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Reliance, an Indian bellwether, keeps thinking big
Saritha Rai NYT Friday, June 4, 2004
MUMBAI, India In the tumult of the past few weeks in India, as a new government was put in place, the stock of Reliance Industries was a good gauge of expectations about the prospects for continued economic liberalization.
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It registered each low and high point in the political process. It plunged at the incumbent prime minister's surprising loss and chugged upward as fears of a sharp leftward swing abated and a new prime minister, Manmohan Singh, an economist who began the liberalization of India's economy, was named.
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Reliance Industries, the country's largest private business enterprise, is just one - albeit the biggest - piece of India's largest conglomerate, the Reliance group of companies. The group, a behemoth with interests in many businesses like energy and telecommunications, is in many ways the face of India's industrial renaissance. Its sales equal 3.5 percent of gross domestic product, more than the combined global sales of all of India's outsourcing companies. Its $3.6 billion of exports make up 6.1 percent of India's total. Last year, foreign investors bought $900 million of Reliance Industries shares, an amount that constituted 13 percent of the total foreign inflows into Indian equity.
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"Reliance is a great indicator of India's corporate growth, the bullishness of its reforms and the robustness of its consumer market," said Rahul Singh, an analyst at the Mumbai-based equity research firm SSKI Securities.
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Reliance Industries, an integrated giant with numerous products, including oil and textiles, has big American customers. It sells ingredients to detergent makers like Unilever and the plastic resin for Coca-Cola and Pepsi bottles, for instance. Its business muscle is the envy of competitors as well as a magnet for complaints of abuse of power. It is 34 percent owned by the Ambani family, mainly by Anil and Mukesh Ambani, who have been running the show since the death of their father, the group's founder, two years ago.
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In an interview one recent morning in the corporate headquarters in Mumbai, Anil Ambani, the vice chairman of Reliance Industries, spoke proudly of his heritage. "We are rooted in India but have set our sights on becoming a world-beating company," he said. That is no mere pipe dream. The Reliance group - five listed companies and an undisclosed number of unlisted ones, with complex ownership structures and with interests that also include energy distribution, mobile and broadband services, insurance and financial services - reported net profit of $2.8 billion for the fiscal year that ended in March. Sales were $22.6 billion, more than Coca-Cola or Halliburton reported for 2003.
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Reliance is frequently compared to General Electric for its ambition and drive. And the Ambanis are likened to the Rockefellers for their political and financial clout. "If most Indian business houses have corporate lobbies, theirs is the strongest," Singh, the analyst, said. "If other Indian business groups fund political parties, Reliance holds the most powerful of strings."
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"Think big" is the group's unofficial motto, and expansions, these days largely by acquisitions, are often aimed at controlling all aspects of a business. Reliance Industries, which accounts for 30 percent of the total profits of India's private sector, runs the world's third-largest refinery, in Jamnagar, in the western state of Gujarat. The $6 billion refinery accounts for about 28 percent of India's refining capacity. Reliance Energy struck the world's largest gas find of 2002, in the Krishna-Godavari basin in eastern India. In January, it announced plans to build the world's biggest gas-fired power plant, in northern India, with a $2.2 billion investment.
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Like the country's other prominent business families, Dhirubhai Ambani, the group's founder, started with a textile business. In 1977, when he floated a public stock offering in what was then Reliance Textile Industries to finance his expansion plans, thousands of investors bought in, setting off an equity market boom among India's middle class. The Reliance group companies now have more than 3.5 million shareholders, and the Ambani brothers have a combined personal wealth estimated at $6 billion.
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The Ambani brothers seem to be good foils for each other. Anil, 44, Reliance Industries' vice chairman, is an outgoing man, a financial whiz married to a former Bollywood movie star. Mukesh, 47, the company's chairman, is a quiet man, an engineer who is a stickler for detail. Though both received master's degrees from American business schools - Anil from Wharton, Mukesh from Stanford - people at the company said their skills were honed in the "Dhirubhai Ambani School." They inherited their father's tenacity, his intuition in consolidating businesses, even his ability to work India's convoluted bureaucratic system to their advantage. With a $4 billion plan to make the mobile phone ubiquitous, even among the poor, in India, the world's second most populous country, Reliance Infocomm introduced a rock-bottom-priced wireless service in 2002, drawing on the cost advantages of Qualcomm's code division multiple access, or CDMA, technology. From a subscriber base of 500,000 in 2002, Reliance had 7.8 million mobile customers by the end of March , more than 20 percent of the total market, leapfrogging the previous leader, Bharti Tele-Ventures.
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In January, Reliance Infocomm acquired its first operation abroad, London-based FLAG Telecom, a bandwidth supplier with underseas cable linking Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States, in a $211 million deal.
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Reliance has come in for criticism for its back-door entry into the wireless market. While global system mobile communications companies, with international investors like AT&T and Singapore Telecommunications, bid for cellular licenses that have averaged hundreds of millions of dollars each, Reliance got limited-mobility rights along with fixed-line licenses sold by the government at a fraction of the cost.
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By interconnecting different circles of limited-mobility services, Reliance has assembled a nationwide network comparable to that of the GSM operators' system. Cellular operators accused Reliance of breaching regulations on limited-mobility phones. But Reliance turned the commercial dispute into a technological one, settled out of court and became the prime beneficiary of a changed regulatory regime. "Reliance managed a de facto national license for a bargain price," said Mahesh Uppal, director of Telecommunications and Computer Information Systems, a consultancy based in New Delhi. "It is a company of amazing dimensions; it works on all different planes."
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The New York Times
http://www.iht.com/articles/523364.html
Bailing from the WiMax hype train
Nokia managed to kick up some dust last month after news emerged that it had quit the WiMax Forum. Shock! Horror! Calamity! And so on.
That’s how it played in the business media, anyway. Amid all the shock, horror and calamity, someone forgot to mention that this was old news. Nokia actually withdrew from the forum sometime last year, and only made headlines last month because it didn’t bother to renew its membership card.
The other thing many missed in all the excitement is that Nokia hasn’t actually given up on WiMax – it’s just not giving it top priority right now. That’s Nokia’s story, anyway. The official word from the company is that the WiMax Forum is “primarily about promoting existing WiMax technologies and interoperability among existing products”, and since Nokia has no plans to launch any WiMax products based on existing WiMax technologies (i.e. 802.16a and 802.16d), “it does not make sense for Nokia to put too much effort in the WiMax Forum at the moment.”
To which the conspiracy theorists leer in hushed voices: “Ooooo, but they WOULD say that, wouldn’t they? What with 3G on the rocks and cellular infrastructure prices under pressure and the company trying to sell low-cost base stations to developing markets! WiMax is a threat to their very existence!”
Maybe. But then that doesn’t explain why Nokia hasn’t actually denounced WiMax and points out that in fact it is still working on standardizing it through its membership with the IEEE.
To which the conspiracy theorists reply sotto voce: “Ooooo, but they WOULD say that, wouldn’t they?” And so on.
In a way, the fuss is understandable. After all, Nokia IS a co-founder of the WiMax Forum. But Nokia’s decision – whatever its “true” motive might be – is equally understandable. Seppo Aaltonen, Nokia’s wireless technology marketing director, tells me that WiMax is destined for greatness in the future but for the moment is “overhyped”.
And he’s right.
Broadband utopia
WiMax has built up an incredible momentum in the past 18 months – so much so that it’s swiftly vacuuming up headlines and support for rival IEEE technology 802.20. To hear some tell it, WiMax is not only the missing link between hotspots and true mobile broadband connectivity, it has the potential to smash up everything from 3G to fixed-line broadband.
Ironically, both 3G and fixed-line broadband are also going through something of a hype Renaissance at the moment. For many at the GSM Association, this is THE year that W-CDMA and EDGE will prove that they are Serious and Viable Technologies, and that 3G is not just a big money pit. For the CDMA Development Group, the discussion is already over – 1x has already proven the 3G business case, and 1x EV-DO will not only blow so-called W-CDMA off the map, it will also whack the hell out of Wi-Fi, WiMax, 802.20 and anything else you can throw at it. And where it can’t beat Wi-Fi, it’ll provide the backhaul.
Meanwhile, last month’s Broadband World Forum hosted by the IEC in Seoul was gleaming with optimism over the establishment of Planet Broadband. In the not so distant future, we will all have instant broadband access to voice, data and video wherever we happen to be (living room, kitchen, office, car, bus, city park, etc) via whatever interface device makes the most sense to use (PC, TV, PDA, mobile phone, car dashboard, refrigerator, Bluetooth headset, etc). And everyone will have more than enough money to pay for this – or at least everyone worth speaking of.
Hype? In this industry? Not a chance, Seppo.
WiMax can wait
Not that hype is in itself a bad thing. I dig visionary high-tech utopias as much as the next person, and let’s admit it – the telecoms sector wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without them.
Even so, a healthy dose of skepticism doesn’t hurt – especially after something like the dot-com bubble bust, which demonstrated, along with the buildout frenzies and 3G frequency auctions, just how carried away things can get in Hypeville.
WiMax may deliver everything it promises to bring, and it may even deliver them in the current time frame promised. As a potential end-user, I hope it does. The thing is, we’ve heard it before. 3G, LMDS, MMDS, even Wi-Fi – all technologies that were once “on the verge”, and all of which failed to deliver on time. Except Wi-Fi, which is a great technology that, for the time being, has the unfortunate characteristic of being unable to generate revenue proportionate to the hype for anyone but the equipment vendors.
None of this is any reason to write off WiMax before it has a chance to prove itself. But there’s a good chance that by the end of next year, at least some in the industry will look back on Nokia’s decision to wait on WiMax and say quietly to themselves, “Good call.”
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=97645
In search of (network) excellence
A 12-country survey finds Asian cellular users are more demanding than ever of their mobile operator, with more than 25% thinking about changing networks for more competitive prices and better coverage
Mobile users in Asia are less satisfied with their network operators than a year ago, with 33% more people indicating they’re likely to change networks within the next six months. Highlighting the level of uncertainly, three times as many users said they’re not sure if they’ll make a network switch than in 2003, according to the TNS 2004 Asia Telecoms Index, a survey of more than 6,700 mobile users in 12 Asia-Pacific markets.
The annual survey, which covers everything from application usage to user satisfaction, was conducted in April. It was expanded this year to include Australia and New Zealand. The results showed no major shift in application usage patterns, but there were significant increases in usage of many data applications across all markets (although from a small base). The largest change was seen in downloading/listening to music, which increased fourfold from last year. Downloading of games rose slightly while 3% of users said they played multi-player games online.
Across Asia Pacific, 73% of all respondents said that they are not likely to change their network provider in the next six months, down from 85% in the 2003 survey. More than a quarter of those contacted in China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam indicated they were either very or quite likely to switch.
“Asians are becoming more sophisticated and demanding from their mobile network providers,” said Chi Wing Chan, regional director of telecoms & technology at TNS, a global market research company. “With the continuous deregulations and introduction of new networks in Asia such as 3G in Hong Kong and CDMA 1x in China, Asia consumers are having more bargaining power over the operators.”
Users in Japan and Korea appear most satisfied with their service as just 7-8% of those contacted said they were likely to make a change – half the average. The Korean network providers have the least to worry about with 87% of respondents saying they are not likely to change.
