Wireless Asia articles from January 2001

Wireless Asia archives from January 2001

In need of some wise device.(Unwired)(Discussion of Internet access devices)
January 1, 2001... For all that's been said, done and spent on the Internet in recent years, the only thing that has ever truly become accepted as an access device is the PC. Kiosks, Net appliances, Web TV, Internet-enabled refrigerators, not to mention mobile...

Chunghwa drops 2G CDMA to pursue 3G plans: CDMA's Asian expansion in the last two years has faltered in the wake of Chunghwa Telecom's decision to drop CDMA in favor of 2.5 and 3G.(News Analysis)
January 1, 2001... As Chunghwa Telecom Co. sails into the mobile Internet sea, the company's plans to build a CDMA system have been dropped over the side. By abandoning CDMA, Chunghwa hopes to free up resources to focus on GPRS and coming third generation...

Ericsson exit a boost for Taiwan: Ericsson's decision to hive off its phone-making business is good news for Taiwan electronic manufacturers.(News Analysis)
January 1, 2001... Few were surprised by the January announcement by Ericsson that it will get out of the mobile phone manufacturing business. Despite the brave words of president Kurt Hellstrom, who told Wireless Asia six months ago the company was in the...

BSNL goes cellular: the Indian government's just-corporatized former department, BSNL, has decided to exercise its rights to offer a cellular service.(News Analysis)
January 1, 2001... Indian telecoms 2001 began with a bang, with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the four-month-old corporatized former telecom department announcing it will launch its own cellular mobile service. In doing so it will become the third...

3G fever goes cold in NZ: the New Zealand government's paltry return from its marathon seven-month spectrum auction dispels any doubts about the chill in demand for 3G frequencies.(News Analysis)
January 1, 2001... New Zealand's marathon auction of wireless spectrum has concluded after seven months with the government raising a disappointing NZ$133 million ($58.9 million) amid strong criticism from analysts over loopholes in the auction rules. The...

A nationwide study of cell phone users in Denmark published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.(Movements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... A nationwide study of cell phone users in Denmark published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute concluded that cell phone usage over the period did not increase the risk of developing cancer.

Telstra CEO Ziggy Switkowski tells attendees at a conference in Tucson, Arizona, that "there is no proven business model" for streaming high speed video services on 3G.(Movements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Telstra CEO Ziggy Switkowski tells attendees at a conference in Tucson, Arizona, that "there is no proven business model" for streaming high speed video services on 3G. "Applications like this are just not economic," Switkowski says.

International calls using the Inmarsat mobile satellite phone service are cheaper than roaming.(Movements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... International calls using the Inmarsat mobile satellite phone service are cheaper than roaming, according to a report commissioned by the company.

France's 3G spectrum auction went sour after only two operators--France Telecom and its domestic mobile rival, SFR, the mobile unit of Vivendi Universal--submitted bids for four 3G license on offer.(Movements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... France's 3G spectrum auction went sour alter only two operators--France Telecom and its domestic mobile rival, SFR, the mobile unit of Vivendi Universal--submitted bids for four 3G license on offer. French operator Bouygues Telecom pulled out...

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI) and NTT DoCoMo expanded an earlier agreement to link up their products to allow i-mode users to access Sony's PlayStation video game via their cell phones.(Movements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI) and NTT DoCoMo expanded an earlier agreement to link up their products to allow i-mode users to access Sony's PlayStation video game via their cell phones. The new agreement includes DoCoMo's six global...

Globalstar's largest investor, Loral Space & Communications, said it would no longer provide additional funding to the struggling LEOsat operator, and instead will focus its investments on developing satellite technology and hardware.(Movements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Globalstar's largest investor, Loral Space & Communications, said it would no longer provide additional funding to the struggling LEOsat operator, and instead will focus its investments on developing satellite technology and hardware. Loral...

South Korean conglomerate SK Group has reportedly reserved a 14.5% stake in its cellular operator, SK Telecom, for a future foreign partner by selling shares from two subsidiaries, SK Global Co. and SK Corp, Signum IX, a company based in the Cayman Islands.(Movements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... South Korean conglomerate SK Group has reportedly reserved a 14.5% stake in its cellular operator, SK Telecom, for a future foreign partner by selling shares from two subsidiaries, SK Global Co. and SK Corp, Signum IX, a company based in the...

Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa reduced its stake in Vodafone from 3.46% to about 1.46% via a $2.5b convertible bond issue.(Movements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa reduced its stake in Vodafone from 3.46% to about 1.46% via a $2.5b convertible bond issue, with the bonds convertible to Vodafone stock after a three-year period and at a 28% premium.

Mumbai: regional mobile satellite operator ACeS International has received a license to operate its satellite mobile phone service in India.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Mumbai: Regional mobile satellite operator ACeS International has received a license to operate its satellite mobile phone service in India. The company plans to invest $30m with Indian partner Shyam Telecom to build a gateway for the ACeS...

New Delhi: the Indian government announced plans to auction off one additional mobile operator license in each of India's 21 geographically defined operating regions starting in April, with new licenses to be awarded by July.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... New Delhi: The Indian government announced plans to auction off one additional mobile operator license in each of India's 21 geographically defined operating regions starting in April, with new licenses to be awarded by July. Analysts expect...

Bangkok: Thai telecoms tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra became the country's next prime minister following a landslide victory for his Thai Rak Thai ("Thai loves Thai") party.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Bangkok: Thai telecoms tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra became the country's next prime minister following a landslide victory for his Thai Rak Thai ("Thai loves Thai") party. Thaksin's empire include Thailand's foremost telecoms company, Shin...

Singapore: IDA delayed its 3G spectrum auction until April/May at the request of telcos participating in the consultation process.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Singapore: IDA delayed its 3G spectrum auction until April/May at the request of telcos participating in the consultation process. IDA cites concerns over auctioning and procedural issues, but some analysts believe that IDA is allegedly...

Singapore: Mobile operator M1 was fined S$5,000 by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore for violating the "Degradation of Service Availability or Quality" section of the city's competition code.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Singapore: Mobile operator M1 was fined S$5,000 by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore for violating the "Degradation of Service Availability or Quality" section of the city's competition code by inserting 10-second self-promotional...

Seoul: Korea Telecom Freetel's new president, Lee Sang-chul, says it could take as long as three years for to launch its commercial IMT-2000 service.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Seoul: Korea Telecom Freetel's new president, Lee Sang-chul, says it could take as long as three years for to launch its commercial IMT-2000 service after it officially receives its license due to a lack of available W-CDMA handsets.

Seoul: The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy will spend $7.9m over the next two years on the development of a new cellular and mobile communication platform based on unmanned 150-meter orbiting stations.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Seoul: The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy will spend $7.9m over the next two years on the development of a new cellular and mobile communication platform based on unmanned 150-meter orbiting stations, flying 20 km up in Earth's...

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo launched international roaming services in late January, courtesy of its Hong Kong partner Hutchison Telecom and a new line of dual-mode PDC/GSM handsets.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo launched international roaming services in late January, courtesy of its Hong Kong partner Hutchison Telecom and a new line of dual-mode PDC/GSM handsets. However, users will need two phone numbers--one for PDC, and one for...

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo recalled over 100,000 i-mode-enabled mobile phones made by Sony, Japan Radio Co., Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. and Ericsson, due to software glitches.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo recalled over 100,000 i-mode-enabled mobile phones made by Sony, Japan Radio Co., Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. and Ericsson, due to software glitches. According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the Sony model has a software bug which...

Taipei: cell phone usage while driving will be illegal in Taiwan from the second half of this year.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Taipei: Cell phone usage while driving will be illegal in Taiwan from the second half of this year. The new law carries a NT$3,000 ($91) fine for car drivers using cell phones on the road, and a NT$1,000 ($30.30) penalty for motorcyclists.

Taipei: Taiwan Cellular posted after-tax earnings for 2000 of NT$14.53 billion ($450.8 million), on NT$45.18 billion operating revenue.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Taipei: Taiwan Cellular posted after-tax earnings for 2000 of NT$14.53 billion ($450.8 million), on NT$45.18 billion operating revenue. The board said it saw substantial growth from data services in the second half of last year, with SMS usage...

