Wireless Asia articles from December 2004

Wireless Asia archives from December 2004

Huawei WLL solution--fostering a new public network.(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
December 15, 2004... Over the past two decades PSTN has become the most widely deployed wire-line network, delivering telephone services to over 800 million subscribers worldwide. With the rapid progression of radio technologies, wireless networks have thrived over...

What markets need.(Unwired)
December 15, 2004... Just how many operators can a wireless market take? There's a limit, and it seems Hong Kong finally has reached it. After a year-long study, OFTA has backed down in the face of industry opposition and decided not to issue further 3G...

Aussie telcos fight wireless upstarts.(News Analysis)
December 15, 2004... Incumbents Telstra and Optus are fighting back against the new breed of wireless broadband providers in the Australian market, with Telstra launching a new mobile broadband service and Optus taking legal action against one of the new players....

Smartphone market to almost double.(Insight)
December 15, 2004... Smartphone sales are expected to account for 16% of total mobile phone sales by 2009--up from just 3% in 2003. Smartphone sales this year are forecast to jump 89% to 27.6 million units from 14.6 million in 2003. Over the next five years ARC...

GSM lags behind in location-based services.(Insight)
December 15, 2004... The GSM camp needs to have location-based services (LBS) in their strategic plan by next year or they will find themselves at a disadvantage, according to ABI Research. Principal analyst Alan Varghese believes that while the GSM operators...

CDMA450 gains momentum.(Insight)
December 15, 2004... The popularity of CDMA450 is expanding rapidly, and according to In-Stat/MDR, the number of subscribers worldwide will increase from about one million by the end of 2004 to over 2.5 million by 2009. Cheap deployment is one of the most...

Top mobile growth market.(Insight)
December 15, 2004... With the total number of mobile subscribers growing by 59.3% in 2003 and by 44.6% in the first nine months of 2004, Indonesia is viewed as one of the top mobile growth markets in the industry. The country, the world's fourth largest country...

OFTA decision creates incentive for 3G MVNOs.(New Analysis)
December 15, 2004... Last month's decision by Hong Kong's telecom watchdog, the Office of Telecommunications Authority (OFTA), to postpone plans to issue a new 3G license has potentially given new incentive for Hong Kong's non-3G licenseholders to go the MVNO route...

CDG prepares standard testing for CDMA handsets.(New Analysis)
December 15, 2004... The CDMA community will unveil a standardized approach to testing handsets next year in an attempt to ease severe delays in getting terminals to market. Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDMA Development Group, said the CDG standard...

3G growth: feel the spin.(Metrics)
December 15, 2004... 3G uptake across various technologies continues to grow, but like any statistical data, it's all in how you tell it. For example, W-EDMA and 1x EV-DO are running neck and neck now with 11.9 million and 10.2 million subs respectively. However,...

Worldwide 3G breakdown.(Metrics)
December 15, 2004... Worldwide 3G breakdown cdma200 1x EV-DO W-CDMA EDGE OPERATORS 97 16 50 (10/04) * 38 (10/04) SUBS 118m 10.2m 11.9m n/a ** * Includes network-sharing arrangements...

Mini-metrics.
December 15, 2004... Mini-Metrics 1 billion Mobile phone loudspeakers manufactured by Philips Electronics (Phillips) 63.6 million Projected handset shipments from Taiwanese manufacturers in 2005, a ...

SingTel rakes it in from overseas.(Metrics)
December 15, 2004... SingTel is continuing to prove that foreign mobile investments are one way to offset a saturated domestic market. Last month, the telco reported a 21% increase in net profit for the quarter ending September 30. While its domestic wireless arm...

NTT DoCoMo will help UK's mmO2 introduce an i-mode service.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... NTT DoCoMo will help UK's mmO2 introduce an i-mode service in mid-2005 aimed at GPRS 2.5G and 3G handsets.

Virgin is in talks telecoms license holders.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... Virgin is in talks with telecoms license holders in India over the possibility of leasing network capacity for a Virgin operation.

