Wireless Asia articles from July 2002

Wireless Asia archives from July 2002

Cellular's new fault lines. (Unwired).(multimedia messaging )
July 1, 2002... With the Russians making friends with Nato and Qualcomm making GSM gear, it looks like the season for reconciliation. But some conflicts still remain, like the tech sector's eternal divide between marketers and engineers. We've all heard the...

KT Icom faces uphill battle to roll out W-CDMA: KT Icom is aggressively planning an early 2003 launch of its W-CDMA service, but it's got more than technical challenges to worry about. The cash is definitely not in the bag. (News Analysis).(Wideband Code Division Multiple Access )
July 1, 2002... KT Icom, one of two W-CDMA licensees in Korea, has just finished a trial of W-CDMA and is hoping to convince its parent to invest the cash for its construction. The trial was supported by camera-equipped W-CDMA handsets from LG Electronics, who...

High roaming costs to fall in flourish of competition: mobile customers have endured roaming rip-offs for years. But now, prices should drop as increased competition and regulators step in. (News Analysis).
July 1, 2002... It has been nearly a year since the European Union raided mobile carriers in Britain and Germany as part of an investigation into suspicions of price fixing for mobile roaming. Mobile customers, so far, are still being ripped off, and the...

Ericsson and AT&T Wireless will trial a W-CDMA system in Dallas, Texas, in the fourth quarter of 2002. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Wideband Code Division Multiple Access)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Ericsson and AT&T Wireless will trial a W-CDMA system in Dallas, Texas, in the fourth quarter of 2002. The trial, using 100 cell sites in the city, will be the first 1900 MHz UMTS/W-CDMA system in the Americas.

Wireless analyst ARC Group forecasts a mild recovery in global handset sales this year, with the "arrival of feature-packed" 2.5G and 3G handsets being the key stimulus. (Movements).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Wireless analyst ARC Group forecasts a mild recovery in global handset sales this year, with the "arrival of feature-packed" 2.5G and 3G handsets being the key stimulus. After a drop to 385 million units in 2001, ARC predicts sales of 430...

Matsushita Communication Industrial Co Ltd, NEC Corp and Huawei Technologies set up a mobile phone software venture in China. (Movements).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Matsushita Communication Industrial Co Ltd, NEC Corp and Huawei Technologies set up a mobile phone software venture in China. The venture, called Cosmobic Technology Co Ltd, will market and develop software to power 3G handsets. Matsushita and...

Japanese electronics giant NEC scores two separate handset deals--one with KG Telecom of Taiwan for i-mode handsets, and a second with China Mobile for GSM/GPRS handsets for its new GPRS service, launched in May. (Movements).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Japanese electronics giant NEC scores two separate handset deals--one with KG Telecom of Taiwan for i-mode handsets, and a second with China Mobile for GSM/GPRS handsets for its new GPRS service, launched in May. The i-mode handsets are the...

A new BWCS report says that while global revenues from cellular games will grow from $104.8 million this year to $7.76 billion in 2007, Asia-Pacific will continue to dominate the world's mobile gaming markets. (Movements).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... A new BWCS report says that while global revenues from cellular games will grow from $104.8 million this year to $7.76 billion in 2007, Asia-Pacific will continue to dominate the world's mobile gaming markets. BWCS predicts that by 2007 more...

Asia has been the focus for 3G licensing for the last 18 months, but in the second half of 2002 it will be eastern Europe's turn, according to a 3G licensing report by EMC. (Movements).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Asia has been the focus for 3G licensing for the last 18 months, but in the second half of 2002 it will be eastern Europe's turn, according to a 3G licensing report by EMC. The report notes that since Finland awarded its first 3G licenses in...

NTT DoCoMo and KPN Mobile N.V. sign a memorandum of understanding regarding a joint campaign to promote DoCoMo's 3G FOMA service in the Netherlands. (Movements).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... NTT DoCoMo and KPN Mobile N.V. sign a memorandum of understanding regarding a joint campaign to promote DoCoMo's 3G FOMA service in the Netherlands. Under the pact, DoCoMo will install a FOMA base station in the Netherlands and KPN Mobile will...

Nokia. (Movements).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Nokia issues a statement warning of lower revenue for its second quarter, with net sales expected to decline by about 2-6% to about 6.9-7.2 billion euro ($6.3-$6.6 billion), compared with earlier guidance of 2-7% year-on-year growth. Nokia...

Beijing: China Unicom will postpone the commercial launch of cdma 2000 1x network to early 2003 from the originally planned fourth quarter of 2002, as the company missed its scheduled April timeframe for the formal 1x upgrade tender. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Beijing: China Unicom will postpone the commercial launch of cdma 2000 1x network to early 2003 from the originally planned fourth quarter of 2002, as the company missed its scheduled April timeframe for the formal 1x upgrade tender. Meanwhile,...

