Wireless Asia articles from April 2001

Wireless Asia archives from April 2001

Outpacing ourselves.(Unwired)(consumers not adopting new technologies)
April 1, 2001... Is the cellular industry outpacing itself? Last year the hot new technology was WAP, which cooled pretty quickly. This year it is GPRS and Bluetooth, which to be frank have never gone beyond the tepid stage in the eyes of consumers and...

3G: Australia, Singapore auctions fall short: the lukewarm response to spectrum sell-offs in Australia and Singapore comes as no surprise, with incumbents dominating the bidding.(News Analysis)
April 1, 2001... Results from Australia's auction and uncertainty in Singapore confirm that the gloss has faded from 3G technology in the Asia-Pacific region. The Australian auction raised only A$1.168 billion ($569.2 million), just above the Government's...

ArrayComm bursts on to Aussie scene.(News Analysis)
April 1, 2001... Not one but two US vendors chanced their luck with a strategic slice of spectrum in the just-completed Australian auction. Both CDMA specialist Qualcomm and smart antenna provider ArrayComm are both hoping they can leverage their newly-won...

Chinese vendors ready for CDMA gold rush: China Unicom has finally invited tenders for its CDMA network. Foreign bids are accepted, but the company has signaled that the lion's share will go to local vendors.(News Analysis)
April 1, 2001... After years of hesitation and negotiation with the US backers of CDMA, China Unicom has finally set its mind to become the country's first nationwide CDMA operator, opening the tender for CDMA IS-95B network in late March. State media said...

Low-priced TAC fires up the market--and AIS: with a new foreign COO on board, Thailand's number two operator, TAC, has sparked a market revival by becoming the industry price leader--drawing the ire of rival AIS.(News Analysis)(Total Access Communications, Advanced Info Services)
April 1, 2001... Thailand's second largest cellular operator Total Access Communications (TAC) is making a play for the number one slot. Under the guidance of Helen Sanberg, the company's new Telenor-appointed chief operating officer, TAC recently launched a...

Powering location-based services.(Advertorial)(Innaworks)(Advertisement)
April 1, 2001... The ability to locate a person is one of the core attractions of the mobile phone. Now, with increased intelligence in cellular networks, mobile phone users have the ability to access information and services based on their location. Yet...

Nokia Networks wins a $1.35 billion 3G contract to supply France Telecom's Orange UK, Iteniris in France and MobilCom in Germany.(Movements)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Nokia Networks wins a $1.35 billion 3G contract to supply France Telecom's Orange UK, Iteniris in France and MobilCom in Germany, as well as a $439 million contract with Hutchison 3G in the UK and a $434 million tie-up with Optus in Australia.

SyncML, the data synchronization standards backed by the likes of Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola.(Movements)(3GPP endorsement)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... SyncML, the data synchronization standards backed by the likes of Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola, is endorsed by the 3GPP as the protocol for wide area network synchronization solution in 3GPP release 4.

Motorola joins the move to develop so-called GSM 800 equipment, following similar announcements earlier this year from Nokia and Ericsson in January and February, respectively.(Movements)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Motorola joins the move to develop so-called GSM 800 equipment, following similar announcements earlier this year from Nokia and Ericsson in January and February, respectively. The 850-MHz GSM stardard has already been ratified under European...

Psion, the founder and main driver behind Symbian and its EPOC32 operating system for mobile devices.(Movements)(revenues)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Psion, the founder and main driver behind Symbian and its EPOC32 operating system for mobile devices, says that Symbian's revenues will be adversely affected by an industry-wide delay in the roll-out of 2.5G handsets.

Scott Goldman steps down from his post as CEO of the WAP Forum.(Movements)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Scott Goldman steps down from his post as CEO of the WAP Forum. In addition, the WAP Forum also decides to reduce its cole promoting WAP and revert to being a technical and standards body.

South Korea's SK Telecom and Japan's KDDI voice their intention to adopt Qualcomm's HDR (High Data Rate) technology.(Movements)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... South Korea's SK Telecom and Japan's KDDI voice their intention to adopt Qualcomm's HDR (High Data Rate) technology, now in the process of being standardized as cdma2000 1x EV-DO (data only).

Vodafone launches an interpretation service.(Movements)(Vodafone Group PLC)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Vodafone launches an interpretation service that allows mobile customers to speak to non-English speakers in the UK or overseas.

