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DoCoMo shares drop to a five-year low
May 11, 2004
Reuters
Shares in NTT DoCoMo fell to a five-year low and dragged down Japan's whole telecoms sector after it forecast a bigger-than-expected decline in operating profit in the current business year.
DoCoMo's stock closed down 13.43%, or 29,000 yen, at 187,000 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the lowest level since it introduced i-mode, its revolutionary always-on Internet service.
Late last week the company posted a slightly higher full-year operating profit for the year that ended on March 31 but it surprised analysts by forecasting its first-ever drop in full-year revenue and a 25% decline in operating profit for the current business year.
"The negative news from DoCoMo is sparking a sell-off in the entire telecoms sector," said Fujio Ando, senior managing director at Chibagin Asset Management Co Ltd, before the close.
DoCoMo had attributed its bleak profit forecast to increases in family discounts, price cuts for data services, the introduction of a fixed-rate data plan for its 3G service and higher phone subsidies.
"Investors are concerned because DoCoMo seems to be willing to sacrifice profit to keep its market share without a clear view of what will follow," said Kazuyo Katsuma, an analyst for J.P. Morgan."
Still, many analysts said they believed DoCoMo was being a little too conservative with its operating profit target as well as its anticipated average monthly revenue per user, which was almost 8% lower than the previous year.
"I think what the company has decided to do is to get all the bad news out there at once," said Bruce Kirk, telecoms analyst with KBC Securities.
"They've set the bar very low this year and they've set it to a level that they're extremely confident about. I think they're going to overachieve in their numbers."
Goldman Sachs said in its research report that investors were unlikely to regain confidence in DoCoMo until the company took back market share in new subscribers, as it is expected to do in the latter half of the business year.
COPYRIGHT: © Reuters 2004
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=95027
Vodafone CEO sees no earnings risk from 3G
May 11, 2004
Reuters
Vodafone's CEO Arun Sarin said he does not expect 3G services to weigh on the company's global earnings because many customers would not use 3G phones for many years.
Three days after what one analyst called "an effective profit warning" from Japan's NTT DoCoMo — partly because of the costs of 3G — Sarin said this was only a danger if companies moved large numbers of customers to new services quickly.
"Is it a natural consequence in the 3G world that operating profits and revenues will be flat or neutral? No," he said.
"For us, 3G is no big bang. For us, it is an evolution."
Vodafone hopes to have millions of 3G phones in European shops from the second half of the year.
But Sarin said that in the advanced Japanese market, where 3G phones were first sold commercially in 2001, competition was fierce.
"Absolutely, it's tough," he said. However, he added, "This phase will pass".
He insisted that he remained fully committed to and happy with Vodafone's majority-owned Japanese business, Vodafone Japan which is struggling to gain market share.
Since Vodaone's failure to secure a takeover of US mobile phone group AT&T Wireless earlier this year — a purchase that would have given the group long sought-for control in the US and brought its brand across the Atlantic, Sarin has been under pressure to clarify his acquisition strategy.
Asked whether he had been frustrated at a lack of market support for the AT&T Wireless bid battle and whether he was disappointed at his failure to clinch the deal, Sarin said only "We will not be foolish about how much money we put on the table, whether it be in the US, France or ... anywhere else in the world."
As for possibly increasing Vodafone's stake of around 3% in China Mobile Sarin said he was content with a minority investment for now.
"It is unlikely that we will raise our stake in the near term," he said, adding, "if our investors want more exposure to China Mobile, they can buy it".
COPYRIGHT: © Reuters 2004
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=95028
Nokia Delivers 3G to Polkomtel
05.11.04
HELSINKI -- Nokia has been chosen by Polkomtel S.A. to supply and deploy the initial phase of its 3G network deployment in Poland, under amendments to the two companies' existing contract. In addition, Nokia will provide GSM/EDGE infrastructure to expand Polkomtel's existing mobile networks. 3G deliveries will begin in May; deliveries of EDGE have already started.
Nokia will provide core and radio access networks for both GSM/EDGE and WCDMA 3G. Nokia will also provide implementation, radio network optimization, 3G technical consultancy, as well as care services and training to maintain the competitiveness of the solution.
"Poland is ready for 3G, and we're ensuring that we're ready to deliver it," says Thomas Eberle CTO, Polkomtel. "We are pleased with Nokia's solution for mobile networks and are happy to continue working with Nokia to meet our capacity and service needs. We are confident that these deployments will position us to offer the best possible services based on EDGE and UMTS technologies in a timely and competitive way."
"Nokia is happy to see our long cooperation with Polkomtel now extending to 3G," says Wojciech Pytel, Managing Director, Nokia Poland. "The agreement reinforces Nokia's long-standing role as a strong technology partner with Polkomtel and demonstrates clearly the trust that has grown between our companies. We're pleased to be doing our part to bring 3G to Poland."
Nokia Corp.
Polkomtel SA
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=52540
Motorola Successfully Completes EDGE Trials With Hutchison in India
MOTOROLA LOGO
Motorola logo. (PRNewsFoto)[TC]
SCHAUMBURG, IL USA 03/07/2002
MOTOROLA LOGO
Motorola logo. (PRNewsFoto)[JL]
SCHAUMBURG, IL USA 04/15/2002
NEW DELHI, India, May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola India today
announced the successful completion of Enhanced Data Rate for Global Evolution
(EDGE) trials with Hutchison Max Telecom. Commercial deployment is scheduled
for later in 2004. Implementation of EDGE on the Hutchison network is part of
Motorola's ongoing relationship with this leading telecom operator.
"The successful trial of Motorola's EDGE solution demonstrates our ability
to provide operators with the right mobile data solution for their market as
they migrate to next generation networks and services," said Simon Leung,
senior vice president, Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and general manager of its
Global Telecom Solutions Sector in Asia Pacific. EDGE, which enables mobile
data speeds up to 240 Kbps, supports mobile applications such as streaming
video and will bring about wider use of other data applications like
multimedia messaging services (MMS).
"Motorola is a leader in complete, end-to-end telecom solutions and
services," Leung continued. "We have successfully worked with India's telecom
sector over the last 17 years to help establish industry standards across GSM
and CDMA technologies. We are teaming with Hutch, one of India's leading
telecom providers, to help them take their network to the next level and
further capitalize on the growth opportunities enhanced data rates will
provide."
Asim Ghosh, managing director, Hutchison Max Telecom, said: "We were the
first operator to offer multi circle GPRS roaming services early last year in
India, as also MMS. Upgrading these services to the higher download speeds
provided by EDGE is but the next natural step. We are delighted to work with
Motorola on a roadmap to bring these services to Hutch subscribers."
EDGE is part of Motorola's comprehensive portfolio that delivers
flexibility in line with operators' financial needs. All existing Horizon
Macro base stations are EDGE capable through upgrade, evidence of Motorola's
intent to provide the lowest total lifetime cost of network ownership.
Boosting the data performance of an operator's existing network helps with
financial return objectives while better network performance also provides a
better end user experience. With Motorola's data portfolio, operators can
deliver 3G-like services while maximizing the efficiency of their 2.5G
investments.
About Motorola
Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is a global leader in wireless, broadband and
automotive communications technologies that help make life smarter, safer,
simpler, synchronized and fun. Sales in 2003 were US$27.1 billion. Motorola
creates innovative technological solutions that benefit people at home, at
work and on the move. The company also is a progressive corporate citizen
dedicated to operating ethically, protecting the environment and supporting
the communities in which it does business. For more information:
http://www.motorola.com .
