Wireless Asia articles from March 2002

Wireless Asia archives from March 2002

Sharing the load. (Unwired).
March 1, 2002... To share or not to share? That's the question Asian regulators are going to face in the next 18 months as they come under pressure from 3G licensees and licensee wannabes to help make their business plans more viable. It reflects the...

Race is on for Taiwan 3G: Taiwan's five 3G licensees paid 45% more than the government's reserve price for the right to play. Now, they say they are keen to roll out the networks. (News Analysis).
March 1, 2002... Taiwan's 3G auction was a marathon affair, concluding with the capitulation of 3GO Telecommunications Corp. after 180 rounds and 19 days. Taiwan Cellular Corp., Yuan-Ze Telecom Co, Chunghwa Telecom Co, Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless...

Philippines trio takes on the big guys: new cellcos are preparing to enter the Philippine market. Confidence is high but the going looks tough as they plot to secure market share.
March 1, 2002... Digitel in 2002. Express Telecom by 2003 or 2004. BayanTel by 2004 or 2005, or probably never. These three cellcos are preparing to enter the Philippines' cellular market to challenge the Smart/Piltel and Globe/Islacom dominance. Between...

Teething problems bite hard into Unicom CDMA: with a dearth of phones and a confused price strategy, China Unicom's CDMA business is off to a rocky start. (News Analysis).
March 1, 2002... It is no secret that the launch of China Unicom's CDMA service has been hampered by a lack of compatible handsets. Though the government licensed 19 companies to produce CDMA phones, only four--Motorola, ZTE, Qingdao-based Haler Group and...

Hutchison Australia scores One.Tel network: Lucent Technologies' giveaway of a network it built for defunct One.Tel to Hutchison Australia sets the stage for the early roll of 3G. (News Analysis).(Telecom New Zealand)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Hutchison Whampoa's Australian subsidiary is on track for the launch of its 3G service offering early next year after a deal to take over the Lucent-built network ordered by the collapsed One.Tel company. Hutchison Australia and...

The GSM Association unveils Phase II of its M-Services. (Movements).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The GSM Association unveils Phase II of its M-Services initiative to drive an open global platform for application and service delivery to mobile phones.

LEOsat operator Globalstar files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. (Movements).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... LEOsat operator Globalstar files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Globalstar says it has reached an agreement with several of its major creditors to restructure the company's debt.

Fujitsu and Sagem will jointly develop 3G mobile phones. (Movements).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Fujitsu and Sagem will jointly develop 3G mobile phones. Fujitsu will develop multimedia and Internet software while Sagem will leverage its experience in GSM to provide core communications software.

Alcatel and Mitsubishi Electric Telecom Europe (METE) agree to co-operate on developing 3GPP standard-based end-to-end 3G/UMTS solutions. (Movements).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Alcatel and Mitsubishi Electric Telecom Europe (METE) agree to co-operate on developing 3GPP standard-based end-to-end 3G/UMTS solutions. The co-operation is aimed at ensuring the availability of fully interoperable handset devices with...

Lucent and Europe's Option announce an agreement to produce 3G UMTS PC cards. (Movements).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Lucent and Europe's Option announce an agreement to produce 3G UMTS PC cards. The cards will be targeted at business users who need high-speed access to enterprise applications such as intranet access, email and Internet browsing.

Motorola unveils its first 3G phone at a global launch of new handsets for 2002 in Milan, Italy. (Movements).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Motorola unveils its first 3G phone at a global launch of new handsets for 2002 in Milan, Italy. The Motorola A830 model, the vendor's first W-CDMA handset developed in partnership with its 3G partner, Hutchison Whampoa, will feature a full...

NTT DoCoMo will introduce its i-mode service in Europe within months through German mobile operator E-Plus, a unit of DoCoMo's 15%-owned partner, KPN Mobile. (Movements).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... NTT DoCoMo will introduce its i-mode service in Europe within months through German mobile operator E-Plus, a unit of DoCoMo's 15%-owned partner, KPN Mobile. The service is expected to be the first appearance of i-mode outside Japan.

Flextronics Design, a unit of Singapore-based Flextronics, signs a deal with Ericsson Mobile Platforms to provide engineering and design support for 3G mobile phones. (Movements).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Flextronics Design, a unit of Singapore-based Flextronics, signs a deal with Ericsson Mobile Platforms to provide engineering and design support for 3G mobile phones. Under the General engineering service agreement, Flextronics Design will...

