Wireless Asia articles from September 2003

Wireless Asia archives from September 2003

Forget the security scare, RF tags stand on their own.(Unwired)
September 15, 2003... You want to free the world from terrorism and guarantee consumers eat fresh food? Sounds like you're ready to join the campaign for RFID. RFID (radio frequency identification), is now going through the process of winning approval in the US...

Vendor hopefuls seek path to 3G via TD-SCDMA.(News Analysis)
September 15, 2003... China's nascent 3G market continues to exercise its pull over the world's telecom vendors, with Alcatel, Nortel and Siemens last month all announcing multi-million partnerships with local companies. "It's like a beauty contest out there,"...

Camera phones to double in 2003.(Insight)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... The camera-phone market will more than double in 2003 to 55 million units, says the ARC Group. Last year 25 million camera-capable mobiles were sold worldwide, and today 15% of all handsets in use have built-in cameras or camera...

Network sales down 14%.(Insight)(Dell'Oro Group sales)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Worldwide mobile infrastructure sales were down 14% to $6.5 billion for the second quarter compared with last year, according to the Dell'Oro Group. However, orders were up 1% over Q1, thanks to 12% higher GSM sales, although demand for...

Sales boost for 802.11g.(Insight)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... The 802.11 gear market grew 2% sequentially in Q2 to $419 million in sales, while total unit shipments increased 6%, says the Dell'Oro Group. 802.11b revenues declined for the consecutive quarter, however, while 802.11g sales grew 48% to...

TDMA's twilight.(Insight)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... North and Latin American operators may have spent $10 billion in upgrading their networks to GSM or CDMA in the last three years, yet it is too early to dismiss TDMA. The standard accounts for 57% of the total installed base in Latin...

Russia's mobile growth path.(Insight)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... The Russian mobile industry is on the brink of massive growth, Pyramid believes. Russian mobile users are forecast to reach more than 65 million by the end of 2007, with service revenues rising from about $3.4 billion at the end of 2002 to...

Merger off as FarEasTone thinks again on price.(News Analysis)
September 15, 2003... Just when it appeared to have no more cards to play, all bets are off on FarEasTone's merger with KG Telecom. A month ago, Taiwan's third and fourth largest cellcos waxed lyrical as they announced their merger. But when FarEasTone failed to...

TCNZ feels the heat from Vodafone 3G play.(News Analysis)
September 15, 2003... Vodafone has announced a 3G monile push in Australasia, with plans to Hutchison into the Australian market and setting a 2005 launch date for New Zealand. The context of the decisions in the two markets, however, are completely different...

Nokia breaches GSM cost barrier to wage rural battle.(News Analysis)
September 15, 2003... As mature markets reach saturation, the wireless industry is turning its attention to developing markets. The handset sector is already seeing a revival driven by low-end phones that have been selling well in developing markets, according to...

Lucent Technologies wins a $25 million subcontract from Bechtel Group.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Lucent Technologies wins a $25 million subcontract from Bechtel Group to help restore Iraq's damaged telecom network.

Indonesian telco Telkom signs a $124 million loan with the Export-Import Bank of Korea.(Movements)(Telkom Indonesia and Samsung Electronic to develop CDMA system)
September 15, 2003... Indonesian telco Telkom signs a $124 million loan with the Export-Import Bank of Korea to finance a project between Telkom and Samsung Electronic to develop a fixed wireless CDMA system.

Motorola sells its 19% stake in Symbian to Nokia and Psion will acquire Motorola's 19% stake in Symbian.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Motorola sells its 19% stake in Symbian to Nokia and Psion will acquire Motorola's 19% stake in Symbian. Nokia's holding will rise to 32% and Psion's to 31%.

Siemens.(Movements)(Ian Moyes appointed head of mobile phone business)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Siemens appoints Ian Moyes to head the company's mobile phone business. Previously Moyes was head of Siemens' worldwide sales of mobile phones.

