due to lack of...

Bermuda's Supreme Court approves Global Crossing's restructure plan. (movements).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Bermuda's Supreme Court approves Global Crossing's restructure plan. The United States Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan approved the same plan on December 26, but the Bermuda court ruling was necessary because the Global Crossing group has 16...

AOL Time Warner chairman Steve Case resigns amid stiff criticism of his role at the company. (movements).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... AOL Time Warner chairman Steve Case resigns amid stiff criticism of his role at the company. Case, the architect of the $106.2 billion mega-merger of America Online and Time Warner, the biggest media merger in history, had come under harsh...

NTT DoCoMo will begin offering 3G mobile data services in San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas and San Diego. (movements).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... NTT DoCoMo will begin offering 3G mobile data services in San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas and San Diego with AT&T Wireless Services by December 2004.

US investors sue British telecoms firm Cable & Wireless for failing to disclose a huge potential tax liability, accusing it of issuing "false and misleading statements" that cost shareholders dearly. (movements).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... US investors sue British telecoms firm Cable & Wireless for failing to disclose a huge potential tax liability, accusing it of issuing "false and misleading statements" that cost shareholders dearly. C&W's shares lost almost half their value...

The HomeRF Working Group officially disbands, unable to build up industry momentum to compete against the likes of more scalable Wi-Fi or more mobile Bluetooth. (movements).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The HomeRF Working Group officially disbands, unable to build up industry momentum to compete against the likes of more scalable Wi-Fi or more mobile Bluetooth. The Wi-Fi Alliance unveils the new "Wi-Fi ZONE" brand that will allow hot-spot...

Motorola debuts seven new GSM handset models. (movements).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Motorola debuts seven new GSM handset models. The flagship phone is the V600, a clamshell-type phone with a large color screen, integrated camera, photo messaging feature and the ability to connect to headsets via Bluetooth. Also on offer will...

Nokia will cut its contract with Korean handset maker Telson Electronic and begin making its own phones for the Korean mobile market, signaling the Finnish company's attempts to break into the cutting-edge market have failed. (movements).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Nokia will cut its contract with Korean handset maker Telson Electronic and begin making its own phones for the Korean mobile market, signaling the Finnish company's attempts to break into the cutting-edge market have failed. Telson makes...

Sendo files suit in U.S. federal court against its former partner Microsoft. (movements).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Sendo files suit in U.S. federal court against its former partner Microsoft in a dispute over intellectual property.

The future of voice: more a slow-burning fuse than a barnstorming revolution, the VoIP transformation has begun. But do telcos have that much time? (Cover Story).
February 1, 2003... In the beginning was the word, and the word traveled down a telephone circuit as an electrical pulse. Evers since the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell (or Elisha Gray) in 1875, voice communications has been conducted thus....

Web services: the five-year plan: it's taken years of painful effort to get Web services to where they are today. Which is not somewhere that will delight your board or shareholders, but with standards group working on the case, and an increasing amount of business going online, expert can see light at the distant end of the tunnel. (Applications).
February 1, 2003... The latest sign that the Internet is shaking off the stigma of the dot.com bust--e-commerce figures are still going up. On the consumer side, e-commerce portal site BizRate says fourth quarter online sales were up 40% at $17.4 billion (for a...

Solutions guy: the reinvention of NTT Communications. (One-To-One).(Interview)
February 1, 2003... The NTT Group's long distance and IP arm is staking itself out as a regional provider of solutions rather than connectivity. President and CEO Masanobu Suzuki tells group editor Robert Clark that in the current glutted market he'd rather lease...

Gigabit Ethernet media converter. (Premiere: latest products and services).
February 1, 2003... Pandatel has released a modular Ethernet media converter that can be used with older Ethernet networks as well as with future-generation systems. Using auto sensing, it recognizes and processes various data rates, including 10/100 Mbps and...

2.5G VT/TU pointer processor. (Premiere: latest products and services).
February 1, 2003... PMC-Sierra has unveiled the PM5346 TUPP 2488, a tributary unit pointer processor and cross-connect for 0C-48 SONET and STM-16 SDH networks. The TUPP 2488 suits for grooming and cross-connecting for widely deployed private lines carrying...

CSG and Legend join in China. (Premiere: latest products and services).
February 1, 2003... CSG Systems and Chinese PC maker Legend Group have formed an alliance to provide business support solutions for China's burgeoning telecoms market. Under the partnership, the two companies will promote an end-to-end suite of billing and...

3Com ships XRN Interconnect kit for worldwide enterprises. (Premiere: latest products and services).
February 1, 2003... 3Com is offering a new distributed enterprise LAN core solution with the delivery of its XRN Interconnect Kit, as part of its three-phase rollout of 3Com's XRN technology. The Interconnect Kit comprises two modules, an interconnect cable...

Nokia-IBM enterprise apps on handsets. (Premiere: latest products and services).
February 1, 2003... Nokia and IBM will work together to provide end-to-end business applications on advanced mobile handsets. Under the partnership, IBM Global Services will act as a system integrator for Nokia's Mobile VPN solution for Symbian OS-based...

Forecasting telecom '03: after two years of gloom and pain, what's there to look forward to in '03? There is room for optimism, a survey of the forecasts for the year finds, but of the cautious kind. (Telecom Corporate).
February 1, 2003... As another year gets into its stride it may be useful to review the host of reports, barometers and surveys which attempt to gauge market sentiment and mark out commercial and technical directions. Knowing what everyone else thinks everyone...

FCC retreat on Bells could have retro effect in Asia: most of Asia's largest telecom markets maintain regulatory practices in flagrant breach of their WTO obligations. (Telecom Planet).
February 1, 2003... The US Federal Communications Commission will likely release a review this month on whether the Bell Operating Companies must continue to open their networks to competitors and at what price. If the BOCs win their case, as expected, it may...

Espionage. (Backpage Briefing).
February 1, 2003... ESPIONAGE: The US state Department has charged Hughes Electronics and Boeing Satellite Systems with illegally sharing sensitive technology with the Chinese government that allowed the Chinese military to improve the guidance of its ballistic...

Box-office. (Backpage Briefing).
February 1, 2003... BOX-OFFICE: It looks to be along queue at the Internet box office for those who are waiting to see Hollywood movies online. Despite the willingness of studios to experiment with online downloads, the prime obstacle appears to be a legal...

Overpeer. (Backpage Briefing).
February 1, 2003... OVERPEER: The music copyright wars continue. Under pressure now from the recording industry is Sharman Networks, the company behind P2P file trader Kazaa. The industry won a court battle Last month, with a decision that that Sharman could be...

Pitstopped. (Backpage Briefing).
February 1, 2003... PITSTOPPED: After a brief reappearance, telemetry has been banned from Formula One racing as part of a "back to basics" initiative to make the sport more competitive and attractive to audiences. Bi-directional telemetry was reintroduced last...

Spam. (Backpage Briefing).
February 1, 2003... SPAM:: A small victory for the US military, though not quite a triumph for freedom of speech. Iraq has blocked access to email following a spam campaign by the US military urging key to turn against President Saddam Hussein. The US sent...