In Hong Kong, a market where it seems consumers switch service providers almost as often as they switch phones, 9% of those surveyed said they were very likely to change networks – three times higher than the average across all 12 regions. Hong Kong is also a market in which consumers apparently know what they want – just 1% said they weren’t sure or didn’t know if they would change networks. This compares to 24% in Japan who said they weren’t sure – more than double the average of 11%. In last year’s 11-country survey just 3% said they weren’t sure. This more than threefold increase indicates that many are keeping their eye out for a better deal as operators race to rolling out new promotions and services.
While the likelihood of switching networks sometimes differs sharply by region, there were no significant differences by age group, sex or employment level. As one might expect, there was a slight upward trend toward not making a change with the older groups – moving gradually from 71% for the 20-29 age group up to 78% for those 60-69.
Pre-paid users were twice as likely to want to change than post-paid owners. Some 22% of pre-paid customers said they were very or quite likely to switch networks in the next six months. Post-paid users, however, were two times as likely to be unsure of whether would change than their pre-paid counterparts – 14% vs 7%.
Churn factors
The top three reasons for wanting to switch were uncompetitive pricing (22%) poor coverage (17%) and bad reception (14%), although there were huge differences between markets. The results, which included only those saying they are likely to change networks, are almost identical to last year, except users seem to be experiencing more reception problems – just 9% in 2003. Surprisingly, poor coverage was cited by 33% of users in Korea as a reason to change networks. Other countries where respondents said coverage was the main reason for changing were Malaysia (37%), India (31%) and Thailand (30%).
In Singapore pricing was by far the most important factor, with 48% indicating price and just 6% citing poor coverage as key drivers for wanting to switch. Uncompetitive pricing was also a key reason in Korea (35%), Thailand (31%) and Australia (31%). Malaysia, Vietnam and India were markets where price wasn’t an important factor, with just 11-14% of respondents listing pricing as a reason for switching.
Hanis Harun, TNS regional director of telecoms Asia Pacific and coordinator of the survey, says: “Similar to our study last year, we find that in the more developed telecoms markets, like Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, churn drivers tend to relate to pricing. While in the less developed telecoms markets like Malaysia, Vietnam and China, the basics of reception and coverage are still the primary reasons for churning.”
Interestingly, twice as many pre-paid users (6%) cited problems with billing as a factor for change than post-paid respondents. Considering pre-paid is suppose to be hassle free, this is perhaps an area for operators to explore.
Although bad customer service was cited as a reason for wanting to change networks by just 6% of those surveyed, the figure was more than double that in India (17%), Japan (14%) and Korea (13%). Just 2% of those interviewed in China, Singapore and Thailand said bad service was a factor. An interesting finding is that men were twice as likely as women to list bad service as a reason to change networks.
Only 5% of respondents listed billing problems as a reason to change. India was the only market with a double-digit figure – 12% compared to just 1% in Korea.
Among all respondents surveyed the key criteria for selecting a network in the future are superior reception (18%), more competitive charges (15%) and superior coverage (10%). These results are consistent with last year. However, mobile users appear to be more satisfied with their coverage, with the number of respondents citing superior coverage as a key factor cut in half from 2003.
Japanese were the most satisfied with their network quality, with just 3% indicating superior coverage and 5% listing superior reception as factors to selecting a new network. At the opposite end of the spectrum were Thailand, Vietnam and India, where more than 50% of those polled listed coverage and reception as key selection criteria.
Just 1% listed high-speed data/next-generation network as a reason for selecting a network. The low rate was consistent across all 12 markets. Chan noted, “this is evidence that Asia consumers do not buy for technology but the actual benefits such as lower price and the mobility in everywhere.”
While there were no differences between men and women or age groups, pre-paid users were more than twice as likely to list superior coverage than post-paid users – 14% vs 6% – which is consistent with the 17% who cited poor coverage as a reason for changing networks. The results also showed post-paid mobile owners are interesting in finding a better deal, with 63% indicating more competitive charges as a key selection criteria compared to just 36% for pre-paid.
More dowloads
Among the specific applications used by mobile phone owners, SMS still rules with 78% of those polled using the service. SMS usage was consistently high in most markets, except in Hong Kong where it was almost half the average. China and Thailand both were well below the average at 55% and 52% respectively. At the top, not surprising, were the Philippines (99%), Singapore (92%) and Japan (92%).
Ringtone downloads were a far second with 50% of respondents using them. Usage of these downloads ranged between 62% and 34% in all markets, with the exception of Australia (26%) and New Zealand (27%).
Across almost all 20 application categories there was a slight increase in usage of 1 to 2 percentage points compared to last year. The one area to experience a major shift was downloading/listening to music, with usage jumping to 12% from 3% in 2003. Other significant gains were in online banking/stock trading (7% from 4%), sending emails with attachments (8% from 3%) and sending music and video clips (5% from 1%). The only application to experience a decline was downloading logos/characters, which dropped to 29% from 35% last year.
Consistent gains were seen in usage of many advanced applications, such as MMS (photos, audio and video) and location-based services, across most countries, not just Japan and Korea.
With more multimedia-enabled handsets penetrating the Asian market, the popularity of MMS and MP3 music for mobile phones is finally showing some signs of life. However, Chan points out, “there is still a lack of the next killer apps after SMS.”
As expected, the usage patterns varied greatly by market, age as well as payment method. One of the most striking findings was that post-paid respondents used many valued-added applications more than twice as much as pre-paid users (see table above).
While SMS and downloads of ringtones and games were similar among the two groups, post-paid mobile owners were more than two times as likely to send/receive emails with attachments, subscribe to a news service or shop online. The biggest gap between the two groups was with Internet usage – 26% of post-paid users said they browsed while just 8% of pre-paid customers did. The only application used more by the pre-paid respondents was instant text messaging or chat mail (10% vs 5%).
A closer look
The survey supported the predictable patterns of usage by age group. SMS usage across all age groups was fairly consistent (70-88%) as was subscribing to news services (14-17%) and online shopping (4-5%), with the young group edging out the other groups in all categories. But those were the few areas of similarity. Twice as many users under 25 years old downloaded ringtones and music, sent photos and browsed the Internet as those 40 and over. Just 8% of the 40+ group downloaded games compared to 33% of those under 25.
The one area where both the 25-39 and 40+ age groups topped the under 25-year-olds was in online banking/stock trading, but by just one percentage point. There was little difference in the applications used by men and women, with the reported use of downloads of ringtones, games and music virtually identical.
Some of the aggregate figures across all 12 markets need to be taken with a grain of salt since there were huge disparities between certain countries, particularly in the value-added and Internet applications. Usage of Internet services in Japan was off the chart in a number of categories in Japan, thus raising the overall average and skewing the results. Most notable was Japanese users’ 43% use of Internet browsing – more than double the next closest (Korea with 16%) and four times all the rest.
The situation was the reverse with 44% of Koreans surveyed searching online yellow pages and directories – twice the number in Japan and four times the other 12 markets. Other applications that Japanese respondents used more than two times the average were sending/receiving emails with attachments (16%), online banking (16%) and Internet shopping (10%). The only area where Japan and Korea trailed the pack was instant text messaging – 1% and 3% respectively, compared to the 7% average.
“Our findings indicate that mobile data applications are gradually becoming more significant for Asian mobile users,” Chan said. “The 2.5G, 2.75G and 3G networks and multimedia enabled-mobile handsets are the key drivers for this. To realize the opportunities, it is crucial for operators to market the benefits instead of the technology to the mobile users.”
Based on consumer interest, the mobile applications with the potential to grow the fastest are location-based services, video calling, directory services, MMS (photos, audio, video), downloading music and watching real-time TV. Harun notes that, “These are the applications that mobile consumers aspire to use, and it is up to mobile networks to harness this interest with suitable products and pricing.”
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=97641
Huawei Wins CDMA450 Project
06.04.04
SHENZHEN, China -- In May 17~21 2004, Huawei successfully participated in the Telecommunication Congress which was held by MTC (Ministry of Transport and Communication) in Peru. Huawei’s CDMA450 system performed a live demonstration for universal service, including high quality voice, G3 Fax and 153.6Kbps wireless high speed data service (e.g. internet surfing). In the exhibition, Vice Minister of MTC, Mr. Pacheco tested a call himself on Huawei CDMA450 system. Huawei’s CDMA450 system was the highlight in the exhibition. It is also the first time that CDMA450 was used in Andes region Latin America.
This live demonstration was encouraged by the government of Peru, MTC, and Qualcomm for universal service. With the 450Mhz frequency permission from MTC, TDP(Telefonica del Peru), the biggest operator in Peru, and Huawei cooperated together, built the demonstration platform of CDMA450 WLL system to provide services of voice, Fax and high speed packet data. Huawei CDMA450 WLL system was connected with TDP switch via V5.2 interface.
Not only in Peru, but also in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, Huawei CDMA450 system will be installed. With the permission of Brazil Government, ANATEL (National Agency of Telecommunication), Huawei CDMA450 system is working in Uberlandia, Brazil.
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=53893
Jim, Thanks for the informative response. it is very reassuring to hear from you.
New wireless systems put 3G on the defensive
Thursday, June 3, 2004 Posted: 1:25 PM EDT (1725 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/biztech/06/03/wireless.technology.reut/
Chipmakers sample EV-DV product in Nokia collaboration
by Sam Omatseye
June 03, 2004 1:29 PM EST
Two marquee chipmakers Texas Instruments and STMicroelectronics said they are sampling what they describe as the first standard CDMA2000 1x EV-DV solution.
The chips will be embedded in cell phones, personal digital assistants and other mobile devices.
EV-DV technology is the next migration step from EV-DO technology, and offers both high-speed voice and data. Sprint PCS skipped EV-DO, which provides high-speed data without voice, and vows to roll out DV.
TI and ST said they are collaborating with Nokia Corp. for interoperability with the systems and devices of carrier LG Telecom, which plans to deploy EV-DV services in South Korea.
“This commercial solution demonstrates the maturity level of 1x EV-DV, providing operators with a natural evolution path for their CDMA2000 networks,” said Adam Gould, vice president of technology management and strategy for Nokia’s CDMA business.
http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18348
Verizon Wireless Scoops Up Some Spectrum
By Susan Rush
June 3, 2004
news@2 direct
Verizon Wireless has forked over nearly $8 million to acquire some additional spectrum licenses in the state of Arkansas. The deal covers about 1.1 million people, the carrier says.
American Wireless License Group sold 10 MHz PCS radio spectrum to Verizon Wireless for $7.75 million. The radio spectrum covers the areas of Little Rock and Pine Bluff, which will enable the carrier to begin offering services to these residents next year. Coverage is currently provided in these areas through Verizon Wireless' roaming agreements.
According to a new study released by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Verizon Wireless tops the list among U.S. wireless carriers in terms of customer satisfaction.
Separately, Verizon Wireless said it has chosen technology from Spirent Communications to test the reliability of downloadable software applications and for 3G handsets. Verizon is using the APEX C2K Applications Performance Test Platform designed by Spirent. The carrier says the platform has beefed up its testing while decreasing the time it takes to evaluate applications by automating analysis.
From Spirent's point of view, its work with Verizon Wireless has enabled it to design a platform that automates the testing of advanced wireless applications. The company is targeting the platform mainly at the CDMA industry.
http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=document&doc_id=133704&verticalID=34&vertic...
richbloem, Thanks for the response. Do you think for FY 04 and 05 will QCOM's Revenue be materially effected by this TI Chips?
