Cellular-News for Tuesday 14th March 2006

Cellular-News -

[[ 3G ]]

3 UK Launches Datacard That Allows Skype Access 3 UK, the mobile telecommunications company owned by Hutchison Whampoa, Monday launched a datacard for use in laptops that also allows 3 UK's 3.2 million users to access services from voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, provider Skype. ...

Motorola to support Vivo's 3G network expansion

US mobile phone manufacturer Motorola has pledged support as a 3G network supplier for Brazil's largest mobile phone operator Vivo, Motorola said in a statement. ...

HSDPA Accelerated Up to Four Times Faster

Downloading mobile data over HSDPA was up to 4 times faster using Flash Networks' NettGain system in a field test in a live network in Western Europe. Likewise, perceived bandwidth was tripled in the trials. Flash Networks is the first company to pro...

Ericsson Wins Japanese 3G Contract

eMobile, a new entrant to the Japanese 3G market, has selected Ericsson as the prime supplier of its new WCDMA/HSDPA network. The agreement involves WCDMA 1.7GHz radio networks in the most populated areas of Japan, such as Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, an...

[[ Financial ]]

RFS to open factory in Mexico in July

US telecom infrastructure supplier and antenna manufacturer Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) plans to open a factory in Mexico in July this year, RFS's Latin America president Luis Antonio Alves de Oliveira told BNamericas. ...

Portugal's Coutinho:Not In Talks To Buy Portugal Telecom

Portuguese financier Joao Pereira Coutinho said late Monday he hasn't been contacted by any national or foreign funds to prepare a bid for Portugal Telecom. ...

Etisalat Completes Pakistan Investment Deal

The United Arab Emirates based, Etisalat- has announced the completion of discussions to buy a 26% stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL). All pending issues have been agreed upon, including the conditions for payment of the bid amount of...

[[ Handsets ]]

PRESS: Russia's Euroset CEO says to sell mobile handsets for cheap

Russia's largest mobile handset retailer Euroset has directly imported

260,000 mobile handsets and plans to sell the batch at "very attractive prices," Euroset's Chairman Yevgeny Chichvarkin said, Biznes business daily reported Monday. ...

Pantech to open US$50mn factory Aug or Sep

Korean mobile handset manufacturer Pantech plans to open a US$50mn factory in Brazil by August or September, the company announced at the Telexpo trade fair in Sao Paulo. ...

Sharp Handset Supporting Remote Software Upgrades

Red Bend Software has announced that Sharp Corp. will use it's firmware over the air (FOTA) update client suite to allow customers to wirelessly download software upgrades to the Vodafone 904SH handset offered by Vodafone in Japan. This function will...

Mobile Data Revolution Shakes Up Handset Retailing

The mobile industry has been moving away from a vertically integrated model controlled by operators and manufacturers, to a more complex horizontal, layered structure, creating new challenges and opportunities for distributors and retailers of cellul...

[[ Messaging ]]

US Air Force Signs up to the BlackBerry

WorldCell, a supplier of global enterprise managed wireless services, says that it has been awarded a contract from the United States Air Force Europe to supply local wireless telephone and BlackBerry service throughout the UK and Iceland. Greg Buckm...

[[ Mobile Content ]]

Samsung sees TV as future mobile content king

South Korean handset and consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung believes television will become the dominant content on Latin American mobile phones in the next two to three years, Samsung product team member Andre Varga told BNamericas. ...

Commonwealth Games On Mobile TV

Telstra, Microsoft and Broadcast Australia have announced plans for Melbourne's first live demonstration showcase of mobile TV, as part of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. The Melbourne showcase service will broadcast up to seven channels of li...

[[ Network Contracts ]]

Contract To Expand Angolan GSM Network

Omnitele says that it has been contracted by operator Unitel to provide support services for the network expansion projects in Angola. Unitel is one of the leading sub-Saharan operators and has operated a GSM network in Angola since early 2001. Since...

[[ Network Operators ]]

PRESS: Chechnya's PM says may shut down MegaFon's operations

Russia's third largest mobile operator MegaFon may be forced to stop operations in Russia's constituent republic of Chechnya if it does not improve quality and reduce tariffs, Chechnya's Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov said, Vedomosti business daily re...

[[ Offbeat ]]

UK Office Workers Lack Digital Etiquette - report

Would you consider it rude if you hadn't received a reply to an email within a morning? Almost half of UK office workers would, according to a major new study from business communications provider ntl:Telewest Business. Five per cent of people would ...

[[ Personnel ]]

KPN Appoints Two New Members To Management Board

Royal KPN said Monday it intends to appoint Eelco Blok, currently Chief Operating Officer of division Fixed, and Stan Miller, responsible for KPN's international mobile activities, as members of the Board of Management of KPN by 1 July 2006. ...

[[ Regulatory ]]

PRESS: Russia's MTS files bid for GSM license in Egypt

Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has filed an application to participate in the auction of a third GSM license in Egypt, MTS' spokeswoman Galina Istratova said, Vedomosti business daily reported Monday. ...

[[ Reports ]]

Double-digit Growth Forecast for W-CDMA RAN Equipment

The worldwide radio access network equipment market topped US$41 billion in 2005, with 58% of that coming from GSM/GPRS/EDGE equipment,

23% from CDMA/EV-DO/EV-DV equipment, and 19% from W-CDMA equipment, according to a new report from Infonetics Rese... [[ Statistics ]]

Russia's MegaFon user base in Samara region up 4.5% year-to-date

The subscriber base of Russia?s third largest mobile operator MegaFon in the Samara Region increased 4.5% on the year to 1.15 million people as of now, MSS-Povolzhye said in a press release Monday. ...

[[ Technology ]]

Nokia and Deutsche Telekom Group Pilot Dual Mode Telephony

Deutsche Telekom has launched T-One, an integrated dual-mode telephony solution combining the benefits of fixed line and mobile communications, which is being piloted on Nokia N80 and Nokia E60 devices. T-One will offer customers a simple and conveni...

Nokia Launches New Frequency Set Base Station

In anticipation of the USA regulators auction of licenses for the

1700/2100 MHz, and 700 MHz spectrum bands, Nokia has introduced the Nokia Flexi Base Station, an innovative, multi-radio platform. The Nokia Flexi Base Station enables easy deployment ...