Wireless Asia articles from September 2001

Wireless Asia archives from September 2001

Wireless data proves itself.(Street Wise)(SK Telecom and Korea Telecom post impressive numbers for wireless data)
September 1, 2001... Just last month, I took advantage of Hong Kong's mobile number portability and changed operator. My old operator, somewhat lacking in the sales and marketing department, somehow forgot to approach me about SMS. Besides, I didn't know anyone on...

The third man: LG Telecom-led dream team takes latest 3G license: Korea's third LG license has been awarded to a consortium led by LG Telecom, Hanaro and Powercomm. The MIC now has the cdma2000 license that it always wanted, but can LGT's patchwork alliance hold together?(News Analysis)
September 1, 2001... South Korea has a third 3G licensee. LG Telecom and its consortium of 1,049 companies has been awarded the license by the Ministry of Information and Communication. LGT was the only applicant, so the outcome seemed reasonably inevitable....

Playing the ARPU game: with ARPU continuing to fall, Asian operators are becoming increasingly creative in playing the numbers game.(News Analysis)
September 1, 2001... The telecom business is forever about the pursuit of new ways to boost ARPU (average revenue per user), to hook consumers into spending more money, though not necessarily, more time on the phone. But how far can you venture into this numbers...

Telekom Malaysia shown the door at DPC: sharp maneuvering by Shin chairman Boonklee Plangsiri forces Telekom Malaysia from DPC's share register. Jaruwan Ngamman report from Bangkok.(News Analysis)(Telekom Malaysia sells its stake in Digital Phone Company to local partner Shin Corp)
September 1, 2001... Telekom Malaysia has sold its stake in Digital Phone Company (DPC), the operator of a Bangkok-based digital GSM 1800 MHz cellular telephone network, to local partner Shin Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement Shin Digital Company...

Hong Kong's SMS interconnection glitch: population and saturation are non-issues as carriers back away from messaging.(News Analysis)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Backed by some 5.8 million mobile users, cellular-crazy Hong Kong has yet to witness the SMS success seen in Europe and Asian countries such as the Philippines and China. The service has yet to boom there largely due to the unavailability...

The planned Sony-Ericsson mobile phone joint venture takes a step forward with the signing of an MoU for the establishment of a $500m joint venture.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... The planned Sony-Ericsson mobile phone joint venture takes a step forward with the signing of an MoU for the establishment of a $500m joint venture. The new company, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, will officially start on October 1,...

Hitachi reportedly plans to co-operate with Hisense Electric Co. to manufacture up to 3 million CDMA handsets for the Chinese market next year.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Hitachi reportedly plans to co-operate with Hisense Electric Co. to manufacture up to 3 million CDMA handsets for the Chinese market next year. The handsets will be manufactured at Hisense's plant in Qingdao, according to Bloomberg.

Thai telecoms company Loxley Pacific is reportedly close to closing a deal to operate a cellular phone network in North Korea, the Bangkok Post reports.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Thai telecoms company Loxley Pacific is reportedly close to closing a deal to operate a cellular phone network in North Korea, the Bangkok Post reports. Loxley already owns 70% of Northeast Asia Telephone and Telecommunication Co, a JV with...

Industry firsts: Qualcomm and Nortel Networks make the industry's first successful end-to-end live 3G call using mobile IP technology on a cdma2000 1x platform.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Industry firsts: Qualcomm and Nortel Networks make the industry's first successful end-to-end live 3G call using mobile IP technology on a cdma2000 1x platform. Nokia completes the first call on a GSM 850 MHz network. And, Manx Telecom...

Globalstar plans to reduce its work force by 50% to about 175 employees so that it can save enough money to operate until the end of the year.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Globalstar plans to reduce its work force by 50% to about 175 employees so that it can save enough money to operate until the end of the year. Reporting its second quarter 2001 results, Globalstar says it had $98m in cash and cash equivalents,...

Broadband Mobile ASA, a 3G operator set up by Finland's Sonera and Norway's Enitel, makes history as the first 3G operator to go belly up.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Broadband Mobile ASA, a 3G operator set up by Finland's Sonera and Norway's Enitel, makes history as the first 3G operator to go belly up. License holder Sonora gives the license back to the government and plans to write off $16.2m in its...