Siemens wins contracts to expand China Mobile's GSM networks in Anhui province and the Shanghai region and upgrade them for GPRS.(Movements)(China Mobile Communications Corp. and China Unicom Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Siemens wins contracts to expand China Mobile's GSM networks in Anhui province and the Shanghai region and upgrade them for GPRS. Siemens also announced a network expansion/prepaid services contract for China Unicom's GSM network in...

Ericsson.(Movements)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Ericsson announces its first switching center for the cdma2000 standard.

Samsung Electronics and Nortel Networks team up.(Movements)(Samsung Electronics Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Samsung Electronics and Nortel Networks team up to jointly develop W-CDMA equipment.

Beijing: China Mobile selects Siemens and Openwave.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(China Mobile Communications Corp.'s contract with Siemens AG and Openwave Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Beijing: China Mobile selects Siemens and Openwave as its main WAP platform suppliers throughout China.

Beijing: China Unicom says it will look to Chinese equipment manufacturers first for its much-anticipated CDMA network roll-out.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Beijing: China Unicom says it will look to Chinese equipment manufacturers first for its much-anticipated CDMA network roll-out. Chinese vendors are hoping to grab some 40% of the overall Unicom contract.

Beijing: ZTE publicly demonstrates audio, data and video communications over its cdma2000 1x compatible mobile communication system--the first such system on offer from a Chinese manufacturer.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Beijing: ZTE publicly demonstrates audio, data and video communications over its cdma2000 1x compatible mobile communication system--the first such system on offer from a Chinese manufacturer. ZTE also receives government approval to sell its...

Dalian: An investigation is launched to examine claims in lawsuits from Dalian-based China Hanpu Software against Motorola Alcatel and Ericsson.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Dalian: An investigation is launched to examine claims in lawsuits from Dalian-based China Hanpu Software against Motorola Alcatel and Ericsson (as well as the latter's two plants in Beijing and Nanjing),accusing them of illegally using the...

Guangzhou: Motorola wins a multi-million dollar contract.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Guangzhou Metro Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Guangzhou: Motorola wins a multi-million dollar contract to supply China's first 800-MHz TETRA digital trunked radio solution for the Guangzhou Metro.

Nanjing: Alcatel signs a $180m deal with Jiangsu Mobile.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Jiangsu Mobile Communications Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Nanjing: Alcatel signs a $180m deal with Jiangsu Mobile for a GSM network expansion project.

Hong Kong: SmarTone posts an interim loss of $14.5m for the six months to December 31, 2000--a 71% improvement for the same period last year.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Hong Kong: SmarTone posts an interim loss of $14.5m for the six months to December 31, 2000--a 71% improvement for the same period last year. Turnover increased slightly to HK$1.482b ($190m), while overall EBITDA earnings registered a loss of...

Hong Kong: Sunday reports that it halved its net loss to HK$466m ($59.8m) last year, and expects to see breakeven within the first half of this year.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Sunday Communications Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Hong Kong: Sunday reports that it halved its net loss to HK$466m ($59.8m) last year, and expects to see breakeven within the first half of this year. Sunday's subscriber base rose 43% last year to 410,000, giving the company an 8% to 9%...

Hong Kong: Hutchison Whampoa reports a net profit drop of 71% in its 2000 financial results due to its $4b provision to guard against possible "future negative effects" from its 3.2% stake in Britain's Vodafone Group.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Hong Kong: Hutchison Whampoa reports a net profit drop of 71% in its 2000 financial results due to its $4b provision to guard against possible "future negative effects" from its 3.2% stake in Britain's Vodafone Group. The group reported a 16%...

Hong Kong: Nokia sets up its first 3G applications center in Hong Kong to accelerate development of end-to-end mobile multimedia applications in the city.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Hong Kong: Nokia sets up its first 3G applications center in Hong Kong to accelerate development of end-to-end mobile multimedia applications in the city. The center offers a full-fledged test and development facility including various platform...

Bangkok: ACT Mobile, the cellular JV between state telcos TOT and CAT, misses a scheduled down payment to a consortium of international suppliers, which includes Ericsson, Siemens and Mitsui & Co of Japan.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Bangkok: ACT Mobile, the cellular JV between state telcos TOT and CAT, misses a scheduled down payment to a consortium of international suppliers, which includes Ericsson, Siemens and Mitsui & Co of Japan. TOT accuses ACT of intentionally...

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo president Keiji Tachikawa says Matsushita and NEC were the only firms out of 11 handset manufacturers enlisted by DoCoMo to make phones for its 3G launch to have come up with the goods.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo president Keiji Tachikawa says Matsushita and NEC were the only firms out of 11 handset manufacturers enlisted by DoCoMo to make phones for its 3G launch to have come up with the goods. The companies will launch four phones,...

