Wireless Asia articles from March 2004

Wireless Asia archives from March 2004

Ready for an evolving market.(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
March 15, 2004... 2004 is set to be a pivotal year in the history of mobile communications in China. It is widely expected that, in 2004, four 3G licenses will be awarded by the government, setting motion a period of intense network development activity. While...

Industry body gets head and teeth.(Unwired)
March 15, 2004... Did you knew the number of GSM users had passed 1 billion? If not you're probably reading the wrong magazine. It is the latest campaign by the refashioned GSM Association. The association actually installed an electronic counter in its...

GSA broadens mission beyond EDGE.(News Analysis)
March 15, 2004... With the deployment of EDGE technology now a fait accompli, the GSM Suppliers Association (GSA) has kicked off a new series of industry discussion forums focused less on EDGE and more on the big picture of evolving GSM systems to W-CDMA. ...

Little Smart handset market heats up.(News Analysis)
March 15, 2004... Driven by Surging demand for Little Smart, handset manufacturers in China are clamoring to turn out PHS/GSM dual-mode models with enhanced functionalities. The MII's decision in December to allow SMS transmission between Little Smart, GSM...

In-flight GSM close to reality.(News Analysis)
March 15, 2004... The vast worldwide coverage of mobile communication doesn't really apply to airplanes, where cellphone use is banned to safeguard a plane's navigation interference. That's set to change, however, thanks to new technology that allows mobile base...

Untapped demand for location services.(Insight: one month's wireless research)
March 15, 2004... While application developers and service providers are focusing on launching infotainment services, a report from Strategy Analytics indicates that consumer demand for practical services such as step-by-step directions is being overlooked. Its...

Catering to the 'mobile' employee.(Insight: one month's wireless research)
March 15, 2004... A Yankee Group report has found that with 36% of all employees characterized as "mobile," companies in this segment have an increasing need for mobile and wireless solutions. SMBs spend aggressively on wireless voice and data services,...

BWA market to expand four-fold by '08.(Insight: one month's wireless research)
March 15, 2004... The fixed broadband wireless market is forecast to expand from $430 million last year to more than $1 6 billion by the end of 2008, according to Maravedis Inc. In a report it predicts that: "The industry will continue to consolidate and REMEC...

Voice and SMS to drive revenue growth.(Insight: one month's wireless research)
March 15, 2004... A report from Arthur D. Little and brokerage firm Exane forecasts that revenue for European mobile operators will increase 7.5% in 2004 and continue to expand by 6.6% per year until 2006, with the majority of growth substituting traffic...

Downward pressure on Wi-Fi tariffs.(Insight: one month's wireless research)
March 15, 2004... Wi-Fi tariffs in Europe are converging on more standardized products as competition emerges from North American roaming entrants aiming to extend the aggregator model. A report from BroadGroup suggests that a correlation between larger or more...

Cingular Wireless beats out Vodafone in the race to buy AT&T Wireless.(Movements)
March 15, 2004... Cingular Wireless beats out Vodafone in the race to buy AT&T Wireless, with a late-night $41b offer--the largest all-cash offer in history.

3 UK begins offering prepaid 3G service in Britain in a bid to tap the heavy-user end of the existing pre-paid market.(Movements)
March 15, 2004... 3 UK begins offering prepaid 3G service in Britain in a bid to tap the heavy-user end of the existing pre-paid market. Rival Orange also says it is considering launching its own prepaid 3G service aimed at lower spending customers but does not...

US business groups urge the Bush administration to step up pressure on China.(Movements)
March 15, 2004... US business groups urge the Bush administration to step up pressure on China to drop the new rules requiring foreign Wi-Fi manufacturers to adopt Chinese encryption technology for products they want to sell on the mainland.

Hutchison Whampoa's group MD Canning Fok testifies at the trial of six former Mannesmann directors, who face charges of breach of trust for allegedly approving 60m euros ($74.6m) of payments made to Mannesmann executive after Vodafone's record takeover.(Movements)
March 15, 2004... Hutchison Whampoa's group MD Canning Fok testifies at the trial of six former Mannesmann directors, who face charges of breach of trust for allegedly approving 60m euros ($74.6m) of payments made to Mannesmann executives after Vodafone's record...

