Telecom Asia articles from September 2002

Telecom Asia archives from September 2002

Expanding the vendor club. (Inside Line).
September 1, 2002... The telecom vendor sector is an unusual beast. Communications suppliers do the same things as their IT counterparts--sell gear made out of processors, routers, optics, radios and software--but the market has a different dynamic. Most probably...

MMS dressed for success--or not. (Tanner).(wireless messaging)
September 1, 2002... GSM operators are gearing up for MMS. Over 55 cellcos have contracted suppliers for MMS gear since July 2001, and commercial launches in Asia began in April with Hong Kong CSL's MMS service. Local rivals Hutchison and SmarTone have since...

Telstra and Sun build single Web services platform for broadband and wireless. (First Mile).(contract to enable unified platform; Sun Microsystems)
September 1, 2002... Telstra's ambitious drive to build its next-generation packetized DMO network moved a significant step forward at the end of July after it announced a contract with Sun Microsystems to put together an open, integratable Web services platform...

Resend: broadband wireless: what's the frequency? (Flashbacks, updates and nostalgia: Telecom Asia, September 1997).(the promise of MMDS, LMDS, and MVDS)(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
September 1, 2002... SYNOPSIS: Broadband wireless technologies like MMDS, LMDS, and MVDS promise to liberate the local loop monopoly by allowing competitive operators to roll out high-speed last-mile connections more quickly and cheaply than fixed-line solutions....

Stat snap. (First Mile).(revenue, market share for Internet protocol private branch exchanges)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... IP-PBXs are still the exception to the old-school PBX rule in Asia, but it's only a matter time before they dominate the enterprise--six years, to be exact, according to a new Frost & Sullivan report released in Hong Kong last month. IP-PBX...

WorldCom's business-as-usual fantasy: the saga drags on and revelations about the demise of WorldCom are appearing on an almost daily basis. Grahame Lynch wrestles with the problem of separating telecom truth from fiction. (News Analysis).
September 1, 2002... When large companies enter bankruptcy, one of their first imperatives is to portray the appearance of business as usual. But WorldCom, where fact is indeed often stranger than fiction, seems to have taken this to extremes. Never mind last...

Hutchison and ST Telemedia return to claim Global Crossing: Hutchison's and ST Telemedia's successful second bid for Global Crossing last month was a masterpiece of ironic suspense. Now, dealmakers still have a maze of restructure details, regulatory requirements and not a little political thunder over Red Communists and "national security nightmares" to navigate before the deal's official. (News Analysis).
September 1, 2002... When Global Crossing rejected a $750 million joint bid from Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa and Singapore Technologies Telemedia earlier this year, saying the offer was insultingly low for its $22.4 billion network, Hutchison and ST Telemedia...

`Painless' solution may be GigaMedia's ticket out: GigaMedia may soon drop out of Taiwan's cutthroat broadband race by selling its customers to Eastern Multimedia but GigaMedia seems to be the only one convinced that it's not a done deal. (News Analysis).
September 1, 2002... Eastern Broadband Telecommunications, a subsidiary of Eastern Multimedia, has signed a letter of intent to purchase the subscriber base of GigaMedia. If the deal is completed, Eastern Broadband will walk away with some 130,000 additional...

ILD tariff war hurts VSNL. (News Analysis).(international long distance tariffs, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd.)
September 1, 2002... India's international long distance (ILD) sector, now open to private telecom service providers, has been in the news for various reasons--from security concerns and tariffs to carrier access codes (CAC), which will be implemented by the end of...

Beijing: China's telecoms firms will spend 21% less on equipment this year than in 2001. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Beijing: China's telecoms firms will spend 21% less on equipment this year than in 2001, due mainly to the government break up of China Telecom and increased caution by China's two mobile carriers, Beijing-based market research group Norson...

Hong Kong: Cheung Kong Enterprises and power companies CLP Holdings and Hongkong Electric announce plans to provide broadband services using powerline communication technology that allows voice and data traffic to be sent over electric wires in buildings. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Hong Kong: Cheung Kong Enterprises and power companies CLP Holdings and Hongkong Electric announce plans to provide broadband services using powerline communication technology that allows voice and data traffic to be sent over electric wires in...