BT forms an MVNO partnership.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... BT forms an MVNO partnership with Vodafone to sell mobile phone and other wireless services to businesses using Vodafone's UK network, with a similar service for consumers starting in January 2005.

Cingular Wireless will cut 10% of 68,000 jobs over the next 12 to 18 months.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... Cingular Wireless will cut 10% of 68,000 jobs over the next 12 to 18 months as it combines operations with recently-acquired AT&T Wireless.

Specifications are complete for a CDMA packet data roaming exchange, known as CRX.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... Specifications are complete for a CDMA packet data roaming exchange, known as CRX. The specifications cover network interconnection, RADIUS messaging, use of packet data applications while roaming, and data clearing and settlement, according to...

Nokia conducts the world's first IPv6 mobile call on a Nokia CDMA dual-stack handset.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... Nokia conducts the world's first IPv6 mobile call on a Nokia CDMA dual-stack handset, carrying streaming video with seamless handoff between two CDMA access networks.

UbiNetics and Renesas Technology sign an agreement for the development of the first RF solution.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... UbiNetics and Renesas Technology sign an agreement for the development of the first RF solution able to support W-CDMA and HSDPA in frequency bands used in Japan, Europe and the US.

The European Commission's annual EU telecoms industry survey reports the EU now has 379 million mobile phone users, accounting for 83% of its population.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... The European Commission's annual EU telecoms industry survey reports the EU now has 379 million mobile phone users, accounting for 83% of its population. The telecoms industry is expected to grow by 4.6% to 277 billion euros ($360.7 billion)...

Vodafone reports a 2% fall in half-year profits, with EBITDA slipping to GBP6.51b ($12.03b) during the period ending September compared to last year.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... Vodafone reports a 2% fall in half-year profits, with EBITDA slipping to GBP6.51b ($12.03b) during the period ending September compared to last year. Revenue fell by 1% to GBP16.8b ($31.1b), with pretax profits fiat at GBP5.4b] ($10b) despite...

Lucent appoints Bart Vogel as Asia-Pacific president.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... Lucent appoints Bart Vogel as Asia-Pacific president with end-to-end accountability for all wire-line and mobility operations in the region.

Andrew Corp will install the world's first 3G wireless network for use in a public transportation system.(Movements)
December 15, 2004... Andrew Corp will install the world's first 3G wireless network for use in a public transportation system under a two-year contract to upgrade the Hong Kong mass transit railway's underground communications network.

The Chinese government approves a plan by China Unicom.(Beijing)
December 15, 2004... The Chinese government approves a plan by China Unicom to buy up to 49% of Macau's CTM.

TOM Online agrees to pay HK$25.35m ($3.26m) for the purchase of entire issued share capital of fast-growing.(Beijing)
December 15, 2004... TOM Online agrees to pay HK$25.35m ($3.26m) for the purchase of entire issued share capital of fast-growing 2.5G services provider Whole Win Investments to expand its share in China's wireless Internet market.

China Resources Peoples Telephone is in talks with all four of Hong Kong's 3G license holders.(Hong Kong)
December 15, 2004... China Resources Peoples Telephone is in talks with all four of Hong Kong's 3G license holders in an attempt to become the city's first MVNO providing 3G services.

BT plans to enter Hong Kong's 3G mobile market through a MVNO partnership with one of the city's four 3G licensees.(Hong Kong)
December 15, 2004... BT plans to enter Hong Kong's 3G mobile market through a MVNO partnership with one of the city's four 3G licensees. The company is in talks with a few of the 3G operators in hope of striking a deal to lease network capacity.

OFTA gives Hutchison Telecom and CSL three more years to operate their underused CDMA and TDMA spectrum.(Hong Kong)
December 15, 2004... OFTA gives Hutchison Telecom and CSL three more years to operate their underused CDMA and TDMA spectrum, after strong opposition from the city's mobile industry persuaded the regulator that no new 3G licenses should be added. OFTA rules that...