D.R., Jim, Eric or anyone could you comment on the following article? will they be successfull in taking 3G market share from Qualcomm? Any response will be greatly appreciated.
TI and STMicroelectronics sampling industry's first standard 3G EV-DV solution
June 3, 2004
Accelerating the deployment of high-speed Internet and robust multimedia services to 3G mobile devices, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) announced they are sampling the industry's first standard cdma2000 1xEV-DV solution. Considered a superior technology migration path for cdma2000 operators, the 1xEV-DV standard provides users with broadband capabilities via their cell phones, PDAs, and other mobile devices, enabling extremely high-speed Internet connectivity at ten times the speeds provided by current cdma2000 1X and GPRS solutions, while simultaneously supporting the voice capability of cdma2000 1X.
To ensure availability of devices and equipment ready for commercial deployment of 1xEV-DV technology, TI and ST are collaborating with Nokia for interoperability testing with South Korea-based LGE's infrastructure unit. This testing is in support of wireless operator LG Telecom's (LGT) planned commercial deployment of EV-DV services in South Korea. "
LGT believes 1xEV-DV is the right direction for cdma2000 advancement and is committed to the deployment and evolution of the standard. This solution from TI and ST is a key enabler for the deployment of advanced multimedia applications on LGT's 1xEV-DV network," said Dr. Youn-Kwan Kim, LGT vice president, Network Technology Standards.
Benefits of 1xEV-DV for 3G Mobile Devices
The 1xEV-DV standard provides very efficient, high-speed packet data capabilities with typical sector throughput ranging from 420 kilobits-per- second to 1.7 megabits-per-second (Mbps) and peak data rates up to 3.1 Mbps. By providing increased data throughput and network managed quality of service, 1xEV-DV will support traditional remote Internet access and allow manufacturers to provide highly advanced multimedia services, including streaming video, video conferencing and interactive online games. This solution, the first in a planned portfolio of 1xEV-DV products from TI and ST, will support the 1xEV-DV Release C standard to meet immediate market requirements. Release C is the first stage of the 1xEV-DV standard to be commercialized and provides communication enhancements from the base station to the handset.
"Nokia is enthusiastic about the commercial deployment of 1xEV-DV technology and services. This commercial solution demonstrates the maturity level of 1xEV-DV, providing operators with a natural evolution path for their cdma2000 network," said Adam Gould, vice president of technology management and strategy for Nokia's CDMA business.
For wireless operators, 1xEV-DV provides the flexibility to dynamically manage voice and data traffic for the most efficient use of their wireless spectrum, enabling new multimedia services that will create additional revenue-generating opportunities.
"The flexibility and the efficiency of the 1xEV-DV system were pivotal elements for LGE's decision to develop the first 1xEV-DV system for the market for commercial deployment. Initial interoperability tests indicate success in demonstrating simultaneous voice and high speed packet data in a very efficient manner," said B.K. Yi, LGE senior executive vice president, standards, 4th generation research and development.
Complete 1xEV-DV Solution Speeds Time-to-Market
This complete system solution includes the digital baseband and radio frequency (RF) receiver and transmitter ICs supplied by TI and the integrated analog baseband and power management device supplied by ST. It also includes TI's protocol stack, comprehensive set of embedded wireless services, tools and technical support.
This solution interfaces with ST's Nomadik or TI's OMAP application processors to support high-performance multimedia applications and advanced mobile operating systems such as Symbian OS, Microsoft's Windows Mobile, and Linux. In addition, modular technologies available from TI and ST -- including wireless LAN, Bluetooth, camera modules and Flash memories -- will all enhance the ability of manufacturers to easily differentiate their products.
At the core of the system are the solution's digital and analog baseband ICs. TI's dual-processor TBB5160 digital baseband communications engine provides high-speed packet data service (up to 3.1 Mbps), quality-of-service functions to support real-time services and simultaneous voice-and-data services. In addition, 1xEV-DV is backward compatible with the IS-2000 1X and IS-95 standards, therefore the TBB5160 processor implements all the functions, such as voice encoding and decoding, system control and high-performance digital signal processing, for compliance with both standards.
The STw4200 analog baseband and power management device from ST integrates all functions required for power management, battery and charger control and monitoring, as well as the voice and radio sigma delta A/D and D/A converters. It also integrates the voice analog front end and all required housekeeping functions such as real time clock, auxiliary converters and all user interfaces and drivers.
The TRF4320 transmitter and TRF5320 receiver from TI perform dual-band RF modulation/demodulation using direct conversion between the baseband and radio antenna. Direct conversion eliminates intermediate frequency stages, reducing power consumption and component count, and provides the most cost-effective RF implementation available.
Support for the cdma2000 1xEV-DV system solution includes an enhanced CDMA protocol stack along with development and testing tools, and a broad set of data and messaging services supported via TI's integrated TCS Application Suite.
Availability and Packaging
Samples of the 1xEV-DV solution are available now, supporting the 1xEV-DV Release C standard to meet immediate market requirements.
The TBB5160 is packaged in a 289-pin PBGA, the STw4200 in a 244-pin TFBGA, the TRF4320 in a 40-pin VQFN, and the TRF5320 in an 84-pin TFBGA.
http://www.3gnewsroom.com/3g_news/jun_04/news_4561.shtml
Siemens gains 30th 3G/UMTS contract with Wind
June 3, 2004
Italian telecom operator Wind has named the mobile communication group at Siemens AG (Siemens mobile for short) as one of the suppliers for its 3G/UMTS network. Under the terms of the agreement, Siemens mobile will supply and install 3G/UMTS network infrastructure and radio base stations. In addition, Siemens will also optimize Wind's existing mobile network and replace some of its present equipment. The first phase of the agreement will run for three years and involve a total business volume of more than 300 million Euros. Siemens is now supplying three of Italy's four mobile operators with 3G/UMTS network technology.
This is the third 3G/UMTS contract for Siemens in Italy and the 30th for Siemens mobile worldwide, confirming the company's leading position in next generation mobile network infrastructure. With a world market share of 23 percent, Siemens numbers among the leading equipment suppliers for 3G/UMTS. In Western Europe, Siemens has received more 3G/UMTS contracts than any other supplier. Furthermore, Siemens is the number one worldwide in terms of network launches. Of the 22 3G/UMTS networks already in operation, 12 were built by Siemens and its partner NEC.
"This latest agreement reinforces our strong number two position in Italy with a 30-percent market share of the mobile network market," said Lothar Pauly, a member of the Siemens mobile Group Board. "In deploying its 3G/UMTS network, Wind can count on the know-how of a partner with a strong Italian presence and leading expertise in 3G/UMTS worldwide."
http://www.3gnewsroom.com/3g_news/jun_04/news_4563.shtml
S&P Top 10 Portfolio
Company Price (6/2/04 close) 12-Month Target Investment Rationale
Anheuser-Busch (BUD ) 53.81 63 Strong growth profile, market dominance
Caremark Rx (CMX ) 32.75 42 Proposed acquisition of AdvancePCS
FMC Corp. (FMC ) 41.65 54 Improving profit outlook
Flextronics (FLEX ) 17.23 27 Firming business, low valuation
Guitar Centers of America (GTRC ) 42.92 55 Attractive valuation
Hologic (HOLX ) 21.15 25 Cost controls and product focus; valuation
Landstar System (LSTR ) 49.39 56 High returns on assets and equity
Qualcomm (QCOM ) 67.98 80 Improving outlook for chipset demand
SCP Pool (POOL ) 41.45 50 Selling below intrinsic value
Zimmer Holdings (ZMH ) 81.97 107 Improving fundamentals, valuation
For more information about the Top 10 portfolio, please visit http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jun2002/pi20020617_8998.htm
Move To Wireless High-Speed Nets Drives Base-Station Chips
June 2, 2004 (3:23 p.m. EST)
TechWeb News
Following several years of sluggish growth, the base-station semiconductor market is expected to post healthy growth through 2008, as wireless firms build out high-speed networks to deliver cellular-phone services, a market researcher said Wednesday.
Revenues are expected to reach $1.9 billion this year, growing to $2.4 billion by 2008, International Data Corp. said. In addition, the base-station chip market is expected to see more standardization and more migration to off-the-shelf chips from customized semiconductors.
Spending in base-station gear is expected to be fueled by continued adoption of 2.5G and 3G high-speed data services, coupled with demands for basic voice services in some parts of the world, IDC said. The 3G segment, in particular--which includes WCDMA, CDMA2000, and the upcoming TD-SCDMA air-interface standards--is expected to become the major driver behind chip sales, as it posts a compound annual growth rate of 28 percent by 2008.
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040602S0006
China faces video calling issues at 3G trials
June 2, 2004
The trial of 3G technologies in China ran into interoperability problems according to a senior official at the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). Director-general at MII Wen Ku admitted poor terminals could hamper the growth of 3G telecommunication in the country.
"The network is far ahead of the terminals and applicable terminals are not many," Wen said at a telecoms conference in Beijing.
Picture and voice were transmitted out of sequence during video calls. Some conversations only transmitted voice but not the picture while some others was the opposite, picture but no sound.
"With two phones, after you insert a SIM card and make a video call, they don't work."
The trials will continue until the end of September. China has not set a timetable for the awarding of 3G mobile phone licenses or specified the number of licenses to be awarded.
Lou Qinjian, vice-minister at MII, reiterated that market conditions would determine the awarding of licenses and China would not be making the same mistakes as some European and Asian countries.
"We are to learn from the experiences in European and Asian countries while releasing licences," he said.
Lou added that operators will be allowed to choose 3G standards in line with their development strategies.
http://www.3gnewsroom.com/3g_news/jun_04/news_4558.shtml
Qualcomm set on promoting 3G
Chen Zhiming
2004-06-03 06:31
Qualcomm Inc reiterated yesterday it will spare no effort in working with its partners to become a powerful force behind China's third generation (3G)wireless telecommunications industry.
"We will help the Chinese telecom operators to further upgrade their networks and provide differentiated services to operators," said Paul Jacobs, executive vice-president of Qualcomm Inc, in an interview with China Daily yesterday.
US-based Qualcomm was the major power in pushing forward the development of code division multiple access (CDMA) digital wireless technology.
"The whole vision of 3G launching including WCDMA (wideband CDMA) and CDMA2000 is becoming a reality now," Jacobs said.
He pointed out that there are many 3G-based services and applications including video phone, ring tone download and location based services.
As for 3G network deployment, "it takes time to optimize the network," he said.
Figures indicated that by May 4, there were 48 telecom operators running 3G networks in 40 countries and regions.
Among them 65 are running 3G-related services based on CDMA2000 and 17 on WCDMA.
The number of 3G subscribers has so far topped more than 100 million (including 4 million WCDMA users).
Jacobs said that CDMA2000 is already a mature system which can help drive the country's 3G technologies.
"It is very unlikely that China will skip the opportunity for 3G," he said.
Nevertheless, the Chinese Government send out a strong message on Tuesday that it is not in a hurry to roll out 3G licences, which should be based on the market as well as on the maturity of 3G technology.
He also stressed that the Chinese market is "very important" to the company, given the size and potential of the market.
As far as value-added service is concerned, Jacobs expected its BREW (binary runtime environment for wireless) platform will continue to achieve explosive development this year in China.
