Government Launches Sale Of Four 3G Mobile Licenses
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Romania launched the sale of four third-generation mobile telecommunications licenses, with bids due by Oct.
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Verizon Wireless announced yesterday that it plans to buy airwave licenses in 23 markets from NextWave Telecom Inc. for &#36;3 billion in cash, giving the cellular phone giant the ability to carry more calls in some of the nation's largest cities.
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(InfoWorld) - Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson believes companies will be able to make 3G (third generation) mobile phones for as little as $70 next year as component makers step up their efforts to simplify the handsets, an executive said. The low-cost 3G handset would likely allow users to browse the Internet, and use messaging and voice services, according to Sean Gowran, president of Ericsson Taiwan. Low-cost handsets have been aÂ buzzword in the industryÂ for the past few years as a way to tune more people into the existing global GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) wireless network. The GSM Association (GSMA) has evenÂ launched a contestÂ to inspire mobile phone makers to create a low-cost 3G handset, an idea similar to their contest a year ago aimed at producing a GSM handset for under $30.Â Motorola won that contest. Demand for the low cost GSM phonesÂ has been brisk in emerging markets such as China and India this year, where mobile phone use is growing at frantic pace. India recently announced its strongest month ever for wireless subscriber growth, at 6.71 million people in October. The figure brings its total to 136.22 million subscribers, up from 75.9 million at the end of last year, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. By 2010, there will be 405 million mobile phone subscribers in India, according to market researcher iSuppli, thanks to ultra-low-cost handsets. In China, theÂ number of wireless handset usersÂ climbed to 449.02 million at the end of October, up from 393 million at the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Information Industry, that country's telecom industry regulator. Ericsson believes that efforts to reduce costs have had a big impact on the mobile phone industry. Cheaper components, and fewer components will be vital to efforts to develop a $70 3G handset. "The number of components is dropping dramatically," said Gowran. Fewer components reduces manufacturing complexity and can allow handset makers to reduce materials costs. The difference between a low-cost 3G handset and a high-end one will be huge, he said. An advanced handset with all the latest features, smart phone computing capabilities, the latest digital camera functions, multimedia applications with plenty of memory and the ability to use push mail and mobile TV will still be more expensive at around $500. Gowran also clarified that the $70 target is not an end-user price, but a cost-to-make price, and that Ericsson would not be producing such phones since it does not build mobile handsets anymore. The Sony Ericsson Mobile CommunicationsÂ joint venture with Sony took over all Ericsson handset production, and Gowran said he could not speak on behalf of the company. The original talk regarding low-cost 3G handsets was given by Robert Puskaric, the head of the mobile platforms division at Ericsson, at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World 2006 conference in Hong Kong. The exhibition runs through Friday.
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Ofcom reveals plans to auction off parts of the radio spectrum for broadband and mobile services.
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Vodafone Wednesday formally rolled out its 3G mobile communication products and services in 12 European countries and Japan. The company expects 3G to begin gaining mass market acceptance next year, and forecasts
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Vodafone has ushered in a new era in mobile communications with the launch of 3G (third generation) services in 13 countries, including the UK.
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Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) will begin sales of third-generation mobile phones ahead of a commercial launch in the first quarter of 2005, the company said.
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Verizon Wireless on Thursday announced an agreement to acquire all the PCS spectrum licenses of NextWave Telecom Inc. in 23 markets for $3 billion.
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WiMax earned an important seal of approval on Thursday when the Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union certified it as a 3G (third-generation) mobile data technology.
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NEW YORK: Verizon Wireless said on Thursday it had signed an agreement with NextWave Telecom to purchase all of its airwave licences for $3bn.