Danang: Vietnam's Cable and Telecommunications Material Co (Sacom) plans to invest $19.67 million in a project to build a mobile phone network in the south region of Vietnam, covering southern provinces of Dong Nai, Long An, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and also the central city of Danang. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Danang: Vietnam's Cable and Telecommunications Material Co (Sacom) plans to invest $19.67 million in a project to build a mobile phone network in the south region of Vietnam, covering southern provinces of Dong Nai, Long An, Binh Duong, Ba...

Hong Kong: China Mobile Hong Kong agrees to acquire another eight cellular networks from its parent for $10.2 billion in cash, stock, deferred payment and debt. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Hong Kong: China Mobile Hong Kong agrees to acquire another eight cellular networks from its parent for $10.2 billion in cash, stock, deferred payment and debt. As part of the deal, Vodafone will finance part of the transaction by purchasing...

Beijing: China Mobile begins offering its long-awaited commercial GPRS service in 240 cities across the country, following nearly a year of preparation. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Beijing: China Mobile begins offering its long-awaited commercial GPRS service in 240 cities across the country, following nearly a year of preparation. The company also demonstrates live inter-operator Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), to...

Hong Kong: the Office of Telecommunications Authority grants a 12 month extension on its deadline for second-stage performance commitments to four fixed wireless licensees: SmarTone Broadband, Hong Kong Broadband Network, Eastar Technology and Winstar Wireless Hong Kong. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Hong Kong: The Office of Telecommunications Authority grants a 12 month extension on its deadline for second-stage performance commitments to four fixed wireless licensees: SmarTone Broadband, Hong Kong Broadband Network, Eastar Technology and...

Jakarta: Radio Telepon Indonesia (Ratelindo) contracts Nortel Networks to build out a wireless local loop network in Jakarta based on cdma2000 1x technology. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Jakarta: Radio Telepon Indonesia (Ratelindo) contracts Nortel Networks to build out a wireless local loop network in Jakarta based on cdma2000 1X technology. Ratelindo, which currently operates fixed WLL services in the AMPS A-Band frequencies,...

Kabul: Afghanistan's Ministry of Communication invites international firms or consortia to apply for a mobile telephone network license. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Kabul: Afghanistan's Ministry of Communication invites international firms or consortia to apply for a mobile telephone network license. The tender process costs interested firms and groups a non-returnable deposit of $10,000. The winner will...

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian telecoms minister Leo Moggie says 3G spectrum allocations will take place in June. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian telecoms minister Leo Moggie says 3G spectrum allocations will take place in June, but it will be at least 2004 before services are launched because it will take until then to develop products and content that users will...

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo launches its first Chinese-language i-mode service in Taiwan through its local partner KG Telecom. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(KG Telecommunications Co.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo launches its first Chinese-language i-mode service in Taiwan through its local partner KG Telecom. KG Telecom, Taiwan's fourth-largest carrier, delivers the service over its GPRS network. It's the first Asian launch of i-mode,...

Tokyo: for the first time in its history, NTT DoCoMo has been overtaken by rivals in the race for new subscribers. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Tokyo: For the first time in its history, NTT DoCoMo has been overtaken by rivals in the race for new subscribers. In May, DoCoMo added 139,000 new mobile customers, which was lower than the the 150,200 who signed up for KDDI's au service and...

Seoul: Visa International and SK Telecom agree to implement wireless payments that incorporate smart cards and infrared technology, allowing SKT customers to conduct transactions using Visa debit or credit payments over mobile phones. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(SK Telecom Company Ltd. and Europay-MasterCard-Visa)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Seoul: Visa International and SK Telecom agree to implement wireless payments that incorporate smart cards and infrared technology, allowing SKT customers to conduct transactions using Visa debit or credit payments over mobile phones. The...

Seoul: KTF and LG Telecom ask the MIC to take action against SK Telecom for "unfair practices". (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Ministry of Information and Communication)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Seoul: KTF and LG Telecom ask the MIC to take action against SK Telecom for "unfair practices", claiming, among other things, that they are overpaying agent commissions to subsidize handsets, which is illegal. SKT denies any wrongdoing.

Pyongyang: South Korean government and business officials and Pyongyang officials begin talks on the launch of mobile phone services in North Korea, according to the Ministry of Information and Communication. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Pyongyang: South Korean government and business officials and Pyongyang officials begin talks on the launch of mobile phone services in North Korea, according to the Ministry of Information and Communication. The delegation included MIC...

