Wireless Asia articles from November 2002

Wireless Asia archives from November 2002

3G's Iridium problem. (Unwired).
November 1, 2002... Will wireless LAN kill off 3G? At the current rate of market entry, there's no need; 3G licensees are doing it themselves. But the rapid progress of Wi-Fi should give mobile operators and regulators pause. Unlike the backsliding in 3G,...

Roaming: at last US gets it. (News Analysis).
November 1, 2002... US mobile carriers have finally realized the possiblities of global roaming. Both AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile are putting the final touches to worldwide GPRS roaming, despite doubts about the size of the addressable market and whether...

Porn to the 3G rescue. (Insight: one month's wireless research).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Adult content is one of the few money-spinners on the Internet. Can it generate profits for hard up 2.5G and 3G mobile operators? "Mobile terminals might have small displays and limited power, but they are personal, portable and easily...

OMA--brave new world or quagmire. (Insight: one month's wireless research).(Open Mobile Alliance)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... The formation of the Open Mobile Alliance is a significant step politically and organizationally for the development of future mobile devices. But, argues Shosteck, it could be either a success or a quagmire. Recent technology history...

Europe's "small" opportunity. (Insight: one month's wireless research).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... SMEs, comprising 99% of all businesses in western Europe, are largely overlooked by mobile operators--at least to now. Cellcos are now slugging it out for a share of a market forecast to double in size from $15 billion in 2001 to $33 billion in...

Thriving on narrowband. (News Analysis).
November 1, 2002... With GPRS, HSCSD, cdma2000-1x, W-CDMA, TETRA and WiFi going around, you might have thought Asia had enough mobile data technologies. But there's a narrowband packet radio technology that's quietly picking up business, namely Ericsson's Mobitex....

MVNOs still see future bright. (News Analysis).
November 1, 2002... The failure of high-profile mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) in Hong Kong and Singapore is not deterring other players. MVNOs backed by SingTel and Virgin in Singapore, and Sunday and Royal Shell in Hong Kong, flamed out earlier this...

Watershed of insight. (Letter To The Editor).
November 1, 2002... You did my heart a great service with your cover article on W-CDMA. I became aware of your article because friends wrote to me to ask if I had written it. I have been singing this song for over four to five years. I even went so far as to raise...

Hutchison unveils its 3G logo, "3", and asserts that it sees no need to write down the value of its third-generation investments. (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Hutchison unveils its 3G logo, "3", and asserts that it sees no need to write down the value of its third-generation investments, in contrast to partner NTT DoCoMo, which booked an appraisal loss of $1 billion on its 20% stake in Hutchison 3G...

Belgian mobile operator BASE launches commercial operations of DoCoMo's i-mode. (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Belgian mobile operator BASE launches commercial operations of DoCoMo's i-mode, making it the fourth overseas carrier to take the service.

Nokia posts better than expected third quarter profits, with group sales up 2% to 7.22 billion euros ($7.1 million). (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Nokia posts better than expected third quarter profits, with group sales up 2% to 7.22 billion euros ($7.1 million). The handset unit, which contributes 90% of profits, saw quarterly sales rise 7% year-on-year to 5.63 billion euros, while...

Ericsson cuts its forecast for 2002 sales of mobile systems as orders plunge. (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Ericsson cuts its forecast for 2002 sales of mobile systems as orders plunge. The company, which posted a pre-tax loss of 3.9 billion crowns ($417.5 million) in its fiscal third quarter, says it still aims to return to profit next year.

Motorola, returning to the black for the first time in six quarters, lowers its outlook for the fourth quarter and 2003. (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Motorola, returning to the black for the first time in six quarters, lowers its outlook for the fourth quarter and 2003. The company says fourth-quarter sales and operating profit margin in its handset unit will be up over the third quarter,...

Bell Labs has designed two prototype chips for high-speed data access via mobile devices. (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Bell Labs has designed two prototype chips for high-speed data access via mobile devices. The chips, in initial lab testing, received data at 19.2 Mbps, compared with the maximum speed of roughly 2.5 Mbps offered by today's 3G mobile networks.

