Telecom Asia articles from May 2003

Telecom Asia archives from May 2003

The 3G lobbying season. (Inside Line).
May 1, 2003... If China's new minister, Wang Xudong, hasn't heard of GSM Association chairman Craig Ehrlich or CDMA Development Group executive director Perry Laforge, he soon will. After years of shadow-boxing over China's 3G plans, the lobbying season...

Spinning broadband. (Inside Line).
May 1, 2003... Singapore has joined Australia in the ranks of those who cleverly spinning their national broadband numbers. As revealed in Telecom Asia a month ago ("The Great Broadband Disaster"), Australian authorities have responded to the poor rollout of...

Dividing up the wireless spoils of war. (Tanner).
May 1, 2003... The US-led war in Iraq wasn't even a week old when the US government started awarding contracts to companies (all from the US, to date) to assist in the rebuilding of post-war Iraq. One of the Pentagon's planned projects is a cellular network...

WLAN hot spots to the WiMAX. (First Mile).
May 1, 2003... The road to broadband wireless is littered with numerous proprietary solutions and even standardized technologies like MMDS and LMDS that promised much but, like most WLL solutions, have been plagued by immaturity, high cost per line,...

Undersea glut. (Stat Snap).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The undersea cable building boom has finally come to a halt, according to research firm TeleGeography, as the subsea network construction race has given way to an oversupply of fiber--much which is running at initial capacity. "The...

Subsea construction: cost of submarine cables, 1998-2003. (Stat Snap).(Brief Article)(Illustration)
May 1, 2003... Year US$ Billions 1998 $1.4 1999 $2.7 2000 $6.7 2001 $13.0 2002 $3.4 2003 $1.2 Note: Construction cost based on the year that the cable entered...

Korea's broadband confusion. (News Analysis).
May 1, 2003... The collapse of yet another Korean fixed line provider has thrown the world's most saturated broadband market further into confusion. After years of breakneck growth and a debilitating price war, the market is showing signs of severe strain....

Broadband to drive SDH sales. (Insight: one month's telecom research).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The growing deployment of broadband access networks will accelerate the demand for SDH and Sonet, says Insight Research. Insight forecasts a gradual return to infrastructure investment by carriers as early as the fourth quarter of 2003....

Strong demand for wholesale wavelength services. (Insight: one month's telecom research).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The speed and flexibility of wavelength services will change the wholesale network services market--but customers need to be educated about the benefits, says the Yankee Group. Wavelength services will enable carriers to quickly enter a market...

Fun and games in home network. (Insight: one month's telecom research).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Entertainment is about to replace broadband sharing as the prime driver of home networking, according to In-Stat/MDR. Key technologies will be bridging devices that connect TV stereos and PCs via Ethernet or Wi-Fi, along with while rich media...

Year of change in China. (Insight: one month's telecom research).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... With a new minister and government, telecom policy changes underway in China will among the most significant ever, says Pyramid Research. China's transformation would continue to make things difficult for vendors, who will see more...

PLDT wields the axe. (News Analysis).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... It's not getting any easier for PLDT. The Philippines incumbent announced another round of layoffs as it continues to see topline revenue and margins fall in its fixed line business. More than 1,300 employees of PLDT, mostly working in the...

Owners to buy 90% of needs from Reach. (News Analysis).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... After months of uncertainty, Reach has stabilized its finances with a new capital structure and a commitment from its owners to buy 90% of their requirements from the wholesale carrier. Reach warned late last year that it would not be able...

SmarTone's ISP bid a smart move: flashbacks, updates and nostalgia: Telecom Asia, May 1999. (Resend).
May 1, 2003... SYNOPSIS: Hong Kong cellco SmarTone kicks off its iSmart dial-up Internet access service, as well as a portal site developed in conjunction with Yahoo!. SmarTone's announcement is the latest in a series of similar moves by telcos to jump on the...

Beijing: China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom will spend less on new gear this year than in 2002. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Beijing: China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom will spend less on new gear this year than in 2002, as they focus on boosting operations efficiency, while China Netcom will boost spending 52% to 41 billion yuan, the People's Post &...

Beijing: China Unicom plans to issue 10 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in bonds. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Beijing: China Unicom plans to issue 10 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in bonds, the country's largest-ever corporate issue debt, to finance network construction. The issue, which is pending approval by Chinese regulators, will top China Mobile's...

Fuzhou: the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court in Fujian province fines the local units of China Telecom. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Fuzhou: The Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court in Fujian province fines the local units of China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Post 260 million yuan ($31.4 million) for smuggling Nokia network equipment. The smuggling dates back...