About Motorola India
Motorola established a presence in India in 1987. It has 1300 employees
in the country and is headquartered at Gurgaon, Haryana, with sales offices at
Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore; a research and development center at Bangalore
and an R&D centre at Hyderabad. Motorola India's focus areas include,
wireless infrastructure and managed network services, broadband equipment,
mobile handsets, trunking and two-way radios, and software development.
MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent &
Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their
respective owners.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-11-2004/0002171388&...
Five Eastern European Mobile Operators Select Comverse Multimedia Messaging Service Center
MOSCOW--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 2004--
Comverse Strengthens Its Global MMS Position Through Agreements With Kyivstar/ Ukraine, Telekom Serbja/Serbia, Mobi's/Bosnia, Bakcell/Azerbaijhan And K-Mobile/Kazakhstan
Comverse, a unit of Comverse Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMVT), and the world's leading supplier of software and systems enabling network-based multimedia enhanced communication services, today announced that five Eastern European mobile operators, Kyivstar/Ukraine, Telekom Serbja/Serbia, Mobi's/Bosnia, Bakcell/Azerbaijhan and K-Mobile/Kazakhstan recently have selected the Comverse MMSC for commercial deployment.
Raphi Charit, Comverse VP for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said, "Comverse MMSC provides mobile operators with a comprehensive and quickly deployable MMSC solution, featuring high-flexibility to integrate MMS applications and launch new MMS services, while contributing to greater user acceptance through uncompromised interoperability and a superb user experience."
Comverse MMS solutions will be showcased at Sviaz 2004, Moscow, Russia. Participants visiting Sviaz 2004, May 11-16 are invited to visit the Comverse stand 1375 to learn more about the Comverse MMSC.
About the Comverse MMSC
Comverse Multimedia Messaging Service Center (MMSC) is a scalable telco-grade system, fully compliant with 3GPP MMS standards, for person-to-person as well as application-to-person messaging of rich multimedia content. Built on the eXtensible Messaging Framework (XMF) and based on components of the Comverse InSight Platform, the Comverse MMSC delivers advanced features and functionality on a configurable, open and flexible platform. Comverse MMSC advanced transcoding capabilities and rules-based XMF deliver superior MMS terminal interoperability. Successfully deployed commercially throughout the world, Comverse MMSC is the choice of more and more service providers.
About Comverse
Comverse, a unit of Comverse Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CMVT), is the world's leading provider of software and systems enabling network-based multimedia enhanced communication services. More than 400 wireless and wireline telecommunications network operators, in more than 100 countries, have selected Comverse's enhanced services systems and software, which enable the provision of revenue-generating value-added services including call answering with one-touch call return, short messaging services, IP-based unified messaging (voice, fax, and email in a single mailbox), 2.5G/3G multimedia messaging (MMS), instant communications, wireless information and entertainment services, voice-controlled dialing, messaging and browsing, prepaid wireless services, and additional personal communication services. Other Comverse Technology business units include: Verint Systems, a leading provider of analytic solutions for communications interception, digital video security and surveillance, and enterprise business intelligence; and Ulticom, a leading provider of service enabling network software for wireless, wireline, and Internet communications. Comverse Technology is an S&P 500 and NASDAQ-100 Index company. For additional information, visit the Comverse web site at http://www.comverse.com.
All product and company names mentioned herein may be registered trademarks or trademarks of Comverse or the respective referenced company(s).
Note: This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurances that forward-looking statements will be achieved, and actual results could differ materially from forecasts and estimates. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: changes in the demand for the company's products; changes in capital spending among the company's current and prospective customers; the risks associated with the sale of large, complex, high capacity systems and with new product introductions as well as the uncertainty of customer acceptance of these new or enhanced products from either the company or its competition; risks associated with rapidly changing technology and the ability of the company to introduce new products on a timely and cost-effective basis; risks associated with changes in the competitive or regulatory environment in which the company operates; risks associated with significant foreign operations and international sales and investment activities, including fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates, and valuations of public and private equity; the volatility of macroeconomic and industry conditions and the international marketplace; risks associated with the company's ability to retain existing personnel and recruit and retain qualified personnel; and other risks described in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties, as well as others, are discussed in greater detail in the filings of the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. These documents are available through the company, or through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov. The company makes no commitment to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances after the date any such statement is made
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/altavista/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040511...
China Mobile Picks Huawei
05.11.04
SHENZHEN, China -- On April 5th, 2004, China Mobile selected Huawei’s advanced GSM soft-switch MSC to build its TMSC plane network, which will cover the network of China Mobile in 31 provinces and branches, and also deal with all the long-distance mobile calls between two branches to save long-distance call transmission resources via IP transmission. It will support ‘17951’ VoIP services of China Mobile simultaneously. The contract includes over 30,000 E1 ports.
Huawei’s GSM soft-switch MSC is based on packet switch technology, and adopts advanced technologies; it can be shared by GSM and WCDMA, supports smooth evolution from GSM to WCDMA. Huawei‘s GSM soft-switch MSC is the new generation of GSM MSC.
The soft-switch GSM MSC is thus getting more and more popular. Compared with the traditional GSM MSC, it has much more advantages as shown below:
It adopts advanced soft-switch technology and supports VoIP, and saves transmission resources with IP transmission instead of TDM transmission.
It supports the R4 distributed networking function. R4 networking reduces CAPEX and OPEX and also improves network quality.
Complying with international standards and protocols, it supports all services and functions of GSM and with mere software upgrading, 3G services shall be supported in the future thus saving existing investment as the network develops.
It supports CAMEL 3 prepaid services (Voice and Data), VoIP, Ring back-tone services, Hot-billing, AoCC/AoCI, PTT, etc. And it is compatible with CAMEL 2 prepaid service downwards. What is more important is that it also supports smooth evolution to CAMEL 4.
High integration & low power consumption. Huawei’s GSM soft-switch MSC is not only highly integrated but also supports a large number of subscribers. It maximally supports 1.8M subscribers. High integration reduces network complexity, investment in equipment rooms, air conditioning and besides that it ensures system reliability and provides much easier maintenance. The amount of power consumed is immensely reduced to a mere 22 KW further realizing a reduction in operation costs thus making it the right choice for today’s telecom operators. It adopts a modular design, thus supports on-line capacity expansion and software upgrade.
Middle-ware Technology. Middle-ware technology means that the upper layer software is irrelative to the bottom layer operating system. The technology allows for cross interchange between different platforms and the little change in the service software enables the manufacturer to rapidly provide stable commercial versions. This technology can help operators increase services and functions with easy software upgrade.
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=52548
QCOM Spring Analyst Meeting: 5/13/04
http://www.qualcomm.com/IR/webcast/analystday_04.html
DATE: May 13, 2004
TIME: 8:00 a.m. EDT
DURATION: 5 hours
PURPOSE: Spring Analyst Meeting
SPEAKERS:
Bill Davidson
Vice President, Investor Relations
.: View Bio
Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
.: View Bio
Dr. Sanjay Jha
Executive Vice President and President, QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies
.: View Bio
Dr. Paul E. Jacobs
Executive Vice President and President, QUALCOMM Wireless and Internet Group
.: View Bio
Jeff Jacobs
President, Global Development
.: View Bio
Anthony S. Thornley
President and Chief Operating Officer
.: View Bio
William E. Keitel
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
.: View Bio
Vodafone chief urges co-operation
By Robert Budden in London
Published: May 10 2004 17:32 / Last Updated: May 10 2004 17:32
Arun Sarin, chief executive of Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator, has called on the mobile phone industry to work together to develop a new industry standard that will supersede second and third-generation technologies.