Sony Ericsson launches new handsets including a T100 mobile phone targeting the youth market. (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Sony Ericsson launches new handsets including a T100 mobile phone targeting the youth market, a Bluetooth hands-free headset, and a stereo radio hands-free unit. The new products will ship by the end of the year.

Motorola unveils a new integrated GPS chip small enough to fit into a wristwatch. (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Motorola unveils a new integrated GPS chip small enough to fit into a wristwatch. The Motorola Instant GPS chip combines its GPS design with silicon germanium chip-making technology from IBM.

NTT DoCoMo and HP Japan have developed a large-scale content delivery network called Mobile Streaming Media Content Delivery Network (MSM-CDN). (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... NTT DoCoMo and HP Japan have developed a large-scale content delivery network called Mobile Streaming Media Content Delivery Network (MSM-CDN), which they say is the industry's first of its kind designed exclusively for 3G and future mobile...

Intel Corp's wireless head Ron Smith says the chipmaker is making steady advances in persuading cell phone manufacturers to use its Xscale processors while sales of its flash memory. (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Intel Corp's wireless head Ron Smith says the chipmaker is making steady advances in persuading cell phone manufacturers to use its Xscale processors while sales of its flash memory, an increasingly important component in cell phones, have held...

Intel sets aside $150 million of its $500 million Intel Communications fund to invest in companies backing wireless LAN technology. (Movements).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Intel sets aside $150 million of its $500 million Intel Communications fund to invest in companies backing wireless LAN technology, predicting 30 million laptops will be equipped with Wi-Fi in three years.

Beijing: Ministry of Information Industry statistics show China's mobile market recorded decent gains in September, a rebound from the previous two months. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Beijing: Ministry of Information Industry statistics show China's mobile market recorded decent gains in September, a rebound from the previous two months. China added 5.5 million mobile users in September, up from 4.1 million in July and 4.5...

Beijing: China Unicom awards $1.18 billion in contracts to four foreign suppliers. (News map: around Wireless Asia).
November 1, 2002... Beijing: China Unicom awards $1.18 billion in contracts to four foreign suppliers--Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Nortel Networks and Ericsson--to upgrade its CDMA networks to next-generation cdma2000 1x.

Shenzhen: Ericsson signs a follow-up contract for supplying GPRS mobile handset platforms. (News map: around Wireless Asia).
November 1, 2002... Shenzhen: Ericsson signs a follow-up contract for supplying GPRS mobile handset platforms to Chinese handset maker TCL.

Hong Kong: Regulator OFTA grants a one-year extension on payment of a HK$60 million ($7.7 million). (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Hong Kong: Regulator OFTA grants a one-year extension on payment of a HK$60 million ($7.7 million) performance bond due in October from each of the territory's four 3G licensees.

Hong Kong: the territory's six mobile operators divide into two factions to facilitate MMS interconnection. (News map: around wireless Asia).
November 1, 2002... Hong Kong: The territory's six mobile operators divide into two factions to facilitate MMS interconnection, with market leaders Hutchison and CSL each heading a different group. Hutchison teams with SmarTone and Peoples, while CSL hooks up with...

Hong Kong: SmarTone Communications returns to the black, posting a net profit of HK$115 million ($10.5 million). (News map: around Wireless Asia).(SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings Ltd.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Hong Kong: SmarTone Communications returns to the black, posting a net profit of HK$115 million ($10.5 million), against a net loss of HK$284 million a year earlier. SmarTone attributes the change to a rebound in its mobile business, where...

Hong Kong: NEC Corp, Hutchison's preferred 3G handset supplier, takes a 5% stake in Hutchison's Hong Kong cellular carrier for $73.1 million. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Hong Kong: NEC Corp, Hutchison's preferred 3G handset supplier, takes a 5% stake in Hutchison's Hong Kong cellular carrier for $73.1 million. The deal reduces Hutchison's indirect stake in the mobile unit to 71% from 74.63%. NTT DoCoMo will cut...

Bangkok: growth in new mobile subscribers in Thailand will slow down in 2003 due to fierce competition. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Bangkok: Growth in new mobile subscribers in Thailand will slow down in 2003 due to fierce competition, predicts Boonklee Plangsiri, executive chairman of Thailand's largest telecoms group Shin Corp. This will force operators to join forces and...