A war of words over 3G phones takes place at the 3GSM conference last month in Cannes, with Vodafone chief Arun Sarin criticising the state of 3G handsets today as "unacceptable" while Nokia chief Jorma Ollila went on the defensive, arguing that the delays were "reasonable" because W-CDMA's complexity required extensive testing.(Movements)
March 15, 2004... A war of words over 3G phones takes place at the 3 SM conference last month in Cannes, with Vodafone chief Arun Sarin criticizing the state of 3G handsets today "unacceptable" while Nokia chief Jorma Ollila went on the defensive, arguing that...

Sun Microsystems, Motorola, Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson launch a new Java interoperability testing program.(Movements)
March 15, 2004... Sun Microsystems, Motorola, Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson launch a new Java interoperability testing program in an attempt to improve handset security over the next one to two years.

Intel COO Paul Otellini predicts 3G and three other high-speed wireless standards--Wi-Fi, WiMax and "WiMedia".(Movements)
March 15, 2004... Intel COO Paul Otellini predicts 3G and three other high-speed wireless standards--Wi-Fi, WiMax and "WiMedia," an ultra-wideband technology delivering 500 Mbps--will be dominant in the next five years.

Nokia chief executive Jorma Ollila predicts that the number of worldwide mobile subscribers will reach 4 billion, or half of the world's population by 2015.(Movements)
March 15, 2004... Nokia chief executive Jorma Ollila predicts that the number of worldwide mobile subscribers will reach 4 billion, or half of the world's population by 2015. By 2008, the world will already have 2 billion mobile users.

Minority shareholders of Symbian are preparing to block Nokia's.(Movements)
March 15, 2004... Minority shareholders of Symbian are preparing to block Nokia's move to take control of the software company.

Nokia and Samsung sign a cooperation agreement to promote push-to-talk over Cellular (PoC) technology to the mass market.(Movements)
March 15, 2004... Nokia and Samsung sign a cooperation agreement to promote push-to-talk over Cellular (PoC) technology to the mass market. Under the partnership, Samsung will introduce push-to-talk in several of its mobile phones during 2004 and 2005, utilizing...

SK Telecom and Alcatel reach a preliminary agreement to jointly develop and sell multimedia messaging services worldwide.(Movements)
March 15, 2004... SK Telecom and Alcatel reach a preliminary agreement to jointly develop and sell multimedia messaging services worldwide. The partnership will see SK Telecom supplying its Picture-Music-Video multimedia messaging software to Alcatel, which will...

Local media report that the new draft telecom law.(Beijing)
March 15, 2004... Local media report that the new draft telecom law is undergoing consultation between the Ministry of Industry Information and telecoms operators, and will be submitted to the State Council this month.

Statistics by the MII show in January alone China added 8.1 million new mobile users, up 15.4% from the same period last year.(Beijing)
March 15, 2004... Statistics by the MII show in January alone China added 8.1 million new mobile users, up 15.4% from the same period last year. As of January, China had 276.8 million mobile users.

Huawei Technologies and Siemens finalize their TD-SCDMA joint venture announced last August.(Beijing)
March 15, 2004... Huawei Technologies and Siemens finalize their TD-SCDMA joint venture announced last August. The venture has an incorporated capital of $100m--with 51% coming from Siemens and 49% from Huawei--and will have about 350 employees, with more than...

Ningbo Bird sees its 4Q net profit drop by 25.7% year-on-year to 77.69m yuan ($9.39m), as worsening domestic competition whittled away at margins.(Ningbo)
March 15, 2004... Ningbo Bird sees its 4Q net profit drop by 25.7% year-on-year to 77.69m yuan ($9.39m), as worsening domestic competition whittled away at margins. For all of 2003, Bird posts a 13.5% rise in net profit to 245.02m yuan afer cost cuts.

Commit a joint venture formed between Texas Instruments, Nokia and LG Electronics, will launch its, and possibly the world's, first TD-SCDMA chip for testing by June.(Shanghai)
March 15, 2004... Commit a joint venture formed between Texas Instruments, Nokia and LG Electronics, will launch its, and possibly the world's, first TD-SCDMA chip for testing by June. The chip will be ready for mass production by year-end, says Evan Yu, chief...

The Export-Import Bank of China agrees to supply Huawei Technologies and ZTE with a combined $1.1b in financing to help overseas buyers purchase their equipment.(Shenzhen)
March 15, 2004... The Export-Import Bank of China agrees to supply Huawei Technologies and ZTE with a combined $1.1b in financing to help overseas buyers purchase their equipment, as part of China's drive to boost exports by domestic technology companies.