Hong Kong: location-based services provider The Pinpoint Company and Hutchison Telecom launch what they say is the city's first location-based workforce management service. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Hong Kong: Location-based services provider The Pinpoint Company and Hutchison Telecom launch what they say is the city's first location-based workforce management service exclusively for Orange corporate customers in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong: the OFTA issues a consultation paper on the creation of a class license for wireless LAN services in the 2.4 GHz or 5.5-5.7 GHz bands. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Hong Kong: The OFTA issues a consultation paper on the creation of a class license for wireless LAN services in the 2.4 GHz or 5.5-5.7 GHz bands. OFTA is proposing a streamlined process under which anyone wishing to operate public wireless LAN...

Kabul: Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC). (Asian telecoms this month).(opens country's first Internet cafe)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Kabul: Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC), which launched Afghanistan's first GSM service in April, opens the country's first Internet cafe in Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel.

Bangkok: mobile carrier Advanced Info Service expects to have 11 million subscribers by the end of the year. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Bangkok: Mobile carrier Advanced Info Service expects to have 11 million subscribers by the end of the year, up from a previous forecast of 9.5 to 10 million. The company plans to spend $200 million to expand its network further to service...

Gandhinagar: Indian mobile operator Bharti Cellular begins offering cellular phone services in India's western state of Gujarat. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Gandhinagar: Indian mobile operator Bharti Cellular begins offering cellular phone services in India's western state of Gujarat, with a slew of incentives to grab customers, such as free nationwide roaming. Bharti also launches mobile services...

Jakarta: the Indonesian government plans to sell around 41% of state-run international phone operator Indosat via a strategic sale this year. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Jakarta: The Indonesian government plans to sell around 41% of state-run international phone operator Indosat via a strategic sale this year, against a previous plan to sell 30%.

Jakarta: incumbent telco Telkom scraps IPO plans for its cellular unit Telkomsel after a management study decides against it. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Jakarta: Incumbent telco Telkom scraps IPO plans for its cellular unit Telkomsel after a management study decides against it. Some analysts speculate that spinning off Telkomsel would hurt Telkom's own share price since the cellular operation...

Beijing: statistics from China Internet Network Information Center show China's Internet subscriber. (Asian telecoms this month).(subscriber base statistics)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Beijing: Statistics from China Internet Network Information Center show China's Internet subscriber base surged to 45.8 million during the first half of 2002 after adding 22 million new Internet users.

Kuala Lumpur: the race for Malaysia's three 3G licenses comes to an end with only two being issued--one to Telekom Malaysia and one to UMTS (Malaysia). (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Kuala Lumpar: The race for Malaysia's three 3G licenses comes to an end with only two being issued--one to Telekom Malaysia and one to UMTS (Malaysia), the 3G subsidiary of Maxis Communications. The other three bidders--Time dotCom, Technology...

Vientiane: IP switching provider Verso Technologies completes the planning and installation of its VoIP-based prepaid switching platform for Enterprise Telecom of Laos. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Vientiane: IP switching provider Verso Technologies completes the planning and installation of its VoIP-based prepaid switching platform for Enterprise Telecom of Laos, which will use the platform to launch the country's first prepaid telephony...

New Delhi: Indian telco Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd says it may have to readjust its recently reported first-quarter profits by two-thirds. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... New Delhi: Indian telco Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd says it may have to read-just its recently reported first-quarter profits by two-thirds if it agrees to interconnection charges being proposed by fixed-line service providers telco Bharat Sanchar...

Seoul: mobile carrier SK Telecom plans to further reduce its stake in fixed-line provider KT Corp and may also consider a share swap, says president Pyo Moon-soo. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Seoul: Mobile carrier SK Telecom plans to further reduce its stake in fixed-line provider KT Corp and may also consider a share swap, says president Pyo Moon-soo. SKT owns 9.55% of KT, while KT has a 9.27% stake in SKT. Meanwhile, the...

Seoul: the Ministry of Information and Communication announces plans to combat cell phone spam. (Asian telecoms this month).(South Korea)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Seoul: The Ministry of Information and Communication announces plans to combat cell phone spam by requiring spammers to include the word "advertisement" and contact information allowing receivers of spam to contact the sender and complain. Spam...

Seoul: nearly 60% of South Korea's 48 million people log onto the Internet at least once a month. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Seoul: Nearly 60% of South Korea's 48 million people log onto the Internet at least once a month, but the Ministry of Information and Communication cautions that the market is nearing saturation. MIC figures show that 26 million people used the...

