Wireless Asia articles from May 2005

Wireless Asia archives from May 2005

Handset results and lessons learned.(UNWIRED)
May 1, 2005... The recent corporate results season gives us a glimpse into the handset sector. The results confirm one thing that we know--the return of Nokia--and show us one thing we didn't--the arrival of the smartphone--as well as signs that margins will...

Philippine operators show increased interest in WiMAX.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2005... While industry leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) has started its assault on the local wireless broadband market, rebranding the WiMAX service of recently acquired Meridian Telekoms (MTI), other local telecom companies have...

Convergence key to long-term success.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
May 1, 2005... Mobile operators should continue evolving their products and focusing on convergence and bundling of services as those that provide only one type of communications service may be at threat from others that offer multiple services. The Gartner...

Young Hong Kong mobile subscribers dwindle.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
May 1, 2005... Mobile phone ownership among Hong Kong youth has fallen 3% to 25.7 million from 26.4 million, with a similar trend taking place in Japan, Korea and Singapore. Research from mobileYouth reveals that Japan's 16 million young mobile subscribers...

HSDPA: cheaper path to mobile broadband.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
May 1, 2005... Wireless vendors and carriers should consider high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) as a more economical alternative to providing fast mobile broadband to their customers as the upfront costs for WiMAX still remains high. ABI Research says...

US males prefer games to music.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
May 1, 2005... Video games have started to displace other forms of media on a typical US male's shopping list as games now rank second only to DVDs as a purchase category. A 1,500-people Nielsen Entertainment survey reveals that games have already overtaken...

Japan tightens laws, but mobile phone scams expand.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2005... A growing numbers of mobile phone subscribers in Japan are finding that the "anywhere, anytime" convenience makes them easy targets for spammers and, more recently, scamsters. Email sent over mobile networks has proliferated in large part...

Low spenders drive down margins.(METRICS: Inside the wireless data numbers)
May 1, 2005... Despite the influx of new subscribers, margins dropped sharply for mobile operators in the Asia Pacific and central and eastern Europe regions as low-spending customers outweighed the revenue contributions of the heavy users. According to the...

Asia-Pacific handset sales to peak in 2006.(METRICS: Inside the wireless data numbers)
May 1, 2005... Mobile handset sales in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to peak in 2006 at 265 million units before slowly declining to 237 million units in 2009, moving along the same path as subscriber growth patterns in the coming years. Yankee Group...

Nokia announces that its net sales in China grew 11% to reach 4.5b euro ($5.8b) in the first quarter alone.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... Nokia announces that its net sales in China grew 11% to reach 4.5b euro ($5.8b) in the first quarter alone, making the country its biggest market.

Huawei partners with Intel to construct telecom-grade wireless broadband network that supports WiMAX and WirelessMAN.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... Huawei partners with Intel to construct telecom-grade wireless broadband network that supports WiMAX and WirelessMAN. The two firms are going to work on development of new type of high-speed broadband wireless technology.

The GSA reports that the number of GSM and EDGE devices has reached 100 models.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... The GSA reports that the number of GSM and EDGE devices has reached 100 models, and that EDGE network deployments are now found in 80 countries worldwide.

SK Telecom and NTT DoCoMo sign an agreement to offer international roaming for the two firms' 3G service in Europe starting in late May.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... SK Telecom and NTT DoCoMo sign an agreement to offer international roaming for the two firms' 3G service in Europe starting in late May. SK and NTT are now in the process of testing network interoperability

A Swedish prosecutor charges six current and former executives of Ericsson with tax evasion.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... A Swedish prosecutor charges six current and former executives of Ericsson with tax evasion. The six individuals--including the company's former CFO Carl Vilhelm Ros and a former accountant--are also charged with filing false invoices worth...

Despite a fresh loan of 260m yuan ($31.4m) from the Bank of China, Chinese handst maker Panda Mobile still faces an uncertain future.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... Despite a fresh loan of 260m yuan ($31.4m) from the Bank of China, Chinese handst maker Panda Mobile still faces an uncertain future. The struggling handset maker is in close talks with several banks.

LG Electronics India plans to build a GSM handset manufacturing plant in Ranjangaon.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... LG Electronics India plans to build a GSM handset manufacturing plant in Ranjangaon near Pune as part of its plans to produce 20m GSM handsets by 2010.

Virgin Mobile plans to launch a mobile network in India.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... Virgin Mobile plans to launch a mobile network in India and is seeking a partner for the rollout.

Fujitsu and Alcatel will team up to build 3G networks.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... Fujitsu and Alcatel will team up to build 3G networks in China.