Beijing: China's Datang Group and Siemens trial TD-SCDMA third-generation wireless technology with a live system in Beijing. (News map: around Wireless Asia).
March 1, 2002... Beijing: China's Datang Group and Siemens trial TD-SCDMA third-generation wireless technology with a live system in Beijing. The demonstration verifies system transport rate, handset moving speed and base station coverage, Datang says.

Beijing: China Railcom signs an interconnection agreement with China Mobile. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Beijing: China Railcom signs an interconnection agreement with China Mobile. The agreement will allow China Mobile subscribers to use China Railcom's discount long-distance service by dialing 068 as a prefix, while China Railcom users will also...

Chengdu: NASDAQ-listed mobile phone maker Qiao Xing Universal Telephone receives a $32 million contract for 200,000 CDMA handsets from the Sichuan branch of Guangzhou Jin Zhong Hua Telecom Service Inc., the sales agent for China Unicom. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Chengdu: NASDAQ-listed mobile phone maker Qiao Xing Universal Telephone receives a $32 million contract for 200,000 CDMA handsets from the Sichuan branch of Guangzhou Jin Zhong Hua Telecom Service Inc., the sales agent for China Unicom. Qiao...

Nanjing: Chinasat orders W-OFDM equipment worth $5.9 million from Canada-based Wi-Comm Communications, a joint venture backed by wireless system provider Wi-LAN, to build a broadband wireless network in Nanjing, one of five cities for which the Ministry of Information Industry has already set aside 3.5 GHz spectrum for such citywide deployments. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Nanjing: Chinasat orders W-OFDM equipment worth $5.9 million from Canada-based Wi-Comm Communications, a joint venture backed by wireless system provider Wi-LAN, to build a broadband wireless network in Nanjing, one of five cities for which the...

Hong Kong: China Unicom enters Hong Kong's mobile market after receiving the city's third MVNO license from OFTA. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Hong Kong: China Unicom enters Hong Kong's mobile market after receiving the city's third MVNO license from OFTA. Unicom says it won't compete in the local market, which is too competitive, but will bring roaming services to its customers in...

Singapore: SingTel posts 24.7% drop in profit for its first three quarters for year 2001/2002, fueled partly by a S$36.7 million loss from its Australian unit Optus, whose financial results are consolidated with SingTel's for the first time. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Singapore: SingTel posts 24.7% drop in profit for its first three quarters for year 2001/2002, fueled partly by a S$36.7 million loss from its Australian unit Optus, whose financial results are consolidated with SingTel's for the first time. On...

Singapore: SingTel Mobile and Cambridge Positioning System (CPS) will jointly conduct a trial of location-based services in late March. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Singapore: SingTel Mobile and Cambridge Positioning System (CPS) will jointly conduct a trial of location-based services in late March. The two companies will build a test network around Tampines Town in Singapore as a platform for application...

Singapore: SingTel Mobile completes a trial on 3G packet data, and says it will award a 3G contract worth S$350 million ($190 million) by the middle of this year. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Singapore: SingTel Mobile completes a trial on 3G packet data, and says it will award a 3G contract worth S$350 million ($190 million) by the middle of this year. SingTel Mobile has been testing 3G equipment from Siemens, NEC and ITOCHU Corp.,...

Pyongyang: Thai conglomerate Loxley reportedly plans to build a cellular network inside North Korea. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Pyongyang: Thai conglomerate Loxley reportedly plans to build a cellular network inside North Korea. Northeast Asia Telephone and Telecommunications, a 70-30 joint venture set up in 1995 by Loxley Pacific and the Post & Telecommunications...

Seoul: The Korean government eases the restriction on private ownership of Korea Telecom in a bid to sell off its 28.3% stake in the incumbent telco. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Seoul: The Korean government eases the restriction on private ownership of Korea Telecom in a bid to sell off its 28.3% stake in the incumbent telco. Private firms interested in bidding for KT are now allowed to own up to 15% of the telco,...

Seoul: KT Corp and Hanaro Telecom launch commercial wireless LAN services. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Seoul: KT Corp and Hanaro Telecom launch commercial wireless LAN services. KT upgrades its Nespot service to full commercial status, allowing subscribers of its Megapass broadband service to access 42 wireless LAN hotspots. Hanaro also launches...