The BREW platform is part of a complete, end-to-end solution for wireless applications development, device configuration, application distribution, and billing and payment. BREW-based services will enable consumers to customize their handsets by downloading applications.
"Different applications will be the major force that help drive up brew technology," he said.
Launched in July last year by China Unicom, there are more than 400 BREW applications offered by 200 developers in China.
He also expected that there will be more and more Chinese handset makers to produce CDMA phones adopting BREW technology.
In an effort to build up an entire CDMA mobile value chain, Qualcomm announced in April its participation in a US$14 million round of venture capital financing in Techfaith Wireless Communication Technology Ltd, an independent handset design house and China's leading mobile terminal design group.
Techfaith Wireless will design handsets based on CDMA2000 technology, initially targeting the Chinese domestic market.
(China Daily 06/03/2004 page10)
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-06/03/content_335999.htm
DoCoMo unveils advanced FOMA 900i handsets
June 1, 2004
NTT DoCoMo and its eight regional subsidiaries today unveiled three highly advanced handsets that will bring unprecedented functionality to the 3G FOMA 900i series. The release date for each model will be announced soon.
The companies also announced that the number of FOMA service subscribers surpassed the four million mark yesterday, just two months after reaching three million. The coming release of three highly advanced 900i handsets is also expected to stimulate continued rapid growth of the FOMA subscriber base.
F900iT
The F900iT boasts a wireless Bluetooth headset for convenient, hands-free conversations. When folded with the camera lens and TFT main screen rotated to face outward, the phone can be used as a compact digital camera and Web viewer. Pictures drawn with a stylus on the touch-type main screen can also be e-mailed as attachments.
P900iV
N900iS
The N900iS comes equipped with 20 "deco-mail" templates for decorative e-mails. On-screen dictionaries (Japanese, English-Japanese and Japanese-English) can be easily accessed with the Multi-Task button while surfing the internet or writing e-mail. The phone has a pre-recorded voice to read out e-mails.
P900iV
The P900iV folds for use like a video camera, with the lower half serving as a handy grip and the main screen rotating up or down for convenient viewfinding. The model also features effective 2-mega pixel resolution. Videos and still images stored in the phone can be viewed on a TV screen using an optional cable, and movie resolution has been boosted to 320 dots by 240 dots--more than three times the figure of previous handsets (176 by 144).
The basic features of the 900i series include:
-- Java-based i-appli applications with a 400K scratch pad and up to 100K for content/archiving, compared with 200K and 30K (respectively) in existing models
-- Deco-mail: HTML e-mail that can be decorated with artistic backgrounds, fonts and letter colors, as well as photos and animation that may be downloaded from i-mode menu sites
-- Chara-den: Videophone with animated cartoon characters to express the sender's feelings, emotions, etc., and ability to initiate real-time changes in the expressions of "avatar" characters
-- Chaku-motion: Ability to combine video and high-fidelity music (AAC format) clips to signal incoming calls
http://www.3gnewsroom.com/3g_news/jun_04/news_4550.shtml
FOMA Subs Hit 4M
06.01.04
TOKYO -- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional subsidiaries today unveiled three highly advanced handsets that will bring unprecedented functionality to the 3G FOMA® 900i series. The release date for each model will be announced soon.
The companies also announced that the number of FOMA service subscribers surpassed the four million mark yesterday, just two months after reaching three million. The coming release of three highly advanced 900i handsets is also expected to stimulate continued rapid growth of the FOMA subscriber base.
F900iT
The F900iT boasts a wireless Bluetooth® headset for convenient, hands-free conversations. When folded with the camera lens and TFT main screen rotated to face outward, the phone can be used as a compact digital camera and Web viewer. Pictures drawn with a stylus on the touch-type main screen can also be e-mailed as attachments.
N900iS
The N900iS comes equipped with 20 "deco-mail" templates for decorative e-mails. On-screen dictionaries (Japanese, English-Japanese and Japanese-English) can be easily accessed with the Multi-Task® button while surfing the internet or writing e-mail. The phone has a pre-recorded voice to read out e-mails.
P900iV
The P900iV folds for use like a video camera, with the lower half serving as a handy grip and the main screen rotating up or down for convenient viewfinding. The model also features effective 2-mega pixel resolution. Videos and still images stored in the phone can be viewed on a TV screen using an optional cable, and movie resolution has been boosted to 320 dots by 240 dots--more than three times the figure of previous handsets (176 by 144).
The basic features of the 900i series include:
Java®-based i-appli™ applications with a 400K scratch pad and up to 100K for content/archiving, compared with 200K and 30K (respectively) in existing models
Deco-mail: HTML e-mail that can be decorated with artistic backgrounds, fonts and letter colors, as well as photos and animation that may be downloaded from i-mode menu sites
Chara-den: Videophone with animated cartoon characters to express the sender's feelings, emotions, etc., and ability to initiate real-time changes in the expressions of "avatar" characters
Chaku-motion: Ability to combine video and high-fidelity music (AAC format) clips to signal incoming calls
NTT DoCoMo Inc.
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=53639
DoCoMo 4G Tests Hit 300Mbps
By Carlo Longino, Tue Jun 01 15:45:00 GMT 2004
Your brand-spankin'-new 3G phone is nearing obsolesence: NTT DoCoMo reveals the results from a new 4G test system.
DoCoMo says it's hit a peak of 300Mbps, with an average rate of just 135Mbps in a car moving at 30kph at a distance of 800m to 1km from base stations. The engineers aren't satisfied, of course, and plan to throw multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) into the mix to crank standstill rates up to 1Gbps -- yes, that was a G -- to fit the ITU's 4G definition: 1Gbps standstill and 100Mbps when moving at train-like speeds.
The company's in acronym heaven, as the system uses variable spreading factor orthogonal frequency code division multiplexing (WSF-OFCDM) downstream technology, and direct spread code division multiple access system (DS-CDMA) for the upstream. Evidently you need all those letters for such high speeds.
The only potential downside that's obvious so far is that a line of sight to a base station is required for the higher speeds, something that is undoubtedly a problem in urban areas. But 135Mbps should be feasible for most people's needs for the forseeable future. There's no word from the company for a development timetable, so it's gonna be just a while yet, so go pick that 3G handset back out of the trash can. Rate this article
It does beg one question -- what the hell do you do with all that bandwidth? DoCoMo did say as part of the test it sent two HDTV video signals at 25Mbps each that resulted in "stable" video quality, so expect a wristwatch that can process that video on the fly to show up in Akihabara in the next few months.
http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=100693
Motorola?s India Centre To Develop Mobile Handsets
June 1, 2004
The Financial Express
Motorola has chosen its software global centre in India to design and develop new entry-level mobile handsets, both GSM and CDMA. The new handsets are expected to hit the market in the year 2005. The India centre will also be involved in high-end R&D work on next-generation wireless infrastructure for the emerging and price sensitive markets, India being one among them. It would also focus on developing products around 4G and 3G wireless technologies and WLAN. Sammy Sana, MD, Motorola global software group (GSG), India, said, “Our effort currently is to develop handsets for price sensitive nations as we optimize hardware and software. In the next couple of years, we are confident of hitting the market with these products”. Though Sana could not quantify the price point for these handsets, he added, “The prices will be considerably lower as compared to others at that point of time”.
Motorola is also beefing up its team of engineers in India. The company is looking at increasing the overall engineering team by 15 percent every year. The company currently has 1,250 engineers in its global software and R&D centre in India. GSG India is one third of GSG’s total engineering strength worldwide, which is around 3,500 professionals, including the Indian team.
http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=97145
VIVO deploys trial EV-DO network in Sao Paulo and Rio
June 1, 2004
VIVO and Lucent Technologies announced plans to launch a super-fast mobile data network trial in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. This 3G CDMA2000 1xEV-DO trial network, supplied by Lucent, will enable VIVO to provide select business customers with secure mobile access to corporate applications such as e-mail and intranets at data speeds of up to 2.4 Megabits per second (Mbps) - more than 40 times faster than wireline dial-up connections.
Lucent will upgrade 120 base stations to support CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, allowing VIVO customers from the main Brazilian markets to access the high-speed network by using their laptop PCs and personal digital assistants (PDAs) equipped with 1xEV-DO wireless modem cards. By providing secure mobile Internet Protocol (IP) virtual private network (VPN) connections on this high-speed data network, business customers can access the VIVO network as an extension of their corporate local area network (LAN) or intranet, allowing them to work from any location with the same level of speed and security they experience in the office. The 1xEV-DO network can be accessed wherever a cell phone can be used including airports and customer locations.
"With Lucent's 1xEV-DO network, we have the potential to deliver advanced, mobile data services at speeds comparable to most landline connections," said Luis Avelar, Innovation and Marketing vice president for VIVO. "Our business customers will be able to have remote access to all of the applications they typically use in the office by implementing the concept of a mobile or virtual office."
Lucent's 1xEV-DO solution demonstrated these capabilities during testing conducted by VIVO in March 2004.
To enable the 1xEV-DO technology trial, Lucent will upgrade its commercial Flexent CDMA base stations with channel cards and software. These include Flexent Modular Cell 4.0 base stations -- part of the Bell Labs-developed OneBTS family of base stations, which support multiple spread-spectrum technologies including CDMA2000 1X, 1xEV-DO, 1xEV-DV and W-CDMA/UMTS. In addition, Lucent will supply its Flexent Mobility Server to provide an open IP interface to the data network. Lucent Worldwide Services will provide installation and integration services.
"We believe this commercial trial will confirm our previous market research, which indicated that there is significant pent-up demand for mobile high-speed data services among business users in Brazil," said José Roberto Campos, president of Lucent Technologies in Brazil. "Our longstanding partnership with VIVO is very important to us, and we strive to keep them at the forefront of wireless technology in Brazil. For example, using Lucent's CDMA2000 1X solution, VIVO's subscribers in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo were the first in Latin America to have access to advanced voice and 3G data services such as sound and picture downloads and instant messaging."
http://www.3gnewsroom.com/3g_news/jun_04/news_4546.shtml
3 more than just 3G
June 1, 2004
Hutchison Telecom announced that it is grouping its three mobile networks - 3G, GSM Dualband and CDMA - under the single umbrella of "3", forming a more powerful group of mobile networks in Hong Kong. To celebrate this milestone, Hutchison Telecom is offering a range of new mobile services and customer benefits. From now on, customers of 3 can also enjoy one-stop sales services at all 3 retail outlets and customer services at 3ServiceCentres across the territory.
Mrs Agnes Nardi, Managing Director of Hutchison Telecom, said, "Today is a very significant milestone in our development as we are consolidating our three mobile networks under the '3' brand name to form a more powerful group of mobile networks in Hong Kong. Over the last several years, Hutchison Telecom has successfully developed the Orange brand name into a well-known symbol of service excellence in mobile communications in Hong Kong. Now that mobile technology has advanced into the new era of 3G, we are grouping our brands under the big family of '3', a brand name we have adopted for our 3G services. But from now on, 3 isn't just 3G. '3' embraces a freshness and simplicity that coincides well with our business vision. It reflects our mission of bringing our customers a totally refreshing experience regardless of technology."