Sydney: Telstra Mobile is to become the second regional operator to offer the RIM BlackBerry pager to corporate customers. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Sydney: Telstra Mobile is to become the second regional operator to offer the RIM BlackBerry pager to corporate customers. Telstra's Craig Cameron says the carrier has started acceptance testing and will roll out the service later in the year.

Sydney: Virgin Group says it will invest an additional A$68 million ($37.3 million) in its MVNO venture with SingTel Optus through a convertible preference share issue. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Sydney: Virgin Group says it will invest an additional A$68 million ($37.3 million) in its MVNO venture with SingTel Optus through a convertible preference share issue. As a result, Virgin's stake in Virgin Mobile Australia will be lifted to...

Canberra: the Australian government, the Western Australian government and Telstra team up in a joint initiative, WirelessWest, which aims to deliver improved mobile phone coverage to the South West land division of Western Australia. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Telstra Corporation Ltd.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Canberra: The Australian government, the Western Australian government and Telstra team up in a joint initiative, WirelessWest, which aims to deliver improved mobile phone coverage to the South West land division of Western Australia. The three...

Singapore: the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) says that it will stick to its deadline of 31 December, 2004 for the island-wide rollout of 3G networks after consultations with the industry--which had hoped the IDA would push the deadline back. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Singapore: the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) says that it will stick to its deadline of 31 December, 2004 for the island-wide rollout of 3G networks after consultations with the industry--which had hoped the IDA would push the deadline...

Singapore: The IDA says that it will pay S$17.8 million ($8.5 million) for fresh trials and promises another S$30 million to test hotspots to support wireless technologies. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Infocomm Development Authority)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Singapore: The IDA says that it will pay S$17.8 million ($8.5 million) for fresh trials and promises another S$30 million to test hotspots to support wireless technologies. In May, the authority gave the green light to 20 mobile workforce and...

Showtime for TD-SCDMA: the clock is ticking ... TD-SCDMA, the Chinese-backed standard that promises 3G performance at lower cost and higher efficiency, is almost a reality. But with the industry worldwide in retreat, Beijing is struggling to find cash and support. .(Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access)(Cover Story)
July 1, 2002... The clock is running down on China's own 3G standard, TD-SCDMA. After three years of joint development between state-owned Datang and Siemens, the mobile standard is about to meet a series of crucial technology and financial milestones. If...

Weight of the wireless network: next generation wireless services bring new burdens to network operators--can your OSSs bear the brunt? (Wireless Biz).(operations support systems)
July 1, 2002... For any service provider, managing and supporting its network is a difficult proposition. The issues lie not only in collecting information about the physical layer of the network, but also in correlating the network management systems with...

Home networking comes unstrung. (1_2_1).(Dr Bob Heile)(Interview)
July 1, 2002... The home of the future will be heavily networked, with so-called "personal area networks" connecting major appliances to each other and the world. If that sounds like a cabling nightmare, relax--much of it is may be wireless, and home Wi-Fi is...

Plug up roaming revenue leaks. (tools).(Cerebrus Solutions launches RoamAssure)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Nortel Networks spin-off Cerebrus Solutions has launched RoamAssure, which is specifically designed to combat roaming revenue leakage, including mobile fraud. While a user's roaming data usually takes weeks to get back to the home network,...

Service management for end-users. (tools).(SmartTrust US Inc.'s MyServicePortal solution)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... SmartTrust has announced the general release of its MyServicePortal solution, which enables mobile operators to tailor mobile services such as infotainment, gaming or m-commerce applications between subscribers. MyServicePortal allows users to...

Acer specs for apps developers. (tools).(handheld.acer.com.tw)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Taiwan computer company Acer has established a new Web site for handheld hardware and software developers. The site (http://handheld.acer.com.tw) includes technical documentation of Acer's handheld designs--mostly Palm OS related information...

Ericsson Bluetooth stack update. (tools).(Bluetooth PC Reference Stack 3.20 )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Ericsson has announced the Bluetooth PC Reference Stack 3.20 for application developers. The application interface gives full access to all lower layers, such as the HCI, and is intended for developing customer-specific middleware. Current...

FunMail launches MMS for i-mode. (out now).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... FunMail has officially launched its multimedia messaging service on NTT DoCoMo's i-mode network, allowing i-mode users to send color animations to each other for a monthly fee of 200 yen ($1.70), plus 50 yen per month for their favorite...

Download bar codes for bill payments. (out now).(NTT DoCoMo's "combien?")(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... NTT DoCoMo has launched "combien?", a new billing system that enables users to pay monthly mobile phone bills at convenience stores using a bar code image on their mobile phone screens downloaded from a dedicated site linked to the i-mode...