Hong Kong: China Mobile and China Unicom declare first-ever dividends. (News Map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Hong Kong: China Mobile and China Unicom declare first-ever dividends. China Mobile, which recorded a 17% higher profit of 32.7 billion yuan in 2002, also announces a stock buy-back. Unicom, which saw its 2002 profit rose 2.5% to 4.57 billion...

Hong Kong: Sunday Communications launches a service. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Hong Kong: Sunday Communications launches a service that lets customers know which nearby buildings have housed carriers of the deadly SARS virus.

Bangkok: Shin Satellite has presold about 35% of the capacity from its 40 Gbps iPSTAR broadband satellite due. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Bangkok: Shin Satellite has presold about 35% of the capacity from its 40 Gbps iPSTAR broadband satellite due to be launched early next year.

Islamabad: Pakistan authorities block more than 1,800 pornographic Web sites. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Islamabad: Pakistan authorities block more than 1,800 pornographic Web sites in an attempt to protect Internet users from what they call their corrupting and evil influence.

Kuala Lumpur: Telekom Malaysia and Maxis will launch pilot 3G services by as early as July. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Kuala Lumpur: Telekom Malaysia and Maxis will launch pilot 3G services by as early as July, with plans to spend a combined 7.5 billion ringgit ($2.0 billion) on 3G over the next decade.

Manila: PLDT sacks more than 1,300 employees of its 12,000 workforce in a staff reduction program implemented last month. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Manila: PLDT sacks more than 1,300 employees of its 12,000 workforce in a staff reduction program implemented last month, as part of its cost cutting measures in its fixed line business, which is facing increasing competition. PLDT, which had...

Manila: Globe announces its first cash dividend in 13 years. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Globe Telecom GMCR Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Manila: Globe announces its first cash dividend in 13 years. Although chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala promises shareholders it will become a regular event, Globe's stock price remained flat.

Seoul: the MIC plans to postpone nationwide W-CDMA services until after 2006. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Seoul: The MIC plans to postpone nationwide W-CDMA services until after 2006, citing uncertain market demand for 3G service. The IMT-2000 service will be implemented in Seoul by the end of this year as previously scheduled by SK Telecom and...

Seoul: KTF and SK Telecom start talks to pitch in together to build a national W-CDMA network. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Seoul: KTF and SK Telecom start talks to pitch in together to build a national W-CDMA network, which KTF chief executive Nam Joong-soo reckons could save the two companies a trillion won ($797.4 million) each. SKT has yet to publicly respond to...

Seoul: Onse Telecommunications becomes the second broadband service provider to file a court receivership due to a severe cash crunch. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Seoul: Onse Telecommunications becomes the second broadband service provider to file a court receivership due to a severe cash crunch, a month after the collapse of rival Thrunet.

Seoul: Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics halt deliveries of handsets to SK Global. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Seoul: Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics halt deliveries of handsets to SK Global, which is at the center of a $1.2 billion accounting scandal, due to fears the troubled trading firm may default on payments. SK Global distributes handsets...

Taipei: Chunghwa Telecom plans to launch a much-postponed American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) issue in July. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Taipei: Chunghwa Telecom plans to launch a much-postponed American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) issue in July. The plan comes days after the company announced a 2002 dividend payment of T$4 ($0.11) per share.

Tokyo: eight major ISPs including NTT Com, KDDI and Japan Telecom. (News Map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Tokyo: Eight major ISPs including NTT Com, KDDI and Japan Telecom, form an alliance to boost penetration of IP telephony.

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo hits its target of 320,000 FOMA subscribers by the end of March. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo hits its target of 320,000 FOMA subscribers by the end of March. In separate news, the company says it is considering a 200 million pound ($324.5 million) loan to its Hutchison 3G joint venture, adding the plan has not yet...

Tokyo: NTT and mobile unit NTT DoCoMo say the planned introduction of a size-based corporate tax is likely to slash their profits for 2002/03. (News Map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Tokyo: NTT and mobile unit NTT DoCoMo say the planned introduction of a size-based corporate tax is likely to slash their profits for 2002/03. The new tax, based on the scale of the enterprise rather than its profit, will be introduced in 2004....

Sydney: Telstra launches a suite of 3G apps for its cdma2000 1x network, initially in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Sydney: Telstra launches a suite of 3G apps for its cdma2000 1x network, initially in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane. MMS will be soon offered, and service launches will take place in Adelaide and Perth in coming months.

Wellington: five New Zealand telcos, including TelstraClear urge the Commerce Commission to rule on how the costs of providing local telephone and mobile number portability should be divided up. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Wellington: Five New Zealand telcos, including TelstraClear, urge the Commerce Commission to rule on how the costs of providing local telephone and mobile number portability should be divided up.