Beijing: the MII says China is now the world's largest mobile phone market, with its mobile users reaching 120.6 million by July, surpassing the United States' mobile subscriber base of 120.1 million.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Beijing: The MII says China is now the world's largest mobile phone market, with its mobile users reaching 120.6 million by July, surpassing the United States' mobile subscriber base of 120.1 million. Gartner Group disputes the claim, saying...

Beijing: China Unicom cuts 34,116 positions--mostly from its paging operations.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Beijing: China Unicom cuts 34,116 positions--mostly from its paging operations. It's the first mass lay-off of employees in China's telecoms industry since the start of the market downturn. 3,323 lay-offs come from China Unicom's Hong...

Hainan: China's first cdma2000 1x network is now operating on a trial basis in the southern province of Hainan.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Hainan: China's first cdma2000 1x network is now operating on a trial basis in the southern province of Hainan, using equipment supplied by Chinese vendor ZTE.

Hanoi: SLD Telecom, a JV between Korea's Telecom, Korean electronics giant LG, and Dong A, wins government approval for a $250m deal with Saigon Postel to build a CDMA network in Vietnam.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Hanoi: SLD Telecom, a JV between Korea's SK Telecom, Korean electronics giant LG, and Dong A, wins government approval for a $250m deal with Saigon Postel to build a CDMA network in Vietnam. If the system starts on schedule for commercial...

Hong Kong: a government committee proposes a monthly HK$10 ($1.28) tax on Hong Kong's 5 million-plus mobile phone users.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Hong Kong: A government committee proposes a monthly HK$10 ($1.28) tax on Hong Kong's 5 million-plus mobile phone users. The Advisory Committee on New Broad-based Taxes says that a HK$10 monthly tax would generate HK$460m in revenue for the...

Hong Kong: mobile operator Sunday Communications narrowed its net loss.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Hong Kong: Mobile operator Sunday Communications narrowed its net loss by 59% to HK$114 million ($14.7 million), achieving positive EBITDA of $5.4m for the first half.

Bangkok: Advanced Info Services plans to raise 15 billion baht ($340.2m) to fund its acquisition of DPC.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Bangkok: Advanced Info Services plans to raise 15 billion baht ($340.2m) to fund its acquisition of DPC through either a bond issue on the Thai market or loans from banks. Further foreign investment is also a possibility.

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's five cellular operators agree to interconnect their SMS services.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's five cellular operators agree to interconnect their SMS services. In a Joint statement, the five operators say that users on each network will be able to exchange messages by the end of this month.

Kuala Lumpur: Norway's Telenor wins a controlling stake in Malaysian mobile carrier DiGi.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Kuala Lumpur: Norway's Telenor wins a controlling stake in Malaysian mobile carrier DiGi. Telenor, which launched its bid in June for up to 61% of DiGi.com, says it won acceptances from just over 50% of shareholders. The bid is valued at...

Kuala Lumpur: Telekom Malaysia chooses cdma2000 1x for a fixed wireless and mobile deployment aimed at bringing telecom services to rural areas.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Kuala Lumpur: Telekom Malaysia chooses cdma2000 1x for a fixed wireless and mobile deployment aimed at bringing telecom services to rural areas. The telco awards a $145m, three-year contract to Motorola.

Lhasa: Alcatel wins a GSM network expansion contract with Tibet Mobile's capacity to around 280,000 subscribers.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Lhasa: Alcatel wins a GSM network expansion contract with Tibet Mobile, which will boost Tibet Mobile's capacity to around 280,000 subscribers. Alcatel won the contract via its Shanghai Bell JV. The project is to be completed by the end of this...

Macau: Hutchison Telecom and SmarTone officially launch their mobile phones services in Macau.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)
September 1, 2001... Macau: Hutchison Telecom and SmarTone officially launch their mobile phones services in Macau after settling their interconnection disputes with CTM, which had arisen after the incumbent introduced last-minute conditions.