Speaking at the FT World Mobile Communications Conference in London, Mr Sarin said telecoms operators and manufacturers must co-operate to avoid the introduction of competing wireless technologies that could increase network roll-out costs and cause inter- operability problems bet- ween different operators.
"We need to consider a broader industry standard beyond GSM [the dominant European mobile technology]," he told delegates at the conference. "We need to map the direction for the next five to 10 years to avoid industry fragmentation."
His comments come as UK-based Vodafone experiences problems with its 3G roll-out in Japan. Vodafone has opted for W-CDMA, the European 3G standard, for its Japanese operations.
But that decision has meant it is failing to match the growth in 3G subscribers of its rivals in Japan. KDDI, the Japanese mobile operator, which has adopted the rival CDMA 2000 3G technology, has been far more successful in winning new 3G customers. Mr Sarin yesterday attributed that to KDDI's choice of 3G technology, but he said Vodafone would soon catch up with KDDI as its handsets operating on W-CDMA improved.
Mr Sarin also warned Vodafone may not achieve 100 per cent population coverage for 3G across its global footprint because of the introduction of new emerging technologies.
"For us 3G is not a big bang, it is an evolution," he said. "We are careful in deploying 3G in areas where we think we can get a return. As we go from 25 to 50 to 75 per cent [population coverage] at some point we are going to say that is enough. The last 25 per cent may not need 3G as there may be another technology that comes along."
He said there was still room for growth in voice usage on mobiles, citing the continued dominance of fixed-line networks. "There is still plenty of untapped [mobile] voice demand. Only 20 per cent of global voice usage is on mobile."
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=108...
Nokia quits WiMAX Forum
By Wireless Watch
Published Monday 10th May 2004 12:34 GMT
In a shock move, Nokia has left the WiMAX Forum, indicating a U-turn on the technology it once promoted enthusiastically. Nokia was a founding member of the Forum, before Intel joined and raised 802.16's profile beyond recognition, and during 2003 was bullish about the technology, with development projects surrounding base stations for rural regions and 802.16e handsets.
Now, the company has decided not to renew its membership, claiming that its short term priorities are to concentrate on 3G and Wi-Fi. It says it will continue to monitor WiMAX closely and so is likely to take a role again if the technology goes main-stream, but does not see a short term business case.
The surprise lies not so much in taking a more cautious approach to WiMAX - Nokia's primary interest always seemed to lie in handsets, which are some years off - but in the drastic step of breaking ties with the Forum. Even if 802.16 no longer forms a central part of the short to medium term product strategy, companies of Nokia's size and R&D clout tend to remain involved in any industry bodies, even if they do not take a highly active role.
Therefore, it seems that the defection is meant to convey a statement to the market, although if the intention was to undermine confidence in WiMAX, the Finnish company needed to make rather more noise about its decision than simply removing its name from the membership list.
The most likely explanation seems to be that Nokia perceives a real threat from WiMAX equipment to its much-vaunted strategy of creating low cost cellular base stations for developing nations. Its efforts in this direction have progressed rapidly, so perhaps it no longer needs fixed WiMAX as a back-up option - it launched 'budget' cellular systems last year and, with its market share in developed regions slipping, is placing growth in China, India and Russia at the centre of its plans.
Although WiMAX could be the basis of such an expansion too, the rapid emergence of commodity silicon will depress prices and make the margins available to Nokia less attractive than on a proprietary cellular system, especially with rivals such as Alcatel and Siemens opting to build kit based on off the shelf Intel chips.
The decision of those two giants to deliver WiMAX base stations at an early stage - and in Siemens' case, handsets later on - will have destroyed any hopes Nokia had of gaining a significant head-start in the market. A year ago when Intel first joined the Forum that Nokia had founded, putting massive marketing weight behind the standard, there was very little indication that the big names would get involved, and Nokia could have expected to have the sector to itself for at least a year after the standard was ratified and to build on its closeness to Intel to create a product that was hard to leapfrog.
Now that picture has changed, and the attractiveness of the market must have fallen considerably with the looming prospect of a price battle with some major infrastructure competitors. Better to focus on an area where Nokia has taken a strong lead, in cut-price cellular networks and terminals for developing markets.
Depression in base station market
Nokia will certainly have come to have a certain fear of WiMAX as a technology that could deepen the already serious depression in infrastructure prices. Once it might have dreamed of charging premiums for the speed and spectral efficiency of 802.16 equipment - now it is more likely that WiMAX will increase the pressure on 3G prices, especially as software defined radio and blade technology allow for the simultaneous support of multiple networks within one base station.
Even without the WiMAX factor, and despite a cautious revival in telecoms investment, life remains hard for infrastructure suppliers - although Nokia is less exposed to this than other competitors since it derives less than 15 per cent of its revenues from equipment, unlike a highly dependent player like Ericsson. At a UK base station conference this week, vendors complained that they face a triple challenge - increasingly aggressive demands for price cuts from operators; higher R&D expenditure; and new levels of competition, especially with the emergence of low-cost Chinese players.
These factors are raising the prospect of the sector's average operating margin falling below 10 per cent for the first time, according to Eiii Aono, director of telecom equity research at Credit Suisse First Boston - and all three of them can be exacerbated by WiMAX. In 2000, the GSM base station market was at its peak and worth $30bn, but when W-CDMA peaks around 2007, it is likely to be worth only two-thirds of that, even though more units will have been shipped than in GSM.
The pressure is on for base station makers to use as many standardised modules as possible - as the auto industry does - in order to pool development and reap economies of scale in manufacturing. Currently, R&D spend stands at 17 per cent of sales for major vendors, compared to 13 per cent in 1999, which Nokia calls "unsustainable".
Targeting developing nations
The pressure to cut costs will be even higher in the developing countries, on which Nokia has pinned a large chunk of its growth plan, picking out India, China, Russia and South America as its main areas of focus. Although major operators in all these countries have shown interest in WiMAX, Nokia has clearly decided to attack with a unique offering and try to mop up market share with its cellular systems, which are widely reported to be ground breaking in price/performance, before WiMAX is sufficiently mobile to be a real competitor.
It can live happily alongside fixed wireless WiMAX, which is an alternative mainly to DSL and cable, not to cellular, but it does seem to be leaving the market for mobile 802.16 infrastructure and terminals wide open for a competitor to snatch. Siemens has put itself in a good position with its early move into fixed WiMAX, and the other Nokia rival to watch will be Samsung, which virtually invented HPi, the South Korean mobile broadband wireless technology that is likely to be merged with 802.16e. That will give the Korean vendor a huge headstart when WiMAX itself goes mobile.