Singapore: analysts worry that new product rollouts and quality checks that new clients make on suppliers' factories could be disrupted for Singapore tech suppliers because of the spread of the SARS virus. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Singapore: Analysts worry that new product rollouts and quality checks that new clients make on suppliers' factories could be disrupted for Singapore tech suppliers because of the spread of the SARS virus.

Singapore: IDA relaxes licensing requirements for foreign telecom operators coming into the market. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Singapore: IDA relaxes licensing requirements for foreign telecom operators coming into the market. Foreign carriers can now offer IDD services, which previously were restricted to local firms, the regulator says.

Sydney: Hutchison Telecom launches Australia's first W-CDMA service, initially available in Sydney and Melbourne. (News map: Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Sydney: Hutchison Telecom launches Australia's first W-CDMA service, initially available in Sydney and Melbourne. Hutchison, which has earmarked A$3 billion ($1.8 billion) for the technology, will extend the service to Brisbane, Adelaide and...

WorldCom files a reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy with a smaller debt of $3.5-$4.5 billion and a $1 billion cash cushion. (movements).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * WorldCom files a reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy with a smaller debt of $3.5-$4.5 billion and a $1 billion cash cushion. The company also changes it name to MCI--the brand of its residential long-distance service--as part of...

As the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States continues to examine Hutchison-Whampoa's investment in Global Crossing. (movements).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * As the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States continues to examine Hutchison-Whampoa's investment in Global Crossing, the US Senate Commerce Committee says it plans to look into the deal as well.

FLAG Telecom contracts Fujitsu to increase capacity on key segments of the FLAG Europe-Asia (FEA) submarine cable. (movements).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * FLAG Telecom contracts Fujitsu to increase capacity on key segments of the FLAG Europe-Asia (FEA) submarine cable. Fujitsu will increase the line capacity of the segment from Alexandria, Egypt to Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, doubling...

Reach agrees to new terms with its banking syndicate for its $1.5 billion loan. (movements).(Reach Communications Services (Thailand))(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * Reach agrees to new terms with its banking syndicate for its $1.5 billion loan. As part of the arrangement, joint investors Telstra and PCCW will provide Reach with $286 million through capacity prepayments.

Level 3 becomes the latest global carrier to quit the Web hosting business after it hands over the operation to Computer Sciences Corp. (movements).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * Level 3 becomes the latest global carrier to quit the Web hosting business after it hands over the operation to Computer Sciences Corp, which will assume the lease of some Level 3 data centers and purchase Level 3 network services.

Ericsson will outsource its worldwide IT operations to Hewlett-Packard. (movements).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * Ericsson will outsource its worldwide IT operations to Hewlett-Packard, signing all its global IT staff to HP.

Motorola completes its offer for 13.3 million Next Level shares after extending the deadline five times. (movements).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * Motorola completes its offer for 13.3 million Next Level shares after extending the deadline five times. As a result, Motorola has increased its ownership of Next Level stock to 88.7% from 74%. The company will acquire the remaining shares...

A federal judge in New York, acting upon a ruling from the US Court of Appeals, dismisses Motorola's racketeering case against the Uzan family, owners of Turkish cellco Telsim. (movements).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * A federal judge in New York, acting upon a ruling from the US Court of Appeals, dismisses Motorola's racketeering case against the Uzan family, owners of Turkish cellco Telsim. However, Judge Ted Rakoff says the charges could be refiled later...

The University of California and Amalgamated Bank's Longview Collective Investment Fund files suit against AOL Time Warner. (movements).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * The University of California and Amalgamated Bank's Longview Collective Investment Fund files suit against AOL Time Warner, accusing chairman Steve Case and four other top executives--including vice chairman Ted Turner and chief executive...

Cisco Systems launches several initiatives to boost profits of its distributor, including a cut in administrative fees. (movements).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * Cisco Systems launches several initiatives to boost profits of its distributor, including a cut in administrative fees. Cisco says the new programs will not hurt its margins, expecting it could boost resellers' profits by up to 50% in 12 to...

Microsoft files a complaint against Lucent Technologies to counter claims by Lucent that Microsoft's hardware partners.--Dell Computer and Gateway--were infringing on the telecoms equipment maker's patents. (movements).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... * Microsoft files a complaint against Lucent Technologies to counter claims by Lucent that Microsoft's hardware partners--Dell Computer and Gateway--were infringing on the telecoms equipment maker's patents.

Trading places: blurring the lines between telcos and TV: Telcos and broadband ISPs hungry for value-added video have been creeping into the TV space via IPTV. From the other side, new platforms are giving content providers fresh distribution channels--and even the chance to bypass telcos. (Cover Story).
May 1, 2003... It's been taken as read for quite some time in the industry that broadband access is a business model with limited gain. The real money, say the market analysts, is in the value added services that broadband enables--and for many broadband...