Taipei: Chunghwa Telecom says it's expecting 2002 earnings per share (EPS) of T$4.28 down 16% from a previous estimate of T$5.12. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Taipei: Chunghwa Telecom says it's expecting 2002 earnings per share (EPS) of T$4.28, down 16% from a previous estimate of T$5.12. That's on projected sales of T$185 billion ($5.5 billion) this year, falling 3.6% from an earlier forecast of...

Sydney: Telstra announces plans for a second Bass Strait optical fiber cable system to accommodate Tasmania's growing demand for advanced telecoms services. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Sydney: Telstra announces plans for a second Bass Strait optical fiber cable system to accommodate Tasmania's growing demand for advanced telecoms services. The second cable will run 240 km from Inverloch in Victoria to Stanley in Tasmania. The...

Sri Lanka: mobile operator MTN Networks, fully owned by Telekom Malaysia, announces plans to expand into Jaffna peninsula. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Sri Lanka: Mobile operator MTN Networks, fully owned by Telekom Malaysia, announces plans to expand into Jaffna peninsula, encouraged by a five-month ceasefire between the government and separatist rebels. The $10 million project would be the...

Singapore: StarHub plans to invest an initial S$25 million ($14.2 million) on a domestic residential telephone service using the island-wide fiber-optic network. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Singapore: StarHub plans to invest an initial S$25 million ($14.2 million) on a domestic residential telephone service using the island-wide fiber-optic network it acquired via its merger with cable television operator Singapore Cable Vision...

Singapore: ACPL Marine, a 70-30 joint venture of ASEAN Cableship and Singapore Telecom. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Singapore: ACPL Marine, a 70-30 joint venture of ASEAN Cableship and Singapore Telecom, buys a new $38.4 million vessel for repairing submarine communication cables.

Tokyo: NEC, Matsushita Electric Industrial, KDDI and Japan Telecom set up a planning company to study the feasibility of broadband services that could be offered by their "Megaconsortium" ISP alliance announced in April. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Tokyo: NEC, Matsushita Electric Industrial, KDDI and Japan Telecom set up a planning company to study the feasibility of broadband services that could be offered by their "Megaconsortium" ISP alliance announced in April. The planning company...

Tokyo: NTT raises its forecast for 2002-2003 to 100 billion yen ($836 million) from 15 billion yen, reflecting a special gain of 148 billion yen on the sale of 551,000 shares in wireless unit NTT DoCoMo. (Asian telecoms this month).
September 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT raises its forecast for 2002-2003 to mo billion yen ($836 million) from 15 billion yen, reflecting a special gain of 248 billion yen on the sale of 551,000 shares in wireless unit NTT DoCoMo. Meanwhile, the Telecommunications Council...

Tokyo: a Japanese government advisory panel calls for drastic deregulation of Japan's telecoms market. (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Tokyo: A Japanese government advisory panel calls for drastic deregulation of Japan's telecoms market. Specifically, the panel recommends authorities to drop the distinction between carriers possessing their own facilities, such as incumbent...

Singapore: Singapore Telecom's net profit slid 37.3% in the three months to 30 June, against a year earlier, to S$377 million ($213 million). (Asian telecoms this month).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Singapore: Singapore Telecom's net profit slid 37.3% in the three months to 30 June, against a year earlier, to S$377 million ($213 million), but Australian unit Optus contributed to the group's operating revenue, which leapt 98% year-on-year...

Bankrupt telecoms giant WorldCom announces that an internal audit discovered another $3.3 billion in earnings were improperly recorded on its books from 1999 to the first quarter of 2002. (movements).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * Bankrupt telecoms giant WorldCom announces that an internal audit discovered another $3.3 billion in earnings were improperly recorded on its books from 1999 to the first quarter of 2002. That widens WorldCom's accounting scandal to just over...

SoundView Technology analyst Kevin Slocum upgrades his rating on the stocks of three fiber-optic-related companies--Corning, JDS Uniphase and Bookham Technology--to "neutral", on expectations that spending by US telephone carriers will begin rebounding later this year. (movements).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * SoundView Technology analyst Kevin Slocum upgrades his rating on the stocks of three fiber-optic-related companies--Corning, JDS Uniphase and Bookham Technology--to "neutral", on expectations that: spending by US telephone carriers will begin...