Hong Kong: nine months after the first announcement, the three PCCW-Telstra joint ventures formally begin operation.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Hong Kong: Nine months after the first announcement, the three PCCW-Telstra joint ventures formally begin operation. On the wireless side, Hubert Ng, former head of SmarTone and PCCW-HKT mobile, is chief executive of the cellular venture, which...

Hong Kong: the Hong Kong government aims to complete 3G licensing by mid 2001, though officials cannot say when bidding will begin.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Hong Kong: the Hong Kong government aims to complete 3G licensing by mid 2001, though officials cannot say when bidding will begin. As we went to press, OFTA was still working on the details of the licensing framework, with the status of MVNO...

Ho Chi Minh: Saigon Postel signed a $230m five-year contract with South Korea's SLD Telecom, a joint-venture of SK Telecom, LG Electronics and Dongah Electric, for the supply and operation of a nationwide CDMA network.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Ho Chi Minh: Saigon Postel signed a $230m five-year contract with South Korea's SLD Telecom, a joint-venture of SK Telecom, LG Electronics and Dongah Electric, for the supply and operation of a nationwide CDMA network. The service is scheduled...

Tapping Thailand's booming cellular market with TELLIN.(Advertorial)
January 1, 2001... The cellular market in Thailand has been growing rapidly in the past year, offering Thai carriers more business opportunities and new challenges as well. For carriers, competition now isn't only about network performance, but also the...

Virtual realities: it seemed like a good idea at the time--and even now many people believe the mobile virtual network could ease the pain of cellular's transition to 3G. But the concept is caught up on the complex realities of implementation. A debate underway in Hong Kong could become a test case for 3G economics.
January 1, 2001... Any way the mobile industry looks at it, 3G will offer more than just broadband capabilities, but a massive over-supply of capacity at a time when demand for regular voice is failing and new bandwidth heavy applications have not yet taken off....

Antenna tech plays it smart: Smart antenna technology has long been promising mobile networks better spectrum efficiency and capacity gains. So what has smart antenna tech been doing all this time? Quietly proving itself in commercial deployments all over the world, and it's just about ready for prime time.(Tech Focus)
January 1, 2001... Just about everyone in the wireless industry--and a fair number of people outside it--believes that the future of telecommunications is going to be mobile. And they're probably right. Some markets have already hit the saturation point with 2G...

Private life: Inmarsat's future investments: Inmarsat Ventures, the privatized form of the global maritime satellite company, is investing $1.6 billion on new satellites and making strategic acquisitions in content and bandwidth. Global technology editor John C. Tanner talked with Michael Storey, president and CEO of Inmarsat Ventures, about Inmarsat's private life, watching live TV on airplanes, to avoid "doing a Iridium".(1_2_1)
January 1, 2001... Wireless Asia: Inmarsat became a private company in early 1999, What was the role of Inmarsat Ventures been in facilitating that move? Michael Storey: Becoming a private company was step one in preparing for public flotation of our...

Brewing up an open platform for mobile phones.(Street Wise)
January 1, 2001... The latest thing to hit the mobile phone market is Sun Microsystems' Java programming language. Basically, anybody can now write applications that can be downloaded onto handsets equipped with a Java Virtual Machine--the software module that...

GPRS phones: too hot and on hold.(Wheel of Industry)
January 1, 2001... Well, its here! Or is it? GPRS or General Packet Radio Service has been heralded as the answer to the prayers of Internet-hungry mobile users. However, from recent reports it appears this description may be somewhat short of the reality....

];-) MTN doin gr8 w/ msg srvc: yes, South African mobile operator MTN is doing great with its free Web-based SMS service, generating nearly a million messages a day to GSM users worldwide.(Wireless Apps)
January 1, 2001... Free Web-based messaging services are the quiet achievers of the mobile messaging revolution. A good proportion of the 12 billion-plus SMS flooding across the world's GSM networks each month are being generated through European Web sites such...

New Ericsson apps company.(out now)(Ericsson Internet Applications and Solutions)
January 1, 2001... Ericsson has set up a new wholly-owned company, Ericsson Internet Applications and Solutions, to "strengthen its focus on mobile Internet applications and further streamline its organization". The company will develop service networks and...

