|  | |
OXFORD, United Kingdom - Broadband Mobile, a third-generation (3G) joint venture between Finland's Sonera and Norway-based Enitel, has been closed down before it even started operations. The company, which paid more than US$22 million to the Norwegian government for its 3G license in October of last year, has now been declared bankruptcy.
The collapse of Broadband Mobile is said to have been due to Sonera's withdrawal from the joint venture after it had failed in its ambitions to acquire a 3G license in Sweden, making its planned pan-Scandinavian network impossible. Sonera confirmed that it would be returning its 3G cell phone license to the Norwegian government and planned to report a US$16 million write-off for the failed venture. Analysts said that Sonera's move was hastened by its wish to refocus on its core operations as it attempts to cut back on expensive projects and attract outside investors.
This came as the secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Yoshio Utsumi, said worldwide 3G services would now begin considerably later than the previously anticipated start period of 2001. He added that telecom operators in the United States and Europe had invested large and perhaps excessive amounts of capital in securing spectrum rights, and were now faced with uncertainty regarding the profitability of 3G services.
BEIJING - In July, China became the world's biggest mobile-phone market. The country's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) announced the country had 120.6 million mobile phone subscribers at the end of July, about half a million more than in the United States.
China added 3.8 million new mobile-phone subscribers in July, in addition to 2.4 million fixed-line subscribers, which totaled 166.8 million. At the current rate of increase, the number of mobile users will overtake the number of fixed-line subscribers in 2004.
The penetration rate of mobile phones in China is around 10 percent, still low compared with percentages of approximately 50 percent in Europe and 40 percent in the United States. Mobile-phone manufacturers still see China as a promising market.
Jan Malm, president of Ericsson (China) told the China Daily, "The Chinese market is a shining star in the cloud of global economic downturn."
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Motorola has signed a $145 million deal with Telekom Malaysia to expand its network.
"It gives us last-mile connectivity to suburban and rural areas where it is economically not viable because of cost and other technical issues," said Kir Abdul Rahman, Telecom's chief executive, of the three-year contract.
SAN DIEGO, California, United States - Qualcomm said it has successfully demonstrated a removable user identity module solution with SchlumbergerSema and Samsung Telecommunications America using its CDMA mobile station modem.
"The end-to-end system provides CDMA handset manufacturers a network with a comprehensive solution that allows a subscribers' identity to be stored in a single removable card," said Qualcomm in a statement.
PLANO, Texas, United States - L.M. Ericsson has appointed Angel Ruiz as the president of its North American operations, according to a press statement. He replaces Per-Arne Sandstrom, who becomes the company's chief operating officer. Ruiz, who has been executive vice president and general manager of Ericsson Inc., will be responsible for the Cingular, SBC and BellSouth global customer accounts.
The company also announced that beginning Oct. 1, its management structure will be organized from five market areas to three so as to emphasize its shift to mobile and broadband Internet.
"Our new organization will put even more emphasis on serving our customers, reduce complexity and more efficiently apply our resources," said Kurt Hellstrom.
|
| |
|
|
Audiovox