Hutchison 3G enlists games developers. (deals).(It's Alive, nGame, Codetoys and Cheeky Wireless )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Hutchison 3G has forged partnerships with nine games development companies--including It's Alive, nGame, Codetoys and Cheeky Wireless--for the provision of over 40 games for Hutchison 3G's multimedia services worldwide later this year. Many of...

SKT accepts Visa for wireless payments. (deals).(SK Telecom Company Ltd. and Visa International begin Europay-MasterCard-Visa)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Visa International and SK Telecom have signed an agreement to implement wireless payments that incorporate smart cards and infrared technology, allowing SKT customers to conduct transactions using Visa debit or credit payments over mobile...

3G security team-up for Hutchison. (deals).(Entrust Technologies Inc. and SchlumbergerSema)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Internet security vendor Entrust has signed a contract with SchlumbergerSema under which the two companies will deliver infrastructure and security services to Hutchison 3G for its third-generation services--first in the UK, then in Hutchison's...

Remote access control for corporates. (out now).(Secure Computing Corp.'s SafeWord PremierAccess v3.1)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Secure Computing Corporation has released SafeWord PremierAccess v3.1, the newest version of its access control software. The software, aimed at the corporate remote access market, includes capabilities for authenticating access to wireless...

Wireless securities trading in Hong Kong. (out now).(724 Solutions Inc. and Bank of America)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Mobile internet software company 724 Solutions and Bank of America (Asia) have launched a wireless securities trading service in Hong Kong, which will allow Bank of America customers to access real-time wireless stock trading, quotes and other...

ID chips for mobiles. (deals).(Nokia and Nordea are trialing mobile chips)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Nokia and Scandinavian financial services company Nordea are trialing mobile chips for identification in m-commerce services. Trial participants are using a Nokia WAP phone equipped with a SIM card and a Nordea chip card. The WIM (Wireless...

Mobileway gives SMS to Diners Club. (deals).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Mobileway has partnered with Diners Club Australia to provide the delivery of secured SMS-based services for Diners Club Australia's new Club@lerts service. Club@lert customers receive up-to-date account information, news and special offers...

Mobile sync service trial in Guangdong. (deals).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Magically Inc has launched a mobile synchronization service trial with Guangdong Mobile that allows users to manage personal information such as address books, calendars and service profiles across multiple networks, platforms and mobile...

Demystifying SMS success. (Forum).(Short messaging service)
July 1, 2002... Many in the industry see the phenomenal growth in SMS usage as the tip of the mobile data iceberg, a sure sign that the mobile Internet is about to "explode". But as with the rest of the "next-big-things" in cellular (WAP, GPRS, UMTS), before...

LGE mounts 3G challenge. (Street Wise).(LG Electronics previews 3G handsets)
July 1, 2002... Korea's LG Electronics is aiming to top the 3G handset market. The company has just previewed a selection of 3G handsets for cdma2000 1x, cdma 1x EV-DO and W-CDMA networks. All the phones sport impressive color displays and come with full...

From holy warriors to agnostics. (Lynch).(QUALCOMM Inc.; wideband code division multiple access and third generation wireless)(Column)
July 1, 2002... Remember the cellular holy wars? Those fetching turf battles over the claimed superiority of the CDMA algorithm, the pure greed of Qualcomm's royalty take and the revenue-friendly advantages of GSM roaming platforms? Well, the central...

Something for the future road warrior. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(Oregon Scientific's Barbie B-On the Go Learning Phone and Barbie B-Brilliant Pocket PC)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The latest evidence that mobiles have become a permanent part of the global culture and fashion landscape: the Barbie Spring series of toy mobile devices. Manufactured by US-based Oregon Scientific under license from Mattel, the new series...

CDMA: the healthy alternative. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(Unicom will try to sell CDMA service to Chinese market, which has 150 million committed GSM users)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... China's Unicom has cellular's toughest task in trying to sell a CDMA service to a market with 150 million committed GSM users. The company is tackling the problem head-on, promoting the service as simply "CDMA". In particular, Unicom is...

Never, ever do this. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(eavesdropping via cellular telephone)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Some criminals in the US have reportedly been using cell phones to eavesdrop on the police. This technique involves exploiting an "auto-answer" feature available in some new models in which the handset automatically answers an incoming...

Cell phone shocker! (Short message: around the wireless industry).(FTP Spywatch's cell phone stun gun)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Two years ago, it was the .22 cell phone gun (see short message, December 2000). This year, it's the cell phone stun gun. Offered by FTP Spywatch, a US company that specializes in "home security, surveillance and defense products", the stun...

"Place the ringtone on the ground and step away slowly ..." (Short message: around the wireless industry).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Ringtone downloads are a hot item with the Hong Kong youth these days, particularly pop song melodies. They're so popular, in fact, that they've spawned a new cottage industry for "ringtone input service shops", where users can get the latest...