Kabul: Afghanistan issues a mobile license to an international consortium led by Geneva-based Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Kabul: Afghanistan issues a mobile license to an international consortium led by Geneva-based Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) to set up the country's second mobile phone network.

Kuala Lumpur: Maxis Communications signs a long-expected deal to buy Time dotCom's cellular unit for between $342-$421 million. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Kuala Lumpur: Maxis Communications signs a long-expected deal to buy Time dotCom's cellular unit for between $342-$421 million. The merged operation will control 45% of Malaysia's cellular market, putting Maxis in a stronger position against...

Kuala Lumpur: Telekom Malaysia confirms its acquisition of Celcom, a move that could make it the country's biggest mobile carrier. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Kuala Lumpur: Telekom Malaysia confirms its acquisition of Celcom, a move that could make it the country's biggest mobile carrier. The deal could also pave the way for state-controlled Telekom to raise its 31% stake in Celcom and complete a...

Manila: mobile operator Smart Communications says it does not expect to deploy 3G services. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Manila: Mobile operator Smart Communications says it does not expect to deploy 3G services for another four- to- five years.

New Delhi: the number of new subscribers in India's fast-growing mobile phone industry fell 25% in September following the introduction of new rules requiring prepaid users to show their ID. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... New Delhi: The number of new subscribers in India's fast-growing mobile phone industry fell 25% in September following the introduction of new rules requiring prepaid users to show their ID, according to industry body COAI. Data released by the...

Ningbo: Chinese mobile phone maker Ningbo Bird orders 500,000 CDMA handsets worth $105 million. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Ningbo: Chinese mobile phone maker Ningbo Bird orders 500,000 CDMA handsets worth $105 million from South Korean handset maker Pantech.

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo says it has succeeded with the 100Mbps-downlink and 20Mbps-uplink transmission experiment under an indoor environment. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo says it has succeeded with the 100Mbps-downlink and 20Mbps-uplink transmission experiment under an indoor environment using an experimental system for fourth-generation (4G) mobile communications.

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo posts a $4.68 billion appraisal loss. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo posts a $4.68 billion appraisal loss on its stakes in foreign carriers.

Tokyo: NTT-ME becomes the country's first carrier to offer an IP phone service via 802.11b Wi-Fi technology. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Tokyo: NTT-ME becomes the country's first carrier to offer an IP phone service via 802.11b Wi-Fi technology, starting a trial service on 23 October, with participants using PDAs. Commercial operation will begin next spring, the carrier says.

Canberra: the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission requires CDMA carriers. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Canberra: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission requires CDMA carriers to reduce anti-competitive pricing and encourage lower fixed-to-mobile call prices.

Sydney: Telstra Mobile and Research in Motion launch BlackBerry. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Sydney: Telstra Mobile and Research in Motion launch BlackBerry service in Australia.

Wellington: Telecom Corporation of New Zealand extends the its outsourcing contract with Ericsson. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Wellington: Telecom Corporation of New Zealand extends the its outsourcing contract with Ericsson to manage its TDMA network for a further two years, to 2007.

Singapore: StarHub becomes the first Asian GSM operator to commit to EDGE technology as part of its evolution to W-CDMA. (News map: around Wireless Asia).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Singapore: StarHub becomes the first Asian GSM operator to commit to EDGE technology as part of its evolution to W-CDMA. The carrier plans to trial EDGE early next year, and has been working with Nokia in evaluating the technology. However, it...

ZTE CDMA--the competitive edge. (advertorial).
November 1, 2002... High-capacity CDMA technology is setting the pace for the mobile industry. Since the first commercial implementations in Hong Kong and Korea in the mid-1990s, CDMA has become the world's fastest-growing mobile standard, racking up 15 million...

Slowdown: China's mobile sector reaches speed limit; China's mobile market is coming down to earth. ARPU is falling as operators slash prices, while under-performing stocks and political interference are turning investors away. (Cover Story).
November 1, 2002... Over-competition, capacity gluts, price wars, cross-subsidies, falling stocks; it's a familiar telecom story. Throw in serious losses from fraud, regulatory uncertainty, political interference and bureaucratic management, and you have a...