ZTE will invest $2m to set up a wireless infrastructure plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil.(Shenzhen)
March 15, 2004... ZTE will invest $2m to set up a wireless infrastructure plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, making CDMA base stations for the Brazilan mobile market and for export.

3 Hong Kong slashes its 3G pricing by nearly 32%, with the launch of new packages for as low as HK$183 ($24) per month, and a new 3G phone provided by NEC for HK$998 ($128) each--compared to initial pricing of HK$263 a month and a HK$3,980 3G handset.(Hong Kong)
March 15, 2004... 3 Hong Kong slashes its 3G pricing by nearly 32%, with the launch of new packages for as low as HK$183 ($24) per month, and a new 3G phone provided by NEC for HK$998 ($128) each--compared to initial pricing of HK$263 a month and a HK$3,980 3G...

GSM operator Peoples Telephone moves a step closer to its planned IPO after receiving approval from regulators.(Hong Kong)
March 15, 2004... GSM operator Peoples Telephone moves a step closer to its planned IPO after receiving approval from regulators. Peoples, which changed its name to China Resources Peoples Telephone, will launch the IPO before the end of this month.

Huawei Technologies buys a 5.01% stake in Sunday Communications.(Hong Kong)
March 15, 2004... Huawei Technologies buys a 5.01% stake in Sunday Communications. The deal comes two months after Sunday agreed to purchase up to $115m worth of W-CDMA equipment from Huawei.

The Telecommunication Authority will auction two new mobile licenses in April to attract $1.5b in investment and expand the country's mobile subscriber base from three million to 15 million in three to four years.(Colombo)
March 15, 2004... The Telecommunication Authority will auction two new mobile licenses in April to attract $1.5b in investment and expand the country's mobile subscriber base from three million to 15 million in three to four years. The authority says it's...

The Ministry of Information and Communication imposes 33.3b won ($29m) in penalties on SK Telecom.(Seoul)
March 15, 2004... The Ministry of Information and Communication imposes 33.3b won ($29m) in penalties on SK Telecom, KTF and a KTF affiliate for providing illegal subsidies to attract customers--allegedly sparked by Korea's adoption of number portability in...

Mobile phone sales at LG Electronics surge 56% year-on-year to 2.8 million units in January.(Seoul)
March 15, 2004... Mobile phone sales at LG Electronics surge 56% year-on-year to 2.8 million units in January, boosted by brisk exports to Europe and revived domestic demand.

Taiwan cellular plans to source handsets from distributors instead of directly from vendors, in an attempt to gain benefits from scale.(Taipei)
March 15, 2004... Taiwan cellular plans to source handsets from distributors instead of directly from vendors, in an attempt to gain benefits from scale. Four major distributors, including Synnex, Senao and Aurora have been invited to bid for the project.

Japan may introduce mobile number portability after a study panel organized by the telecoms ministry compiled a draft report recommending portability to be implemented as soon as possible.(Tokyo)
March 15, 2004... Japan may introduce mobile number portability after a study panel organized by the telecoms ministry compiled a draft report recommending portability to be implemented as soon as possible. The ministry will set a target date in its final report...

The Japanese government is considering issuing up to three mobile licenses to newcomers to provide 3G services based on TDD technology.(Tokyo)
March 15, 2004... The Japanese government is considering issuing up to three mobile licenses to newcomers to provide 3G services based on TDD technology. So far, Softbank, NTT Communications and eAccess have already expressed interest in obtaining licenses to...

NTT DoCoMo is in talks with Nokia.(Tokyo)
March 15, 2004... NTT DoCoMo is in talks with Nokia for the supply of low-priced FOMA handsets this year.

NTT DoCoMo is reportedly planning to pull out its investment in Hutchison Whampoa's 3 UK unit.(Tokyo)
March 15, 2004... NTT DoCoMo is reportedly planning to pull out its investment in Hutchison Whampoa's 3 UK unit, leaving the door open for a new partner there.

SingTel Optus and Sydney Airport Corporation jointly launch commercial Wi-Fi services.(Sydney)
March 15, 2004... SingTel Optus and Sydney Airport Corporation jointly Launch commercial Wi-Fi services at the country's largest airport.