Even if Nokia believes the WiMAX opportunity will not justify the R&D spend required to be at its forefront, the decision to abandon the Forum still seems extreme - especially as it was not done with sufficient sound and fury to be an effective way deliberately to undermine confidence in 802.16 and turn the floodlight back on to 3G. The genie is out of the bottle now. After many years when OFDM-based broadband wireless specialists complained that the MEN triumvirate (Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia) used their influence over operators to pressurise them not to toy with non-cellular technologies, now the boot is on the other foot.
After years of slump in the equipment sector, and with the slow growth of 3G, vendors are in a less strong position to dictate, and operators are desperate for networks that will enable them to offer premium services at low cost and risk. Nokia may turn its back on WiMAX but it is no longer in a position significantly to impede its progress with that decision.
© Copyright 2004 Wireless Watch
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/10/nokia_quits_wimax/
LG Electronics to Supply 3 Million 3G Handsets to Hutchison Group of Hong Kong
May 10, 2004 (SEOUL) -- LG Electronics Inc announced on May 4 that it won an order to supply 3 million 3G handsets to Hong Kong-based Hutchison.
LG Electronics said that it will supply its 3G handset model, LG-U8110, to Hutchison in 2004.
The company said it has already shipped the first installment in April, and plans to send the remaining handsets during the latter half of 2004.
This is the biggest order for a single handset model, LG Electronics officials said.
(Maeil Business Newspaper, Korea)
http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/asabt/news/306261
Schwab SoundView Capital Markets Semiconductor Conference
May 11, 2004, 11:00 a.m.
Presentation by Tony Thornley, President & COO
Webcast Presentation
http://www.qualcomm.com/IR/presentations.html
FAXING VIA SATELLITE
San Jose, CA, May 8, 2004 (TheDigest.Com) - Globalstar, the world's most widely-used handheld satellite phone, today announced the commercial introduction of fax service over its network, allowing users to send and receive fax documents wherever they use their Globalstar phone around the world. The company's new StarFax service offers the highest fax transmission speed of any mobile satellite phone service and at the lowest per-page cost.
The new StarFax service provides Globalstar users with complete fax capability via a small interface device that works with virtually any standard Group 3 fax machine. The interface device communicates via the Globalstar satellite network with a central server that receives fax images and forwards them on to their final destination. As a result, users can send and receive faxes via their fax machine as if it were connected to a regular phone line, with all satellite and interface links handled automatically in the background.
In receive mode, the system uses a store-and-forward system, with fax images held on a central server until they are successfully delivered. If no Globalstar connection is active to receive the image when first sent, the central server attempts to resend the fax at regular intervals. In send mode, StarFax service will initially allow delivery to any phone number in the U.S. or Canada, with full worldwide sending capability expected to be offered in the future.
Globalstar's StarFax service is available to U.S.-based Globalstar subscribers for a flat service fee of $39.95 per month (prices and availability vary by country). Users pay only for the cost of the phone call, with no additional per-page charge. Users can choose from two interface devices to access the service:
-- Globalstar StarFax 100: Provides full send/receive fax capability via the Globalstar satellite network. The size of a paperback book, The StarFax 100 works with virtually any fax machine, connecting directly with the Globalstar Qualcomm fixed and mobile units.
-- Globalstar StarPort 700: Same features as the StarFax 100, plus Ethernet and wireless LAN capabilities, as well as a serial port that allows data calls (for example, from a PC or PDA) to be connected to the Globalstar network directly through the interface device. Additional extra services and capabilities will be developed and made available to StarPort 700 users in the future. StarPort 700s can also communicate directly to other StarPort 700 units, bypassing the central server entirely, allowing users to set up, in effect, their own private network.
Globalstar offers satellite telecommunications services, for both voice and data, from virtually anywhere in over 120 countries around the world. Globalstar's main operating company is Globalstar LLC., a non-public limited liability company majority owned by affiliates of Thermo Capital Partners LLC. For more information, visit Globalstar's web site at www.globalstar.com, or Thermo Capital's website at www.thermocapitalpartners.com
Contact:
Mac Jeffery for Globalstar, +1-408-933-4434
Source: Globalstar
http://www.thedigest.com/articles/164/15.html
3's 3G Network Is Tops
10th May , 2004
ASIA : 3 Hong Kong demonstrated its superior 3G network which is ranked among the world’s topmost 3G networks. As the first and only 3G network in Hong Kong, 3 has stayed ahead with its unrivalled network coverage, data speed, video streaming quality, roaming and network management to provide 3 users with the best-level of 3G video mobile services.
At a presentation, Mr Cliff Woo, Deputy Managing Director and Wireless Networks Director of Hutchison Telecom, introduced the leading edges of 3 network, “Since 1999, we have devoted ample resources and efforts in the implementation of 3G in Hong Kong. With a track record of network excellence and our technical expertise, we have successfully established a world-class 3G network to provide superb territory coverage, full video and voice connectivity locally and internationally, fastest data speed and comprehensive roaming capability. We are proud to have set many shining records in the local 3G development, as well as being one of the leading 3G players in the global mobile market.”
Best 3G coverage
3 Hong Kong now provides 99% 3G network coverage at populated areas with over 1,300 radio stations (980 outdoor and 320 indoor), which is the world’s largest number of 3G radio stations in any single metropolitan city. Its superb indoor coverage has extended to most shopping centres and hotels with indoor radio stations at over 220 dedicated locations, major department stores and restaurants, major office buildings, airport and HKCEC, karaoke and entertainment spots, all public and private housing estates and even lifts in selected buildings, allowing customers to enjoy complete 3G coverage in both outdoor and indoor areas across the territory.
Best mobile data speed in Hong Kong
3 Hong Kong adopts the most advanced UMTS mobile radio technology which is more resilient to interference, offering a data speed of about 360 kbps, which is up to ten times faster than GPRS/EDGE services in Hong Kong.
Best video streaming quality
With the highest mobile data speed in Hong Kong, 3 network can provide the best video streaming quality. The video content it delivers are encoded at bit rate of over 100kbps in advanced 3GPP MPEG4 format to enable smooth and vivid streaming which can hardly be rivalled by current 2.5G technology. 3 Hong Kong’s advanced streaming architecture also realises virtual home environment vision for real time information such as live streaming of traffic condition.
World’s first to pioneer 3G coverage in subways and elevators
3 Hong Kong pioneers to extend its network horizon to cover subways and elevators. It is also the first local 3G operator committed to providing 3G full coverage for the whole MTR and Airport Express, in addition to its current full 2G/2.5G coverage in all MTR stations. 3 Hong Kong is the first to introduce 3G to 2G handover technology in the MTR stations.
As the first to pioneer 3G coverage in elevators, 3’s superb network coverage is now extended to over 300 lifts cars of major commercial buildings.
Asia’s first to offer video IDD and 3G roaming services to Japan
3 Hong Kong is the first in Asia to launch video IDD service to Japan, enabling its Hong Kong customers to make video calls to FOMA users in Japan. In April 2004, 3 further rolled out automatic voice roaming service to Japan. Currently, 3’s video roaming services cover all 3 countries including Austria, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Sweden and the UK. 3’s voice roaming coverage is equivalent to 2G, covering over 280 networks in 170 regions and destinations. 3 Hong Kong is also the first to enable local content browsing while roaming on 3G.