MTC-Vodafone of Kuwait signs a $19 million deal with Motorola.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... MTC-Vodafone of Kuwait signs a $19 million deal with Motorola to expand network capacity.

Samsung Electronics lands an agreement.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Samsung Electronics lands an agreement to provide handsets to AT&T Wireless.

A US court issues an injunction banning Research in Motion from selling its BlackBerry device in the wake of its loss in a patent infringement case to NTP.(Movement)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... A US court issues an injunction banning Research In Motion from selling its BlackBerry device in the wake of its loss in a patent infringement case to NTP. The order will be stayed until the case s appealed, however.

France Telecom will pay 7.1 billion euros ($7.8 billion) in stock to buy out minority shareholders of its Orange mobile subsidiary.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... France Telecom will pay 7.1 billion euros ($7.8 billion) in stock to buy out minority shareholders of its Orange mobile subsidiary. FT will take full control of Orange upon completion of the deal, which is scheduled to be settled on October 24....

T-Mobile chief executive Rene Obermann says handset availability will be the decisive factor.(Movements)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... T-Mobile chief executive Rene Obermann says handset availability will be the decisive factor for the launch of 3G services in Germany.

Beijing: China will allocate 600 million yuan ($72 million) this year to spur TD-SCDMA research by domestic vendors.(around Wireless Asia)(Datang telecom )(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Beijing: China will allocate 600 million yuan ($72 million) this year to spur TD-SCDMA research by domestic vendors. The grant will be split between Datang telecom and other local vendors.

Beijing: China Unicom is planning to take a minority stake in a CDMA venture outside China in the next one to two years.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Beijing: China Unicom is planning to take a minority stake in a CDMA venture outside China in the next one to two years. Chairman Wang Jianzhou says India and Indonesia are the most likely markets, with Vietnam a possibility.

Beijing: Nortel Networks and Siemens form separate JVs.(around Wireless Asia)(Datang Telecom and Huawei Technologies)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Beijing: Nortel Networks and Siemens form separate JVs with Datang Telecom and Huawei Technologies, respectively, to develop and test TD-SCDMA technology.

Shanghai: Alcatel plans to invest $145 million in China.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Shanghai: Alcatel plans to invest $145 million in China this year--$45 million on W-CDMA and TD-SCDMA development, and the remaining $100 million for other research.

>Guangzhou: Guangdong Mobile awards a $600 million frame contract to Ericsson to expand its GSM network to 36 million lines.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Guangzhou: Guangdong Mobile awards a $600 million frame contract to Ericsson to expand its GSM network to 36 million lines. Deliveries will start this year and end in 2004.

Hong Kong: OFTA will extend waivers for one year.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Hong Kong: OFTA will extend waivers for one year for payment of performance bonds by Hong Kong's four 3G licensees due in the sixth and seventh years of their licenses.

Hong Kong: China Unicom reports a 12% higher net profit for the first half.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Hong Kong: China Unicom reports a 12% higher net profit for the first half. However, analysts expected better earnings, which were held back by higher costs and losses from its CDMA network. Rival China Mobile reports a 13% increase in its...

Hong Kong: Hutchison Whampoa manages to squeeze out a 2% growth in overall first-half profit, after booking a $500 million pre-tax loss for its 3G servic.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Hong Kong: Hutchison Whampoa manages to squeeze out a 2% growth in overall first-half profit, after booking a $500 million pre-tax loss for its 3G service. Chairman Li Ka-shing and MD Canning Fok stick to the company's subscriber forecasts in...

Hong Kong: CSL contracts Nokia.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Hong Kong: CSL contracts Nokia to upgrade its GSM network to EDGE for an undisclosed amount.

Bangkok: AIS expects its prepaid mobile subscriber base to rise 17% to 12 million.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Bangkok: AIS expects its prepaid mobile subscriber base to rise 17% to 12 million by the end of this year.