AIS cuts its planned capex for 2004.(Bangkok)
March 15, 2004... AIS cuts its planned capex for 2004 from $500m to $400m due to slowing subscriber growth.

TA Orange plans to raise 6b baht ($154m) by issuing new shares in the second quarter.(Bangkok)
March 15, 2004... TA Orange plans to raise 6b baht ($154m) by issuing new shares in the second quarter, but the company has not decided whether to raise the money through a rights issue or a private placement.

The Telecom Department approves rules allowing telecom operators to buy local rivals within the same operating circle on conditions that their combined market share does not exceed 67%.(New Delhi)
March 15, 2004... The Telecom Department approves rules allowing telecom operators to buy local rivals within the same operating circle on conditions that their combined market share does not exceed 67%. The rules, which are tended to encourage consolidation,...

Motorola wins a string of orders worth more than $307m from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.(New Delhi)
March 15, 2004... Motorola wins a string of orders worth more than $307m from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Tata Teleservices to provide telecoms gear for future network expansion In India, including cdma2000 1x equipment for Tata.

SingTel almost triples its Q3 net profit to S$854m ($503.2m).(Singapore)
March 15, 2004... SingTel almost triples its Q3 net profit to S$854m ($503.2m), driven by strong results from its overseas mobile units, particularly Optus in Australia.

DRM: a matter of trust: content providers edgy about piracy are moving into wireless data with caution, pending the development of wireless digital rights management. Emerging standards are making it happen, but DRM's arrival into the wireless mainstream isn't a sure thing just yet.(Cover Story)
March 15, 2004... It's hard to know whether the music industry is winning its war on Internet piracy these days. On the one hand, the US Recording Industry Association of America and the Europe-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry have had...

Clean bill of health for the mobile.(Wireless Biz)
March 15, 2004... Could it be that mobile phones are safe to use after all? Despite popular suspicions that EMF emissions from cellphones cause brain cancers, the weight of research evidence is increasingly coming down in favor of the phone. Some tests...

Making mobile pay.(1_ 2_ 1)
March 15, 2004... The m-commerce concept has been around for years, but implementation has been hampered by proprietary, unscalable payment schemes and closed-portal environments. PayCircle director of cooperations Stefan Schneiders--whose day job is with the...

Smartphones demand smarter support: looking beyond the whiz-bang technology packed into smartphones, the reality is that users are requiring up to four times as much tech support--which is forcing carriers to streamline their customer care operations and deploy a new generation of over-the-air diagnostic tools.(Wireless Tech)
March 15, 2004... Ah, the promise, e of 3G. Millions of subscribers paying billions of dollars to enjoy streaming media, use video messages instead of SMS and download weather maps and turn-by-turn directions. The marketing gurus at the carriers selecting and...

M2M reference design.(tools)
March 15, 2004... Bluegiga Technologies and Nokia form the first reference design in the market to enable the developers of machine-to-machine (M2M) systems to extend their GSM-based remote management systems with Bluetooth functionalities. This allows remotely...

MRF-compliant media server.(tools)
March 15, 2004... Convedia says its media servers are now available to provide multimedia resource function (MRF) for 2.5G and 3G wireless networks. MRF-based media processing supports mobile applications with intensive IP voice and video processing...

Satellite/3G convergence.(tools)
March 15, 2004... UDcast joins MAESTRO (Mobile Applications & Services based on Satellite & Terrestrial Interworking), an international EU-funded consortium of 20 partners working to develop and implement satellite digital multimedia broadcast technology (SDMB),...

Spam filter for BlackBerry.(tools)
March 15, 2004... Managed service provider and IT consulting firm Voyant Strategies announces that its "ContentCatcher" spare filtering service will support BlackBerry and 3G wireless devices.

BMG ringtone license.(deals)
March 15, 2004... Wireless media company Zingy reaches an agreement with BMG for the licensing and distribution of master recording ringtones that are clips of real music from BMG's back catalogue.

Italian football distribution.(deals)
March 15, 2004... European sports rights and distribution company MP Web announces two mobile phone distribution agreements in Japan and Thailand to broadcast Italian Serie A football via MMS. The Japan agreement is with Platia, a media and entertainment...