Motorola opens a 3G development center in Beijing to spearhead the launch of UMTS and HSDPA solutions.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... Motorola opens a 3G development center in Beijing to spearhead the launch of UMTS and HSDPA solutions. The Beijing center will play a crucial role in the development of Motorola's 3G network solutions globally, as well as provide direct support...

ZTE opens a research and development facility in India.(Movements)
May 1, 2005... ZTE opens a research and development facility in India, which it will use to manufacture CDMA, GSM, DSL, NGN and handsets.

China Mobile signs a deal with Shanghai-based financial clearinghouse ChinaUnionPay.(BEIJING)
May 1, 2005... China Mobile signs a deal with Shanghai-based financial clearinghouse ChinaUnionPay to allow customers in Beijing to pay bills using their mobile phones.

TD-SCDMA will be heavily promoted as an international standard this year.(BEIJING)
May 1, 2005... TD-SCDMA will be heavily promoted as an international standard this year, according to the TD-SCDMA Forum.

ZTE launches mobile phones with an Intel chip.(SHENZHEN)
May 1, 2005... ZTE launches mobile phones with an Intel chip targeted for the high-end mobile phone market in China.

Hutchison Telecommunications sees strong growth in its 3G mobile business in the first quarter of 2005.(HONG KONG)
May 1, 2005... Hutchison Telecommunications sees strong growth in its 3G mobile business in the first quarter of 2005, adding some 90,000 new customers.

SmarTone rebrands its business as SmarTone-Vodafone with a new customer proposition.(HONG KONG)
May 1, 2005... SmarTone rebrands its business as SmarTone-Vodafone with a new customer proposition. The move comes some four months after the company signed a partner network agreement with Vodafone.

The NTC suggests that the government could immediately make it mandatory that all prepaid phone users must provide their identity to mobile operators.(BANGKOK)
May 1, 2005... The NTC suggests that the government could immediately make it mandatory that all prepaid phone users must provide their identity to mobile operators. The move is part of the government efforts to deal with the use of mobile phones to detonate...

Korean-backed mobile carrier S-Fone will invest an additional $35m to increase its service network.(HANOI)
May 1, 2005... Korean-backed mobile carrier S-Fone will invest an additional $35m to increase its service network to cover the whole of Vietnam by the end of this year.

VP Telecoms chooses CDMA after it secured a license from the Ministry of Post & Telecoms.(HANOI)
May 1, 2005... VP Telecoms chooses CDMA after it secured a license from the Ministry of Post & Telecoms to provide a nationwide mobile phone service.

Telkomsel will invest $700m this year.(JAKARTA)
May 1, 2005... Telkomsel will invest $700m this year to expand its cellular and 3G services.

TM Group will invest 300m ringgit ($78.9m) for the simultaneous launch of its 3G services.(KUALA LUMPUR)
May 1, 2005... TM Group will invest 300m ringgit ($78.9m) for the simultaneous launch of its 3G services, called Celcom 3G, in four areas in the country next month.

Hanaro Telecom scraps plans to expand into the wireless broadband business.(SEOUL)
May 1, 2005... Hanaro Telecom scraps plans to expand into the wireless broadband business and decides to return its hard-earned WiBro license back to the government.

TU Media begins beaming satellite digital multimedia broadcasting to cellphones.(SEOUL)
May 1, 2005... TU Media begins beaming satellite digital multimedia broadcasting to cellphones for the first time in Korea and in the world.

SK Telecom will sell 60% stake in SK Teletech to Pantech and Curitel.(SEOUL)
May 1, 2005... SK Telecom will sell 60% stake in SK Teletech to Pantech and Curitel, a move which will reduce its stake in the handset maker from 89.1% to 29.1%.

Two lawmakers urge the Taiwanese government to act against mobile scams estimated to cost consumers NT$5b ($159m) a year.(TAIPEI)
May 1, 2005... Two lawmakers urge the Taiwanese government to act against mobile scams estimated to cost consumers NT$5b ($159m) a year. The legislators say that some telecom service operators have been "trapping" consumers into paying exorbitant phone bills...

Chunghwa announces plan to cut 3G rates in May to sign up new users.(TAIPEI)
May 1, 2005... Chunghwa announces plan to cut 3G rates in May to sign up new users. Rates may be lowered by a tenth while data rates may be lowered by a third, or a monthly rate of as low as NT$300 ($9), similar to rates for 2G services.

KDDI posts record earnings for the last business year to March.(TOKYO)
May 1, 2005... KDDI posts record earnings for the last business year to March, with group net profit rising 71.4% year-on-year to 200.5b yen and consolidated operating profit up 1.4% to 296b yen ($2.79b).