Absolute leadership in the mobile industry
Hutchison Telecom, the largest mobile operator in Hong Kong, has pioneered to introduce a wide array of innovative mobile services in the past twenty years or more. The Company is proud to have rolled out Hong Kong's first 3G network, Asia's first GSM Dualband network and the world's first CDMA network for commercial use. Hutchison Telecom is the only operator in Hong Kong to be simultaneously operating three separate mobile networks, boasting a total subscriber base of over 1.9 million.
To highlight its advanced and comprehensive range of mobile services, Hutchison Telecom is consolidating the brand image for all three of its mobile networks by changing the brand name of its GSM Dualband and CDMA networks from Orange to "3". After this unprecedented move, the three mobile networks are named: 3-3G-, 3-DUALBAND- and 3-CDMA-.
Fabulous new services to offer greater value, more fun and a bigger portfolio
Existing customers can continue to enjoy Hutchison Telecom's quality mobile services with existing tariff plans, special offers and handset modes remaining unchanged. Now, after combining its 3G and 2G content partners, Hutchison Telecom is pleased to launch a host of new services to enhance users' communication experience.
The content-rich 2G portal "OrangePlus" has been renamed "3Hop". At "3Hop", Hutchison Telecom introduces various well-designed cross-network services to entertain its customers. These include the mobile version of well-known network games, the engaging #3636 chat services and the personalised stamp, sticker and photo printing services. 3Grid for 3G customers has also been given a refreshing outlook with the newly designed icons.
"Orangesupreme", now renamed as "3Supreme", provides an endless list of offers and privileges. Customers whose average mobile usage has reached the required levels for six consecutive months can become 3Supreme members and start enjoying a wide range of irresistible benefits.
What's more, the Hutchison Everyday Card extends its exclusive offers to all 3 customers including 3G users, bringing them concessions and discounts in more than 800 entertainment, dining and shopping hot spots provided by more than 80 merchants in the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.
With 3, customers will be at the forefront of mobile communications. Customers can now enjoy the exclusive "Heart-to-Heart" voice calling and messaging services with a wider 3 community. To celebrate the re-branding initiative, customers can also enjoy a 30% discount on the purchase of selected mobile phone models within the promotional period.
One-stop sales and customer services bring greater convenience
3 operates the most extensive retail network in town with over 100 outlets across the territory, providing one-stop sales services for the customers of 3G, GSM Dualband and CDMA networks. At any one of 3's retail outlets, customers can select 3G and 2G mobile phones and accessories, make enquiries and subscribe for services best suited to their mobile communications needs.
http://www.3gnewsroom.com/3g_news/jun_04/news_4548.shtml
LG Electronics to invest US$25.3 billion
LG Electronics recently held a strategy meeting on business and technology development at the LG Production and Technology Institute in Pyeongtaek, Korea.
Around 60 top officials took part, including LG Chairman Bon Moo Koo; LG Electronics CEO S. S. Kim; LG.Philips LCD Vice-Chairman Bon Joon Koo; LG Electronics President Paik Woo-hyun; as well as CEOs from various LG Electronics divisions, and heads of LG research institutes.
“LG will invest a total of US$1.95 billion in research and design in the electronics area in 2004, a 21 per cent increase compared with 2003,” said Mr K.H. Kim, President of LG Electronics, Middle East and Africa. “LG will gradually increase investments every year to reach US$3.38 billion in 2007 and more than US$5.1 billion in 2010, making a grand total of US$25.3 billion spent on R&D by 2010.”
Through substantially increasing investment, LG aims to boost staffing levels, increasing the number of employees in its electronics division from 14,000 to 24,000 by 2007, and to 30,000 by 2010.
There are plans to reinforce LG’s position in the GSM mobile handset market by building on its competitiveness in the CDMA sector. LG aims to break into the world’s top three for mobile handsets by 2007.
When it comes to digital TV units, continuing to develop world-class technologies in core chips and software has been identified as a priority for expanding LG Electronics’ share of advanced markets like North America.
Mr Kim added: “In the highly competitive display arena, LG is determined to build on its leadership in PDPs and LCDs through timely investments and different products. LGE also plans to reinforce its world number one position in display devices by securing next-generation display technologies.”
LGE aims to expand its capabilities in home air conditioners, and develop new business opportunities in premium digital appliances through substantial R&D investment in mobile handsets, digital TVs, and flat-panel displays.
A staggering US$254 million has been allocated for 2004 alone for R&D in home networking, car infotainment, mobile AV devices, and next-generation storage devices and parts.
Mr Kim said: “We shared the view that only core technological leadership can ensure sustained growth. LG has decided to continue to invest in R&D in electronics, focusing on businesses growth and expanding our manpower.”
“The meeting allowed top managers to pursue new business and R&D strategies, and explore opportunities in high-end product areas.”
http://www.cpilive.net/news_ver2/inside.asp?wherefrom=search&newsitem=531200431210AMRESELLER+WOR...
Motorola, Ericsson step up 3G efforts in China
By Dinesh C. Sharma, Special to CNETAsia
Monday, May 31 2004 9:11 AM
Wireless companies Motorola and Ericsson are looking to build up the Chinese market for third-generation services.
On Friday, Motorola announced that it is setting up a new application development center to promote wireless data services among Chinese networks. The company said it plans to help local telecommunications operators link up with application developers to offer quality control, engineering and logistics support as well as sales and marketing help.
Mobile phone companies worldwide are moving to set up data-oriented 3G networks to boost capacity, improve coverage areas, and offer services such as 2.4-megabit-per-second wireless broadband. The data-oriented services are also expected to help make up for plunging revenue from voice calls.
"Wireless data applications and contents are crucial elements that drive the adoption of 3G," Patrick Kung, corporate vice president at Motorola's PCS North Asia unit, said in a statement.
European and Asian operators have been offering data services for some time, while those from the United States are playing catch-up.
Separately on Friday, Ericsson announced that it has signed a US$58 million contract with China Mobile's Jiangsu Mobile Communication that expands their partnership for GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) technologies. Jiangsu has 12 million customers.
Ericsson will provide Jiangsu with high-speed data communications and multimedia services geared toward smoothing the transition to 3G. It will also provide engineering, network support, network optimization, and technical and management training. The expansion project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/communications/0,39001141,39181306,00.htm
European 3G handset shows sales growth
Firms will be breathing sigh of relief
By Tony Dennis in Taipei: Monday 31 May 2004, 07:53
ACCORDING TO RESEARCHput together by GfK, around 225,000 3G phones were sold in April throughout Europe. That figure represents about 2 per cent of all handsets sold but the number could rise to as high as 10 per cent by December.
The rise in sales is partially attributed to the availability of handsets from both Nokia and LG. The other factor which will raise 3G handset sales is the decision by leading European network operators – such as Vodafone, T-Mobile, Telefonica and TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) – to start selling 3G phones. For the last 15 months, all the running in the 3G market has been done by Hutchison’s 3.
However, TIM’s CEO – Marco de Benedetti- is quoted in The Asian Wall Street Journal as saying that he expects around two million Italians to own 3G phones by end of 2004. Currently 3G handsets cost between $360-$750 in Italy but De Benedetti says that the price of 3G handsets still needs to fall while reliability needs to increase.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16239
CEO of Vodafone - Arun Sarin - speaks about 3G plans + 3G failure in Europe caused by Nokia
May 31, 2004;
Vodafone angry about Nokia and also specialist telco press is angry about Nokia, that dares to release 3G phones without telephony and thus hinders development of 3G in Europe.
Arun Sarin - an Indian American who is a CEO of Vodafone:
... which is the biggest cellular network operator globally (although in UK and France locally Orange is bigger) said that finances of Vodafone are healthy and it produces 8.5 billion UK pounds in cash flow.
Regarding 3G, Sarin said that Vodafone will be starting it for real (seriously) "in Christmas quarter". Nowadays Vodafone offers 3G/UMTS card for notebooks + one 3G cell phone made by Samsung (with videotelephony though).
Interestingly Vodafone is angry about Nokia and it prefers phones from Samsung and Sharp - that it is branding with Vadafone logo, rather than ones from Nokia.
* * * * *
At this moment 3G in Europe is failure, and lack of handsets is the main reason of this failure. Who is guilty? The answer is simple: Nokia is guilty of this 3G failure in Europe, Nokia, that released already two 3G handsets but neither of them has videotelephony feature (the camera is on the back of the headsets and they have no videotelephony software). The one handset for 3G from Samsung that is now available offers videotelephony but customers don't want to buy it because it is quite expensive (999 Euro without subscription) and not many people have videotelephony yet (what's the point of having videotelephone if nobody can see you?).
http://www.msmobiles.com/o/news/00074.html
Hutchison "categorically denies" 3G rumours
Mon 31 May, 2004 10:45
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hutchison Whampoa has said it "categorically denied" market speculation about a possible exit from its loss-making third-generation mobile telecoms business in Britain.
"Our risk period is over and we are now in the growth phase of our business," Managing Director Canning Fok said in a statement released on Monday by the ports-to-telecoms conglomerate controlled by Asia's richest businessman Li Ka-shing.
Hutchison is spending US$22 billion (12 billion pounds) on the commercially unproven 3G in the UK and Italy, as well as a handful of other European countries and Hong Kong and Australia.
Last week, the company agreed to expand its exposure to its 3 UK business in Britain with a deal to buy out NTT Docomo's 20 percent stake in the unit for about US$120 million.
After getting off to a late and sluggish launch last year, Hutchison's 3G businesses are gaining subscriber momentum. On May 20 the company said it had 1.73 million users, which amounts to 11,500 new users per day over the previous two months.
However, some analysts warned that aggressive promotions make those customers expensive to acquire.
Hutchison's bullishness on 3G has been a weight on its share price for nearly four years. Its stock fell 1.42 percent on Monday to close at HK$52.00, and is off nine percent since the start of the year.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=520445§ion=n...
Lost in transition
By Robert Clark
Who can disagree with Vodafone chief Arun Sarin, when he says the industry giant is in a period of “transition”.
So goes Vodafone, so goes the whole cellular sector.
The T-word is a nice way of putting it. We know we’re leaving the old voice-dominated business behind us. But while Vodafone and the rest of the GSM camp are desperately keen to rev up the mobile data engine, the car’s still idling at the curb.
Even though Vodafone saw a 25% increase in its mobile data revenues last year, 96% of that is messaging. Just as distressing to Sarin must be the fact that his major W-CDMA operation, Vodafone KK in Japan, has just 1% of the 3G market.
The slow takeup of 3G and of non-SMS data are very obviously related. SK Telecom and KDDI, using cdma2000 1x, are seeing non-messaging data account for half of their data revenue.
Vodafone has just launched its first European 3G phone, a Samsung. Let’s see how that goes.
But even more significant, Convergence suggests, is Vodafone’s content deal with Sony Music, announced last week.
Vodafone and Hutchison aren’t going to win the 3G wars by sharp technologies and handsets. But they can compete by offering access to as much musical experience as they can – ringtones, ringback tones, preview singles, new releases, artists’ greetings and the rest.
Music is the most viral and accessible content available. As we’ve seen with ringtones and Apple’s iPod experience, consumers will actually pay to have their favorite music close to hand, or to be able to customize their devices and services with musical content.
Apple has shipped more than a million iPods, the world’s sexiest device, while iTunes saw 70 million downloads in its first year.
Better than that, music enables the creation of communities -- people who forward songs and grabs to each other, or want to know the latest news about favorite artists and their concert schedules.