Seoul: LG Telecom posts a year-end net profit of 154.4 billion won ($117.1 million) for 2001, compared to a loss of 442.4 billion won ($335.6 million) in 2000. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Seoul: LG Telecom posts a year-end net profit of 154.4 billion won ($117.1 million) for 2001, compared to a loss of 442.4 billion won ($335.6 million) in 2000. LGT's 2001 revenue also went up sharply to 2.12 trillion won ($1.6 billion), from...

Seoul: Qualcomm and KTF announce a nationwide launch of gps-One mobile handsets together with a positioning location service plan, called Geleye. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Seoul: Qualcomm and KTF announce a nationwide launch of gps-One mobile handsets together with a positioning location service plan, called Geleye. The service and the handset are powered by Qualcomm's CDMA technologies MSM3300 Mobile Station...

Taipei: FarEasTone raises NT$4.3 billion ($122 million) through a syndicated loan from nine banks. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(FarEasTone Telecommunications Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Taipei: FarEasTone raises NT$4.3 billion ($122 million) through a syndicated loan from nine banks, including Citibank, Bank of Taiwan, Taiwan Cooperative Bank, First Commercial Bank, Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Chang Hwa Commercial Bank, Taipei...

Taipei: Taiwan Cellular Corp. enters into a strategic partnership with Taiwanese computer maker Quanta Computer to design, manufacture and market mobile phones. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Taipei: Taiwan Cellular Corp. enters into a strategic partnership with Taiwanese computer maker Quanta Computer to design, manufacture and market mobile phones. Under the agreement, Quanta is expected to produce over 500,000 mobile phones with...

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo partners with Nissan Motor to develop mobile applications for vehicles. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo partners with Nissan Motor to develop mobile applications for vehicles. The companies hope to leverage NTT DoCoMo's 3G network to bring high-speed Internet access, location-based information, entertainment services and other...

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo's cellular subscriber base passes the 40 million mark. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo's cellular subscriber base passes the 40 million mark. The figure includes third-generation FOMA customers, which numbered 27,000 at the end of 2001.

Tokyo: Japan Telecom will expand test areas of its 802.11b wireless LAN service. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Tokyo: Japan Telecom will expand test areas of its 802.11b wireless LAN service, with the addition of four new locations on the Japan Rail Yamanote line.

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo issues access guidelines that allow ISPs to offer their own services using DoCoMo's i-mode packet network, breaking its own ISP monopoly on its i-mode service. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo issues access guidelines that allow ISPs to offer their own services using DoCoMo's i-mode packet network, breaking its own ISP monopoly on its i-mode service. However, customers will have to wait almost a year before they can...

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo says it will seek listings on both the New York and London stock exchanges in a bid to finance its global expansion plans. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo says it will seek listings on both the New York and London stock exchanges in a bid to finance its global expansion plans. DoCoMo, which hopes to officially list on both stock exchanges by early March, also authorized a...

Sydney: Hutchison Telecom Australia will take One.Tel's GSM network off the hands of vendor Lucent Technologies--the default owner of the A$654 million ($340 million) network following the mobile operator's collapse in May last year--for free. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Sydney: Hutchison Telecom Australia will take One. Tel's GSM network off the hands of vendor Lucent Technologies--the default owner of the A$654 million ($340 million) network following the mobile operator's collapse in May last year--for free....

The wireless World Cup: CDNA 2000 vs W-CDMA: neighbors and rivals Korea and Japan will together host this year's football World Cup, but the feeling between the two on the football pitch is nothing compared to the competition in the technology field. Stand by while the two world cellular leaders slug it out for the wireless World Cup. (Cover Story).
March 1, 2002... Korea and Japan--once bitter enemies and now mutually suspicious neighbors--are determined to play nice. Proof of that is their joint staging of the 16th World Cup from 31 May-30 June. But try as they may, the north Asian neighbors just...

A matter of trust: wireless PKI's identity crisis: wireless PKI promises to transform cell phones into all-purpose trusted payment devices that will make m-commerce a killer value-add. However, adoption has been painfully slow, and some experts are questioning WPKI's authentication credentials. (Tech Focus).
March 1, 2002... The dotcom purge is still in progress, though the worst of it may be over. Certainly e-commerce appears to be far from dead--or at least it came back to life during the holidays. By some estimates, online shopping sales during November and...

In at the deep end: Motorola takes the first stab at 3G: Motorola has become one of the first to unveil a 3G phone, diving in with a new business focus and a global dollar deal with Hutchison Whampoa. John Thode, vice president and general manager, 3G products, Motorola PCS group, tells Tony Chan why 3G is more difficult than 2.5G. (1_2_1).
March 1, 2002... Wireless Asia: What is Motorola's strategy for 3G? John Thode: Clearly Motorola has been successful in bringing technologies to market, but particularly over the past two years, we realized that technology doesn't sell products,...

