Wireless Asia articles from June 2002

Wireless Asia archives from June 2002

Terminal boost. (Unwired).
June 1, 2002... The critical metric in the cellular business these days is mobile data ARPU, or the proportion of ARPU that goes to non-voice services such as SMS, mobile email and the like. The good news in Japan is that mobile data ARPU has been...

Taiwan operators take 3G at slow pace: Taiwan's telecom operators are taking their first steps towards 3G, but they are trying not to get in over their heads. (News Analysis).
June 1, 2002... Taiwan Cellular Corp. and Far EasTone Telecom were first in the local market to outline their financial commitment to 3G this year. Far EasTone has allocated $57.8 million of its $289 million capex plan for developing 3G infrastructure, while...

Hutchison Australia on the rebound: Hutchison's fortune in the Australian mobile market is taking a turn for the better. (News Analysis).
June 1, 2002... Hutchison's Australian mobiles operation is rebounding from its lackluster recent performance and is showing a strong growth in subscriber numbers as the company moves towards the introduction of third-generation services early next year. ...

Connexion still lives: Connexion by Boeing's planned in-flight broadband service is still go for an early 2003 launch, but with cash-strapped airlines looking to save money, Inmarsat's narrowband Swift64 service may provide ample competition. (News Analysis).
June 1, 2002... Accessing the Internet in airport lounges via wireless LAN networks is becoming an increasingly common option in airports around the world. Starting sometime next year, however, passengers may be able to do the same thing on the plane itself....

China increases spectrum fees. (News Analysis).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... China has announced plans to increase spectrum usage fees. Both China Mobile and China Unicom will see their usage fees payable to the regulator increase to 15 million yuan ($1.8 million) per MHz, from the current 1 million yuan per MHz. ...

Korea tests 1x DO for World Cup: Korean mobile operators SK Telecom and KTF are showing off new multimedia services based on Qualcomm's cdam200 1x EV-DO during the World Cup competition, but is there a technology case beyond the media frenzy of the sporting event? (News Analysis).
June 1, 2002... During the FIFA World Cup championships in Japan and Korea, users with 600,000 won ($470) to spare on a new handset will be able to get video highlights of matches directly over the mobile network of Korean mobile operator, KTF. The KTF...

Huawei iSite integrated mini BTS tapping future profits with least costs. (advertorial).
June 1, 2002... With mobile voice and data services continuing to grow dramatically, operators need to enhance their network capacity to facilitate the development of new services and to provide quality coverage. Huawei iSite allows networks to expand in a...

Nokia proposes an industry-wide cap of 5% on royalties for W-CDMA IPR licenses used by manufacturers to make W-CDMA equipment, including handsets. (Movements).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Nokia proposes an industry-wide cap of 5% on royalties for W-CDMA IPR licenses used by manufacturers to make W-CDMA equipment, including handsets. Nokia, which holds the most patents on W-CDMA, claims the cap would help stimulate the market by...

Shin Satellite signs a framework agreement with Shanghai VSAT Network Systems (SVC) under which SVC will become a national service provider in China for Shin Sat's iPSTAR broadband satellite service. (Movements).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Shin Satellite signs a framework agreement with Shanghai VSAT Network Systems (SVC) under which SVC will become a national service provider in China for Shin Sat's iPSTAR broadband satellite service. SVC expects to deploy more than 5,000 iPSTAR...

Schlumberger launches three new fully licensed and operational satellite Teleport facilities in Singapore, Houston, and Macae, Brazil for its DeXa. (Movements).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Schlumberger launches three new fully licensed and operational satellite Teleport facilities in Singapore, Houston, and Macae, Brazil for its DeXa. Net global secure connectivity service. The teleports are strategically located to link VSAT...

Qualcomm reports a 60% drop in its second quarter earnings for 2002. (Movements).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Qualcomm reports a 60% drop in its second quarter earnings for 2002. Net profit was $43.9m, compared to $109.7m for the same period last year. The lower figures are due to the market situation in South Korea, where the government ban on handset...