Thanks to new technology, the music industry, too, is in transition. The problem is that the record labels, having been burned by free file-traders, are uncertain about which way forward.
Apple was unusual in being able to sign deals with all the major record industry labels. But mobile operators, like Vodafone, are having to sign them up one by one. That’s a brake on growth.
The new release of the mobile industry’s digital rights management system (DRM 2.0) might give the record industry more confidence. The new version allows users to forward music other devices which are also DRM 2.0 compliant. It will be another year or so before we see that in mass deployment.
But mobile operators too need to shake off some old habits, like taking a 50% cut for each song. Cellcos need to decide whether they want to be mobile data pipes – and there’s nothing wrong with that – or do they truly want to be mobile content players, but knowing that that will limit their ability to offer broad range of content.
The mobile ringtone market has shown just how lucrative the combination of mobile and music can be; already the European labels earn twice as much from ringtones as from regular singles.
Both industries are in a state of transition. Maybe together they can find where they want to go.
Robert Clark is managing director of independent consultancy Protocol Research rclark@protocolresearch.com
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=96728
SAF transforming itself into 3G fighting force
By Dominique Loh, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : The Singapore Armed Forces is undergoing a major transformation, and the new buzzword is to create a 3G fighting forces.
This means linking every soldier, fighter jet, tank and warship.
Exchanging messages, pictures and even video clips is now an everyday affair for most people.
But for soldiers in the battlefield, such real-time information can mean the difference between catching the enemy by surprise and running into an ambush.
Major David Chua, Force Planning and Strategy at G5-Army, said: "At the last minute before I moved out my tanks, my CO called me and said I had to switch plans with another PC. I rendezvoused with him and parked our tanks side by side and exchanged maps. I could not decipher what he wrote on his plans! He had to explain where his arrows were going and why he considered this to be the best plan."
But in a 3-G armed forces, such messy exchanges will be a thing of the past.
Brigadier-General Jimmy Khoo, Future Systems Architect at MINDEF, said: "What exactly is Third Generation SAF? It is early days yet to give a definitive answer and I believe that those who think they have all the answers will be wrong. There are just too many exciting possibilities that are still emerging.
"We won't depend on large numbers of platforms and people to be superior. Our edge lies in using unprecedented information to know the situation."
Colonel David Koh, Head of Joint Communications and Info Systems, said: "It is about delivering operational capability to the fighting forces. Of course we will leverage on technology, but technology by itself has limited value. What brings out the value is the marriage of technology and our operational requirements."
One scenario is soldiers in the future will carry devices that resemble PDAs.
If they cross paths with enemy tanks, real-time battlefield data about time and location - complete with pictures - can be beamed directly to the entire SAF network.
At the command centre, the information can be collated and analysed.
An updated battle plan can be beamed to all armed forces units - on land, at sea, and in the air.
So eventhough soldiers are only be armed with a rifle, they have the backing of the entire armed forces at their disposal.
But this means accepting change and leaving behind the old ways - something that will be difficult.
Captain Ang Chee Wee, Assistant Director of Future Systems Directorate, said: "Some functions and structures have existed for decades, and painstaking effort has been put in over the years to build up the identity, cohesion, esprit de corps within exsisting units and structures."
Colonel Koh added: "Because we are a NS army, our soldiers come in from all strata of society, and because of the strong education system in Singapore, we have highly educated soldiers who can leverage on the new technology and the possibilties technology make available."
MINDEF is so serious about 3G that it is setting aside 1 percent of the defence budget, about $80 million, on experimentation alone.
This is over and above the 5 percent for research and development. - CNA
Copyright © 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/87745/1/.html
Motorola optimistic on India
May 31, 2004
Motorola expects India to be its biggest absolute growth market in the coming three years, according to its president. "It is by far the most exciting market in terms of absolute growth", Mike Zafirovski, Motorola president and COO, said.
Motorola currently controls 26% of the Indian mobile handset market, up from a 0% market share 18 months ago, Zafirovski added. The company expects its sales growth in India until 2007 to be in line with its booming development in China between 2000 and 2003. Zafirovski said he sees both GSM and CDMA standards to continue in India. (Reported by The Economic Times)
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=96994
Lehman on Qualcomm, Courtesy of yukonwu from Yahoo QCOM Message Board:
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=4686818&tid=qcom&sid=468...
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=4686818&tid=qcom&sid=468...
http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=4686818&tid=qcom&sid=468...
NEWSWEEK COVER: The Next Frontiers: Way Cool Phones
Sunday May 30, 12:10 pm ET
Next Generation of Cell Phones Could Be Your Next Computer 'One Day, 2 or 3 Billion People Will Have Cell Phones, And They Are Not All Going to Have PC's,' Says Palm Pilot Inventor
Steven Levy: Soon All Phones May Have Tracking Devices, Then Privacy Issues Will Matter
Best Wireless Cities: Las Vegas, Tokyo, Auckland, Washington, San Diego, Seoul, Hermiston, Ore., New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Austin
NEW YORK, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- As phones get smarter, smaller and faster and enable users to connect at high speeds to the Internet, is the mobile phone handset turning into the next computer? Newsweek Silicon Valley Correspondent Brad Stone examines the possibility in the June 7 cover, "Next Frontiers: Way Cool Phones" (on newsstands Monday, May 31). Stone looks at the sophistication of mobile phones, how pervasive wireless communications have become around the world and talks to experts about the possibilities of telephones replacing the computer. "One day, 2 or 3 billion people will have cell phones, and they are all not going to have PCs," says Jeff Hawkins, inventor of the Palm Pilot and the chief technology officer of PalmOne. "The mobile phone will become their digital life."
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040530/NYSU003 )
Defenders of the PC react with religious outrage to these kinds of mobile phone prophecies, Stone reports. Laptops allow another kind of mobile computing, they point out, particularly with the emergence of thousands of Wi- Fi networks around the world over the past four years. By the end of this year, half of all laptops shipped will be Wi-Fi equipped, allowing laptop owners to set up temporary offices in the local cafe or public park. "Hundreds of millions of people are not going to replace the full screen, mouse and keyboard experience with staring at a little screen," says Sean Maloney, an executive VP at chipmaker Intel, which is investing heavily both in Wi-Fi and mobile-phone technology." Yet mobile-phone innovators are working to solve that tricky problem, too.
Newsweek's "Next Frontiers" is an ongoing series looking at how technology is changing the way we live and work. Also in the cover package: Technology Editor Steven Levy writes in a column that the same phone technology that keeps us connected to work and family may lead us to a future where cell phones track us, sometimes voluntarily and sometimes when we're not aware. "My guess is that the widespread adoption of tracking won't be done against our will but initially with our consent. As with other double-edged tools, the benefits will be immediately apparent, while the privacy drawbacks emerge gradually," Levy writes.
And Newsweek names 10 cities that are using wireless technology in innovative ways:
* Hermiston, Ore.: The home of EZ Wireless, which built the country's
largest regional wireless broadband network, a 600-square-mile Wi-Fi
blanket, and activated it this February.
* San Diego, Calif.: A community group called SoCalFreeNet has installed a
dozen public nodes in the city and suburbs to give everyone free
wireless Web access.
* Auckland, New Zealand: Six months ago, Auckland became one of a few
communities to deploy a single high-speed wireless network that blankets
the entire city. Users can surf the Net at high speeds from the beach,
their office, their homes or even a moving bus.
* Las Vegas, Nev.: Not only are hotels offering Wi-Fi access in their
rooms, but one RV Park owner offers his residents a hook-up for a $36
monthly fee, which brings customers to his property.
* London, England: Soho is about to become the first wireless law-
enforcement district in London. Fifty wireless cameras and sensors will
be installed around the neighborhood that will take videos good enough
to be admissible in court.
* New York, N.Y.: Wi-Fi network access covers the city, from Columbia
University and Bryant Park to the East Village where one group stitched
together a network that operates from rooftops.
* The Bay Area (San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland), Calif.: Chosen as the
most unwired "city" in America in Intel's annual survey, even the
Giants' ballpark is a hotspot.
* Washington, D.C.: Last month, Silicon Valley wireless firm Tropos
brought free wireless Internet access to the eastern corner of the
National Mall. Next: unwiring the entire two-mile-long Mall, Capitol
Hill and all.
* Tokyo, Japan: Just about every person over the age of 12 in Tokyo owns a
mobile phone, of which a fifth are high-speed 3G phones that are
Internet-enabled.
* Austin, Tex.: Since last year, volunteers of the Austin Wireless City
Project have been coordinating the city's free networks and helping
residents and visitors get online with a single user name and password
anywhere on the network.
(Read the entire cover package at http://www.Newsweek.com.)
Source: Newsweek
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040530/nysu010a_1.html
Motorola plans to debut its new phone in China
BEIJING - Motorola Inc. said Friday that it will debut a new phone in China in the third quarter and introduce its push-to-talk mobile service in the country this year.
Motorola will introduce a phone that works on both the European and U.S. standards, using China Unicom Ltd. and Verizon Communications Inc. as launch customers, President Mike Zafirovski said. Also this year, China may become the 19th country in which Motorola sells its mobile service that allows users to talk by pushing a button rather than dialing. China, the world's largest mobile-phone market by users, said subscriptions rose to 296 million in April, exceeding U.S. levels for the first time.
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0529natwldbrfs29.html
NEC Scales for New Heights in China's Mobile Telecommunications
Tokyo and Beijing, Japan, May 28, 2004 (JCN Newswire via COMTEX) -- NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701) today announced the establishment of new business structure "NEC Telecommunications (China)" and the appointment of business veteran Brian (Lei) Lu as head of the new structure to pursue mobile communications business in China.
Mr. Brian (Lei) Lu will be concurrently acting as the President and Member of the Board of NEC Telecommunications (China) Co., Ltd., and President and Member of the Board of Wuhan NEC Mobile Communication Co. Ltd. He will be taking responsibilities for all of NEC Telecommunications (China), concentrating mainly in the mobile business, which will integrate Xi'an NEC Radio Communications Equipment Co.Ltd. and Guilin NEC Radio Communications Limited within this year.
The new business structure is the results of reorganization among NEC's telecom manufacturing, marketing, service and maintenance operations in China to fully adapt to mobile internet and 3rd generation (3G) mobile business. (For the detail of the new structure, please refer attached page.)
"With a subscriber base of 270 million, China is one of NEC's most important markets where NEC can demonstrate its full competence in mobile internet and 3G. Coming on board, Mr. Lu will contribute to NEC's growth in the mobile telecommunications industry with his market know-how," said Tsutomu Nakamura, Senior Vice President and head of NEC's mobile business unit.
Brian Lu has an extensive experience in the telecommunications industry, especially in the fields of mobile terminals and personal communications. His impressive track record of broad business background and achievements in business development, business planning, manufacturing control and marketing have gained him global reputation in IT and telecommunications industry. The new appointment is envisaged to bring NEC into new era of expansion in the Chinese mobile market.
In 2003, NEC rapidly organized mobile terminals business structures in China by effectively combining its resources in Japan and China and those of its partners. NEC China Mobile Terminal Business Division, which becomes a part of the new company, is playing a key role in leading NEC's global SCM; promoting local development and branding and, at the same time, pursuing further cooperation with mobile operators to develop the most appropriate solutions that are in line with the development of mobile industry. Its leading position in mobile Internet technologies and high-value-added mobile Internet terminals in Japan and other parts of the world has given NEC an edge for its rapid expansion in China.