Opera browser deal with Moto.(deals)
March 15, 2004... Opera Software and Motorola's Global Software Group (GSG) enter into an agreement to deliver a joint product offering consisting of Opera's "full" HTML browser software and the WAP stack from GSG's browser software, creating one-stop shopping...

Multi-network management.(deals)
March 15, 2004... Vodafone New Zealand will deploy ADC's Metrica Performance Manager to monitor the network performance and the quality of services of Vodafone's GSM and GPRS networks in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. Metrica will provide Vodafone New Zealand...

Mobile fitness co-op.(deals)
March 15, 2004... Nokia and sports instruments and heart rate monitoring equipment maker Polar Electro announce a formal cooperation to create mobile applications for athletes and sports enthusiasts, starting with the Nokia 5140 handset, available in Q2, which...

Ringtones go Hollywood.(deals)
March 15, 2004... Xingtone and Hollywood Records partner to promote artists in what they call a "groundbreaking" wireless promotional pact that will let music fans send MP3 ringtones and pictures of Hollywood Records artists to friends for free using their...

MTV distribution.(out now)
March 15, 2004... Wireless VAS distributor OpenMobile launches MTV-branded mobile services on an exclusive basis in ten Asian countries.

Content filter.(out now)
March 15, 2004... Australian mobile infrastructure provider Soprano Design launches MobileNanny, which enables mobile operators to filter and label content for selection by their customers. In essence, MobileNanny allows end-users to opt in or out of adult...

Personal mobile psychic.(out now)
March 15, 2004... WireJack announces Mystic Garden, a new "mystic mobile" application developed for Qualcomm's BREW platform. Billed as "your own personal mobile psychic," Mystic Garden provides horoscopes, tarot readings for making a relationship choice,...

SIM cards for tourists.(out now)
March 15, 2004... SingTel Mobile launches CitySIM, a SIM card-based based tourist-oriented prepaid mobile phone service for Singapore that offers location-based information about the island via mobile phones. The service, developed by Gemplus and mobile apps...

Sega titles for N-Gage.(out now)
March 15, 2004... Nokia announces two new Sega-branded titles that will be released for the N-Gage game deck: "Virtua Cop" and "Alien Front". Both allow players to play each other via Bluetooth.

Hong Kong/Japan videophone link.(out now)
March 15, 2004... NTT DoCoMo announces that customers of its 3G FOMA-based World Call service can exchange videophone calls with customers of compatible W-CDMA services offered by 3 HK in Hong Kong.

Migration path for China's 3G.(Wireless Forum)
March 15, 2004... China's Ministry of Information Industry is now managing tests of W-CDMA, cdma2000 and TD-SCDMA to seek a migration path for China's move to 3G. The MII wants to promote China's TD-SCDMA standard in order to accelerate overall design...

Move over 2G, 3G is (finally) here.(Street Wise)
March 15, 2004... Hutchison's 3 HK last month made headlines by introducing a new 3G NEC handset at just under HK$1,000 (under $130), complete with a basic monthly package (HK$183) with 500 minutes of talk time, an additional 400 minutes of intra-network voice...

The joy of text, part 2.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
March 15, 2004... SMS has become so popular that it was probably only a matter of time before texting found its way into the singles scene. Why risk getting tongue-tied trying to chat someone up in a club when you can send opening lines via SMS? The Catch-22, of...

W-CDMA: doomed in Korea?(Short message: around the wireless industry)
March 15, 2004... Rival Korean cellcos SK Telecom and KTF finally launched their respective W-CDMA services in January. How will W-CDMA fare in the land of cdma2000 1X EV-DO? Not at all well, says research firm Pyramid Research. According to a recent issue...

More stupid Bluetooth tricks.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
March 15, 2004... First there was "bluejacking"--the mostly harmless practice of linking to other Bluetooth devices that belong to people you don't know and leaving messages. Now there's "bluesnarfing", which allows other Bluetooth users to copy everything in...

Recovery where you least expect it.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
March 15, 2004... Life is about to get good again for the wireless network equipment sector, with big names like Nokia, Ericsson, Nortel Networks and Alcatel predicting growth for 2004--albeit single-digit increases. But it sure beats yet another year of...

Ooops ... those pesky typos.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
March 15, 2004... AT&T Wireless suffered a slight bit of embarrassment last month after running an advert in newspapers across the US promoting its rates for international calls to 30 different countries, including Japan. Unfortunately, the abbreviation for...