Cellular-Nws for Monday 20th March 2006

Cellular-News -

[[Financial News]]

UK PRESS: Vodafone Likely To Sell Japan Unit To Softbank

Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin is set to announce the sale of Vodafone Group's Japan unit to SoftBank Corp. after dismissing a joint approach from private U.S. equity firms Cerberus Partners LP and Providence Equity Partners Inc, the Daily Teleg...

Brazil's Telco Results Show Brighter Wireless Outlook

Fourth-quarter results reflected an improvement in the outlook for Brazil's wireless operators, while integrated operators showed solid but uninspiring results. ...

Vodafone Sells Japanese Operations For GBP8.9 Billion

Vodafone Group Friday said it has agreed to sell its 97.68% interest in Vodafone Japan to SoftBank for an enterprise value of about JPY1.8 trillion (GBP8.9bn) of which GBP6.8bn will be received in cash on closing. ...

NEWS SNAP: Vodafone To Return GBP6 Billion After Japan Sale

Vodafone Group, Friday said it will return GBP6 billion in cash to shareholders via a special dividend after agreeing to sell its Japanese unit to Softbank Corp., the Japanese Internet company. ...

Swiss Government To Propose Swisscom Stake Sale

The Swiss government Friday said it has "in principle" decided to make a full exit as a shareholder of telecommunications company Swisscom, and has decided against favoring Swiss retail investors in the planned privatization. ...

Verizon Stuck With Vodafone In Wireless Arm, For Now

It appears as if Verizon Communications hit a road block with Vodafone Group over joint venture Verizon Wireless. ...

Telefonica makes bid for outstanding TEM shares

Spanish telco Telefonica has made an offer to buy the shares it does not own in its wireless unit Telefonica Mviles for

3.46bn euros (US$4.2bn) to tap faster growth from mobile phone services, the company said in a statement. ...

Motorola Outlook Upgrades by Debt Agency

The debt ratings agency, Standard & Poor's has affirmed it's 'BBB+' corporate credit rating and other ratings on Motorola. The outlook is revised to positive, from stable reflecting generally improving profitability trends, benefiting from the compan...

SBA Buys Rival Tower Firm

The USA based tower management firm, SBA Communications has signed an agreement to buy AAT Communications for US$634 million in cash and the issuance of 17,059,336 shares of its common stock. The acquisition of AAT will substantially expand SBA's exi...

[[Handsets News]]

PRESS: Sistema's Sitronics to sell cell phones via Euroset

Russia's electronics producer Sitronics, a subsidiary of major Russian holding AFK Sistema, plans to sell its mobile handsets through the chain of Russia's largest mobile handset retailer Euroset starting Friday, Andrei Panagushin, Sitronics' telecom...

[[Legal News]]

Forgent's `Patent Trolling' Strategy Takes Litigious Path

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)--While most technology companies make money by developing software, building hardware or providing services, Forgent Networks Inc. has taken a different route: It produces threats and lawsuits that try to cash in on ideas. ...

BrT starts arbitration process against TIM merger agreements

Brazil's third largest fixed line operator Brasil Telecom (BrT) has started an arbitration process against Italian mobile group TIM regarding merger agreements signed last year, BrT said in a press release. ...

[[Network Operators News]]

Orbitel to launch WiMax 3-play in 1H06

Colombian long-distance operator Orbitel is preparing to launch WiMax-based triple-play service during the first half of 2006, Orbitel communications director Luz Ochoa told BNamericas. ...

Diplomats Get Improved Cellphone Service

The GSM network operator, Celtel in Sierra Leone has started operations of a new base station in the capital city, Freetown that is designed to improve services for diplomatic staff in the country. The Minister for Lands and Country Planning Dr Bobso...

Call Quality Problems Declined for a 2nd Consecutive Year

The overall rate of customers experiencing a wireless call quality problem has declined for a second consecutive year, with reported problems per 100 calls (PP100) reaching the lowest level since the inaugural study in 2003, according to a J.D. Power...

[[Personnel News]]

Sprint Nextel CEO 2005 Total Pay $5 Million Less Options, Shares

Sprint Nextel Corp. said Friday President and Chief Executive Gary D. Forsee received 2005 compensation of $5 million, compared with about $3.5 million for 2004. Both figures exclude stock options and restricted stock awards. ...

Verizon Wireless Ranks in Training Magazine's Top 10

Verizon Wireless says that it has been named to Training magazine's

2006 list of "Top 100 Training Organizations in America." This is the fifth consecutive year Verizon Wireless has been recognized for its training and development programs. The compa... [[Regulatory News]]

Nextel asks Cofetel to rescind operators' licenses on SMS spat

Mexican trunking operator Nextel has asked telecommunications regulator Cofetel to rescind the mobile concessions contracts of three mobile operators due to their failure to follow a Cofetel order to allow SMS interconnection, local daily Milenio rep...

[[Reports News]]

Corporate Phone Bills Now One Third Cellular - report

Spending by businesses on wireless telecommunications services accounted for nearly one-third the corporate bill for telecommunication services in 2005, says a new market research report from Insight Research. By the close of 2005, total US business ...

[[Statistics News]]

Ukraine's mobile services revenue up 46.3% on year in Jan-Feb

Ukranian mobile operators took in 2.564 billion hryvnas in revenues in January-February, or 46.3% up on the year, Ukraine?s State Statistics Committee said Friday. ...

Hong Kong China Unicom Adds 1.17 Million Subscribers In Feb

Mobile phone services operator China Unicom Ltd. said Sunday it added

1.17 million subscribers in February, bringing its total mobile customers to 130.27 million. ... [[Technology News]]

Cellphones Acting as a Mesh Network

An interesting patent has been filed by Agilent Technologies which would enable a cellphone to act in a manner not dissimilar to a wireless Mesh Network. The patent in essence allows a handset to communicate with a base station which is out of range,...

Boosting Coverage in Disaster Areas

CellAntenna has announced the release of a fully-portable version of the company's CAE700 dual-band repeater system, which allows government agencies and other users to immediately deploy a solution that boosts cellular signals in outdoor and indoor...