Vodafone KK files an application with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.(TAIPEI)
May 1, 2005... Vodafone KK files an application with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for a license to operate W($1.89b) CDMA experimental radio stations in the 1.7-GHz frequency band.

Vodafone Australia will begin offering 3G services in Sydney and Melbourne in October.(SYDNEY)
May 1, 2005... Vodafone Australia will begin offering 3G services in Sydney and Melbourne in October, with Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide to follow.

Almost 65m people now have their mobile subscription with companies allied with the SingTel group.(SINGAPORE)
May 1, 2005... Almost 65m people now have their mobile subscription with companies allied with the SingTel group. The figure, as at March 31, was 37% higher than at the same time last year.

The TRAI plans to propose additional spectrum in the 2-GHz band for 3G services.(NEW DELHI)
May 1, 2005... The TRAI plans to propose additional spectrum in the 2-GHz band for 3G services. TRAI is also likely to suggest releasing 25 MHz in the 1800-MHz frequency band by December 2006 to achieve the target of 200 million mobile subscribers.

The TRAI taps an expert group to explore the possibility of setting up an exchange to resolve interconnection issues between different operators.(NEW DELHI)
May 1, 2005... The TRAI taps an expert group to explore the possibility of setting up an exchange to resolve interconnection issues between different operators, a move that could provide a solution to various problems in the telecom sector.

Get out of the office! What cellcos and CIOs must do to mobilize the corporate sector.
May 1, 2005... Mobile phones have become an essential part of doing business. So has the Internet. Consequently, there's a serious case to be made for enterprises embracing mobility, as well as a case for operators to target corporates to help them extend...

Making handsets pay: the success of DoCoMo's FeliCa service indicates that the age of mobile contactless payments via handsets is here. The trick will be getting it to work outside Japan, but the chief challenge won't be the technology, but partnerships.(WIRELESS TECH)(Cover Story)
May 1, 2005... For years, the wireless sector has envisioned the mobile phone as the ultimate payment medium for everyday commercial transactions. So far, mobile payments have come chiefly in the form of SMS-based services, but with the rise of contactless...

Wireless boom attracts new participants.(PREVIEW)
May 1, 2005... The race for superiority in the wireless arena, whether on the supplier side or the operator side, has fueled the interest of three new country groups in the upcoming CommuniAsia2005, the region's biggest IT and telecom exhibition and...

Bluetooth.(1-2-1)
May 1, 2005... Not actually dead: Bluetooth shipments continue to grow, and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has just established a new HQ in Asia. Not bad for a technology that's been declared dead every six months since the turn of the century. Michael...

SmarTone's Sharp mover.(STREETWISE)(Interview)
May 1, 2005... If you happened to pass by a SmarTone shop in Hong Kong the past month, you'd likely see many people queuing up to be served. Despite operating in one of the most saturated markets in the world, SmarTone is clearly enjoying a bit of a boost...

Wireless VoIP security.(tools)
May 1, 2005... Wireless security software developer Columbitech announces wireless VPN support for securing wireless VoIP applications. The Columbitech WVPN also provides built-in support for Session Persistence--maintaining a session while being out of...

Comms development platform enhancements.(tools)
May 1, 2005... Envox Worldwide releases Envox 6.1, the latest version of its open, standard-based communications development platform. The new release includes expanded SIP support for VoIP-based solutions. www.envox.com

DRM robustness solutions.(tools)
May 1, 2005... Cloakware announces the general availability of four Digital Rights Management (DRM) robustness solutions: Windows Media DRM 10 (WMDRM-PD) for portable devices; Windows Media DRM 10 (WMDRM-ND) for networked devices; FCC Broadcast Flag; and...

Enterprise app wireless extension.(tools)
May 1, 2005... Sendia announces the availability of Wireless WorkSpace 2.0, a wireless application mobilization suite that gives enterprise and application developers the power to extend almost any enterprise application to popular wireless handheld devices....

Branded MP3s for cellphones.(tools)
May 1, 2005... Amplefuture launches the Pocket Player, an off-the-shelf solution that enables the establishment of branded MP3 music download services for users of Nokia Series 60 handsets. www.amplefuture.com

China Mobile secures mobile data with Nortel.(deals)
May 1, 2005... China Mobile says it has deployed the Nortel Layer 4-7 Switching Solution, which provides secure mobile Internet data capabilities to the mobile operator's 210 million subscribers. The new solution also ensures that high levels of security are...

Vodafone selects Visto for push email.(deals)
May 1, 2005... Vodafone agrees to use Visto's ConstantSync push email platform, which will enable the mobile operator to deliver a push email, contacts and calendar wireless service offering via a wide array of mobile devices. The new push email service...