MMS: the story so far: MMS deployments are picking up speed around the world, but with GSM operators feeling their way around pricing schemes and content policies, MMS has a way to go before it becomes the powerhouse that SMS is today. (Wireless Biz).
November 1, 2002... One of the hottest topics going at the GSM Association's 48th Plenary in Istanbul last month was MMS. No surprise there--when the 47th Plenary was in session in April, commercial MMS was barely out of the gate with launches from Telenor and...

Location based services: where it's at: GSM vendors see E-OTD as the next step in developing location-based services, but other developments are raising the bar on accuracy. (Wireless Tech).
November 1, 2002... When it comes to value-added services for mobile operators to differentiate themselves from their rivals, the business case for location-based services (LBS) seems like a no-brainer. After all, if the business of mobile is mobility, then...

Out of Australia: after years of dabbling in the region, Australia's major telco has elevated its profile through buying up assets offloaded by PCCW. Dick Simpson, president of Telstra International, spoke with group editor Robert Clark from his Hong Kong office about the difficulties in M&A today and why Telstra can't yet see a business in 3G. (1_2_1).
November 1, 2002... Wireless Asia: What's the role and scope of Telstra International? How does it fit in with CSL's parent, the Regional Wireless Company? Dick Simpson: We wanted to be able to expand at a greater rate than the domestic market would offer us....

On the EDGE with an unsteady GAIT. (Wheel Of Industry).
November 1, 2002... When all's said and done the choices facing GSM operators along the rocky road to 3G are daunting enough, but spare a thought for the TDMA crowd. These guys are faced with the dilemma of moving into one or the other rival technology camps...

MMS: StarHub. (out now).
November 1, 2002... StarHub Mobile has launched its MMS service. Under an initial promotion, StarHub's post-paid mobile customers will be able to try the service at no charge, although they will have to buy a new MMS-compatible handset. StarHub's prepaid...

Microsoft Smartphone platform. (out now).
November 1, 2002... Microsoft has announced the availability of its Smartphone software platform for mobile phones. Orange launched the Smartphone-based handset--the Orange SPV--in the UK at the end of October, while AT&T Wireless plans to bring Smartphone-based...

M-commerce in Sri Lanka. (out now).
November 1, 2002... Sri Lankan mobile operator Celltel Lanka has launched CellWallet, a service using technology from Network365 that enables users to make payments for goods and services via SMS. Sensitive credit card, debit card, and bank account data is...

MMS: Telkomsel. (out now).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Indonesian cellular operator Telkomsel commercially launched its first GPRS service last month in Jakarta, Bali, Batam and Surabaya. Telkomsel also launched its MMS offering the same day, thus becoming the world's 50th MMS service provider....

More BlackBerry features. (tools).
November 1, 2002... Research In Motion has unveiled a major new version of its BlackBerry Enterprise Server software--BES version 3.5--which provides new key features such as extended corporate data access capabilities and advanced IT management capabilities.

Optimized apps delivery. (tools).(AdvantAir)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Speedwise Technologies has launched AdvantAir, a client/server solution for mobile network operators which optimizes application delivery over current and future mobile networks at the transport and application layer by compressing application...

M2M solutions from HP/Nokia. (tools).(Hewlett-Packard Co. )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... HP and Nokia have announced the availability of integrated machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity solutions that link Nokia wireless technology with HP hardware and software to access and manage remote assets.

Keyboard projection chip. (tools).(Canesta Inc.'s Keyboard Perception Chipset)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Silicon Valley start-up Canesta has launched the world's first fully integrated projection keyboard for mobile and wireless devices, which works by projecting an infrared image of a keyboard layout from the device onto a flat surface in front...

LBS optimization. (deals).(Maporama and Inovia Telecoms)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Location-based solutions vendor Maporama has announced an alliance with resource optimization software company Inovia to develop new location-based optimization products for large corporates in the retail and service industries.

GPS for Motorola 3G handsets. (deals).(SiRF Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... SiRF Technology has signed an agreement with Motorola under which Motorola's Personal Communications Sector will integrate SiRF's GPS chipsets, as well as its SiRFLoc Multimode location technology, into select Motorola 3G devices.