Clear message for SMS. (Wheel of Industry).
March 1, 2002... As this column reported in March 1999--"Things are moving and SMS will really take off this year we are told"--well, things certainly did take off! The GSM Association has projected that numbers still to be released could show that as many as...

China Kejian licenses T9 software. (deals).(Kejian Corp. and Tegic Communications)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... China Kejian Corporation has licensed Chinese and English language T9 Text input software from America Online subsidiary Tegic Communications. China Kejian will integrate T9 Text Input into its new mobile phone models slated for availability in...

EziText integrated with BREW. (deals).(Zi Corp. and Qualcomm)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Zi Corporation announced that it has successfully integrated its eZiText predictive text input software onto Qualcomm's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform. The initial integration of eZiText onto BREW platform includes both...

Nokia Communicator in China. (deals).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Digital China, a spin off of Chinese PC maker Legend Holdings, has signed an exclusive agreement with Nokia to distribute Nokia's 9210C Communicator in China.

TrustAsia sets WebNum for SE Asia. (deals).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... TrustAsia, an Asian affiliate of digital certificate authority VeriSign, says it will integrate VeriSign's WebNum services into its product line. TrustAsia will distribute WebNum services to wireless users in Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam,...

China Mobile strikes airline WAP service agreement. (deals).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... China Mobile has struck an agreement with China Southern Airlines to develop customer service products available via China Mobile's WAP service. China Mobile WAP users will be able to book and buy tickets online, access same-day flight status...

MMS location based service demo. (out now).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Logica and Mapflow demonstrated what they claimed was the world's first live demo of location based services over MMS at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes. The MMS location service provides users with animated color map images that zoom in to...

Channel V SMS voting campaign. (out now).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Mobile data vendor MobileWay has announced its collaboration with ASP i4uuu and Taiwan-based music television channel Channel V to create a two-way voting campaign, held in January, that enabled fans to vote for their favorite artists through...

SMS counseling. (out now).
March 1, 2002... Singaporean mobile phone operator M1 has launched a counselling service using SMS technology for young people aged between 16 and 21. The new service, called "Ask Carey", is the latest addition to the Mt chat SMS service, and is manned by...

Global SMS interconnect service. (out now).
March 1, 2002... Logica is looking to become a wholesale SMS service provider with a new global SMS interconnect service. Logica's Global Interconnect Network will extend the delivery of text messages to users across the globe regardless of their network's core...

Bluetooth jacket for iPAQ. (out now).
March 1, 2002... TDK Systems has unveiled what it says is the first Bluetooth enabler for Compaq's iPAQ PDA. TDK's bluePAQ clips on to the iPAQ as a clear jacket, enabling iPAQ users to connect to other Bluetooth-enabled devices, such as mobile phones, laptops,...

CodeWarrior for enterprise apps. (tools).(Metrowerks Inc.'s CodeWarrior Development Tools for Palm OS, Version 8.0)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Motorola-owned Metrowerks has announced a March 2002 release for the enterprise edition of its CodeWarrior Development Tools for Palm OS, Version 8.0, which enables development teams to quickly create wireless enterprise apps. Features include...

Mobile terminal software suite. (tools).(AU-System's Mobile Suite)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Sweden-based AU-System has launched its open standards-based Mobile Suite software package for terminal manufacturers, which offers an integrated suite of programs for mobile terminals. The core of the package is the AU-System Mobile Internet...

TCNZ restructures. (Telecom Career).(Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Telecom Corporation of New Zealand has announced a management restructure for itself and Australian subsidiary, AAPT. Under the new structure, Simon Moutter will serve as COO in New Zealand and David Bedford as COO in Australia. Moutter...

AGC names new HR head. (Telecom Career).(Paul Crosio new vice president of human resources for Asia Global Crossing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Asia Global Crossing has named Paul Crosio as vice president of human resources. Crosio joins AGC from WorldCom Asia Pacific, where he was most recently head of human resources. Prior to WorldCom, Crosio was vice president, human resources...

FLAG appoints new director. (Telecom Career).(FLAG Telecom appoints Osama Jamjoom)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Osama Jamjoom, currently managing director of Dallah Telecom in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has replaced Adnan Omar as the designated director of Rathburn Limited, a subsidiary of Dallah Al-Baraka Holding Company, to the board of FLAG Telecom. ...