Seoul: The Ministry of Information and Communications is proposing to facilitate seamless roaming between CDMA networks in Korea, Japan and China.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Seoul: The Ministry of Information and Communications is proposing to facilitate seamless roaming between CDMA networks in Korea, Japan and China by uniting them into a single international CDMA network covering all three countries. Trials...

Sydney: Australia raises $569m from its 3G spectrum auction--less than half of what the government had hoped.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Sydney: Australia raises $569m from its 3G spectrum auction--less than half of what the government had hoped. Telstra, Vodafone and Cable & Wireless Optus win nationwide spectrum, while Hutchison Australia takes home spectrum covering the fire...

Sydney: Telstra launches a commercial GPRS service--despite a shortage of phones.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Sydney: Telstra launches a commercial GPRS service--despite a shortage of phones. The company is offering the service in capital cities, yet says it has only "small quantities" of the one available handset, the Motorola Timeport. Telstra says...

Jakarta: Ailing CDMA operator Komselindo enlists the help of Korea's KT Freetel to help boost its business.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Jakarta: Ailing CDMA operator Komselindo enlists the help of Korea's KT Freetel to help boost its business. Under a contract worth $14.2m, Freetel will provide both technology and consulting services to Komselindo to help improve its...

Phnom Penh: Post and Telecommunications Minister So Khun faces possible disciplinary action after admitting to being employed as "an advisor" by market-leading cellco MobiTel.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Phnom Penh: Post and Telecommunications Minister So Khun faces possible disciplinary action after admitting to being employed as "an advisor" by market-leading cellco MobiTel. So Khun says he has done nothing illegal or improper. National...

Manila: Islacom will become the third fixed line operator after PLDT and Globe Telecom.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(text messaging )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Manila: Islacom will become the third fixed line operator after PLDT and Globe Telecom to offer text messaging via landline phones sometime this year.

Singapore: Only four bidders apply for the four 3G licenses on offer, even after the government cut the reserve fee from S$150m to S$100m ($54.5m).(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Singapore: Only four bidders apply for the four 3G licenses on offer, even after the government cut the reserve fee from S$150m to S$100m ($54.5m). Bidders are the three incumbents, SingTel Mobile, M1 and StarHub, as well as Hong Kong's Sunday...

Adding value to next generation mobile network with Huawei's M900/M1800 iMSC.(advertorial)(Advertisement)
April 1, 2001... The worldwide mobile communications market has undergone revolutionary change in the past decade. The number of mobile subscribers reached 440 million last year, and the figure is expected to hit 530 million at the end of 2001 and 900 million...

Mobile ads to the rescue: the wireless industry is gearing up to exploit the world's fastest-growing and most under-utilized piece of promotional real estate--the mobile phone screen. Boosters say it will enlarge customer choice, open up the content sector and increase revenues. That's the theory, anyway.
April 1, 2001... Wireless operators who experienced the disappointment of the early wireless Internet and who are now dumping billions into 3G now have another life raft to cling to--advertising. Mobile advertising, if its advocates are correct, could...

Wireless data finds its voice: cellcos still on the lookout for that killer wireless Net service may find it in voice portals that use speech recognition as a Web navigation tool.(Tech Focus)
April 1, 2001... With the imminent onset of 2.5 and 3G services, cellcos worldwide are still in search of the elusive killer app that will help them cash in on the wireless Net and supplement the money they already make on voice services. Ironically,...

Virgin territory.(1_2_1)(Ross Cormack, Virgin Mobile)(Interview)
April 1, 2001... Former HKT mobiles chief Ross Cormack is about to test the power of the brand--and in particular the power of the Virgin brand--in Asian cellular. Cormack has signed up to head Virgin Mobile's thrust into Asia as a virtual operator, in...

Beauty and the beholders.(Street Wise)(mobile phone handsets)
April 1, 2001... Nowadays, it seems all the major handset manufacturers, particularly Nokia, are banking on the style of its phones as the competitive edge to keep them at the top of the handset game, which is ironic, since they are now moving into something...

Communications for fun and profit: Iteru is starting to make money by combining communications and entertainment--despite the stodgy attitudes of Asia's cellcos.(Wireless Apps)
April 1, 2001... Communications is entertaining; it is human nature to enjoy interaction with other members of the species. That's the basis of the popularity of Internet apps such as email and ICQ. It's also one of the philosophies behind Singapore-based...