TI gets E-OTD for GPRS chips. (deals).(Texas Instruments Inc. and Cambridge Positioning Systems Ltd.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Cambridge Positioning Systems will integrate its E-OTD (Enhanced Observed Time Difference) location technology into a range of GPRS chipsets from Texas instruments for mobile handsets and wireless PDAs.

Far EasTone enterprise apps. (deals).(Far EasTone Telecommunications Company Ltd. and First Hop Ltd.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Far EasTone has selected the GPRS Accelerator product from messaging management vendor First Hop as the wireless data optimization software solution for its enterprise customers.

MMS/WAP for Qualcomm's MSM62000. (deals).(Teleca Mobile Technologies)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Teleca Mobile Technologies and Qualcomm will work together to provide fully integrated and tested MMS and WAP solutions for UMTS and GSM/GPRS handset manufacturers by integrating Teleca's AU Mobile Suite MMS and WAP solutions with Qualcomm's...

Orange uses Webraska's LBS apps. (deals).(Webraska Mobile Technologies S.A. and SmartZone)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Orange has chosen Webraska's portfolio of location-based service applications and SmartZone middleware platforms for the deployment of location-based services across all major interfaces (WAR SMS, MMS, and Web) to Orange operating companies in...

Qualcomm to port smARTspeak. (deals).(Advanced Recognition Technologies)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... ART Advanced Recognition Technologies has announced an agreement with QUALCOMM under which Qualcomm will port ART's smARTspeak XG software to Qualcomm's family of CDMA MSM chipsets, smARTspeak XG is an embedded, phoneme-based name dialing...

VIA licenses Bluetooth. (deals).(VIA Technologies Inc. and Bluetooth SIG Inc. )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Ericsson Technology Licensing and VIA Technologies of Taiwan have signed a Bluetooth licensing agreement today giving VIA access to Bluetooth radio and baseband cores, as well as Ericsson's Bluetooth Host and embedded Stack software.

Opportunities abound at ITU Telecom Asia 2002. (ITU Preview).
November 1, 2002... As a turbulent year draws to a close, Asia's wireless industry is readying itself to take advantage of 2002's best business opportunity. The week of 2-7 December will see the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre open its doors to ITU...

Losing the 3G religion. (Street Wise).
November 1, 2002... It's becoming increasingly clear that 3G just isn't what it used to be. Operators like Sonera and Mobilkom are now busy redefining or simply back peddling on the rollout of W-CDMA services. Both Sonera and Mobilkom announced 3G launches, but...

Out on the bleeding edge. (Lynch).
November 1, 2002... It's been a big month for EDGE--the proposed 3G enhancement for GSM networks. Singapore's Starhub was first off the mark, issuing a challenge to the local regulator's 3G policy that effectively mandates a WCDMA or 1x platform by 2004, stating...

Sexual message service. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(Meggpower and "Sex in the Air")(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... A group of Singapore doctors is using SMS to teach young people about sex and sexuality via SMS. Their service, dubbed "Sex in the Air", targets young people who are too shy to seek information directly from parents and health experts. The...

Scam offensive. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(NTT DoCoMo Inc. blocks scam "wangin" calls)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... NTT DoCoMo has introduced a new function aimed at blocking scam "wangiri" calls. The "wangiri" calls are random computer-generated calls that hang up after one ring, leaving a missed call message on the called party's mobile phone screen,...

Cellular impact. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(effect of cellular phone emissions on cancer cells)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Research by Italian scientists suggests mobile phones could accelerate the spread of cancer. Paradoxically, the team at the National Research Council in Bologna found that when they exposed leukaemia cells to 48 hours of continuous radio waves,...

Abort, retry, fail. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(Microsoft Corp.'s new smartphone platform)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... After taking a big chunk of the PDA business with Pocket PC, Microsoft is set to shake up the handset market with its new smartphone platform, launched in conjunction with Orange UK using a Taiwan-manufactured phone. Naturally, it is...

Bad service. (Short message: around the wireless industry).(Australian Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman report)
November 1, 2002... The Australian Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) last month reported a 13% decline in complaints for the year 2001-02, largely as a result of the disappearance of One. Tel, which had generated a fifth of all complaints the previous...