Huawei Technologies launches two models of W-CDMA handsets.(Hong Kong)
December 15, 2004... Huawei Technologies launches two models of W-CDMA handsets. The U626 is a dual-mode GPRS/W-CDMA model to be priced at round $400 (3,000 yuan) while the U326 is a W-CDMA model to be priced at below $150 (1,200 yuan).

True Corp and its mobile unit TA Orange plan to offer non-voice wireless services using a combination of Wi-Fi and GPRS technology.(Bangkok)
December 15, 2004... True Corp and its mobile unit TA Orange plan to offer non-voice wireless services using a combination of Wi-Fi and GPRS technology--the first of its kind in Thailand.

Vietnam has more than 4m mobile subscribers.(Ho Chi Minh City)
December 15, 2004... Vietnam has more than 4m mobile subscribers and is aiming for 20m by 2010.

Telekom Malaysia completes the sale of its remaining 6% stake in Telkom South Africa.(Kuala Lumpur)
December 15, 2004... Telekom Malaysia completes the sate of its remaining 6% stake in Telkom South Africa. The sale is expected to result in an exceptional gain of RM860m ($226m).

DiGi confirms that it is eyeing one of two 3G licenses still available in Malaysia and that it is in preliminary talks.(Kuala Lumpur)
December 15, 2004... DiGi confirms that it is eyeing one of two 3G licenses still available in Malaysia and that it is in preliminary talks with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

Qualcomm opens a new CDMA facility in Mumbai.(Mumbai)
December 15, 2004... Qualcomm opens a new CDMA facility in Mumbai at the same time as announcing a headcount increase at its Hyderabad R&D center to around 100 by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Communications and IT will team up with Intel.(New Delhi)
December 15, 2004... The Ministry of Communications and IT will team up with Intel to create WiMAX-based solutions for making technology more accessible in rural areas.

The chairman and group managing director of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal, underlines the need for raising the cap on foreign direct investment.(New Delhi)
December 15, 2004... The chairman and group managing director of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal, underlines the need for raising the cap on foreign direct investment in the telecoms sector from 49% to 74% as the industry is poised for a massive growth in...

North Korea cracks down on the use of mobile phones in border areas to stop smuggling and "spy activities.".(Pyongyang)
December 15, 2004... North Korea cracks down on the use of mobile phones in border areas to stop smuggling and "spy activities." A Pyongyang document entitled "Let's unfold the fight to eradicate smuggling," claims: "Some residents have contacts with people in...

The South Korean government allocates spectrum in the 2.3-GHz band for WiBro services.(Seoul)
December 15, 2004... The South Korean government allocates spectrum in the 2.3-GHz band for WiBro services. The Ministry of Information Communications will give out three licenses, which will be valid for seven years. The operators will be announced in February...

LG Electronics and Intel will join forces to create a single global standard for wireless broadband.(Seoul)
December 15, 2004... LG Electronics and Intel will join forces to create a single global standard for wireless broadband by combining the Intel-backed WiMAX and Korean WiBro standards.

The Taipei City Government selects Qware to run a project.(Taipei)
December 15, 2004... The Taipei City Government selects Qware to run a project that will use a wireless mesh network solution from Nortel Networks to provide high-speed wireless broadband and other services in MRT stations and key locations across the city.

Taiwan's telecoms industry will need at least another two years before 3G services generate meaningful revenues.(Taipei)
December 15, 2004... Taiwan's telecoms industry will need at least another two years before 3G services generate meaningful revenues, according to Taiwan Cellular president and CEO Harvey Chang.

The Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs will inject around NT$7b ($212m) into developing the government's mobile Internet connection plan over the next four years.(Taipei)
December 15, 2004... The Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs will inject around NT$7b ($212m) into developing the government's mobile Internet connection plan over the next four years. The plan aims at building a wireless connection...