Qwest Communications International says it will restate financial results for several years. (movements).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * Qwest Communications International says it will restate financial results for several years. Meanwhile, the company posts a second-quarter loss of $1.14 billion as slack demand hurt sales of its data services. Qwest also sets new 2002...

Japan's largest electronics maker, Hitachi, wins approval from the European Commission. (movements).(to acquire IBM's disk drive business)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * Japan's largest electronics maker, Hitachi, wins approval from the European Commission to buy IBM's loss-making hard disk drive business for $2.05 billion.

The Finnish government says it had nothing to do with Sonera's decision to take a 4.3-billion-euro ($4.24 billion) write-off for its 3G investments. (movements).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * The Finnish government says it had nothing to do with Sonera's decision to take a 4.3-billion-euro ($4.24 billion) write-off for its 3G investments in Germany after going to shareholders last year in a billion-euro rights issue to help...

Hutchison Whampoa will launch the first of its 3G mobile services in the UK and Italy in October. (movements).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * Hutchison Whampoa will launch the first of its 3G mobile services in the UK and Italy in October. Expect dropped calls, however, advises group managing director Canning Fok, as coverage won't quite be 100%. Meanwhile, Vodafone Group in...

Microsoft reveals 385 pieces of proprietary computer code and internal operating rules from its monopoly Windows operating system. (movements).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * Microsoft reveals 385 pieces of proprietary computer code and internal operating rules from its monopoly Windows operating system to comply with an anti-trust settlement it signed with the US Justice Department last year.

Shipments of handheld devices in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, slid for the first time with a 19% fall in January to June compared with the second half of 2001, says a new IDC report. (movements).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * Shipments of handheld devices in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, slid for the first time with a 19% fall in January to June compared with the second half of 2001 says a new IDC report. Only 1.06 million handheld units were shipped...

Siemens IC Mobile COO Lothar Pauly tells analysts in Munich that the firm would stay focused on GSM and UMTS mobile phone standards. (movements).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * Siemens IC Mobile COO Lothar Pauly tells analysts in Munich that the firm would stay focused on GSM and UMTS mobile phone standards and ruled out a divergence into CDMA, saying that "the cost burden is too much".

The US mobile telephone industry may be able to bid for new airwaves given up by the federal government as early as 2004 but may not be able to use them until 2008. (movements).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * The US mobile telephone industry may be able to bid for new airwaves given up by the federal government as early as 2004 but may not be able to use them until 2008, according to a plan unveiled by government officials.

Staying alive: global survival strategies for the telecom recovery: competitive carrier CEOs across the world are emerging from the telecom firestorm a lot wiser. In this exclusive profile, compiled by telecom commentator and author Grahame Lynch, they tell Telecom Asia what they learned from the collapse, their fears for the future and new survival strategies. (Cover Story).(Industry Overview)(Cover Story)
September 1, 2002... In Melbourne, the 50-something telecom CEO, who we shall call Bill Johan, slumped against the conference room wall. "It's difficult when all your assumptions and forecasts go out the window," he lamented, referring to the collapse of the...

Metro Ethernet T&M: old tests for new networks: thanks to its low cost, revenue potential, and serious technological advances, Ethernet is popping up in metro networks all over Asia. This raises new test and measurement issues. Fortunately, most are covered by seasoned metro test methodologies for now, while T&M gear has been evolving to pick up the slack. (Network).
September 1, 2002... More and more carriers are beefing up or building out their metro area networks, not just in terms of boosting capacity, but also in broader and more flexible service portfolios--ideally at a cost-effective price. For many carriers, one of...

French flair with an Asian look. (One-to-One).(France Telecom, Equant target Asian markets)(Interview)
September 1, 2002... Another telco is coming into the Asia-Pacific region under its own steam in the wake of a failed alliance. This time it's France Telecom working the long-distance market while subsidiary Equant targets the corporates. Jean-Francois Thomas,...

About face on Hong Kong M&A regulations. (Telecom Forum).(mergers and acquisitions)
September 1, 2002... The Telecommunications (Amendment) Bill 2002 was introduced into the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) in May, aimed at establishing a regime for the regulation of mergers and acquisitions within the telecoms sector that would ensure, where...