Lucent Technologies completes what it claims is the industry's first high-speed data call on commercial 3G UMTS wireless equipment designed for US operators with 1900 MHz spectrum. (Movements).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Lucent Technologies completes what it claims is the industry's first high-speed data call on commercial 3G UMTS wireless equipment designed for US operators with 1900 MHz spectrum. The test call includes Web surfing and video streaming at a...

Nokia signs a contract with Hutchison 3G Austria to supply 3G core-network equipment and OSS for its 3G network. (Movements).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Nokia signs a contract with Hutchison 3G Austria to supply 3G core-network equipment and OSS for its 3G network. No financial details are disclosed.

Nokia and Hewlett-Packard launch a new service quality-assurance system for mobile operators. (Movements).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Nokia and Hewlett-Packard launch a new service quality-assurance system for mobile operators. The new network management system, which handles both voice and data services, integrates the service management functions of telecoms and IT...

More than 1 million gpsOne-enabled devices are now in commercial use in Japan, South Korea and the US. (Movements).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... More than 1 million gpsOne-enabled devices are now in commercial use in Japan, South Korea and the US, according to CDMA company Qualcomm, whose subsidiary SnapTrack developed gpsOne technology.

IBM and Openwave form a ten year worldwide strategic alliance to jointly develop turnkey solutions. (Movements).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... IBM and Openwave form a ten year worldwide strategic alliance to jointly develop turnkey solutions, based on the integration of Openwave's Services OS portfolio of messaging and mobile software with IBM's WebSphere middleware.

InterDigital Communications is ratified as an Associate Member. (Movements).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... InterDigital Communications is ratified as an Associate Member of the GSM Association.

Beijing: China Unicom expands its original phase one contracts with Ericsson for CDMA equipment and services in Jiangsu, Anhui, Sichuan, Yunnan, Henan, Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Beijing: China Unicom expands its original phase one contracts with Ericsson for CDMA equipment and services in Jiangsu, Anhui, Sichuan, Yunnan, Henan, Heilongjiang and Liaoning provinces. The expansion contracts are valued at $55 million....

Beijing: Ericsson will sell off its 65% stake in Chinese handset venture Nanjing Ericsson Panda Mobile Terminals to Finnish company Microcell Ltd. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Beijing: Ericsson will sell off its 65% stake in Chinese handset venture Nanjing Ericsson Panda Mobile Terminals to Finnish company Microcell Ltd. It will consolidate its mobile phone production with its joint venture partner China Putian....

Hong Kong: China Unicom Hong Kong says it will sell 170,000 CDMA handsets to its parent for no more than 619 million yuan ($74.8 million) through its 58.88%-owned Shanghai-listed unit, Unicom Guomai Communications Co. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Hong Kong: China Unicom Hong Kong says it will sell 170,000 CDMA handsets to its parent for no more than 619 million yuan ($74.8 million) through its 58.88%-owned Shanghai-listed unit, Unicom Guomai Communications Co. The deal, which will be...

Hong Kong: Hutchison Telecom has launched the BlackBerry wireless email service for corporate customers in Hong Kong and Macau, making it the first Asian operator to offer such a service. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Hong Kong: Hutchison Telecom has launched the BlackBerry wireless email service for corporate customers in Hong Kong and Macau, making it the first Asian operator to offer such a service. The company says it will eventually expand the service...

Bangkok: TA Orange asks the Telephone Organisation of Thailand to make a case to mobile operator Advanced Info Service. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Bangkok: TA Orange asks the Telephone Organisation of Thailand to make a case to mobile operator Advanced Info Service for direct interconnection between the two cellular networks.

Bangkok: AIS awards Nokia a $50 million contract. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Bangkok: AIS awards Nokia a $50 million contract to expand its GSM network.

Hanoi: Vinaphone and Mobifone say they have added 180,000 new subscribers this year--almost double the rate of new fixed line subscribers. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Hanoi: Vinaphone and Mobifone say they have added 180,000 new subscribers this year--almost double the rate of new fixed line subscribers. It's the first time mobile adds have been greater than fixed-line adds in Vietnam. Vinaphone added the...

