Cellular-News: Monday 22nd May 2006

Cellular-News -

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[[3G News]]

Xfera Preparing 3G Launch But No Deadline Fixed

The Xfera consortium, holder of Spain's fourth license for third-generation mobile telephony, is still preparing a launch, a top shareholder said Friday, without providing a fixed deadline. ...

3G Used for Medical Diagnosis Apoplectic strokes can be recognised via VideoTelephony with a mobile phone. These are the results of the apoplectic stroke study 'Fast UMTS' that the University of Twente has held together with Vodafone and a number of doctors and neurologists in th... [[Financial News]]

Iusacell extends US$350mn debt restructuring deadline

Mexican mobile operator Iusacell has extended until June 1 the deadline for holders of its 14.25% bonds due this year to accept an exchange offer for 10% notes due in December 2013, Iusacell said in a statement. ...

Belgacom Core Earns Down 5% As Competition Bites

Belgian telecommunications incumbent Belgacom, Friday posted a 5.2% fall in core earnings for the first quarter of 2006 as fixed-line revenues continue to fall and competition in the mobile sector intensifies. ...

Econet Buys Burundi GSM Network

The pan-African telecommunications group Econet Wireless says that it has acquired a controlling interest in ST Cellular, formerly Spacetel Burundi, one of the four licensed operators in Burundi and has embarked on a major program to expand the mobil...

[[Legal News]]

Former CEO: BrT contracted Kroll, but no illegal acts

The former management of Brazil's third largest telecoms operator Brasil Telecom has confirmed that it hired risk management and fraud prevention company Kroll, but denies illegal acts, local news agency Agencia Estado reported. ...

[[Network Contracts News]]

Nokia Expands Contract With Sichuan Unicom In China

Finland's Nokia, Friday said it has had a GSM contract extended with Sichuan Unicom, a unit of China Unicom. ...

China Selects GSM-R for Railway Communications

China's Ministry of Railways (MOR) and Nortel have signed a framework agreement for Nortel to provide GSM Railway (GSM-R) switching centers to enable digital mobile signaling and operational communications along passenger lines spanning 20 of China's...

[[Network Operators News]]

Armed Gunmen Attack Jawwal Headquarters in Gaza

A gang of 20 armed gunmen attacked the headquarters of the Palestinian GSM network operator, Jawwal last week. The gunmen terrorized Jawwal employees, expelled them by force and caused wide-spread property damage as they fired their weapons within th...

DoCoMo Mandating GSM in all Japanese Handsets

Japan's ...

[[Offbeat News]]

Mobile phone cos under pressure to block signals in prisons

Brazil's government plans to submit a bill for a law forcing mobile operators to install equipment that will block signals inside prisons, Brazilian newspapers quoted communications minister Holio Costa as saying. ...

[[Regulatory News]]

Committee postpones decision on Cofetel candidates

The permanent committee of Mexico's congress has postponed until Wednesday, May 24, its approval of the candidates nominated to form the new board of telecoms regulator Cofetel, local daily El Financiero reported. ...

No Worries from Base Station Radiation - report

Speculation regarding health issues and mobile telecommunications base stations is ignoring a huge body of local and international health research which has found no proven link between base stations and adverse health impacts, says the Australian Mo...

Largent Calls for National Wireless Regulatory Framework

The USA's Wireless Association President and CEO Steve Largent appeared before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee last week and urged its members to support language that would create a strong and consistent national regulatory...

[[Reports News]]

Fixed Mobile Convergence Could Increase Churn

A recent research study, conducted by ORC International in the UK, has revealed that consumers are willing to change mobile network provider and/or their Internet service provider (ISP) in order to move to a supplier offering a fixed-mobile convergen...

[[Statistics News]]

China Mobile Adds 4.33 Million Users in April Vs 4.30 Million in March

China Mobile (Hong Kong), the largest mobile carrier in China in terms of subscribers, said Friday it added 4.33 million customers in April, up from 4.30 million new subscribers in March. ...

Global Mobile Subscriptions to Exceed 2.6bn by Year End 2006

Pyramid Research estimates there will be 2.6 billion mobile subscribers worldwide by year-end 2006, up from 2.3 billion in

2005. Between 2006 and 2010, it expects total mobile subscribers to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7%, t... [[Technology News]]

Wind-Up Phone Charger Distribution Deal

Freeplay Energy has signed a five year agreement with WP Phones to sell at least one million of their wind-up chargers per year, primarily in Africa. WP Phones will have exclusive distribution rights in sub Saharan Africa over the period....

No More Shaky Camera Phone Photos

InvenSense says that it has developed a miniature image stabilization system, due out in the second half of this year, which can be used in mobile phones to stabilize shaky photo images. Consumers accustomed to digital still cameras (DSCs) are often ...

Iris Scanning in a Mobile Phone

The UK based, xVista says that it has developed a portable iris scanning and verification system which could be built into a mobile phone. Developed through a US$3.4 million, six year partnership with the University of Sussex, the xVista system is de...