Still investigating after all these years: lower valuations, fewer competitors, less cash: telecom fund specialist TVG is making the stock market meltdown work for it. So says managing director John Troy, speaking with group editor Robert Clark in his Hong Kong office, with fellow MD Varun Bery logging in by speakerphone. (One-to-One).(TVG Group)(Interview)
May 1, 2003... Telecom Asia: How did the TVG Group come together? How are you funded? John Troy: Varun and I worked together at a firm called the Asian Infrastructure Fund, which was an $800 million fund focused on power, transport and...

The slow tide of change in China's telecoms regulatory landscape. (Forum China).
May 1, 2003... On the surface, little is changing for China's telecom policy structure in 2003: this year the word's largest telecom market will remain predominately controlled by the state, and without a comprehensive telecom law. But beneath the monolithic...

C&W launches IP-VPN QoS solution for Asia. (Premiere: latest products and services).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Cable & Wireless has extended its MPLS-based IP-VPN QoS solution to the Asia-Pacific region. The solution is delivered through C&W's private IP-VPN network across the world, and is available in 65 countries worldwide with service...

Lightning protection for communications systems. (Premiere: latest products and services).(Andrew Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Andrew Corporation has introduced Compact SureGround Grounding Kits to protect communications equipment from lightning strikes. The kits have weatherproofing molded directly into the grounding strap, and have what Andrew claims is the...

CTI system for small call centers. (Premiere: latest products and services).(Computer Telephony Integration)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Japan's Oki Electric Industry Co is now selling its CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) and IP communications system, CTstage 4i for .NET, 2003, to the Chinese call center market. The CTstage 4i system supports the Microsoft .NET platform,...

10-Gbps optical transceivers. (Premiere: latest products and services).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The SXP3101 series and SDX4101 series10-Gbps optical transceiver products from Sumitomo Electric Industries are designed for use in 10-Gbps Ethernet and 10-Gbps fiber channels. The SXP3101 series is suited for higher port density...

NEC to resell Overture IP service gateway. (Premiere: latest products and services).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... NEC has signed a reseller agreement to resell Overture Networks' IP service gateway system to the worldwide market, with an emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region. The IS5000 gateway system enables network service providers to integrate frame...

Integrated CMOS camera modules. (Premiere: latest products and services).(Agilent Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Agilent Technologies has unveiled a new family of integrated CMOS camera modules for mobile phones and wireless PDAs. The modules combine high image quality CIF or VGA resolution CMOS image sensors with a tightly integrated image processor,...

Networking the multinational: the turmoil in global service provision may have settled down, but users are becoming more conscious of provider stability--and new competition. (Telecom Corporate).
May 1, 2003... Pity the telecom network managers for a major multinational corporation. They have to worry about making sure that the WAN link to Manila or Sao Paulo is up and running at 3am. They worry about whether their internal users have installed all...

Preview: CommunicAsia2003 [17-20 June, 2003].
May 1, 2003... CommunicAsia, Asia's premier telecoms event, is coming back to Singapore from 17 to 20 June, 2003, with over 1,700 companies--including leading industry players such as NEC, Samsung, Siemens, Huawei, Panasonic, SingTel and NTT DoCoMo--expected...

FCC gives green light to telco lawbreakers. (Telecom Planet).
May 1, 2003... Just when one thought that the US Federal Communications Commission couldn't be any more obtuse in the way it handles disputes with Asian countries, along comes its latest astonishing missive. The FCC has effectively decided to abandon a...

Alone. (Back Page Briefing).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... ALONE: We are one alone. After four years, that's the finding of the world's largest long-running distributed computing project, Seti@home. The project, based at the University of California, Berkeley, drew a blank last month when it...

Overrun. (Back Page Briefing).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... OVER RUN: Australian Comms Minister Senator Richard Alston, who also looks after the IT and Arts industries, is under attack over cost overruns for his departmental Web site, which cost a massive A$4 million ($3 million). The minister...

Surrender. (Back Page Briefing).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... SURRENDER: A combination of hacker attacks and political pressure during the Iraq War last month forced US hosting company Akamai to drop its association with independent Arab news service al-Jazeera. The company, which hosts content on...

Ready. (Back Page Briefing).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... READY: Scandinavia has taken over from the US as the world's most online economy, according to an annual Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey. Sweden and Denmark won the top two places in the 2003 "e-readiness" survey, pushing the US...

Wiretap. (Back Page Briefing).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... WIRETAP: Another privacy vs. security dispute is brewing in the US. This time, the FBI is pushing for easier wiretapping access to VoIP services. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) enables the tapping of...