Cellular-News for Period of 23rd Dec 2005 to 2nd Jan 2006

Cellular-News -

[[3G News]]

Thailand Delays 3G - Pending Further Study

Thailand won't release criteria for third-generation telecommunciation service licenses this year because a national commission needs more time to study the economic, social and legal aspects of the issue. ...

Seychelles To get 3G Services

Airtel Seychelles says that it will shortly launch WCDMA mobile services in the country. Telecom Seychelles, which has been providing mobile and basic telephone services in Seychelles for the last 7 years under the Airtel brand, will invest US$8.5 mi...

China Using 3G To Drive Down CDMA License Fees

Analysys International says that with China Telecom starting off a 3G pilot network of TD-SCDMA, China's negotiation progress on 3G intellectual property rights with overseas owners will speed up. ZTE is currently cooperating with China Telecom, the ...

3G Handsets Donated to Pensioners Croatia's VIPnet donated sixty 3G phones to an old peoples home for Christmas. Some of the retired persons living in the Home have already attended a computer course, some of them are surfing the Internet and sending digital photographs to their rela...

3G Licenses Awarded in The Philippines

The Philippines telecoms regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is understood to have awarded four 3G licenses to local companies. Existing GSM operators, Smart, Digitel and Globe have been awarded a license along with new entran...

[[Financial News]]

Alamosa Holders To Vote On Sprint Merger Jan. 25

Alamosa Holdings Inc. said its shareholders will vote on the company's proposed $3.4 billion acquisition by Sprint Nextel Corp. at a special meeting scheduled for Jan. 25. ...

Russia's Sistema ups stake in MTS to 52.8% for $275.5 million

Major Russian holding AFK Sistema has increased its stake in the country's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems, or MTS, to 52.8% from 50.6% in two deals worth a total of U.S. $275.5 million, Sistema said in a press release late Thursday. ...

Russia's MTS to consider merger of subsidiaries at EGM

The extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (EGM) of Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems, or MTS, is expected approve the merger of the company's nine wholly owned subsidiaries with MTS, the company said Monday. ...

Russia's SMARTS sees 2006 investment at $100 mln, flat on year

Russian regional mobile operator SMARTS sees investments at around U.S. $100 million in 2006, unchanged on the year, the company' press service said Monday, citing its Deputy General Director Andrei Girev who was speaking at a press conference in Sam...

Ukraine's Kyivstar brd OKs 2006 budget despite holder's suits

The board of directors of Ukraine's mobile operator Kyivstar has managed to approve the company's budget for 2006 despite lawsuits filed by one of its major shareholders, the Storm company, seeking to suspend the powers of the board of directors, a...

Ukraine's Golden Telecom mobile revenue down 9.7% in Jan-Nov

The revenue from mobile services of Ukraine's Golden Telecom decreased

9.7% on the year to 75.1 million hryvnas in January-November, Ukraine's Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Tuesday. ...

Malaysia's Maxis, India's Apollo Founder To Buy Aircel

Maxis Communications and founders of an Indian hospital company have agreed to buy Indian mobile-phone operator Aircel Ltd. for US$1.08 billion, the companies said Friday. ...

Endesa Sells Remaining 5% Amena Stake To Deutsche Bank

Spanish electricity company Endesa SA Friday said it has sold its remaining 5% stake in the country's third-largest mobile operator, Amena, to Deutsche Bank for EUR377.9 million. ...

VimpelCom acquires 60% in Tajikistan's Tacom

Russia's second-largest mobile operator VimpelCom has acquired a 60% stake in Tajik mobile operator Tacom for U.S. $12 million, VimpelCom said late Thursday. ...

Russia's MTS ups stake in Rekom regional mobile operator to 100%

Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems, or MTS, has increased its stake in regional mobile operator Rekom to 100% by purchasing a 46.1% stake, MTS said in an official disclosure statement Friday. ...

Maldives Operator Secures Funding

Wataniya Telecom Maldives says that it has completed its long term financing, drawing down on a US$27 million facility, comprised of $20 million from the IFC (International Finance Corporation) and $7 million from the OPEC Fund. Wataniya Telecom Mald...

[[Handsets News]]

Wireless Companies Keen On Teens As Growth Driver

Wireless-phone companies are doing their best to make sure youth is served. Although most adults now own cell phones, perhaps only half of all young people aged 18 or under do. To tap into that burgeoning market, all the major carriers have touted "f...

Samsung Tops Handset Sales in Swedish Retailer

For the first time this year, a Samsung handset has become the best-selling mobile phone in Telia's retail stores in Sweden. The phone is last month's surprise, the Samsung SGH-X640, which stepped up from second to first place in December. In other r...

[[Legal News]]

Brazil Court Re-Allows Claro Cell Service In Minas State

A Brazilian court late Thursday granted wireless phone operator Claro, a Brazilian unit of Mexico's America Movil, to restart its operations in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, the company said late Thursday. ...

InterDigital Seeks Arbitration Award From Nokia

Interdigital Communications Corp. disclosed Tuesday it will utilize a dispute settlement process under agreements with cell phone manufacturer Nokia to recover an arbitration award and interest from Nokia. ...