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)
June 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: wireless vendor P-Com announced an order for 30 AirPro Gold Net wireless Internet radio units for the Afghan Radio Project in Afghanistan, which enables Afghans to exchange news and information. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Kabul: Wireless vendor P-Com announced an order for 30 AirPro Gold Net wireless Internet radio units for the Afghan Radio Project in Afghanistan, which enables Afghans to exchange news and information. AirPro Gold offers 8.5 Mbps throughput and...

Tokyo: the Telecommunications Ministry is set to allocate the 5 GHz frequency band for indoor public WLAN services by the end of this year. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Tokyo: The Telecommunications Ministry is set to allocate the 5 GHz frequency band for indoor public WLAN services by the end of this year. The ministry plans to have the necessary regulations in place by the middle of this year, after which it...

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo says its net profit in the year to March plunged to [yen] 0.8 billion, down 99.8% on last year's [yen] 310.7 billion, after the group wrote down [yen] 812.8 billion ($6.3 billion) for investments on AT&T Wireless, Dutch operator KPN Mobile, Taiwan-based KG Telecom and Hutchison 3G UK. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo says its net profit in the year to March plunged to [yen] 0.8 billion, down 99.8% on last year's [yen] 310.7 billion, after the group wrote down [yen] 812.8 billion ($6.3 billion) for investments on AT&T Wireless, Dutch...

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo begins licensing patents for its proprietary W-CDMA technology, which was used to create its FOMA network. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo begins licensing patents for its proprietary W-CDMA technology, which was used to create its FOMA network. DoCoMo will license essential patents at "reasonable and non-exclusive terms" to manufacturers which supply 3G products...

Tokyo: Japan Telecom and East Japan Railway Co. expand tests of their public WLAN service to several locations in Sapporo. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Tokyo: Japan Telecom and East Japan Railway Co. expand tests of their public WLAN service to several locations in Sapporo. The two companies have been testing the service in several JR East train stations in Tokyo.

Melbourne: Telstra pays a record A$1.415 billion ($764 million) interim dividend to its shareholders--one of Australia's largest ever corporate dividends. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Melbourne: Telstra pays a record A$1.415 billion ($764 million) interim dividend to its shareholders--one of Australia's largest ever corporate dividends. Telstra's 1.86 million shareholders will receive A$0.11 cents per share fully franked, up...

Wellington: Telecom Corporation of New Zealand plans to undertake a customer pilot over the next few weeks. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Wellington: Telecom Corporation of New Zealand plans to undertake a customer pilot over the next few weeks to test the operational performance of cdma2000 1x before commercializing the service in July.

Sydney: Telstra signs a service provider agreement with global satellite carrier Iridium Satellite to retail Iridium services and handheld mobile satellite phones throughout rural and remote areas in Australia. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Sydney: Telstra signs a service provider agreement with global satellite carrier Iridium Satellite to retail Iridium services and handheld mobile satellite phones throughout rural and remote areas in Australia. Financial terms of the deal were...

Kuala Lumpur: DiGi Telecommunications will implement Alcatel's mobile intelligent network solution based on its Open Services Platform (OSP). (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Kuala Lumpur: DiGi Telecommunications will implement Alcatel's mobile intelligent network solution based on its Open Services Platform (OSP), allowing DiGi to offer advanced applications, combining voice, data and Internet services such as...

Kuala Lumpur: Telekom Malaysia takes a controlling stake in mobile rival Technology Resources Industries after paying $189m for a 13.2% stake seized by the government from tycoon and TRI founder Tajudin Ramli, followed by additional share purchases, bringing its total stake in TRI to just under 33%. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Kuala Lumpur: Telekom Malaysia takes a controlling stake in mobile rival Technology Resources Industries after paying $189m for a 13.2% stake seized by the government from tycoon and TRI founder Tajudin Ramli, followed by additional share...

Mumbai: Birla-Tata-AT&T says it has been renamed idea Cellular, and will operate under the brand name "Idea" in the five service circles. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Mumbal: Birla-Tata-AT&T says it has been renamed idea Cellular, and will operate under the brand name "Idea" in the five service circles in which it operates--Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

New Delhi: Hutchison, SingTel, AT&T and First Asia Pacific--all of whom are investors in Indian cellcos--reportedly send separate letters to Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee, urging him to intervene in a tribunal decision allowing basic telecoms operators to offer limited mobility services. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... New Delhi: Hutchison, SingTel, AT&T and First Asia Pacific--all of whom are investors in Indian cellcos--reportedly send separate letters to Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee, urging him to intervene in a tribunal decision allowing basic telecoms...