Bangkok: Thailand plans to introduce mobile number portability by the end of this year or in early 2004.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Bangkok: Thailand plans to introduce mobile number portability by the end of this year or in early 2004, according to communications minister Surapong Suebwonglee.

New Delhi: Bharti Tele-Ventures will spend 2.5 billion rupees ($54.5 million) this fiscal year to improve voice quality in Delh.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... New Delhi: Bharti Tele-Ventures will spend 2.5 billion rupees ($54.5 million) this fiscal year to improve voice quality in Delhi. The company launched the country's first dual-band GSM system in July.

Ningbo: Ningbo Bird enters India's booming handset market.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Ningbo: Ningbo Bird enters India's booming handset market with the launch of four GSM handsets. The company also plans to develop software in India.

Jakarta: Telkom plans to invest up to $320 million.(around Wireless Asia)(TelkomFlexi)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Jakarta: Telkom plans to invest up to $320 million in its CDMA mobile infrastructure, branded TelkomFlexi, by mid-2006.

Kuala Lumpur: Telekom Malaysia reports higher Q2 earnings.(around Wireless Asia)(Maxis posts a 19% rise for the quarter)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Kuala Lumpur: Telekom Malaysia reports higher Q2 earnings, helped by profits from new subsidiary Celcom. Maxis posts a 19% rise for the quarter, boosted by its recent takeover of TimeCel.

Seoul: KTF awards an $80 million contract to Lucent Technologies to build a cdma2000 1x EV-DO network.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Seoul: KTF awards an $80 million contract to Lucent Technologies to build a cdma2000 1x EV-DO network, which will cover Korea's second largest metropolitan area, Busan, and most of Kyungnam Province.

Seoul: Samsung Electronics plans to increase its handset production to 100 million per year.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Seoul: Samsung Electronics plans to increase its handset production to 100 million per year, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Taipei: KG Telecom calls off a plan to merge with larger rival Far EasTone.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Taipei: KG Telecom calls off a plan to merge with larger rival Far EasTone, after the latter fails to present a proposal for the deal by the promised deadline.

Taipei: Taiwan PC maker MITAC debuts the world's first Wintel mobile phone.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Taipei: Taiwan PC maker MITAC debuts the world's first Wintel mobile phone, promising to release it to the market some time in this quarter.

Taipei: Taiwan Cellular's key shareholders.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Taipei: Taiwan Cellular's key shareholders, the Tsai family, say they are keen to sell their stake to an international telco.

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo will set up a $5.3 million.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo will set up a $5.3 million R&D center in Beijing for "4G" research by the end of the year.

Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo launches a flip-open handset.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Tokyo: NTT DoCoMo launches a flip-open handset that reads aloud Internet text content and is equipped with a pedometer function--the first of its kind.

Sydney: Hutchison Telecom.(around Wireless Asia)(widens its half-year loss 78% to A$129.4 million ($84.1 million))(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Sydney: Hutchison Telecom, which launched its W-CDMA "3" service in April, widens its half-year loss 78% to A$129.4 million ($84.1 million) due chiefly to 3G costs.

Wellington: Vodafone New Zealand.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Wellington: Vodafone New Zealand will spend at least NZ$200 million ($117 million) to upgrade Its 2.5G network to 3G.

Kashmir: BSNL launches mobile service in the sensitive border territory Kashmir.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Kashmir: BSNL launches mobile service in the sensitive border territory Kashmir, where cellular service has been blocked for years by security agencies who feared it would be used by militants to foment violence.

Mumbai: Hutchison Whampoa says its Indian mobile venture plans to invest $350 million to expand its operations.(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Mumbai: Hutchison Whampoa says its Indian mobile venture plans to invest $350 million to expand its operations. The Hutchison Essar joint venture's mobile phone holdings include networks in New Delhi, Calcutta and Gujarat state.

Singapore: StarHub plans to borrow S$600 million ($342 million).(around Wireless Asia)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Singapore: StarHub plans to borrow S$600 million ($342 million), partly to cover the cost of its 3G network over the next three years.