Wireless ads deal.(deals)(AdSociety will be advertising sales partner to SkyGo's carrier and publisher customers across the Asia Pacific)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... AdSociety, a pan-Asian broadband advertising, marketing and sales network, has signed an agreement with SkyGo, a technology provider specializing in wireless advertising platforms. Under the exclusive agreement, AdSociety will serve as the...

Djuice and Nokia intent on development.(deals)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... djuice, the mobile Internet portal for Norway's Telenor, has signed a letter of intent with Nokia Networks to jointly develop mobile Internet solutions. In the initial phase, Nokia's mPlatform Solution will be implemented as the enabling...

Handset leaders support XHTML.(deals)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Handset makers Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson and Siemens, along with other content and IT companies have committed to supporting XHTML (Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language). The other partners in the announcement--including Accenture, Adobe, AOL,...

3GPP adopts SyncML.(deals)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has adopted SyncML as the protocol for future mobile data synchronization services, replacing IrMC in 3GPP release 4.

Zi licenses eZiText to Ericsson worldwide.(deals)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Zi Corp will provide its eZiText input system to Ericsson mobile phones world wide, following a global deal between the two companies. Ericsson has licensed all 32 languages now supported by Zi, which previously licensed only its Chinese...

Mobile access to Lotus Notes.(deals)(Lotus Notes users will be able to access applications from Nokia 9210 Communicator)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Lotus Notes users will be able to access their applications from a Nokia 9210 Communicator, following an agreement between Lotus and Nokia.

3D cell phones.(out now)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... J-Phone, Bandai Networks--a subsidiary of Japanese game developer Bandai--and 3D software developer HI Corp., have developed a prototype mobile phone for its cellular service that can display 3D graphics. The new 3D technology--Mascot Capsule...

Location-based SMS platform.(out now)(Profilium offers location-based content delivery platform)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Profilium has unveiled what it claims is the first location-based content delivery platform for transmitting time and location-relevant messages to wireless devices via SMS. The platform should be available by 3Q01.

Buttonless smartphone.(out now)(Taiwan-based Acer offers new GSM smart phone, the Pro 80)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Taiwan-based Acer has released a new GSM smart phone, the Pro 80, whose user interface relies on speech and handwriting recognition technology from ART (Advanced Recognition Technologies) rather than buttons on a keypad.

Music player from Nokia.(out now)(Nokia introduced digital Nokia Music Player HDR-1)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Nokia has introduced the digital Nokia Music Player HDR-1, an accessory which allows users to listen to an integrated FM stereo radio and downloadable AAC and MP3 files on their handsets. The Nokia Music Player can also be used as a hands-free...

Multi-platform microbrowser.(out now)(Access Co. has announced a new microbrowser product--Compact NetFront Plus)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Japanese microbrowser company Access Co. has announced a new microbrowser product--Compact NetFront Plus, which will support WML 1.3 (WAP), cHTML (i-mode), and XHTML Basic, the next generation markup language for wireless services defined by...

Java for the WAPman.(out now)(EdgeMatrix launches Java version of WAPman microbrowser at CeBIT 2001)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... EdgeMatrix has launched a Java version of its WAPman microbrowser at CeBIT 2001--the world's first. The WAPman Java microbrowser can support the execution of Java MIDlets on mobile devices running WAPman. In addition to the new Java...

GSM+GPS phone.(out now)(Benefon and Genimap offer Benefon Esc! GSM+GPS personal navigation phone for test users and developers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Benefon and Genimap, both based in Finland, have announced the availability of the Benefon Esc! GSM+GPS personal navigation phone is now available for test users and developers. The Benefon Esc! stores maps in its memory and pinpoints the...

Symbian reveals v6.1 OS.(tools)(For GPRS-enabled Smartphones and Communicators )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Symbian publicly unveiled its release of its v6.1 operating system platform for GPRS-enabled Smartphones and Communicators at CeBIT 2001. The new platform also incorporates support for WAP 1.2, and Bluetooth. The Symbian platform v6.1 is...

Third-party apps tool for CDMA.(tools)(Ericsson announced CDMA Internet Services Platform)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Ericsson announced its CDMA Internet Services Platform, a tool for helping CDMA operators and service providers rapidly deploy third-party Mobile Internet applications.

Location framework.(tools)(IntelliWhere launches IntelliWhere Genie solutions)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... IntelliWhere, a division of Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions, has debuted Its IntelliWhere Genie solutions, a location-based services framework for workforce automation, B2B, and B2C location-based services.