Territory-first cross generation multi-network centralised control
3 has established a world-class Centralized Network Control Centre to manage four mobile networks - 3G, GSM, PCN and CDMA – 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. With a top notch web-based Performance Monitoring System, it manages over 3,000 network nodes, monitors over 100,000 types of network alarms, automatically processes over 5 GB network performance data per day and is capable of generating as latest as the last hour’s performance statistics. End user quality can be detected and problems can be figured out as early as possible for immediate solutions. The Centre has also achieved 99.999% network availability since 2003.
Network Optimization
To provide customers with the best level of service, 3 is carrying out non-stop 3G network optimization and has always set new records in the optimization since April 2003:
- conducted 330,000 km drive test
- tested 30,000 handover parameters
- tested 15,000 cell parameters
- handled 500 antenna re-adjustments
TODAY'S PRESS RELEASES
All Material Subject to Copyright. All logos, graphics and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/May2004/7036.htm
New LG CDMA Wireless Phone in US
10th May , 2004
US : Riding the great wave of success from one of last year's best-selling phones from Verizon Wireless, LG Mobile Phones introduces the LG VX4600 mobile handset.
Its sleek clamshell design now includes an external Organic Electro-Luminescent (OEL)
display that gives colorful flashes of light to indicate events such as incoming calls, voice mail, incoming text messages -- all without draining the battery. The LG VX4600 also features a 65K color internal LCD screen and a blue-backlit keypad, making the phone alive with color.
"With the success of the LG VX4400 phone from Verizon Wireless in the market last year, we knew that consumers would clamor for an upgrade to that great phone," said Juno Cho, president of LG Mobile Phones. "With the external OEL, made popular by the LG VX6000 phone, consumers can be confident that they've got another winner with the LG VX4600."
The LG VX4600 handset also features Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS), two-way SMS text messaging, voice-activated dialing and Internet access via an Openwave UP 4.1 Web browser. Rich CMX MIDI sound and 36 unique ring-tones make the VX4600 a feast for the ears as well as the eyes.
Features:
-- All Digital: 1.9 GHz PCS, 800 MHz CDMA
-- Dimensions: 3.43" (H) x 1.81" (W) x 0.98"(D)
-- Weight: 3.37 oz
-- Standard Battery: Lithium Ion, 950 mAh
-- Talk Time: 3.5 Hrs (Digital)/Standby 129 Hrs (Digital)
-- Certain features may use more power & cause actual standby & talk times to vary
-- Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS) - send and receive text messages with graphics and sound*
-- Two-Way Short Messaging Service (SMS)
-- External LCD for Quick Access to Caller ID (OEL)
-- Java Support for Application and Game Downloads
-- Web Browser Openwave UP 4.1
-- CMX MIDI for Polyphonic Ringer and Sound Capability
-- Download Pictures and Ringers
-- 36 Unique Ringtones Plus Vibrate and Silent Modes
-- Voice Activated Dialing
-- Speed Dialing (99 Entries)
-- Blue Backlit Keypad and 5 Way Navigation Key
-- Phone Book with 499 contacts
-- Personal Organizer: Calendar with Scheduler, Voice Memo (up to 4 minutes), Notepad
-- Tools: Alarm Clock, EZ Tip Calc, Calculator, World Clock
-- 14 Unique Wallpapers
-- Personalize Theme Colors (Blue, Green, Violet, Orange) and Font Colors (Black, Blue, Red, Green, Pink) and Font Sizes (Normal, Large)
-- Call Setup Capabilities: Auto Retry, Answer Call, Auto Answer, One-
Touch Dial, Voice Privacy, Auto Volume
-- English and Spanish User Interface
-- External USB Capable
-- E911 Emergency Location Capable
-- TTY/TDD Capable
-- T9 Text Input
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/May2004/7038.htm
Vodafone Chooses Nokia for Australian, N.Z. Networks (Update2)
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Vodafone Group Plc, the world's biggest wireless company, appointed Nokia Oyj to build its so-called third- generation mobile phone networks in Australia and New Zealand.
Nokia will also help plan and operate both networks, Vodafone said in a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News. The contract's value wasn't disclosed because it's commercially sensitive, said Jeni Mundy, technology director at Vodafone New Zealand Ltd.
In December, Vodafone New Zealand Chief Executive Tim Miles said the local network would cost about NZ$200 million ($122 million). Ericsson AB, Nortel Networks Corp. and partners Siemens AG and NEC Corp. were also bidding to build the network. ``Anyone could have done this, but Nokia had the most competitive solution,'' Mundy said.
Nokia, the world's biggest mobile-phone maker, will work for the first time with Vodafone in Australia, where Ericsson has previously been a partner in developing its mobile network.
In New Zealand, Vodafone ``expects to start offering services that use 3G in mid-2005, with an initial focus on the main centers,'' said Mundy. ``The time frame in Australia will be different,'' she said, without providing details.
Since buying BellSouth Corp.'s New Zealand mobile-phone business five years ago, Vodafone has added services such as text messaging and offered global roaming to triple its New Zealand market share to 54 percent. It's betting a third-generation network will extend its gains against Telecom Corp., the nation's largest phone company.
Telecom and TelstraClear Ltd., the New Zealand unit of Australia's Telstra Corp., are also considering building 3G networks in New Zealand.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Tracy Withers in Wellington, New Zealand at twithers@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Chris Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: May 9, 2004 23:26 EDT
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=arwsv3FqHfPU&refer=uk
India's mobile subscriber base hits 34 million
May 10, 2004
Reuters
India's private telecoms firms offering CDMA-based mobile services said 259,233 customers signed up in April, boosting the mobile base to 34.56 million in the world's fastest growing major wireless market.
Data from the Association of Basic Telecom Operators (ABTO), which represents six companies, said its user base at the end of April stood at 7.41 million customers, up 3.6% from March when more than 400,000 users had opted for CDMA services.
S.C. Khanna, secretary general at ABTO, said the drop in growth rates in April was mainly because operators had launched attractive schemes in March to lure users and those tariff plans were not extended in the past month.
Late last week, rival firms offering GSM-based mobile services reported their user base had grown by just under a million customers in April to 27.15 million subscribers.
As a consequence only 1.25 million users entered the flourishing mobile sector in April compared with 1.9 million in the previous month and 1.63 million in February, pointing to slowing growth in the sector.
Some analysts have blamed the slowdown in subscribers to a combination of slow network expansion by a few carriers in remote and untapped areas, cost constraints and high duties levied by the government on telecoms equipment and handsets.
But Khanna said he was confident subscriber numbers would pick up in the coming months as leading CDMA operators such as Reliance Infocomm and the Tata were extending their reach.
Reliance is planning to expand its services to 4,000 towns and cities this year from 1,100 now.
The industry is expected to have more than 100 million subscribers by 2005 as one of the lowest call rates in the world attracts customers to the untapped market.
Roughly 3% of Indians own a mobile phone compared with more than 20% in China.
COPYRIGHT: © Reuters 2004
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=94918
CDMA2000 in 450 MHz Band Opens New Wireless Opportunities
10th May , 2004
Europe : The CDMA Development Group (CDG) reported today that across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa, there are seven commercial CDMA2000 networks at 450 MHz, five more will launch in 2004 and three trials are taking place. Eight NMT-450 operators have migrated to CDMA2000 and a number of countries, including Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Pakistan are deploying or evaluating the technology to advance their universal service goals. Many CDMA infrastructure providers and handset vendors offer CDMA450 products.