NWM taps finance head. (Telecom Career).(New World Mobility appoints Domingo Chen)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Hong Kong GSM 1800 operator New World Mobility has named Domingo Chen as vice president of finance and strategic planning. Chen joined NWM from Littauer Technologies Limited, where he was most recently managing director and head of Greater...

SVP Nokia Mobile Phones. (Telecom Career).(Robert Andersson )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Nokia has appointed Robert Andersson as senior vice president to oversee the company's mobile phone operations in Asia Pacific. Andersson started his career at Nokia in 1985 as a controller, holding key appointments in finance and business...

Clarent Corp. adds two board members. (Telecom Career).(J. Mark Hattendorf and Tom Elliot)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Clarent Corporation has appointed J. Mark Hattendorf and Tom Elliot to the company's board of directors. The company has also announced changes to its management team with several appointments: John J O'Shea as chief financial officer;...

Cisco Asia VP. (Telecom Career).(Cisco Systems Inc. appoints Owen Chan)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Cisco Systems has promoted Owen Chan to vice president of Asia operations. Chan joined Cisco in December 1999, and was formerly Cisco's vice president, customer advocacy, Asia Pacific. Prior to joining Cisco, he was vice president of...

Agilent OSS taps new head. (Telecom Career).(Agilent Technologies Inc. appoints Jack Trautman)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Agilent Technologies has appointed Jack Trautman as vice president and general manager of its communications management solution unit. Trautman joined Agilent earlier this year from Hewlett-Packard, where he worked for 26 years.

E.piphany's Asia Pacific VP and GM. (Telecom Career).(Chris Ciauri)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... E.piphany, a provider of next generation customer relationship management (CRM) software, has appointed Chris Ciauri as vice president and general manager for the Asia Pacific region. Prior to his new role, Ciauri held several other...

Non-executive director at Softbank unit. (Telecom Career).(Kang Dian's appointment to Softbank Investment International (Strategic) Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Softbank Investment International (Strategic) Limited, the flagship of Softbank Finance Corp in Asia (ex-Japan) and a member of the global Softbank family, has named Kang Dian as an independent non-executive director of the company. Kang...

Core Solutions appoints managing consultant. (Telecom Career).(CORE Solutions Ltd. appoints Desmond Ko)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Core Solutions has appointed Desmond Ko, formerly with PricewaterhouseCoopers, to the company's newly created position of managing consultant to oversee CORE's financial service consultancy practice. In a separate announcement, Yehong...

Going from phone to phone. (Street Wise).
March 1, 2002... Last month, a good friend of mine bought a new Ericsson T68. The reason for the purchase? His 18-month-old Nokia 8850 was acting a bit funny after his daughter dropped it one too many times while playing. I told him to bring the Nokia into...

3G limps on. (Lynch).
March 1, 2002... International financiers notice the teething problems with 3G in Asia's affluent Chinese markets and it gives them a sense of dread. Never has there been a more reluctant technology revolution than that of third generation cellular...

Can you Moto? (Short message: around the wireless industry).(Motorola Inc.'s marketing campaign word )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Motorola's mobile phone division has launched a new marketing campaign featuring a new catch-all phase, "moto," aimed to symbolize and personalize the company and products. But the term is so popular that a dozen companies already claim to...

Worming up for a date. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(mobile phone radiation and nematode worms)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... British scientists have found that radiation emitted by a mobile phone can increase the fertility of a very specific genre of worm. The New Scientist reported that a team led by David de Pomerai at the University of Nottingham discovered...

The fast the furious. (Short message: around the wireless industry).
March 1, 2002... Logica has secured a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records by sending an SMS text message across six continents in three minutes and 17 seconds. To do that, Logica Mobile Networks CEO Gerry McKenna sent an SMS (reading "Be Global")...

Return of the Dude. (Short message: around the wireless industry).
March 1, 2002... Aussie phone company One.Tel may have collapsed ignominiously last April, owing A$600 million--the court cases are still underway--but two former executives are confident the public hasn't had enough. Much to the incredulity of local media...

Mobile phone, by appointment. (Short message: around the wireless industry).
March 1, 2002... Nokia-founded company Vertu plans to introduce the world's most expensive mobile phone--or, as Vertu puts it, an "exclusive personal communications instrument". The new phone features a "scratch-resistant sapphire crystal face," and bezels...