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(InfoWorld) - Hewlett-Packard has won a license from the Chinese government to sell more smartphone models in the country, a company spokeswoman said Thursday. The Network Access License granted to the world's largest PC maker will allow it to expand smartphone sales in China to multiple models, but the company couldn't immediately confirm how many. Currently, HP is allowed to sell only one smartphone, the hp6515 iPaq. The original license to sell one mobile phone product was granted in 2005, but the new license is much more comprehensive, said Liana Teo, a spokeswoman for HP in Singapore. She declined to provide further details, and said HP would announce new models as it makes them ready for the China market. China hasÂ more mobile phone subscribersÂ than any other country: 508.6 million as of the end of July, according to the nation's Ministry of Information Industry (MII). That's more than double wireless trade group CTIA's estimate of 243.3 million for the U.S., or the 193 million subscribers in India reported by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Last week,Â HP announced five new iPaq modelsÂ in the U.S.; the iPaq 900 Series Business Messenger, a 3G (third-generation) phone; the iPAQ 600 Series Business Navigator, a 3G phone with built-in GPS (Global Positioning System); the iPaq 300 Series Travel Companion, a PDA with built-in GPS; the iPaq 200 Series Enterprise Handheld for business users; and the iPaq 100 Series Classic Handheld with Wi-Fi connectivity and easy synching with a PC. For now, those 3G models will offer little benefit in China, which has yet to issue network operators with licenses to build 3G networks. However, the government has said itÂ hopes to have 3G services runningÂ in time for the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August 2008. Â
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The UK could face a new 3G licence auction after Ofcom on Thursday announced plans to take some of the radio spectrum held by mobile phone operators Vodafone and  O2, and use it for higher speed services.
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Switzerland's leading telecommunications firm has officially launched its third-generation (3G) mobile phone services, which will include video and television.
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including BT, Maxis, NTT, T-Mobile, Telstra and StarHub -- announced this week a series of roaming agreements in which crossing
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LONDON/HONG KONG  - Vodafone Group Plc VOD.L   launched its first own-branded 3G handsets on Thursday, as the   mobile phone giant tries to expand in the market for   higher-paying third-generation services by luring more pre-pay   users.
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Control of the UK's radio spectrum is being handed to the business community to promote wireless services.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.K. is considering letting mobile phone operators run 3G (third-generation) services on frequencies reserved for 2G services, a change that could mean better 3G coverage and lower costs for the public, the government's telecommunications regulator said Thursday. The move by the Office of Communications (Ofcom) follows the expected relaxation of a longstanding European Union (E.U.) restriction on how certain frequencies could be used. A consultation period started on Thursday and runs through Nov. 29. Other European countries are undertaking similar moves to liberalize their 2G spectrums, according to a spokesman for the GSM Association (GSMA), a trade group for mobile phone operators. A 1987 E.U. directive restricted use of the 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrums second-generation services based on the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standard, which at the time was intended to foster growth of mobile communications across Europe by ensuring a large market for common hardware. The European Commission has proposed allowing 3G in those spectrum ranges: It says the original directive is now stalling growth of 3G services. The proposal should become policy by the end of the year once it is approved by the European Parliament and the E.U. Council of Ministers, according to the Commission. Operators across Europe have been running 3G services in the 2100MHz frequency band for several years. But opening up the 900MHz spectrum is key, as the lower frequencies allow better penetration of buildings, Ofcom said. The signals also carry further, so in rural areas fewer mobile phone masts are necessary: Ofcom estimates that high-quality mobile broadband Internet services could be provided with 10,000 fewer sites per operator. In turn, consumers should see lower costs for 3G services, the Commission has said. Finland and France are already trialing 3G services in the 900MHz band, the GSMA spokesman said. Market analyst Ovum estimates 300 million people will have 3G connections in Western Europe by 2012 if 3G is deployed at 900MHz and 2100MHz. That's compared to only 235 million connections if 3G is restricted to only 2100MHz. About 50 million have access to 3G today. Operators will likely want to continue using the 2100MHz band, as it has a higher traffic capacity than the 900MHz band, and so is better for urban areas where there are more users. In the U.K., Vodafone Group and O2 (UK)Â use the 900 MHz spectrum but only for 2G services. Ofcom is suggesting letting the other operators, Three, run by Hutchison 3G UK; T-Mobile International; and Orange, to have access to that band. The spectrum would be auctioned, with Ofcom awarding licenses as soon as 2009 and services starting by 2010, the regulator said. Ofcom is also looking at removing some technology-specific restrictions from the 1800MHz and 2100MHz bands, which could happen next year.