Take Pamela Anderson home for $4.99.(out now)(Eruptor Entertainment's PortaPam is Tamagotchi-like program for Palm OS )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... For less than five US dollars, anyone can now have blonde bombshell and "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson on their PDA. California-based Eruptor Entertainment's PortaPam is a Tamagotchi-like program for the Palm OS that allows users to own their...

Mobile portal content management.(out now)(PassCall Advanced Technologies launches GateWave 2.1 mobile portal platform)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... PassCall Advanced Technologies has launched its GateWave 2.1 mobile portal platform. The GateWave platform's Portal Manager feature of the enables mobile operators to manage the content on their portal, define the extent to which end-users can...

Equant launches corporate WAP roaming.(out now)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Global carrier Equant has launched Global WAP Access, a new service that allows corporate GSM customers to access WAP-enabled corporate intranets from overseas. Global WAP Access is initially available in 22 countries, including Japan, France...

Japanese-Chinese translation software for mobiles.(out now)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Matsushita Research Institute of Tokyo and the Chinese Academy of Science Institute of Automation have jointly developed speech translation technology for Japanese and Chinese for use in mobile phones.

New microbrowser from Netscape/AOL/Nokia.(deals)
January 1, 2001... Netscape and parent company America Online have announced plans to develop a new WAP microbrowser using source code licensed from Nokia. The microbrowser will be marketed under the Netscape brand.

DoCoMo, HP work on 4G.(deals)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... NTT DoCoMo and Hewlett-Packard will work together on a project aimed at improving multimedia delivery and network applications over 4G wireless networks with a new multimedia architecture--MOTO-Media, which is expected to enable...

Matsushita and Sony join MeT.(deals)(MeT initiative)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Matsushita Communication Industrial Co Ltd and Sony Corporation have joined the MeT initiative. MeT, whose other members include founding companies Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia, as well as Siemens, is developing an open and common industry...

iiL to build Telenor's Djuice.com.(deals)(iNFOiSLIVE Corp gets contract from Norway's Telenor)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Hong Kong wireless apps developer iNFOiSLIVE Corporation (iiL) has won a contract from Norway's Telenor to build its multi-lingual mobile Internet community platform, Djuice.com. The project will include a WAP/Web cross-platform mobile...

eZiText license for new Chinese PDAs.(deals)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Zi Corporation has licensed its eZiText software to United Digital Communications (Beijing) Ltd. for use in their new line of Civet brand PDA products to offer enhanced text-input capabilities in English, simplified Chinese and traditional...

WIM/UP.Browser interface deal.(deals)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Schlumberger and Openwave Systems will integrate Schlumberger's WAP Identity Module (WIM) cards with the Openwave UP.Browser microbrowser. The WIM interfaces are expected to be released in the UP.Browser during the first half of this year.

Telstra licenses Lotus for enterprise WAP service.(deals)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Telstra and Lotus Development have announced a licensing agreement which will allow Telstra to offer organizations access to Domino servers for mail, calendaring, and corporate directories from WAP devices, including mobile phones.

New apps tools for Palm OS.(tools)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Software development tools supplier Metrowerks has announced the CodeWarrior tool suite for Palm OS Platform, Version 7.0. The new tools will allow software developers to develop applications for handheld devices based on the Palm OS platform,...

New Nokia service creation platform.(tools)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Nokia Networks says it will offer a new service creation platform, mCreate, to provide advanced services such as prepaid and VPN for GSM, GPRS and 3G systems from the second half of this year.

Women seek their place in telecoms industry: though women have more presence in top management positions, they are barely visible in technical ares.(Telecom Career)
January 1, 2001... For years, the telecommunications industry has traditionally been a male dominated engineering-driven sector. But the scenario is set to drastically change, with more female talent entering the industry. The worldwide telecom boom in...

Pacific Internet appoints GM for Singapore.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Pacific Internet has promoted Ong Teck-guan to general manager of its Singapore operations. In his new role, Ong will develop and implement medium and long-term business plans. He will also head the company's corporate business group. Ong...