PRESS: Rezervspetsmet initiates criminal case vs MTS in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz police have started an investigation into alleged asset stripping worth US$10 million at Kyrgyz mobile operator Bitel, in which Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) might be implicated, Russian business daily Vedomosti r...

Judge Confirms Award For Interdigital In Nokia Dispute

A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday confirmed an arbitration award of about $250 million for InterDigital Communications in a dispute with cellular phone maker Nokia over royalties. ...

Nokia To Evaluate Options In Interdigital Dispute

Nokia Corp. (NOK) will evaluate its legal options before it proceeds with talks over royalty payments with Interdigital Communications Corp. (IDCC) on some patents owned by Interdigital, a spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday. ...

[[Mobile Content News]]

Russian elect committee wants vote results for mobile users

Russia's Central Election Commission plans to develop a technology that allows mobile phone users to receive latest results of federal elections, the commission's Chairman Alexander Veshnyakov said at a news conference Monday. ...

Monstermob Group buys Russia's Mobicon for about $27 mln

The U.K.'s mobile content company Monstermob Group has acquired Mobicon, a leading Russian mobile content business, Monstermob Group said in a press release Wednesday. ...

[[Network Contracts News]]

Nortel to supply $5.7 mln EDGE equipment to Russia's Baikalvestcom

Canadian communications equipment producer Nortel will supply EDGE equipment worth U.S. $5.7 million to Russian mobile operator Baikalvestcom, Nortel said Thursday. ...

WiMax Network for 30 Russian Cities

GlobeTel Communications says that its GlobeTel Wireless subsidiary has entered into an agreement with the Moscow based, Internafta to install WiMax networks in 30 cities throughout the Russian Federation. GlobeTel Wireless will both manage the comple...

[[Network Operators News]]

Belarus' MDC launches EDGE technology in country

Belarus' Mobile Digital Communications operator, or MDC, has launched EDGE technology in Belarus, the company said in a press release Thursday. ...

[[Personnel News]]

Lucent CEO Russo Gets $3.55 Million '05 Bonus Vs $2.95 Million For '04

Lucent Technologies Chief Executive and Chairwoman Patricia F. Russo received a $3.55 million bonus for 2005, the company said Thursday in its annual proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ...

[[Regulatory News]]

Russian lower house OKs 2nd reading of caller-pays bill

Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, approved Friday the second reading of a bill seeking to introduce the Calling Party Pays (CPP) principle in the country. ...

Russian regulator to hear Vimpelcom frequency claim to late Jan

A commission of Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service has postponed until late January hearings of a claim filed by Russia's second-largest mobile operator VimpelCom against the State Radio Frequency Commission, Yuliya Ostroukhova, a spokeswoman fo...

Russian min sees mobile tariffs up with caller-pays law in place

Russian mobile operators may increase their tariffs after the introduction of the Calling Party Pays (CPP) principle in Russia, IT and Communications Minister Leonid Reiman told a news conference Wednesday. ...

Azerbaijan's ministry issues licenses to 2 mobile operators

Azerbaijan's IT and Communications Ministry has issued licenses to two mobile operators, Azerfon and Catel, the country's IT and Communications Minister Ali Abbasov told reporters Wednesday. ...

US Commerce Agency Releases Costs Of Opening Up Spectrum

The U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Wednesday released costs to move incumbent federal users out of the 1710-1755 MHz band, saying the costs are far less than previous wireless industry ...

Ukraine's ITC, CST-Invest get CDMA licenses for number of regions

Ukrainian CDMA operators International Telecommunication Company (ITC) and CST-Invest have obtained CDMA licenses for a number of Ukrainian regions from the country's National Commission for Telecommunications Regulation, the commission said Thursd...

Serbia Cancels GSM Operator License

The Serbian government has decided to revoke Mobtel's GSM licence. The government found out that Mobtel signed a contract with a Kosovo mobile operator Mobikos without the government's consent, which is necessary for the contract to be valid. Mobtel ...

[[Statistics News]]

Tesco Mobile Tops 1 Million Customers

Tesco Mobile said Wednesday that it now has one million customers. ...

Minister says Russia's mobile phone penetration rate at 84%

The penetration rate of mobile telecommunication services in Russia currently amounts to 84%, the country's IT and Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman told a news conference Wednesday. ...

Camera-equipped Cellular Phone Shipments to Surge

The cellular handset market is expected to be very exciting over the next few years. One part of the handset market that will be a driving force in the future will be the camera phone segment. Historically, Japanese cellular subscribers have been esp...

[[Technology News]]

INTERNET DAILY: Free Wi-Fi Will Be A Gift For Many In 2006

If your New Year's resolution is to not pay for wireless Internet access when you're out and about, you've got a good chance of keeping it. Kevin McKenzie, chief executive officer of JiWire.com, says '06 could turn out to be a year of real freedom. ...

CES Show Offers Glimpse Of Future Home Entertainment

The Consumer Electronics Show next week will provide a glimpse of the future in home entertainment, but the new offerings aren't likely to solve the industry's age-old problem: making them easy to set up and use. ...