New info channels + Nokia 6680.(out now)
May 1, 2005... CSL 1010 launches three new information channels--News, Finance and Entertainment for its 3G service. The channels are launched in conjunction with the new dual-camera Nokia 6680 3G video phone, which lets users access a wide array of video...

One-minute "how to" guides.(out now)
May 1, 2005... Moonlight Mobile, under its TV2Mobile brand, launches a range of downloadable 60-second movies for mobile phones that serve as guides covering a wide array of topics--from fashion and beauty to extreme sports to sex. TV2Mobile will make the One...

Real-time payment services.(out now)
May 1, 2005... SmartPay rolls out real-time payment services in Shanghai and Hebei, expanding the company's national coverage as well as its product offerings. The new service enables users to pay phone bills, buy online gaming time and complete other...

3G billing solution for SmarTone.(deals)
May 1, 2005... LogicaCMG and Convergys deliver a new billing system for Hong Kong mobile operator SmarTone, which replaces the wireless carrier's legacy billing system. The new Convergys Infinys Geneva platform will handle rating and billing for subscribers...

DiGi awards video streaming contract.(deals)
May 1, 2005... LogicaCMG, in partnership with Nextreaming and Inphosoft, bags a next-generation video streaming services contract with Malaysian cellco DiGi Telecommunications. Under the deal, DiGi's EDGE and GPRS customers will be able to enjoy high-quality...

Hutch to support Korean and Japanese BlackBerry email.(deals)
May 1, 2005... Hutchison Telecom HK signs an agreement with Onset Technology to resell METAmessage Language Support for BlackBerry devices in Hong Kong and Macau. The application allows users to read Japanese and Korean email messages via their BlackBerry...

Provincial WAP deal.(deals)
May 1, 2005... China Unicom subsidiary Tianjin Unicom chooses Alcatel to deploy its first stand-alone provincial WAP 2.0 service in China. Upon completion, the project will allow CDMA subscribers in Tianjin province to access multimedia Internet services via...

Video on-demand at any speed.(out now)
May 1, 2005... Hong Kong CSL launches a video-on-demand service that allows subscribers to watch streaming video even as they drop down from 3G to EDGE and/or GPRS. The service utilizes RealNetworks' Helix mobile platform, which bridges the speed gaps between...

ISP service upgrade for FOMA.(out now)
May 1, 2005... NTT DoCoMo introduces mopera U, an enhanced ISP service that allows FOMA subscribers to connect to the Internet via a PC, PDA or DoCoMo's M 1000 handset. The mopera U service, which will be available next month, will enable FOMA users to access...

Incident notification for BlackBerry.(out now)
May 1, 2005... Wallace Wireless introduces a suite of applications that allows BlackBerry users to instantly mass-send incident notifications to key company employees and stakeholders nationwide and even globally. The Wallace Enterprise Suite version 3.0 also...

Multi-platform support for BlackBerry IM.(this month's model)
May 1, 2005... Research in Motion is hoping to do for corporate instant messaging what its Blackberry product has done for corporate email--make it mobile. Late last month, RIM announced separate deals to provide BlackBerry support for three of the...

CommunicAsia2005--where business of technology comes to life.(ADVERTORIAL)
May 1, 2005... Young people around the world will spend US$100 billion on mobile phones services in 2005 and around 300 million young people under the age of 25 own a mobile phone. The statistics were revealed as part of Wireless World Forum's annual research...

Nokia adds muscle to its multimedia range.(WIRELESS FORUM)(Advertisement)
May 1, 2005... Nokia recently announced the new N Series, which seems to have finally delivered on its promise to develop a distinct design language for high-end multimedia devices, if not a particularly snappy brand name. The stars of the initial...

BlueSniping made easy.(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
May 1, 2005... Last year saw the emergence of the BlueSniper rifle, a device which was demonstrated to give the user the ability to scan and attack Bluetooth devices from more than a mile away. That version was all tie-straps and rubber bands. Wireless...

Users prefer voice activation over mobile TV.(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
May 1, 2005... Cellphone users are looking forward to an array of new, advanced features slated to appear on the latest handsets. Mobile TV, however, is not one of them. That's according to a recent survey from In-Star, which found that users are more...

The truth about toothing.(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
May 1, 2005... Remember "toothing"--the reported practice of leaving anonymous messages on other people's Bluetooth-enabled devices to initiate sexual encounters (as described on these pages in Wireless Asia May 2004)? Turns out it was a hoax. One of the...

The iPod is dead! All hail the iPod!(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
May 1, 2005... Speculation seems rife these days about who will eventually dethrone the iPod as king of the MP3 players. The latest candidate: cellphones. Not right away, of course. But reports appearing last month in the Wall Street Journal and on the...