Powerlan has new operating head.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Internet technology and telecommunications solutions provider Powerlan has appointed Damon Carley as its new chief operating officer for Asia, replacing Frank Hung. Carley has eight years sales experience in the financial applications field and...

One.Tel recruits former C&W Optus exec.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Australian telco One.Tel has appointed former Cable Wireless Optus executive Gerard Frack as chief executive officer. Frack will assist the head of One.Tel Europe, Chris Weston, with the rollout of two MVNOs in the United Kingdom and the...

PCCW appoints new deputy CEO.(Telecom Career)(Pacific Century CyberWorks)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Pacific Century CyberWorks has appointed COO William Cheung Kam-hung as executive director of the company. Cheung, who has worked for the company for 29 years, will also assume the position deputy CEO, replacing Norman Yuen, who has resigned...

AP tech head for DoubleClick.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Online advertising company DoubleClick has appointed Matthew Colebourne as managing director to head DoubleClick TechSolutions' Asia Pacific operations. Previously, he was regional director of the company's northern European operation....

New T&T appoints VPs.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Hong Kong fixed line operator New T&T has appointed four new vice presidents. Vincent Ma has been promoted to vice president of commercial. Ma, who joined the company from IBM, has been director of business development since January 1999....

Microsoft announces new VP for Asia.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Microsoft has promoted Michael Rawding to vice president, Asia Region, replacing Pieter Knook, who will be leading the company's new worldwide sales organization based at Microsoft's US headquarters in Redmond, Rawding will be based in Tokyo...

Global One appoints new VP, global sales.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Global One has appointed Michel Picaud, 49, as executive vice president of global sales. Prior to joining Global One, Picaud was president of Alcatel Reseaux d' Enterprise (ARE) and was Alcatel's VP for e-business distribution division. He...

AirFiber names former Intel executive president and COO.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... AirFiber, the San Diego-based developer of wireless optical networking equipment, has named Brett Helm president and chief operating officer. Helm joins AirFiber from Intel Corporation, where he served as general manager of the network...

Shaping up for 3G showdown: Japan is about to play host to the battle of the 3G standards, with NTT DoCoMo and KDD1 respectively unveiling W-CDMA and cdma2000 systems this year. But Japanese users are already seeing high-speed data through PHS networks.(Regional Focus)
January 1, 2001... The big story in Japanese cellular, as everyone knows, is i-mode--even the most remote Tibetan herder could not have escaped the hype surrounding NTT DoCoMo's successful mobile data service which has docked up 18 million users in just on two...

WAP on the big screen.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Around 80,000 Singaporeans rang in 2001 at the Countdown 2001 street party organized by Radio Corporation of Singapore and Suntec City, A chief novelty was the 3 x 30-foot chatboards projected onto the side of the Suntec City Office Towers....

A first time for everything.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(Survey of mobile phone users asks them to rate their favorite male and female idols)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Market research group Asia Market Intelligence recently completed Hong Kong's first ever survey conducted entirely by SMS. Using media60X's SnapView, AMI and media60X sent the survey to 100 mobile phone users ranging from ages 16 to 19 asking...

One way cell phones can harm you.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... There's a good reason airline crews ask you to switch off your cell phone before the plane takes off, as the passengers of a Slovenian airliner bound for Sarajevo found out in January. The Canadair Regional Jet was forced to make an emergency...

The cultural WAP gap.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... It's not easy being WAP. Certainly, the cellular industry-backed standard has been a popular media whipping boy lately. But the pressure is clearly getting to WAP proponents, as witnessed by the feisty reply from WAP Forum chief executive Scott...

Insert your own PalmPilot joke here.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(Porn site for PDAs is success in Singapore)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... This was probably inevitable. With select naughty Web sites proving more profitable than most non-porn e-commerce sites, it should be no surprise that someone should think of creating porn sites for PDAs. One such site, US-based...

Under pressure.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(Hong Kong government's number two official steps down and there's heavy pressure from Beijing over the Fa Lung Gong movement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The Hong Kong government has been doing it tough lately, what with the number two official stepping down and heavy pressure from Beijing over the Fa Lung Gong movement. But signs of paranoia are creeping in. Ofta--itself under heavy pressure as...