ZTE's winning ways in CDMA.(Advertorial)
September 15, 2003... When it comes to CDMA in the world's fastest-growing telecom market, ZTE leads the way. The publicly-listed Chinese vendor, with market capital at more than $2 billion, is the prime local vendor for the supply of the world's largest CDMA...

Why mobile apps don't stack up: mobile data last year generated $32 billion worldwide, but for consumers, mobile interoperability still sucks. The good news is, operators have elbowed their way into the game. The bad news is, the game's just started.(Cover Story)
September 15, 2003... The story of the wireless sector in the past four years has been the attempt to combine new technology and changing consumer behavior into a lucrative new world of rich content and applications. The story is as complex as the new business...

Jostling for position in the CDMA endgame: vendors are jostling for position as the development of EV-DO and EV-DV standards gets into gear.(Wireless Tech)
September 15, 2003... Commercial deployment of the high-speed cdma2000-1x EV-DV standard might be some years away, but mobile vendors are already anticipating the complexities of testing and integrating components that come from suppliers other than the company that...

Shooting for 3G: in the cut-throat world of cellular infrastructure, Siemens has tacked its colors to the W-CDMA mast. And, though it's picking up the odd EDGE contract, the German vendor meanwhile awaits China's 3G decision. Mobile board member Lothar Pauly speaks to global technology editor John C. Tanner.(1_2_1)
September 15, 2003... Telecom Asia: Siemens' new 3G equipment manufacturing facility in Shanghai is poised to jump on 3G in a market where no official licensing plan has even been announced yet. What expectations do you have for 3G in China? Lothar Pauly:...

MMS interop service.(tools)(Magic4 and Huawei Technologies Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Mobile messaging software vendor magic4 and Huawei Technologies set up an MMS interoperability testing (IOT) service for GSM clients in China. The service combines magic4's MMS Client IOT program with Huawei's MMS Center and domestic market...

Apps development training.(tools)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Nokia launches a new mobile technology and application development training program in Hong Kong. Two Nokia certified training providers, Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and Accom Education Center, are already offering instructor-led...

Mobile entertainment glossary.(tools)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... The Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) releases a new glossary of terms defining the mobile entertainment industry. The glossary is intended to combat the fragmented terminology used across the entertainment and telecommunications industries to...

Chip-based mobile banking.(tools)(Kookmin Bank and LG TeleCom)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Kookmin Bank and Korean operator LG TeleCom are offering the country's first chip-based service enabling users to perform banking services through a mobile phone. The service operates on custom-manufactured Bank ON mobile phones, each...

IM platform.(tools)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... AgileMobile.com has launched its new Agile Messenger instant messaging platform, compatible with ICQ, AOL, Yahoo! and MSN IM services. The software can be downloaded for free at www.agilemobile.com, and is currently available for Symbian...

SMS bill payment deal.(deals)(Bank of Asia PLC and Mobile Payment Club)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Bank of Asia (BOA) signs an Asia M-Pay agreement with the Mobile Payment Club (MPC), enabling customers to settle payments via mobile handsets using SMS. Business alliances joining with BoA in providing the Asia M-Pay include Thai Ticket...

Cartoon Network rights in China.(deals)(Linktone Co.'s agreement with Turner Broadcasting System's Cartoon Network)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... China-based Linktone signs an agreement with Turner Broadcasting System's Cartoon Network that gives Linktone first rights to distribute and offer Cartoon Network content via China's mobile networks. The agreement marks the first time that...

Two more BREW deals.(deals)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Qualcomm signs an MoU with Taiwanese cdma2000 1x operator Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications, under which they will work together to identify BREW-based applications and handsets compatible with APBW's current network. Separately,...

Win a phone and drinks.(out now)(Siemens and Coca-Cola Co. contest)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Siemens and Coca-Cola have rolled out a promotion in China in which Siemens will embed a "Coke Icy Adventure" K Java game in its 2128 handsets. Handset users who play the game can submit their scores via SMS to mobile2win, the agency that...