Juniper Networks adds new member to T-series router family. (Premiere).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A smaller version of the T640 targeting large-sized carriers, Juniper Networks' newly released T320 router is designed for carriers to migrate their legacy network into an IP/MPLS infrastructure. Using Juniper's third generation of...

VLSI solution for metro network applications. (Premiere).(TranSwitch Corporation )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... TranSwitch Corporation has introduced TXC-OMNI, a silicon and software solution for metropolitan area network systems. Targeting next generation ADMs (add/drop multiplexers), DCSs (digital cross connects) and hybrid TDM / data switching...

Smartcard solution for high-security sector. (Premiere).(Siemens Business Services )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Siemens Business Services (SBS) has developed a solution that can store three biometric procedures--identification of voice, face and fingerprint--on a smartcard. The solution has a device for recording the data and personalizing the card,...

Correction.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
September 1, 2002... Telecom Asia incorrectly transposed the product photograph of 4RF's Aprisa radio with that of Nokia's IP clustering solution in our last issue. We apologize for the mistake and any inconvenience caused.

POS access solution. (Premiere).(point of sale access device)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies has unveiled a router-based point of sale (POS) access device for the financial sector in China. Unlike existing POS access solutions, which are based on private networking technology and are relatively...

Enhanced bridging solution for mutli-vendor infrastructure. (Premiere).(3Com)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... 3Com has launched a wireless LAN building-to-building bridge that it says is the industry's first to be compatible with any Wi-Fi certified access point. An updated version from the original bridge released in June 2001, the enhanced...

Multi-mode G.shdsl transceiver. (Premiere).(Mindspeed Technologies )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Mindspeed Technologies has launched a multi-mode G.shdsl transceiver that runs two full-rate T1/E1 payloads over a single link. The ZipWirePlus M28976 transceiver includes two separate pulse code modulation (PCM) data paths feeding a...

Solutions for Web, JCA, and financial services. (Premiere).(Mercator Software)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Business integration software solutions developer Mercator Software has announced new solutions for Web services, Java Connector Architecture (JCA), and financial services, with enhanced features and increased security. The Mercator Web...

CMOS image sensors. (Premiere).(complementary metal oxide semiconductor)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A new family of color and monochrome CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensors from Agilent Technologies is now available. The sensors are designed for PC cameras, detachable cameras for mobile phones and PDAs, as well...

KT picks cellular chief as CEO. (Telecom Career).(Lee Yong-Kyung)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... South Korean incumbent telco KT Corp has appointed KTF president Lee Yong-kyung as its new chief executive. Lee, 59, will lead the fixed line carrier for the next three years. He succeeds Lee Sang-chul, who became South Korea's information...

Time dotCom chief steps down. (Telecom Career).(Robert Fox)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Time dotCom chief executive Robert Fox has resigned. Fox, who was due to step down at the end of August after we went to press, will take up an advisory role in the company. Fox will be replaced by Ahmad Pardas Senin, who had just been named as...

AT&T Singapore head. (Telecom Career).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... AT&T has appointed Collis Loh as country general manger to head the company's operations in Singapore. Previously, Loh was a senior account manager with AT&T Singapore. He joined the company after AT&T's acquisition of the IBM Global...

China Mobile CFO. (Telecom Career).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... China Mobile has named Xue Taohai as CFO replacing Ding Donghua, who has retired. Xue has also been appointed as a director and vice chairman of the company. Xue, 46, has been with the parent company, China Mobile Communications...

Telstra taps HR, corporate head. (Telecom Career).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Telstra has appointed Bill Scales as group managing director, corporate and human relations. Scales joined Telstra in 2000 and was most recently managing director of human resources and chief of staff.

Qwest CFO. (Telecom Career).(Qwest Communications International )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Qwest Communications International has named Oren Shaffer as its new chief financial officer. Shaffer, who replaced Qwest's existing CFO Robin Szeliga, was formerly a business consultant with the company.

Robert Bong takes helm at Keppel T&T. (Telecom Career).(Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation has appointed Robert Bong, currently managing director of the company, as executive director and managing director. Bong replaces Ng Eng Ho, who is leaving Keppel T&T to pursue personal interests.