Virtually a revolution: the MVNO business has reached the US, thanks to Virgin. But if the "virtual" cellco is going to shake up the market by storm, it's likely to happen in Asia first. (Cover Story).
June 1, 2002... American consumers right now are about to witness first-hand the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) revolution, Virgin style. The UK consumer brand conglomerate has hooked up with Sprint PCS to launch their joint venture, touted as the...

Mobile video: the story so far ... this time last year, mobile video was widely regarded as a pipe dream. This year, it's a real service in Japan and Korea, and vendors are scrambling to partner with the likes of PacketVideo, RealNetworks and others. Here's what's going on, and what it could mean for the rest of the industry. (Tech Focus).
June 1, 2002... Thanks largely to the letdown of 3G hype and the failure of WAP to ignite wireless data services, many in the wireless industry were understandably down about the prospects of mobile video services this time last year. So were many market...

Unnatural selection: does Qualcomm's convergent GSM-1x technology stand a chance in the global wireless gene pool? (Wireless Biz).
June 1, 2002... "We gotta do something." With those words, Qualcomm CEO Irwin Jacobs kick-started an initiative in November to do what used to seem like a networking impossibility--wed CDMA2000-1x radio with GSM core infrastructure--to produce the...

Betting on future wireless: in the current bear market, it's easy to forget that the wireless business is still an important target for venture capital. Group editor Robert Clark sought out two VCs and a vendor-backed VC style fund, all of which have a focus on Asia's mobile and fixed wireless sectors. (1_2_1).
June 1, 2002... Transition to IP K. O. Chia, executive vice president, Walden International Wireless Asia: The wireless sector has been under-performing in the stock market. What's Walden's interest in wireless at the moment? K. O. Chia: Walden has...

Restructured--but still in wireless. (1_2_1).
June 1, 2002... Michael Ricks, CEO ImGO Wireless Asia: Wireless stocks are at historic lows right now. What gives imGO the confidence to keep investing in the sector? Michael Ricks: We're probably a contrarian industry, because when you want to be...

Being responsible. (Wheel Of Industry).
June 1, 2002... It may be just an exercise in cynical self-righteousness for Telstra to call for positive action in the area of social responsibility, as did Telstra OnAir MD David Thodey at a mobile industry gathering in Sydney recently, but in the wake of a...

TestQuest Pro interface for Symbian. (tools).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... TestQuest has introduced its TestQuest Interface for Symbian 6.x, and higher, which provides connectivity between its TestQuest Pro product and Symbian OS devices. The TestQuest Pro System automates the process of testing mobile phones by...

Casino gaming framework. (tools).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Canadian wireless gaming apps developer Phantom Fiber has launched a wireless software framework that enables Internet casino software developers, operators and land-based casinos to deploy interactive casino games to handheld devices, smart...

Business intelligence tools. (tools).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... CMG Wireless Data Solutions has launched "The Business Tools"--a business intelligence suite that provides mobile operators the ability to process, query, aggregate and analyze information on their 2G, 2.5G and 3G data services in real time....

Development tools with intent. (tools).
June 1, 2002... Metrowerks is shipping a new set of CodeWarrior Development Tools that enables applications and content development for Tao Group's "intent" media platform for consumer appliances, including set-top boxes, PDAs, mobile phones, VCRs, DVDs, and...

Test your apps software. (tools).
June 1, 2002... Telelogic has announced its Tau/Tester, a stand-alone tool designed to test and debug apps software for various types of systems, to include 3G networks. The tester is based on TTCN-3 (Testing and Test Control Notation), a multi-purpose test...

Multiple identity SIMs. (out now).
June 1, 2002... Bluefish Technologies says its new multiple identity SIM cards enable wireless operators with networks around the world to ensure their customers can roam on the operator's own network. Bluefish SIM cards can store up to 100 IMSI and Ki...