NEC recently introduced flagship models and high-end terminals which demonstrates NEC's cutting-edge mobile technologies in China. These include N900, the world's smallest and slimmest card-shaped mobile phone, the pendant-shaped N910 and other stylish clam-shell mobile phone fully equipped with high functionality and internet-access capabilities. More than 20 varieties of terminals will be introduced this year.
In the mobile infrastructure area, NEC is also reorganizing its business structure to strongly commit itself to the 3G mobile business in China with its leading position in commercial 3G deployment. Under the leadership of Mr. Lu, the new structure will further introduce its total mobile solutions to China, ranging from 2.5G and 3G mobile terminals, to total mobile network infrastructure system, mobile application platforms, telecom software and other advanced technologies. Working closely with local mobile carriers, NEC is also actively participating in local mobile field trials and launching attractive mobile terminals and services.
In the 3G/mobile multimedia global market and China market, NEC aims to take strong initiative to create the market and to obtain leading position there.
About NEC's Mobile Business
NEC is a total solution provider for 3G and mobile Internet. It has been involved in every first-stage rollout of 3G systems worldwide. It is also responsible for developing the first 3G handsets for the world's first 3G networks. NEC has competence in the mobile Internet field with its mobile infrastructure system, mobile application platform and its impressive portfolio of contents. NEC's mobile handsets are known for their prominent technologies including large color screens, built-in cameras and other functions that make them ideal for use in the mobile Internet.
About NEC's Business Development in China
NEC has been involved in businesses in China for more than 30 years, contributing to the deployment of most telecommunications infrastructures such as public switching systems, optical transmission systems, microwave systems, broadcasting infrastructure systems and enterprise communication systems. It has also pursued technology transfer to local joint venture partners. Currently, NEC is focusing on computers and communications software development, semiconductor design, system integrations and basic research and development activities by cooperating and mutually leveraging competences among Japanese and Chinese engineers. In every
aspect of NEC's business management, China has become an important market.
Details of the New Structure
*The name of the structure: NEC Telecommunications (China)
*Companies to build up the structure:
-NEC Telecommunications (China) Co. Ltd.
(Re-named from Tianjin NEC)
-Wuhan NEC Mobile Communication Co. Ltd.
-Xi'an NEC Radio Communications Equipment Co.Ltd.
-Guilin NEC Radio Communications Limited
* Base of the new structure:
- Headquarters operation: Beijin
- Tianjin, Wuhan, Xian, Guilin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and others
* Number of the staff: 520
Profile of Brian (Lei) Lu
SUMMARY
Brian Lu is a professional General manager with over 10 years experience in Telecommunication industry. His previous position is Vice President and General Manager of Motorola PCS China Division, which he had full responsibility of Sales, Marketing, Joint Venture Manufacturing, Strategy, Business Planning, Government Relation, Finance and Human Resource for Motorola China operation. Brian has been working in this industry for many years; he has in-depth understanding of the market environment, technology involution and business operation model. He built a solid network within the industry: related government and regulation bodies, operators, and distribution network. Educated and worked both in US and China, Brian understands the culture and business like Brian had the successful experience and record.
Education
--DBA Candidate Hong Kong Polytech University HK, China 2004
--MBA University of South Carolina SC, US 1992
--Master of Science University of South Carolina SC, US 1990
--Bachelor of Science Xian Jiaotong University Xian, China 87
PERSONAL:
Date of Birth: Nov.4th, 1963
*************************************************************
(New mobile terminal N830)
On sale from June 2004 in China
N830 phot date : http://www.nec.co.jp/press/ja/pr-room/tel_g.html
N830 is the most advanced mobile multimedia Terminal realized for GSM/GPRS services in the World. This is the first model for NEC to employ Both Mega-pixel camera and MPEG4 movie functions outside Japan.
Size : 101x49x24mm
Weight : 110g
LCD : TFT 2.2inch, 65K colors
QVGA 240x320 pixels
Camera : 1.3 Mega pixels
Ring-tone : 64 polyphonic
Others : MMS, WAP1.2.1
JAVA(MIDP1.0), 3D JAVA
Movie (MPEG4), Mobile Light
*************************************************************
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701)(NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) is one of the world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its diverse and global base of customers. Ranked as one of the world's top patent-producing companies, NEC delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 140,000 people worldwide and had net sales of 4,906 billion yen (approx. $47 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 2004.NEC Corporation
Contact:
Akiko Shikimori
NEC Corporation
Tel: +81337986511
(Mobile: Only available on May 28th,2004)
+86-13801266655
E-mail: a-shikimori@ay.jp.nec.com
Copyright (C) 2004 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network KK.
© 1997-2004 MarketWatch.com, Inc.
http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.asp?journalid=21419165&brk=1
Motorola bets big on India
Expects India to be its biggest absolute growth market in the next three years.
Saturday, May 29, 2004
BEIJING (Reuters) - Motorola Inc expects India to be its biggest absolute growth market in the coming three years, its president said.
"It's by far the most exciting market in terms of absolute growth," Motorola president and chief operating officer Mike Zafirovski told reporters in Beijing.
Motorola currently controlled 26 percent of the Indian mobile handset market, up from a zero percent market share 18 months ago, Zafirovski said.
The company expects its sales growth in India until 2007 to be in line with its booming development in China between 2000 and 2003.
Zafirovski said he sees both GSM and CDMA standards to continue in India.
© Reuters
http://www.ciol.com/content/news/2004/104052904.asp
Cingular Drops to Edge of Pack
Fri May 28, 5:04 PM ET Add Business - NewsFactor to My Yahoo!
Erika Morphy, wireless.newsfactor.com
Cingular is in danger of losing the race to deliver nationwide high-speed mobile services as Verizon and other competitors begin to roll out test pilots -- and in the case of Verizon, go nationwide with third-generation (3G) network technology.
The gap should be less noticeable by fall, says Yankee Group director Roger Entner. "Cingular is in the process of overlaying its nationwide network with EDGE coverage," he told NewsFactor. "Right now, the only two markets that do not have EDGE are Mississippi and Alabama. But by the end of the summer, those two states should be up as well."
Also, by the end of 2006, Cingular will have rolled out its wideband CDMA (news - web sites) network, Entner says.
Cingular tipped its hand a little to the market with its road map for post-EDGE deployment. Recently, the company announced plans at the Lehman Brothers Global Wireless Conference for a field trial of Lucent (NYSE: LU - news) Technologies UMTS and HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) gear in Atlanta this summer and even hinted that it was about to accelerate plans for a nationwide rollout as well.
Hear This, Cingular
But the clear leader -- for the moment at least -- is Verizon Wireless, as it proceeds with its US$1 billion plan to offer wide-area wireless broadband nationwide within two years. Dubbed "BroadbandAccess," the new service is based on network technology from Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM - news), known as "evolution-data optimized" (CDMA2000 1XEV-DO).
It promises to deliver transmission speeds in the range of 300-500 kilobits per second, roughly matching DSL connections. Initially, it will be delivered via PC cards, hooking up PDAs, mobile phones and other devices down the road.
Huge Implications for Business
Verizon's offering "is true 3G, as we define it, and it's faster than anything now available in wireless cellular technology," said IDC analyst Keith Waryas. "It is the first truly mobile office-enabling network, and has potentially huge implications for business remote-access services."
Cingular should be able to match this capability once its plans are complete by 2006, Entner says. The trial Cingular plans to launch this summer, for example, will use spectrum in the 1.9 Ghz band.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nf/20040528/bs_nf/24273
Deloitte & Touche Predicts Electronic Game Devices to Increase Five-Fold to 2.6 Billion by 2010
< back
New Deloitte Report Examines Impact of Game Technology Advances on
Advertising, Wireless and Entertainment Industries
NEW YORK, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Unrelenting progress in processing power,
network bandwidth and storage capacity will enable the electronic game
industry to become greater than five times more pervasive by 2010, with the
installed base of electronic game devices (excluding PCs) growing from 415
million to 2.6 billion. "Moore's Law and Electronic Games," a new global
report by Deloitte & Touche's Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT)
Group and Deloitte Research, focuses on the industries -- outside of the
electronic game and related industries -- that will be impacted by
technological advances based on Moore's Law, as well as the positive and
negative disruptions that the advancements will create. Moore's Law states
that the transistor density of a silicon chip will double every two years.
"As technology continues to improve, new opportunities will arise for
industries outside of the traditional electronic game arena, such as movie
studios, record companies, advertisers, mobile phone producers, communications
operators, toy manufacturers and electronics manufacturers," said Scott
Singer, Managing Director of Deloitte's Media and Entertainment Corporate
Finance Group. "As a matter of fact, the number and range of platforms on
which paid-for electronic games can exist will expand significantly and will
include mobile phones, MP3 players, PDAs, set-top boxes, children's toys and
even exercise machines. The installed base of devices will escalate from 415
million in 2004 to 2.6 billion in 2010."
Moore's Law implies that there will be an eight-fold increase in
processing power and memory capacity between now and 2010, greatly impacting
the disruptiveness of the electronic game industry. It is expected that 450
million homes worldwide will have broadband connections by 2010, with one
billion individuals having access to multimedia mobile phones that could
support game downloads and some form of mobile game playing. Storage capacity
will likely increase to 1,000 gigabytes of disk storage in a typical home PC
by 2010, enabling games to be longer and more complex with enhanced visual
detail, sound effects and music.
These technological advances will create new revenue opportunities for
sectors related to electronic games and will expand audience reach beyond the
traditional electronic game markets.
* Advertising. Game publishers looking to recoup their spiraling
development costs are more and more receptive to product advertising
in games. In-game advertising is expected to become increasingly
popular, particularly as technology improvements and shifting
demographics make in-game product ads more appealing.
* Wireless communications. Mobile operators will be the predominant
channel for selling and distributing phone-based games, with only a
small number sold in retail stores. More advanced networks prevalent
by 2010 will provide higher transfer rates, enabling downloaded games
to be more complex and sophisticated.
* Entertainment. Electronic games represent an important new
merchandising category, with cross-licensing between movies and
electronic games providing a major source of revenue for movie studios.
Music companies will recognize revenue opportunities, as music in
electronic games becomes a more essential part of the game experience.
Video games have inspired entire lines of toys and action figures,
allowing toy manufacturers to capitalize on cross-licensing
opportunities.
"Electronic games has been the fastest growing sub-sector of the media
industry over the past five years," said Singer. "In the U.S., sales of video
games and related technology surpassed box office receipts in 2001. This
growth means additional opportunities for industries typically not associated
with electronic games, providing the opportunity to create a new revenue
stream."
Additional key findings from Deloitte's "Moore's Law and Electronic Games"
report include:
* Game publishers - Game publishers will have more platforms to leverage,
including on-line play and mobile phones, but will also face escalating
production costs as demand for more sophisticated games increases.
Steep entry costs may drive smaller publishers out of the market.
* Advertisers - Embedded advertising in games provides advertisers a new
opportunity to reach an expanding market with attractive demographics.
Aggregating eyeball hours for a game that sells three to five million
copies implies at least 50 million hours of viewing time. The Sims
Online game already includes an interactive advertising element.
* Fixed-line operators - Fixed-line telecommunications operators will
benefit from the increasing popularity of multi-layer online games and
downloadable add-ons, leading to increasing subscriber revenues.