Motorola COO. (Telecom Career).(Motorola's Personal Communications Sector)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Mike Zafirovski, formerly executive vice president and president of Motorola's Personal Communications Sector, has been named president and chief operating officer of the company. Zafirovski replaces Ed Breen, who unexpectedly quit to join...

CLP TeleCom head to step down in PowerCom move. (Telecom Career).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... CLP Telecommunications Limited (CLP TeleCom) says Peter Heavyside, the company's current managing director, will step down following the integration of its Oxygen branded retail Internet services into PowerCom Network Hong Kong Limited, a newly...

Nortel CFO. (Telecom Career).(Nortel Networks, Douglas Beatty)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Douglas Beatty has been appointed chief financial officer of Nortel Networks by the company's board of directors. Beatty has been the company's controller since 1999, after leaving Nortel in 1995 to serve as Sprint Canada's vice president of...

Cisco North Asia MD. (Telecom Career).(managing director, Frankie Sum)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Cisco Systems has named Frankie Sum as managing director for North Asia, covering Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines. Sum was previously managing director for Cisco Hong Kong. Errol Chan will take over the Hong Kong operations as country...

Redback names AP customer services head. (Telecom Career).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Redback Networks has appointed Alex Li as director of customer services for Asia Pacific. Li comes to Redback from Nortel Networks, where he was responsible for the service business of the enterprise segment in Asia.

BT Ignite Asia Pacific head. (Telecom Career).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... BT has named Graham Moore as president of BT Ignite Asia Pacific, BT's business services and solutions division. Moore will be based in Hong Kong and oversee BT's operations in the region.

Xilinx appoints Asian MD. (Telecom Career).(managing director, David Loftus)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Xilinx has named David Loftus as managing director, Asia-Pacific. Loftus will be based in Hong Kong and head Xilinx's operations in the region, excluding Japan.

VTech appoints CEO. (Telecom Career).(VTech Holdings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Paddy Law Wai Leung has been appointed CEO of Hong Kong-based cordless phone manufacturer VTech Holdings, replacing Allan Wong, who will continue serve the company as chairman. Contacting TelecomCareer Advertising: Leo Cheung Tel:...

IP-VPN staking its place in communication future: IP-VPN isn't the arcane, futuristic technology that many people think. In this special feature, Ian Scales, with the help of analyst firm Yankee Group, gets to grips with the backbone of the technology and where it will position itself. (Telecom Corporate).
September 1, 2002... Users could be forgiven for associating the IP-VPN concept with the sound of crashing competitive carriers. This would be a mistake. IP-VPNs are alive and well and almost certainly coming to a PoP near you, says the research. Far from...

How Asia avoided the great telecom crisis. (Telecom Planet).
September 1, 2002... One of the notable aspects of the global telecom downturn is the fact that it is largely confined to Europe and North America. Carriers may be dropping like flies and vendors sliding into the mud with them, but for the moment, Asia seems...

Traffic. (Backpage Briefing).(China leads Japan in Internet usage)
September 1, 2002... China overtook Japan as the world's second most active Web audience, accounting for 6.63% of all global Internet traffic during July, according to US-based Web tracking software vendor WebSideStory. Japan was close behind with 5.24%, followed...

E-commerce. (Backpage Briefing).(car sells for $14 on Internet auction web site)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Who says you can't find a good deal on the Web these days? Han Bin, a 20-year-old office worker in Shanghai, bought a second-hand Volkswagen Passat for $14--much to the surprise of the used car company that was selling it. Yongda...

Inflation. (Backpage Briefing).(Worldcom's inflation of Internet usage statistics )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Not only is WorldCom being blamed for the current wave of stock market woes by inflating its earnings, but now it's being blamed for the Internet bubble (and its subsequent popping) by inflating its Internet traffic figures. Several...

Wan-giri. (Backpage Briefing).(NTT has no recourse to stop phone scam)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... NTT's fixed line units have been battling automatic phone scares jamming up their local telephony networks in recent weeks. The so-called "wan-girl" or one-ring scare works by making computer-generated mass calls to random mobile numbers, and...

Letdown. (Backpage Briefing).(Japan Telecom opts for reorganization, spinoff)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Japan's telecoms sector looked set for an interesting shake-up at the end of July when Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) president Nobuya Minami was quoted in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun daily saying that TEPCO was close to sealing a deal to buy...