“There is a growing interest in CDMA450 as operators and regulators around the world recognize the unique benefits of the technology,” said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. “CDMA450 addresses the unique needs of two important markets that have been largely excluded from the vast wireless explosion that has taken place in developed countries: a large base of NMT-450 operators and vast populations living in remote areas. CDMA450 offers a very cost-effective and flexible solution to bring 3G services to millions of people.”
CDMA450 is based on CDMA2000 IMT-2000 standards and is “down banded” to the 400-500 MHz frequency range. Currently, CDMA2000 1X and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO are commercially available and are being deployed in the 450 MHz frequency band, and CDMA2000 1xEV-DV is being developed. The advantages of the technology derive from the spectral efficiency and high-speed data capabilities of CDMA2000 and the expanded coverage afforded by a lower frequency band. CDMA450 offers all of the advanced services supported by 3G technologies. In addition to traditional mobile services, such as voice and short messaging, CDMA450 enables a wide range of new services for consumers and enterprise users, including broadband Internet access, high-quality music, image and video downloads, push-to-talk, and access to corporate intranets.
The favorable propagation at lower frequency bands (450 MHz) translates to significantly lower deployment and operating costs. CDMA2000 at 450 MHz provides a larger cell size when compared to other frequency bands, and thus requires fewer cell sites and significantly lower capital investment and operational expenses to service vast coverage areas.
Leading equipment manufacturers, including Airvana, Ericsson, Huawei, Lucent Technologies, Nortel Networks, UTStarcomm, and ZTE offer CDMA20001X and CDMA2000 1X EV-DO solutions for the 450 MHz band. A broad range of handsets and data cards are available from Axesstel, Compal, Giga Telecom, GTRAN Wireless, Pantech, Synertek, Curitel, Hyundai Syscom, Topex, Huawei, and ZTE.
The CDG and International 450 Association (IA 450) organized the International CDMA450 Conference in Shenzhen, China, April 21-22. The conference, which was hosted by Huawei, had nearly 250 attendees from around the world, and discussed the benefits of CDMA450, including operator case studies, services available on CDMA450 networks, and handset availability and developments.
The CDG and IA 450 are partnering again in June with 3GPP2 to present a one-day seminar titled “CDMA450 Evolution Seminar: Technology, Services and Standards.” This event will focus on the technical and standards developments happening for CDMA450 technology.
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/May2004/7040.htm
Hutchison to buy 3 millions phones from LG
The announcement was made a day after Britain's Vodafone Group, began commercial 3G services in Germany and Portugal.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
MILAN: Hutchison Whampoa Ltd has agreed to buy three million video-capable mobile phones from South Korea's LG Electronics Inc., the Hong Kong conglomerate's Italian mobile unit said.
Details on the value of the deal for the high-speed third-generation (3G) network handsets were not disclosed in the statement issued in Milan.
But South Korea's Maeil Business newspaper this week said Hutchison was in talks with LG, a home appliance maker, to buy $1 billion worth of handsets.
The announcement came a day after Britain's Vodafone Group Plc began commercial 3G services in Germany and Portugal, a big step forward in the long-delayed rollout of the technology in Europe.
"The global agreement forsees the supply of three million video phones by the end of 2004 to all the 3G companies of the Hutchison Whampoa group," the statement said. Hutchison launched its 3G services in Italy and Britain last year and, after being hampered with problems in the supply of handsets, it is now operating 3G in several countries around the world.
In its statement on Wednesday the Italian unit said LG's U8110 phone was available for sale immediately with prices starting at 199 euros ($241.5).
Hutchison Whampoa also has supply agreements with Motorola and NEC Corp.
© Reuters
http://www.ciol.com/content/news/2004/104050508.asp
First Public 3G UMTS Call in Lithuania
5th May , 2004
Europe : Motorola Inc. announced the launch of a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) trial in conjunction with Omnitel, the largest wireless network operator in the Baltic States.
Inset is Margaret Rice-Jones, corporate vice president Motorola’s Global Telecom Solutions Sector quoted below.
The trial will launch on 1 May, the day Lithuania joins the European Union.
The Acting President of the Republic of Lithuania, H.E. Arturas Paulauskas, will make the first live public UMTS video call to the country’s newly appointed European Union commissioner Mrs. Dalia Grybauskaite, who is based in Brussels on the launch day. The trial, which will make 3G services available to residents of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, is scheduled to be completed by November 2004.
Lithuania needed to meet strict telecommunications criteria in order to gain entry to the EU and has exceeded the requirements with the UMTS trial. Improved economic conditions and increased competition between operators in the region have seen the mobile telecoms market in Lithuania steadily expand. Omnitel currently has over one million wireless subscribers and estimates an annual subscriber growth rate of 24 percent by 2004.
As part of this trial, Motorola will supply and deploy Omnitel’s full UMTS Radio Access Network (UTRAN), including UMTS multi-standard base stations (Horizon 3G Base Stations), common GPRS/UMTS packet data core equipment and application server to support packet video streaming, Internet browsing, e-mail access and other applications over a UMTS network.
“We continue to see progress in the rollout of UMTS across Europe, and this trial with Omnitel is another step in our continued strategy to make 3G a reality,” said Margaret Rice-Jones, corporate vice president of Motorola and general manager, Motorola’s Global Telecom Solutions Sector, EMEA. “Our experience and technical strength gives us an advantage in helping customers such as Omnitel to launch their UMTS networks quickly and efficiently.”
“The first call on 1st May marks a historical occasion for Lithuania and we are proud to be part of it,” said Antanas Zabulis, president and CEO of Omnitel. “We are pleased to team with Motorola to bring Lithuania closer to a new era of mobile services. Motorola’s experience and track record make them the best choice to help us bring a variety of services which will open new horizons to our customers.”
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/May2004/7021.htm
Hutchison Launches New CDMA Wireless SIMs
5th May , 2004
ASIA : Hutchison Telecom launches two new prepaid SIM cards, the “CDMA Local Rechargeable SIM Card” and “CDMA Prepaid SIM Card”. With Hutchison Telecom’s comprehensive CDMA network coverage, customers and travellers from Mainland China now have more choices to enjoy convenient mobile communications services anytime, anywhere.
The new “CDMA Local Rechargeable SIM Card” is offered at an introductory price of only HK$68, which supports local calls, both local and international SMS, as well as local call forwarding. Airtime charge for local calls is only HK$0.25 per minute. Another new “CDMA Prepaid SIM Card” is priced at HK$98. Apart from having the same functions as those of the “CDMA Local Rechargeable SIM Card”, the prepaid SIM card also supports IDD and international call forwarding. Now, customers are able to make calls to China and overseas anytime. Customers can purchase the recharge voucher and recharge the sim cards simply via integrated voice response system or SMS.
Both the “CDMA Local Rechargeable SIM Card” and “CDMA Prepaid SIM Card” are available at all Orange Shops, Orange Customer Service Centres and official dealers.
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/May2004/7019.htm
Ericsson CEO says strong profitability to continue
May 5, 2004
Reuters
Ericsson's CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg said the company would maintain its profitability through tight cost controls, having reported forecast-beating margins for the first quarter, but remained vague on sales.
After three years of cost cutting amid shrinking demand the company has been steadily increasing its profitability to reach a 44.7% gross margin and a 16.1% operating margin in the first quarter.
"No company in the world should be able to beat us on costs," CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg said. "We have struggled to survive, but we have succeeded and our strength is now impressive. Don't underestimate how eager and hungry we are."