New Bluetooth apps. (out now).
June 1, 2002... TDK Systems has launched three new software applications for its "go blue" range of Bluetooth products. TDK Mobile allows users to control and manage a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone from a PC or laptop using TDK's Bluetooth PC Card or USB...

Bluetooth suite for OEMs. (out now).
June 1, 2002... Ericsson Technology Licensing has introduced its Bluetooth Mobile Phone Suite, which includes new features such as PPEC, voice improvement and very low power consumption. Ericsson says the new Bluetooth suite offers OEM and semiconductor...

Mobile Internet gateway. (out now).(724 Solutions develops support for WAP)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... 724 Solutions announced the availability of its Mobile Internet Gateway (MIG), which is designed to empower cost effective access to 2.5G and 3G networks. The MIG provides support for WAP 1.x, WAP 2.0, SMS and MMS.

Unified multiple service provisioning. (out now).(Intec Telecom Systems launches application software Inter-activatE)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... OSS vendor Intec Telecom Systems has launched Inter-activatE, a carrier-grade application for flow-through provisioning and activation of multiple communications services over mobile, fixed, 3G and IP networks from a single platform.

Mobile revenue chain management. (out now).(Intel launches revenue chain management solution)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Intel has launched its "Blueprint" solution for content charging and revenue chain management. The solution--which utilizes AmBeo rating and revenue chain management technology, Oracle database technology and HP hardware on an Intel...

Samsung licenses content engine. (deals).(Samsung Electronics and Picsel Technologies)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Samsung Electronics has licensed Picsel's Interactive File Viewer (IFV) for its smartphones. IFV is based on Picsel's ePAGE multimedia content engine, which enables almost any type of file or object--such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, HTML,...

Taito takes mzone mobile loyalty program. (deals).
June 1, 2002... Japan's Taito Corporation has chosen mzone, a product suite from wireless apps developer Network365, to introduce a new mobile loyalty program for arcade gaming, karaoke, restaurants, mobile content downloads and online shopping in Japan. Taito...

TCL adopts Intel Xscale. (deals).(TCL Mobile Communications and Intel China )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... TCL Mobile Communications and Intel China have signed an MoU under which TCL will develop its next generation Open Multimedia Information Terminal (OMIT) using Intel Xscale-based applications processors and Intel StrataFlash memory, which Intel...

Niragongo joins Mobile e-Services Bazaar. (deals).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Israeli mobile data start-up Niragongo has joined Hewlett Packard's Mobile e-Services Bazaar, through which it will deliver its Lava Platform 2.0 smart wireless proxy solution.

In search of brighter colors. (Street Wise).
June 1, 2002... I've been predicting great triumphs for Asian handset manufacturers for about a year now, but with the exception of Korea's Samsung, few have actually made an impact overseas. Could this be the year that the whole market moves to adopt new...

Time to see IDD as opportunity, not risk. (Lynch).
June 1, 2002... As mobile operators increasingly devote more of their resources to pursuing unproven business models in such esoteric arenas as m-gaming, m-imaging and m-commerce, it is becoming increasingly apparent that they are neglecting a far easier and...

Second-hand radiation. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(research into cell phone radiation)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... An interesting twist has been added to the debate over the harmfulness of cell phone radiation. A new study from Japan, released last month, suggests that while one active cell phone may not hurt you, a hundred cell phones being used...

Wireless McBroadband. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... This was probably inevitable, but global fast food behemoth McDonald's maid's wants its restaurants to be a place to hang out and surf the Net as well as eat. Knowing a hot trend when it sees one--namely, franchise coffee shops like...

Smart price tags. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(retail usage of radio frequency identification)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... If your clothes shopping experience isn't high-tech enough for you these days, that may change soon with the introduction of so-called RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags that can store up to 2MB of data and link to monitors via a...

Cell phone betrays pipe bomber. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Last month, 21-year-old Luke Helder confessed to planting at least 18 pipe bombs in rural mailboxes across several states in the US which injured six people. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was tipped off of Helder's possible involvement by...

Mobiles you can wear! (Short message: around the wireless industry).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... In a world where cell phones are considered a fashion accessory, it was only a matter of time before someone took the concept seriously. To wit, US cellco Sprint PCS recently introduced what it calls the first "wearable" cell phone....