Tones while you wait.(out now)(StarHub Mobile Ltd.'s "Call Tones" service)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... StarHub introduces a "Call Tones" service for its Green prepaid mobile customers that allows them to select the ringing tone that callers will hear while they wait for the connection to be completed. Ringing tones are available in the form of...

OTA content management.(out now)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Smart Communications has commercially deployed "mPower", a solution for over-the-air content delivery and management from Mobilitec. MPower enables subscribers to use a WAP browser or SMS to find, select and download content items.

Nokia now playing with power.(deals)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Nokia signs a deal to acquire Sega.com, including Sega's Network Application Package (SNAP) which is designed to form the core of multiplayer online games. Nokia will use the SNAP technology for wireless game matching for its N-Gage phone/game...

Next-gen taxi booking by GPRS.(deals)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... StarHub strikes a deal to provide GPRS connectivity for CityCab's next-generation wireless booking system. The Integrated Transport Management System (ITMS), is to be developed by CET Technologies. The initial rollout is expected to commence in...

Wireless gaming convergence.(deals)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... UK-based TTPCom and Swedish firm Synergenix Interactive agree to converge their wireless gaming activities--namely TTPCom's wireless graphics engine (WGE) and Synergenix's wireless gaming platform. As part of the agreement TTPCom will take a...

Ringtone title search.(out now)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Indian mobile operator Airtel launches Ring-N-Fun, an interactive content service that lets subscribers search for ringtones based on a song's title. The service leverages Airtel's existing mobile service and delivery infrastructure from...

Protection from dating services.(out now)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... NTT DoCoMo launches a free "Access Modification" service that enables users to limit their mobile Internet surfing to sites listed on the official i-mode menu. The stated object is to prevent unintentional access to dating service sites,...

W-CDMA/GPRS roaming.(out now)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... J-Phone reveals plans to launch a new "Vodafone Live" mobile Internet service for its "Vodafone Global Standard" W-CDMA subscribers in early October.

Two-horse race in mobile OS: some vendors like Samsung are backing both sides but I suspect most are busy reviewing their smartphone roadmaps today.(Street Wise)
September 15, 2003... For the last year and a half, the industry has been ripe with expectation of a showdown between Nokia and software giant Microsoft. Now those expectations have finally come true with Nokia's decision to purchase additional shares in mobile...

The race to the bottom.(Lynch)
September 15, 2003... Just three short years ago, the renowned investment contrarian Marc "Dr Doom" Faber made two very interesting predictions to me. First, he predicted, the mobile telephone would soon become as much of a commodity as the pocket calculator. And...

Telepaths prefer mobiles!(Short message: around the wireless industry)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... As any science-fiction fan can attest, the ultimate threat to the wireless sector will one day be telepathy. Or not--even telepaths would rather use mobile phones, apparently. So claims the president of the Society of Mutant Telepaths, who...

Dial-a-dolphin.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... In the never-ending quest for the elusive killer app, mobile operators are evidently leaving no stone unturned. The UK's Vodafone is the latest prepared to go the extra mile with plan', for the most original app shortmessage has seen in some...

The war on access points.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... "Rogue" Wi-Fi access points in the workplace are problematic if the employee doesn't activate the right security measures, thus potentially allowing anyone outside the building but within range of the access point to hack the company LAN at...

Galileo in trouble! Or not!(Short message: around the wireless industry)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... The European Galileo initiative to create an alternative GPS system to the existing one run by the US Defense Department is reportedly already running into trouble. Comflicts within the European Space Agency (ESA) have delayed work on the...

Throw that phone away.(Short message: around the wireless industry)(annual Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Ukrainian Oleg Shvets retained his crown at the fourth annual Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships staged last month in Savonlinna, Finland, by total translation company Fennolingua (which also supplies the handset projectiles), ...