The company has more than halved its workforce to 47,000 people since 2001, and with most of the cost cuts already in place investors' focus has turned to how fast Ericsson can grow sales amid fierce industry competition.
Rivals like Nokia and Motorola have also reported strong first-quarter results in their network units.
While confident about Ericsson's ability to control costs, Svanberg was careful not to boost investors' expectations for sales growth and cautioned against extrapolating the company's strong first-quarter sales and orders for the rest of the year.
He said first-quarter results included overdue operator spending from pent-up demand after a long period of no investment.
"There is a catch-up effect. To what extent will that start to fade out? We have to see. One has to be very careful in drawing conclusions from the first quarter," Svanberg said. Precise margin values may change slightly from quarter to quarter around the first quarter levels, he said.
Ericsson previously reported a 9% year-on-year rise in sales and a 22% rise in orders for the first quarter to April 23, and said the market for mobile networks would grow 3% to 9% in dollar terms in 2004, upgrading its previous outlook of flat to slight growth.
But it gave no outlook on sales for the second quarter, a forecast which analysts would have welcomed. Svanberg reiterated that the telecoms market had historically grown two to three times faster than gross domestic product, and that it was likely to return to such growth levels.
He said the first-quarter margins were sustainable despite falling equipment prices, because of rising volumes and margins for the ultra-fast 3G networks and falling costs for the popular GSM-standard networks.
Operators with a GSM network in place will eventually all upgrade to the much faster EDGE technology for GSM, also sold by Ericsson, along with the rollout of 3G networks, which use different spectrum. The company was also gaining market share in the smaller but fast-growing CDMA-standard mobile network market.
Ericsson spokesman Henry Stenson said the company wanted to move away from quarterly forecasts that tend to be volatile, and instead focus on longer-term trends such as margins.
"They are diplomatically downplaying the growth prospects," said Per Lindberg, analyst at Dresdner Kleiwort Wasserstein.
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=94524
D.R., below is another article on CHU:
China Unicom says Q1 net rises to 1.4 bln yuan
Thu Apr 29, 2004 10:30 AM ET
HONG KONG, April 29 (Reuters) - China's number-two mobile operator, China Unicom Ltd (0762.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) , posted an 8.7 percent rise in first-quarter net profit on Thursday, thanks to the purchase of nine provincial networks from its parent in December.
China Unicom said its unaudited profit for the first three months of 2004 rose to 1.4 billion yuan (US$169.1 million) from 1.29 billion yuan in the same period last year, as operating revenue jumped 22.6 percent to 19.59 billion yuan.
The networks acquisition boosted the firm's user numbers by almost 11 million.
But its outlook is threatened by a bruising campaign at larger rival China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd (0941.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) to chase the lower-spending users who make up Unicom's core market, analysts said.
They are also concerned that rising profitability at the group's newer network using CDMA technology will not be enough to offset shrinking margins at its older and bigger GSM-standard network.
Shares in China Unicom have skidded 11.7 percent in 2004 through Wednesday amid a broader sell-off in China stocks as the market worries about Beijing's efforts to cool a soaring economy. Shares in China Mobile fell 12.79 percent over the same period.
(US$=8.28 yuan)
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4987826
Ericsson picks up two Chinese contracts
Ericsson has signed two major mobile network expansion deals in Sichuan Province, Southwest China, valued at over US$ 120 million. The CDMA2000 1X network expansion agreement was reached with Sichuan Unicom, while the GSM network expansion agreement, was entered into with Sichuan Mobile.
Under the agreement with Sichuan Unicom for expansion of its CDMA2000 1X network, Ericsson will provide its end-to-end solution in new low-density areas. In addition, Ericsson will enhance coverage and capacity of existing CDMA2000 1X networks. Deployment of the network equipment has already begun and the commercial service is expected to begin by the end of June 2004.
According to the agreement with Sichuan Mobile, Ericsson will supply hardware as well as software to pave the way for future 3G deployment and to expand the GSM network coverage in the province. The implementation of the contract will be finished at the end of 2004.
Mr. Robert James Parris, Executive Vice President of Ericsson China and General Manager of Region Central, said, "Ericsson is honored to once again be chosen by our customers to provide our industry-leading network equipment and solutions to Sichuan in order to meet the fast growing local communications needs, " He continued, "The two agreements further demonstrate Ericsson's technology and market leadership in both major mobile standards CDMA and GSM and our long-term commitment in China."
In 1996, Ericsson signed the first contract with Sichuan Unicom for deployment of GSM network, and in 2000, Ericsson began to help Sichuan Unicom build its CDMA network. Since then it has become Sichuan Unicom's largest mobile network infrastructure provider both for CDMA2000 1X and GSM.
Ericsson started its cooperation with Sichuan Mobile in 1993, when Ericsson helped deploy a TACS network in the province. In 1997, Ericsson began to provide Sichuan Mobile the GSM network equipment, and it is now the largest GSM equipment supplier of Sichuan Mobile.
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/11079.shtml
CDMA phone puts features in focus
By David Carey
EE Times
February 02, 2004 (8:07 AM EST)
Potential large-scale design directions for handsets can often be seen in Japan. Toshiba's CDMA 2000-1x phone, launched last October under KDDI's Au wireless service, bristles with features and illustrates mobile capability and component content that literally go beyond the call.
Cameras remain the rage. The A5501T has an embedded CCD with 3x digital zoom and other features. Along with four selectable image sizes, the built-in camera has a self-timer, 11-step brightness adjustment and special effects of sepia-tone, black/white and negative. Choosing CCD over CMOS imagers parallels a broader trend in Japanese cam phones where mobile-friendly versions of the old guard in image sensors hold majority share. In the A5501, a Sharp camera module with sensor, coprocessor and timing generation takes 1-Mpixel still pictures or lower-resolution 15-second video mail clips. Video runs through a Toshiba MPEG-4 encoder/decoder with support for plug-in viewing on a TV from an Analog Devices NTSC/PAL encoder. Picture quality trails a digital still camera's, but the cam phone resolution race is on.
For cellular voice and data, Toshiba tapped Qualcomm's 6000 series chip set. Along with the MSM6100 digital baseband, the RFR6000 and RFT6100 devices form the receive and transmit processor paths, respectively, in Qualcomm's first direct-conversion radio platform, coined Radio-One. While still more complex than GSM radio platforms, direct conversion has eliminated some of heterodyne CMDA's more expensive components. The RFL6000 low-noise amplifier boosts both cellular and GPS signals to the RFR6000. All data in and out of the handset rides the CDMA-1x data pipe of the Qualcomm chip set, at top speeds of 144 kbits/second.
Internal memory stores from Toshiba (16 Mbytes of NAND flash and 1Mbyte of SRAM) and Fujitsu (16 Mbytes of NOR flash and 16 Mbytes of FCRAM) mark the memory demands of feature-laden terminals. The A5501T also supports a plug-in SD memory card for expanded storage.
Toshiba's display goes a step beyond the typical handset screen. An Epson LCD controller provides support for the color 2.2-inch 320 x 240 (QVGA) polysilicon TFT main display and 1.1 inch DSTN caller ID. The QVGA panel provides sharp images, and caller ID is the camera's viewfinder when the clamshell-style case is closed.