Manila: Philippines opposition senator Vicente Sotto III introduces a bill to outlaw SMS spam.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Manila: Philippines opposition senator Vicente Sotto III introduces a bill to outlaw SMS spam. Admitting that SMS spare is not a prevalent problem in the Philippines at the moment, Sotto, who once backed a failed bill requiring operators to...

Seoul: the government's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute and Qualcomm sign a framework agreement.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Seoul: The government's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute and Qualcomm sign a framework agreement, under which Qualcomm will pay the government 20% of royalties for some CDMA technologies--that works out to as much as $1b in...

Seoul: Samsung Electronics, the world's leading maker of CDMA handsets, now exports more GSM phones than CDMA phones.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Seoul: Samsung Electronics, the world's leading maker of CDMA handsets, now exports more GSM phones than CDMA phones, according to US market researcher NPD Intelect. GSM phones made up 63% of Samsung's total phone exports in 2Q01, with CDMA...

Seoul: Vodafone sells its 11.68% equity stake in Shinsegi Telecomm to SK Telecom.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Seoul: Vodafone sells its 11.68% equity stake in Shinsegi Telecomm to SK Telecom, which is currently orchestrating its own merger with Shinsegi.

Tokyo: an NTT DoCoMo survey finds that 41% of people over 60 years of age in Tokyo use mobile phones.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Tokyo: An NTT DoCoMo survey finds that 41% of people over 60 years of age in Tokyo use mobile phones, making it a market with higher penetration and revenue potential than high-school students. ARPU for a person over 60 is 5,100 yen, compared...

Tokyo: Matsushita and NEC announce a global partnership to develop common specifications for 3G handsets and application software as well as mobile multimedia terminals.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Tokyo: Matsushita and NEC announce a global partnership to develop common specifications for 3G handsets and application software as well as mobile multimedia terminals. The two companies will also consider OEM supply of products, ranging from...

Tokyo: Japan Telecom and its 45% shareholder Vodafone jointly announce plans to merge J-Phone's holding company, J-Phone Communications, and its three geographical operations.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Tokyo: Japan Telecom and its 45% shareholder Vodafone jointly announce plans to merge J-Phone's holding company, J-Phone Communications, and its three geographical operations into one unified company to be called J-Phone Co Ltd by November 1...

Taipei: KG Telecom launches Taiwan's first GPRS service--again.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Taipei: KG Telecom launches Taiwan's first GPRS service--again. KGT's GPRS service has been available commercially since last year, but a lack of handsets kept the service limited to a handful of corporate customers. The new "igogo" brand...

Taipei: Taiwan Cellular reports an 18% increase in earnings per share for the first half of the year.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Taipei: Taiwan Cellular reports an 18% increase in earnings per share for the first half of the year. The company's pre-tax profit tot the period was $251m, up 27% over the same period last year.

Sydney: Telstra refunds customers after charging them to receive Telstra promotional messages via SMS.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Sydney: Telstra refunds customers after charging them to receive Telstra promotional messages via SMS. The following week, Telstra receives a "please explain" notice from the ACCC over plans to charge a fee for customers to change networks....

Singapore: IDA outlaws a range of wireless devices that might interfere with GSM networks.(Newsmap: around Wireless Asia)(Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Singapore: IDA outlaws a range of wireless devices that might interfere with GSM networks, including baby monitors, wireless headphones and remote control devices operating in the 900 MHz band.

Ten steps to 3G.(Industry experts in Asia and Europe are consulted about 3G )
September 1, 2001... Congratulations! After a tough contest, you've just won a slice of spectrum in the 1900-2100 MHz bands--enough to meet your capacity needs for a decade. After years of increasing churn, declining ARPU and ever more cut throat price wars, you're...

Take your numbers and run: despite being one of the most competitive operating environments in the world, Hong Kong's six mobile operators are alive and kicking, even with the introduction of mobile number portability.(Wireless Biz)
September 1, 2001... With the implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) fast approaching its third anniversary, which resulted in a total of over 3.3 million mobile users changing networks, Hong Kong's cellular market remains resilient to mass collapse...

Enterprise mobile device management.(tools)(Anywhere Solutions Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Anywhere Solutions, Inc., the mobile and wireless subsidiary of Sybase has introduced the Anywhere Mobile Manager, which is designed to manage applications on multiple devices, including laptops and PalmOS- and PocketPC-based handholds. The...