HR outsourcing: leave the hiring to us: a growing number of telecoms and IT companies are outsourcing their human resource operations to outside companies to cut costs and focus on core competencies.(Telecom Career)
April 1, 2001... For telcos and IT firms, the challenge ahead is not only to survive intense competition in the marketplace, but also to achieve business goals cost-effectively. As such, many firms are starting to outsource parts of their business...

Pacific Internet taps former StarHub Internet chief.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Pacific Internet has appointed Tan Tong Hai as the company's new president and chief executive officer, following the resignation of Nicholas Lee. Lee has also stepped down from the company board and will be replaced by Tan. Tan was previously...

Sendmail names Asia Pacific vice president.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Sendmail Inc., which provides corporate Internet messaging solutions, has named Steven S. Lau vice president, Asia Pacific. Lau was previously managing director of Persistence Software. Prior to that, Lau spent years with SGI Asia Pacific.

Equant announces senior management appointment.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Equant has appointed Benny Lee as head of the Greater China region. Lee held senior positions with British Telecom and aviation giant McDonell Dougas before joining Equant in 1994 as the general manager of its integration service division.

Marquard joins ABA.(Telecom Career)(Australian Broadcasting Authority )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Australia's Ministry for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has appointed Jane Marquard as a part-time member of the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) for three years commencing on March 8, 2001.

New finance chief at Lycos Asia.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Internet company Lycos Asia has named June Wong chief financial officer. Prior to this, Wong spent five years with EasyCall International Limited, where she served as CFO. She began her career in finance with the Inland Revenue Department of...

Level 3 appoints senior VP, sales & marketing.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Level 3 Communications has appointed Thomas Kearns as senior vice president, sales and marketing. Prior to joining Level 3, Kearns was a director of Asia Pacific Global Accounts at Worldcom, where he had been employed since 1989.

Clarent Asia Pacific sales head.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... IP communications solutions provider Clarent has named Matthew Chiang as president of Asia Pacific sales. Most recently, Chiang was Clarent's director of enterprise market and product strategy, and has been acting president of sales for Asia...

iReality strengthens Asian solutions team.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... The iReality Group has strengthened its technology team with the addition of three new positions. Anthony Ho, previously vice president, product management at EcVision, and Matthew G. Johnson have been appointed solutions principals, while...

Aspect expands Australasia management team.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Aspect Communications, which provides contact servers to support transactions across wired and wireless channels, has promoted Peter McName to managing director, Australasia, Peter Foskett to solutions consulting manager, Australasia, and...

DoubleClick Media HK country manager.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... DoubleClick Media, an Asia-based joint venture between Asiacontent.com and DoubleClick Inc., has named Milo Ryan Hong Kong country manager. Before joining DoubleClick, Ryan was regional network development director at Hong Kong-based Real Media...

STAR ads sales VP.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... News Corporation's wholly owned subsidiary STAR TV has appointed Jason Yap vice president, integrated marketing of advertising sales. Prior to joining STAR, Yap was a senior manager at AdSociety.

Killing the golden goose.
April 1, 2001... As the self-imposed deadline for NTT DoCoMo's 3G W-CDMA launch draws near, it has become fascinating to observe the increasing frequency of doomsday articles concerning 3G in the Western press. Many are focusing on such things as equipment and...

Logging off.(Short Message)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... In a move marking a change of direction for the WAP Forum, CEO Scott Goldman is to step down in July. The organization, which has been picking up the pieces since the ill-starred introduction of WAP-based services last year, will now revert to...

Smart gets burned.(Short Message)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Filipino cellco Smart Communications ended up a base station tower short last month after its telecoms tower near Lobo, south of Manila, suffered a fate not often experienced in the wireless business: arson by communist guerrillas. The New...

The real ring.(Short Message)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... The mobile revolution is about to hit your nearest vending machine. NTT DoCoMo and Telstra MobileNet are both trialing a 'dial-a-Coke' service, where consumers can use their mobile to pay for soft drinks bought from a vending machine. Both...

Bad text.(Short Message)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Filipinos sending SMS messages that are deemed 'malicious' could face prosecution by the courts. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) last month opened a complaints hotline, following agreement with the country's leading cellular...

Amsterdam connection.(Short Message)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Police in Amsterdam are striking back against mobile phone thieves by bombarding stolen units with text messages. As soon as a device is reported stolen, police will send an SMS stating: "This device is stolen. Purchase or sale is an...