* Mobile operators - With an equal ratio of females to males owning
mobile phones, the expansion of games to mobile phones will likely
increase the participation level of women to electronic games. However,
bandwidth may be insufficient to support the growth until 3G networks
are more widely available around 2010.
* Music industry - The music industry will continue to benefit from the
growth of electronic games. Titles like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City use
music to enhance the game's appeal, and seven audio CDs from the game
are sold separately. Music and licensing revenues will become a factor
in mobile and handheld games.
* Toy manufacturers - Electronic games have historically competed with
traditional toy manufacturers in the youth market. Technological
advances will create new opportunities to improve existing toys with
electronic feature add-ons as well as for cross-licensing
opportunities.
* Home console - Home console manufacturers will have to make
increasingly large investments to build the next-generation video game
console that will occupy the dominant position in the digital living
room of the future.
The report was researched and written by Deloitte's Telecommunications,
Media and Technology (TMT) Group and Deloitte Research. Input was provided by
clients, leading industry and financial analysts, and the 5,000 strong global
Deloitte TMT team. The report is available at http://www.deloitte.com.
About Deloitte
Deloitte, one of the nation's leading professional services firms,
provides audit, tax, financial advisory services and consulting through nearly
30,000 people in more than 80 U.S. cities. Known as an employer of choice for
innovative human resources programs, the firm is dedicated to helping its
clients and its people excel. "Deloitte" refers to the associated partnerships
of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP (Deloitte & Touche LLP and Deloitte Consulting
LLP) and affiliated entities. Deloitte is the US member firm of Deloitte
Touche Tohmatsu. For more information, please visit Deloitte's web site at
http://www.deloitte.com/us.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is an organization of member firms devoted to
excellence in providing professional services and advice. We are focused on
client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 150
countries. With access to the deep intellectual capital of 120,000 people
worldwide, our member firms (including their affiliates) deliver services in
four professional areas: audit, tax, financial advisory services and
consulting. They serve over one-half of the world's largest companies, as well
as large national enterprises, public institutions, and successful, fast-
growing global growth companies.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is a Swiss Verein (association), and, as such,
neither Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu nor any of its member firms has any liability
for each other's acts or omissions. Each of the member firms is a separate and
independent legal entity operating under the names "Deloitte", "Deloitte &
Touche", "Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu" or other related names. The services
described herein are provided by the member firms and not by the Deloitte
Touche Tohmatsu Verein. For regulatory and other reasons certain member firms
do not provide services in all four professional areas listed above.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=SVBIZINK1.story&STORY=/www/story/05-27-2004/00...
DoCoMo sells stake in U.K. 3G carrier
May 27, 2004 1:34 PM EST
TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo sold its 20-percent stake in Hutchison 3G UK Holdings Ltd. to Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. for $220 million in a transaction that has been expected by market watchers.
DoCoMo has been looking to unwind its involvement in the U.K. third-generation operator for months, and the deal marks the second shareholder that has left the company, leaving only Hutchison in the venture, which once included KPN Telecom as well. The U.K. UMTS provider has offered its service for more than a year, but has added subscribers at a much slower pace than it originally forecast.
Under the terms of the agreement, DoCoMo will receive payment in three installments either in cash or shares of Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd., a Hutchison subsidiary that has applied for a listing on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The third and final payment will be made in December 2006.
As part of the agreement, a $367 million shareholder loan provided by DoCoMo to Hutchison 3G U.K. in May 2003 was transferred to Hutchison Europe Telecommunications, another Hutchison subsidiary.
http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18269
Mobile Video To Generate US$5.4bn By 2008
New ARC report predicts growth of video-enabled handsets.
(May 27,2004)
In a new report entitled Mobile Video: Worldwide Market Analysis and Strategic Outlook 2003-2008, industry analysts ARC forecast that the mobile video market will generate worldwide revenues of US$5.4bn in 2008. ARC Senior Analyst Rupert Reid, takes a quick look at recent developments in the mobile video space to see how they measure up against ARC Group's forecasts and whether there is any substance behind the hype.
As the latest in a line of applications touted to turn around flagging ARPUs and kick-start the dawn of a new mobile multimedia era, mobile video has been much in the spotlight recently. Whereas the adoption and usage levels of 3's much publicized video telephony services have not exactly set the industry alight in the early days of its launch, the underlying trends nevertheless point to a steady ramping up of interest in mobile video.
In the last 6 months, a flurry of activity across all elements of the value chain has witnessed the increasing momentum behind bringing mobile video applications and enabling technologies to market as players from platform vendors to content aggregators all attempt to carve an early lead in this nascent market.
Recent deals between Vodafone and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Mobilkom Austria and CNN and 3 Sweden and Endemol/Kanal highlight the growing focus placed on strategic partnerships between operators and content owners to target mobile video streaming, downloading and messaging services. By building up a rich ecosystem of branded content, 3G operators are clearly positioning their networks primarily as video-capable, and heavily promoting video streaming and video telephony services as a differentiator from 2.5G networks.
It is not just the 3G operators however who are pioneering video services as a number of 2.5G operators have launched video services of their own. For example, a number of European operators including Telefonica, TIM and O2 have launched a range of early video streaming applications through partnership with RealNetworks and its Helix Universal Platform. Likewise, the indications from Sprint PCS are very encouraging with PCS Vision customers having sent more than 100m picture messaging images and 15-second video messaging clips since November 2002.
Despite these promising early trends, there are challenges at every point in the mobile video value chain which must be resolved before video takes off on a mass market basis:
"Reducing the price of video-supporting handsets to gain mass market acceptance " Developing viable business models for video distribution which include content protection," Resolving the interoperability, interconnect and roaming issues for such services.
Top of these challenges remains the perennial problem of video-capable handset availability and a lack of well-defined and established standards across the value chain which are essential for operators to build a full service that includes content, servers, applications and handsets.
Nonetheless, ARC is confident that ongoing developments in high-performance, low-power multimedia application processors coupled with continuing improvements in high-resolution CMOS image sensors and high-resolution colour LCD screens, will see the mass market penetration of video-enabled handsets by 2006.
As with any forecast, the purchasing behavior of end-users remains the key variable in assessing demand and also the hardest to predict. Nevertheless, on the balance of evidence, ARC believes that the widespread availability of video-capable terminals together with high-bandwidth networks supported by a rich distribution network of branded and mobile specific content will result in a steadily growing market for mobile video services over the next 5 years.
Mobile Video, from the ARC Group, forecasts that between 2003 and 2005 there will be a relatively slow rate of adoption, as the market is in its launch phase although from 2005 onwards strong growth is anticipated, and by 2008 it is forecast that close to 250m consumers will use mobile video services.
Mobile Video also predicts that video messaging will remain the biggest application category throughout the forecast period. In 2003, the figure of 5.1m users is mainly made up of the video clip messaging services that have been launched by operators in Japan. In Europe, initial video services have also been focused mostly on video messages, since user-generated content frees the operator from dealing with content copyright issues and content owners' DRM requirements. As MMS starts to enter the mainstream in Europe, it is expected that as camera phones in the European market evolve to support video, there will be a high adoption rate for video messaging services as an enhancement to regular MMS.
Video download is expected to be second to video messaging in terms of users until 2005, when video streaming will take over second spot, based on the higher penetration of 3G networks. After 2003, streaming will be a preferred method of consuming video content, since it has a much more immediate viewing experience than video download, and enables longer video clips and also live TV-like live broadcast services.
As a strictly 3G service, ARC expect the total number of video telephony users to increase from 1.3 m in 2003 to almost 90m in 2008. Video telephony will continue to differentiate 3G networks from 2.5G networks, and the popularity of this application will rise as more possibilities become available to connect via video calling to enterprise video conferencing systems and consumer video devices in the broadband-connected home. This network effect of home, office and mobile video telephony devices will cause mobile video telephony to overtake video download services by 2007.
ARC Group's Mobile Video report is available for GBP 2055 (single paper copy) or GBP 3055 (single user CD-ROM and paper copy).
To order, please visit the ARC Group website, www.arcgroup.com or telephone the ARC Group on +44 (0) 20 7017 5555.
About ARC Group ARC Group (www.arcgroup.com) publishes in-depth strategic reports and provides consultancy on wireless internet, wireless technologies and infrastructure, digital broadcasting, broadband access, telematics and optical communications.
http://www.digitalproducer.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=25861
Skyworks component available for CDMA
May 27, 2004 12:47 PM EST
WOBURN, Mass.—Wireless semiconductor company Skyworks Solutions Inc. said licensing rights for its patented Selectable Mode Vocoder technology are immediately available to be incorporated into CDMA mobile handset applications.
SMV is capable of increasing subscriber capacity by up to 75 percent, while improving the quality of wireless voice communications for the consumer, according to Skyworks.
“The capacity and quality improvements made possible with SMV will have a significant impact in the CDMA wireless industry,” said David Aldrich, Skyworks’ president and chief executive officer. “Users will notice a marked improvement in the voice quality of their communications, especially under less-than-perfect conditions, while service providers can enjoy increased network capacity.”
http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=18263
Qualcomm debuts 'push to talk' service in India
Last modified: May 27, 2004, 10:54 AM PDT
By Dinesh C. Sharma
Special to CNET News.com
Indian telecom service provider Tata Indicom on Thursday debuted a "push to talk" service that uses Qualcomm's BREW software and handsets provided by Kyocera.
The companies said Kyocera's KX440 mobile phone is the first CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) push-to-talk handset available outside the United States. The handset supports Qualcomm's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, or BREW, which is used by about a dozen carriers to sell downloadable ring tones, games or video mail programs. Qualcomm had announced the deal with Tata in March.
The entry-level push-to-talk phone is well-suited to emerging wireless markets in India, the companies said. India is one of fastest-growing wireless markets in the world. Analysts have estimated that the wireless subscriber base there will grow to more than 140 million customers by 2008. While Tata and Reliance are the leading CDMA service providers, the Indian market is dominated by the GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) standard.
Push-to-talk technology allows callers to connect to other cell phones with just the push of a single button, similar to a walkie-talkie. Only one person can talk at a time, and there is no need to dial a number.
Motorola and U.S. cell phone carrier Nextel Communications introduced the technology about a decade ago. For about eight years, difficulties perfecting such a service and the high price of push-to-talk handsets gave the two companies an almost exclusive hold on the market.
But now "the button" is spreading globally--mostly because a carrier's cost of adding the service has dropped with the introduction of alternative push-to-talk technologies from Qualcomm, Kodiak Networks and other companies. The price of handsets with the feature also have decreased.
For Kyocera, the Tata deal is part of its overall strategy to challenge push-to-talk pioneer and market leader Motorola within a year, executives said.
"We can't even track our share yet; there's very little 'industry' outside of Nextel" and Motorola, a Kyocera Wireless representative said. "Right now, our share doesn't show up as a full-scale blip. But within a year, we will be putting a lot of pressure on Motorola. That's the goal."
Tata initially ordered 300,000 push-to-talk phones, one of Kyocera's largest orders yet for such a handset. Kyocera also supplies U.S. cell phone service provider Alltel in the United States.
CNET News.com's Ben Charny contributed to this report.
http://news.com.com/Qualcomm+debuts+'push+to+talk'+service+in+India/2100-1039_3-5221698.html