Know your roamers.(tools)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Open Telecommunications has released OpenSmartMessage, which allows overseas travelers to receive targeted short messages about network options and operations in their native language. OpenSM is intended to help cellcos recognize and...

Web-to-wireless translation engine.(tools)(Cisco Systems)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Cisco Systems plans to enter the wireless Web equipment market with the CTE 1400 Content Transformation Engine, an edge device that allows mobile devices to access standard Web pages by translating the content to an appropriate format for PDAs...

Intel developer network offers support.(tools)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Intel is offering more than 300 tools to developers designing applications using the chip company's new Personal Internet Client Architecture (Intel PCA). The Intel PCA Developer Network offers wireless companies development, technical and...

Golf positioning system for Visor.(out now)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Handspring has released a golf module for its Visor product The new module contains GPS chip that tells golfers where their next target is, based on their location on the gull course. The module also helps users keep their scores.

Recharge prepaid accounts by ATM.(out now)(ACI Worldwide and Vodafone Australia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Enterprise e-payment solutions vendor ACI Worldwide says that Vodafone Australia and National Australia Bank are using its BASE24 software to route and authorize e-payment transactions for a new rechargeable mobile phone service for FastFone...

New enhancements for T9 text input software.(out now)(Tegic Communications launches new mobile phone software )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... AOL subsidiary Tegic Communications has released version 5.1 of its T9 predictive text input software for mobile phones. T9 5.1 includes several new features allowing users to store custom words (such as URLs), text message shortcut words like...

Qualcomm and Matsushita in mini-karaoke deal.(deals)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Qualcomm has struck a deal with Matsushita to provide software for cell phones that would transform handsets into mini-karaoke machines. The application, based on Qualcomm's CMX software, enables ceil phones to display different types of...

Point-to-multipoint mobile video streaming.(deals)(NTT DoCoMO and PacketVideo Corp.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... NTT DoCoMo and US-based PacketVideo Corporation have jointly developed a one-to-many live-video distribution platform that will provide video streaming content via DoCoMo's FOMA 3G service. The consortium will conduct actual field trials of new...

SK Teletech licenses eZiText.(deals)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Text input provider Zi Corporation has signed a licensing and royalty agreement with SK Teletech, the major provider of hand sets to South Korean cellco SK Telecom. Under the terms of the deal, eZiText will be incorporated in SK Teletech...

Unicom signs up for BREW.(deals)(China Unicom and Qualcomm)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... China Unicom and Qualcomm have signed a non binding MoU for the adoption of BREW technology by Unicom's CDMA subsidiary Horizon. BREW--Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless--is a Qualcomm-developed applications environment which allows for...

Samsung and Sony get on the Memory Stick.(deals)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Samsung Electronics and Sony have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen their co-operative ties regarding digital technology, initially exploring the possibility of adopting Sony's Memory Stick in Samsung's consumer products, to...

AGC names Japanese chairman and CEO.(Telecom Career)(appointment of Tomoo Okada at Asia Global Crossing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Asia Global Crossing has appointed Tomoo Okada chairman and chief executive officer of its operation in Japan, Okada is currently the president of Global Center Japan, Asia Global Crossing's data center services joint venture with IRI. ...

New Reach director.(Telecom Career)(appointment of Malcolm Turnbull )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Reach, the international connectivity joint venture between Telstra and Pacific Century CyberWorks, has appointed Malcolm Turnbull as a non-executive board member. Turnbull is currently chairman and managing director of Goldman Sachs...

I-Cable chairman retires.(Telecom Career)(Stephen T. H. Ng replaces Gonzaga W. J. Li)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Hong Kong's i-Cable Communication Limited has named its current deputy chairman and CEO, Stephen T. H. Ng, as chairman, replacing Gonzaga W.J. Li, who has retired from the board.

Vitria picks up Taiwanese GM.(Telecom Career)(Vitria Technology appoints Steven Sun)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Integration service provider Vitria Technology has appointed Steven Sun as vice president and general manager of its Taiwan operation. Sun joins Vitria from SAP Taiwan, where he was most recently president.