NTT DoCoMo will stop offering 2G mobile services by 2012 to cut costs.(Tokyo)
December 15, 2004... NTT DoCoMo will stop offering 2G mobile services by 2012 to cut costs.

Broadband access provider eAccess announces that it will adopt W-CDMA technology to launch 3G services.(Tokyo)
December 15, 2004... Broadband access provider eAccess announces that it will adopt W-CDMA technology to launch 3G services. EAccess is one of three companies that are showing interest in the upcoming spectrum allocation for 3G services.

Sony Pictures will deliver movies and other entertainment to consumers via 3G mobile phones starting this month and aims to generate annual sales of 10b yen ($95m) in five years.(Tokyo)
December 15, 2004... Sony Pictures will deliver movies and other entertainment to consumers via 3G mobile phones starting this month and aims to generate annual sales of 10b yen ($95m) in five years. The company will start with movie distribution via DoCoMo's...

Vodafone New Zealand claims it has a 56.3% share of the country's mobile phone market and a customer base.(Wellington)
December 15, 2004... Vodafone New Zealand claims it has a 56.3% share of the country's mobile phone market and a customer base that has grown to 1.757 million after gaining 150,068 mobile phone users in the six months to September.

MobileOne begins 3G trials by testing its laptop 3G data card among 100 corporate users.(Singapore)
December 15, 2004... MobileOne begins 3G trials by testing its laptop 3G data Card among 100 corporate users before involving 200 consumers and corporate clients using 3G phones.

Motorola will open a 3G mobile phone R&D center in Singapore--its first Asian R&D facility outside Japan.(Singapore)
December 15, 2004... Motorola will open a 3G mobile phone R&D center in Singapore--its first Asian R&D facility outside Japan. Motorola plans to hire up to 60 engineers as part of an investment that could run into tens of millions of dollars.

5 for '05: the biggest wireless trend in 2005.(Cover Story)
December 15, 2004... Around this time last year, various wireless pundits predicted that 2004 would be the year 3G broke. And, on the whole, they were right-provided you define "3G" carefully enough. Yes, technically, we've had IMT-2000 since, well, 2000 thanks...

Prepaid data: a matter of convergence: Asia-Pacific mobile carriers want to add data and content services to their prepaid portfolio, but their prepaid billing systems can't hack it. A converged prepaid/postpaid billing platform may be the solution, but it's an expensive one, and not all cellcos have the urge to converge.(Wireless Biz)
December 15, 2004... The tremendous success of prepaid voice is driving mobile operators in Asia Pacific to look seriously at bringing data services to the prepaid sector. Prepaid voice currently accounts for more than 50% of the worldwide mobile subscriber base...

Keeping the OS familiar: demand for PDA phones is being driven by the tech-savvy business user, but a large emerging segment wants the full PDA functionality without compromising on size. O2 Asia CEO Mark Billington sees the familiar Microsoft environment as the key to getting mass-market users to adopt converged technology.(1_2_1)
December 15, 2004... Wireless Asia: What is the rationale behind your device-led strategy in Asia? Mark Billington: O2 Asia is a totally different beast from mmO2, which is a mobile network operator with 20 million customers in Europe. Our strategy, however,...

Wireless planet: how to stay connected everywhere, all the time a (very) rough guide.(Wireless Apps)
December 15, 2004... The endgame for all wireless services today is seamless roaming anytime, anywhere. The seamless part is a long way off, but with a little planning, a lot of money and even more patience, you can stay connected anywhere on Earth (except North...

Linux development platform upgrade.(tools)
December 15, 2004... Apps development software provider Trolttech releases Qtopia version 2.1, an upgraded version of its development platform and user interface for Linux-based mobile devices. New features in Qtopia 2.1 include touch-screen phone support,...

New Bluetooth spec with EDR.(tools)
December 15, 2004... The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announces the adoption of Bluetooth Core Specification Version 2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate). The new spec can provide up to a threefold boost in Bluetooth data rates, as well as lower power...

Bluetooth protocol stack with profiles.(tools)
December 15, 2004... Cambridge Consultants launches its Bluetooth V1.2-compliant Mezoe software, comprising a protocol stack and extensive library of application profiles. The profiles and protocol stack--Interface Express and BlueStack--are optimized for...

M-commerce security spec.(tools)
December 15, 2004... NTT DoCoMo, Intel and IBM released a new security specification called "Trusted Mobile Platform", which is aimed at making mobile-commerce services such as electronic tickets and e-wallets for online purchases more secure by protecting against...

Java app suite.(tools)
December 15, 2004... Singapore-based Innvo Systems releases JuzzMobile, an integrated mobile application suite comprising JuzzBrowse (WAP Browser), JuzzMMS (MMS Client) and JuzzJEE Oava Virtual Machine) for mass market feature phones.

MMS exchange.(tools)
December 15, 2004... Swiss company Comfone launches two services in collaboration with Materna, the first allowing mobile providers to exchange MMS information, and the second offering a complete MMS broker service. The MMS exchange service, Comfone MMSX,...

Kodiak scores two deals.(deals)
December 15, 2004... Push-to-talk solution vendor Kodiak Networks signs separate global agreements with LG Electronics and TCL & Alcatel Mobile Phones to develop and market push-to-talk handsets using Kodiak's client software. The LG deal covers both CDMA and GSM...

Contextual shopping partnership.(deals)
December 15, 2004... Qualcomm and Opera Software say they are collaborating to introduce mobile users to "contextual shopping capabilities" via Opera's mobile Web browser and Qualcomm's BREW solution. Contextual shopping capabilities allow users to purchase and...

Fullerton chooses Unipier.(deals)
December 15, 2004... Unipier says its Unipier Gaming environment for entertainment service delivery has been chosen by Taiwan-based Fullerton. The solution will enable operators to deliver a full suite of mobile content services to Taiwan's 25 million mobile...

Linktone and Aon in wireless karaoke deal.(deals)
December 15, 2004... Linktone signs a cooperative agreement with Korean mobile music provider Aon Media to develop, localize and provide Java-based wireless karaoke applications and content to Chinese mobile users. Aon Media maintains a library of over 40,000...

Mobile lit 101.(out now)
December 15, 2004... Wireless value-added services provider Linktone launches the "m-Novel" Channel, a mobile literature channel, in China. The first literature to be published on the channel is "Distance", a romantic story by Taiwanese novelist Xuan Huang....

'Pocket Kingdom' gets news channel.(out now)
December 15, 2004... Nokia adds new innovative features to "Pocket Kingdom: Own The World", billed as the world's first massive multiplayer online mobile game for the N-Gage platform. Among the new features is the Own The World News Report, a 24-hour news channel...

M-payments in Chongqing and Anhui.(out now)
December 15, 2004... SmartPay Jieyin launches its electronic payment system for China Unicom operations in Chongqing and Anhui. The system allows mobile users to pay their phone bills, top up their prepaid accounts, purchase online gaming time and other merchant...

BREW apps port to W-CDMA.(out now)
December 15, 2004... Qualcomm announces that a number of BREW-based wireless applications currently available from cdma2000 ix operators can now be downloaded and run on the BenQ S80 W-CDMA/GSM/GPRS dual-mode handset.

FOMA virus scanner.(out now)
December 15, 2004... NTT DoCoMo will provide users of its new FOMA 901i 3G mobile phone series with McAfee VirusScan content scanning technology, jointly developed by DoCoMo and McAfee.

Moto and Datang select Trolltech for Linux platforms.(deals)
December 15, 2004... Trolltech announces that Motorola has chosen its Qt/Embedded Linux development platform as the foundation for its upcoming E680 and A780 mobile phones. In a separate deal, Datang Mobile Communications Equipment chooses Trolltech's Qtopia Phone...