Ericsson appoints new AP head.(Telecom Career)(appointment of Ragnar Back)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Ericsson has appointed Ragnar Back as executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. He succeeds Kjell Sorme, who is retiring after 35 years with the company. Back is presently responsible for Ericsson's business in Western Europe...

North Asia head at Citrix.(Telecom Career)(Citrix Systems)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Application software services provider Citrix Systems has named Angel Lee as marketing manager for North Asia. Lee joins Citrix from BMC Software, where she served as marketing manager at the company's Greater China headquarters in Hong...

StarTV appoints Taiwan GM.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... StarTV has named Ivan Yuan the company's new general manager to head its broadcasting business in Taiwan. Prior to joining Star, Yuan was most recently chairman and chief executive officer of GoldFM Network, the second radio venture he...

Ex-AOL Time Warner executive joins Volera.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Volera Inc., a subsidiary of Novell, Inc., has appointed Gerald E King as the company's vice president of worldwide sales. Previously, King was general manager and vice president of sales for AOL Time Warner's iPlanet's western region ...

Lycos Asia sales VP.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Regional Internet network Lycos Asia has appointed Mark Hobson as vice president of sales. Hobson joins Lycos Asia from the Europe-based Focus One Media, where he was mostly recently president for the company's Asia Pacific operations.

E.piphany appoints Greater China sales director.(Telecom Career)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... E.piphany has appointed Ming Wong as sales director for Greater China. Wong joins E.piphany from IBM, where he spent six years. He was most recently client executive for the company's communication sector in Hong Kong.

Redback hires former Lucent executive.(Telecom Career)(Redback Networks Inc. )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Redback Networks Inc., a provider of solutions for next-generation metro broadband and optical networks, has appointed Joshua Chao as the company's vice president for Asia Pacific.

New regional director at Network Associates.(Telecom Career)(Asia-Pacific region)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Network Associates Inc. has named Michael Liu Chin Woon regional director for the company's Magic Solutions business for the Asia-Pacific region. Liu most recently served as regional manager, South Asia at Remedy Corporation, and...

Sharp practice, but not too ridiculous.(Unwired)(Mobile industry competition)
September 1, 2001... Is the mobile industry getting just a bit too greedy? In Europe there is the spectre of competition regulators raiding the offices of major mobile companies, Elliott Ness style, to search for data relating, allegedly, to roaming fraud. ...

Cellular wars, Episode II.(Lynch)(CDMA Development Group and GSM Association)
September 1, 2001... The cellular propaganda fights are back on in earnest. In one corner is the CDMA Development Group (CDG), more of a welterweight than a heavyweight, and still carrying a few injuries from some of its recent Asian debacles. But with the...

Rule the planet.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(CDMA Development Group touts cdma2000 developments)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Forget everything you've read about GSM's dominance and UMTS following suit by default-cdma2000 is the king of the 3G ring. Just ask the CDMA Development Group (CDG. In a presentation pack posted on its Web site and sent to journalists around...

Easy come, easy go.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(CDMA gets high marks in survey)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Say what you want about CDMA, but by Singaporean quality-control standards, it's hard to beat. M1's CDMA network topped the class in the IDA's latest QoS survey. It tied with SingTel Mobile's GSM900 network in the category of call success, with...

Now for 4G ...(Short message: around the wireless industry)(NTT DoCoMo sets sights on 4G)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Having launched the world's first trial 3G network, NTT DoCoMo has already gotten on with its life and is setting its sights on 4G. What is 4G? DoCoMo doesn't know, either-at least not yet, although its basic concept is similar to the...

Too big or not too big....(Short message: around the wireless industry)(China may or may not have become world's largest cellular market last month; offer statistics)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... China may or may not have become the world's largest cellular market last month, thanks to some ambiguity in the math. The MII officially declared China the world cellular champion after reporting its end-of-July figures, which put its sub...

Secure spectrum.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(US wireless scene has lagged behind curve in terms of digital tech adoption)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Regardless of whether it is the largest or second largest market in the world, the US wireless scene has long been behind the curve in terms of digital tech adoption. The same seems likely to be true for 3G, but at least this time the US has a...