Siemens gets the Benz.(deals)
December 15, 2004... Siemens becomes the official partner of Mercedes-Benz for equipping Mercedes vehicles with mobile phones. The first model to be made available will be the multimedia CX65 mobile phone, which Mercedes customers can order immediately with their...

Siemens and SITA collaborate on mobile check-in.(deals)
December 15, 2004... Siemens Business Services and aviation IT service provider SITA say they have developed a solution that allows air travelers to check in and reserve seats via mobile phone. In essence, the user receives flight data via GPRS in the form of a...

Nokia teams with Starcut.(deals)
December 15, 2004... Nokia and mobile media publisher Starcut announce that premium, branded entertainment, life-style and sports content from Starcut will be available as part of the new Preminet Solution, an end-to-end mobile content distribution and transaction...

Mobile 365 licensed to add value.(deals)
December 15, 2004... Mobile 365--the company formed by the merger of Mobileway and InphoMatch--says its Chinese company has been awarded a national wireless value-added service license by China's Ministry of Information Industry.

Personalized video mail.(out now)
December 15, 2004... Openwave Systems announces the availability of Openwave Video Voicemail and Openwave Video Portal, which allow mobile users to create personalized video greetings to callers diverted to voicemail. Users can also tailor different greetings for...

NWM ringback tones.(out now)
December 15, 2004... Unified Communications launches its personalized ringback tone (PRBT) service for Hong Kong cellco New World Mobility. Unified Communications has set up similar revenue sharing PRBT programs with Taiwan's KG Telecom (now part of Far EastTone),...

Music on the phone.(out now)
December 15, 2004... SmarTone launches its new version of Music on the Phone, a mobile music download service offering the latest hits in various formats, including full song, music video, ringsong, ringtone and connecting tone. The service is being offered with...

Stop mobile spam before it starts.(this month's model)
December 15, 2004... If your handset isn't already plagued by SMS/MMS spam, it will be soon, and viruses and Net worms are already primed to invade the mobile space, especially as mobile email becomes more prevalent. Hence the timely launch from Openwave Systems of...

3G price cuts: too far, too fast? The spike in NTT DoCoMo's data revenue is unable to offset the decline in voice ARPU.(Wireless Forum)
December 15, 2004... 3G has been getting a lot of positive news of late. "3" Italy has just hit two million subscribers, having put on an extra one million in one month. NTT DoCoMo has put the bad days behind it: the growth of its FOMA service is even taking on the...

What's next for CDMA?(Street Wise)
December 15, 2004... It isn't very often during a telecoms conference that the words "utopia" or "nirvana" come up, but that is exactly what happened during the 3G World Congress in Hong Kong last month. It seems that after years of bickering and downright...

The luckiest mobile user in China.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
December 15, 2004... The luckiest phone number in China--133-3333-3333--was sold last month for a cool 1.8 million yuan ($215,000) at an auction in Beijing, according to the Beijing Times and Beijing Morning Post. While the number eight is generally considered...

EV-DV RIP?(Short message: around the wireless industry)
December 15, 2004... CDMA's 3G roadmap may be set for another detour, with some top industry voices speculating that 1x EV-DV may be redundant. 1x EV-DV is slated as the eventual all-IP successor to ix EV-DO for CDMA networks, its main attraction being support...

Smashing phones never looked so good.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
December 15, 2004... Anti-mobile phone Web site Phonebashing.com, with videos of men dressed in cellphone costumes snatching handsets from unsuspecting users and smashing them to pieces and running away, turned out to be a hoax (which is to say, the "victims" were...

Very candid cam-phones.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
December 15, 2004... One of the earliest drawbacks of the camera-phone craze was the potential for privacy abuse--snapping pictures in gym locker rooms and so on. There are gray areas to this problem too, as illustrated by last month's arrest of an Australian man...

Tough on white-collar crime.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
December 15, 2004... The recent spate of telecom scandals in the US resulted in a handful of arrests, but those that do result in convictions will probably mean little jail time for offenders, and that in minimum-security prisons where doing time is relatively...