This complexity doesn't yet come cheap -the bill of materials for the A5501T is more than 3x that of the simplest GSM wireless phone. But if the Japanese affinity for do-it-all handsets spreads, the chip industry could be in for a great ride.
David Carey is president of Portelligent (www.teardown.com). The Austin, Texas, company produces teardown reports and related industry re-search on wireless, mobile and personal electronics.
http://www.eet.com
http://www.eet.com/sys/uth/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18311141
The world wide source for analysis of the global wireless economy
What Price a 3G Base Station?
04.29.04
BATH, U.K. –- Commodity Base Station Event -- It’s a hard life in the mobile infrastructure business, say a group of top equipment suppliers gathered in the U.K. this week to discuss if, when, and why their flagship 3G base stations will become low-margin “commodity” boxes.
Topping the list of complaints are: operators demanding ever lower prices; higher R&D costs; the emergence of low-cost Chinese suppliers; and cut-throat competition [ed. note: so, nothing new there then].
Eiji Aono, director of telecom equity research at Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. in London, explains that the basic concern is that vendors won’t be able to maintain today’s average 10 percent operating margins. “The commoditization of the market makes it difficult to maintain profitability at these levels,” says the vowel-rich analyst. “Pricing pressure will cap revenue opportunities, and vendors need to develop business models to cope with this.”
To illustrate the point, Aono notes that the GSM base station market at its peak in 2000 was worth around $30 billion, but that when the market for third-generation wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) base stations peaks in 2007 he expects it to be worth just $20 billion, despite the expectation that more units will be shipped than at the top of the GSM sales cycle.
Brett Simpson, analyst at research firm Arete Research LLC, says the typical node B -- the radio link between wireless devices and the rest of a cellular network -- today is selling for around €25,000 (US$29,500), down from €60,000 ($70,960) or €70,000 ($82,780) a year or two ago.
“We expect it to drop below €15,000 [$17,740] in a few years, and some operators are telling us they want node B’s for the same price as a GSM BTS [€11,000 or $13,000] in the next couple of years,” says Simpson. “Vendors aren’t going to make money from this.”
Speakers at the event from Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LU - message board), Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT - message board), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK - message board), and Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group all agreed that the way to combat falling price is to move to common hardware platforms and increase use of third-party modules.
Others say the mobile equipment industry should take inspiration from the aircraft, automobile, computer, and steel industries, and learn from how they moved to using standardized components and processes to increase efficiency.
Ed Candy, technology director at European carrier Hutchison 3G HK Ltd., jokingly explains why operators want to keep equipment prices low: “To develop new services, a much higher proportion of our network consists of application servers [than was the case with GSM]. We’re looking for really cheap base stations so we can go and spend all our money with the IT vendors."
— Gabriel Brown, Chief Analyst, Unstrung Insider
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=51942
China to Postpone Indefinitely Its Wireless LAN Standard 'WAPI'
April 30, 2004 (TOKYO) -- The US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) reached an agreement on April 21, 2004 US time under which China said it will gradually alleviate or abolish its non-tariff trade barriers in line with the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
Specifically, China will suspend indefinitely the implementation of "WAPI," the WLAN authentication and privacy infrastructure it had worked out and planned to put into practical use by June 2004.
The agreement also includes a ban on Chinese government intervention in the selection of 3G telecommunications standards for mobile phones, and intensification of control over infringement of copyrights. In each item, China is conceding to the US assertions and agreeing to alleviate its highly protective trade policies.
The US-China agreement concerning WAPI-related matters may be boiled down to: (1) the indefinite postponement of the start of WAPI implementation by the Chinese government, (2) China is ready to accept comments from Chinese and foreign concerns on revision of WAPI standards, and (3) it will revise WAPI in line with international standards.
The United States and China also reached an agreement on 3G-related matters on three points: (1) the Chinese government will support technology neutrality with respect to the adoption of 3G standards, (2) telecommunications service providers in China will be allowed to make their own choices as to which standard to adopt, depending on their individual needs, and (3) Chinese regulators will not be involved in negotiating royalty payment terms with relevant intellectual property rights holders.
Intellectual Property Rights Protection to be Strengthened, Stricter Crackdown on Violators and Penalties
China also made clear its plan to work out specific measures to crack down on piracy and counterfeiting acts.
More concretely, it will: (1) intensify criminal investigations and increase penalties for IPR violations; (2) apply criminal sanctions to the import, export, storage and distribution of pirated and counterfeit products; (3) apply criminal sanctions to online piracy; (4) support international organizations for cracking down on IPR infringements; (5) increase customs enforcement actions against infringing products; (6) promptly ratify and implement the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet Treaties on intellectual property rights; and (7) extend an existing ban on the use of pirated software in central and local governments.
Originally, the Chinese government established a law to obligate all wireless LAN products distributed in China to abide by WAPI after June 1, 2004, and products not in conformity with WAPI would not be allowed to be sold within China. The US Trade Representative (USTR), the Wi-Fi Alliance and US Intel Corp were against this measure.
With regard to the 3G standards, the Chinese government was reported to have been ready to support its own standards, "TD-SCDMA," and had planned to demand communications carriers adopting W-CDMA and CDMA 2000 to provide their clients with TD-SCDMA services at the same time.
Attending this year's JCCT, among others, were China's Vice Premier Wu Yi and US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. Vice Premier Wu Yi visited the US on April 19, 2004 and conferred with top US representatives.
Related stories:
- Wireless Focus: Wi-Fi Chip Makers Attract Investors
- Asia-Pacific WLAN Equipment Shipments Grow 75%, Says Gartner
- ST Targets China's High-Growth Segments
- Three Reasons China is Looking to 3G Services
- Chinese Mobile Phone Service Operators to Move Fast to Build 3G Networks, Says Panasonic Mobile Communications President
(Hiroto Kaneko, Staff Editor, Nikkei Electronics)
http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/asabt/news/305167
Reliance Q4 profit jumps, plans huge investments
By Sumana Ramanan and Himangshu Watts
BOMBAY (Reuters) - India's largest oil and petrochemicals company, Reliance Industries Ltd, made a 29 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit as product prices rose, and expects to keep up the momentum, it said on Thursday.
It also announced a 350-billion rupee ($7.9 billion) capital expenditure plan over the next five years to expand its petrochemicals capacity, develop its recently discovered gas field and build a network of gas stations.
"We are seeing a new phase of growth in the petrochemicals cycle," Reliance Industries' Managing Director Anil Ambani told an earnings news conference.
The flagship of the powerful Reliance group, India's biggest conglomerate by sales, made a net profit of 14.19 billion rupees ($320 million) for the quarter to March 31, beating the median forecast of 13.37 billion in a Reuters poll of 10 analysts.
But its shares dropped after the results in a weak market, ending down two percent at 529.20 rupees.
"Given the strong demand for oil products, the core business will still be the growth driver. But overall bearish sentiment in the market has overridden the results," said Jigar Shah, head of research at local brokerage K.R. Choksey.
Reliance Industries, which operates India's largest refinery, reported quarterly income of 145.85 billion rupees, up 11.5 percent from 130.81 billion rupees a year earlier.
For the full year to March, Reliance reported a net profit of 51.6 billion rupees, up 26 percent from the preceding year.
Its shares had already lost 5.7 percent in 2004 through Wednesday's close, while the index had dropped two percent. The index lost a further two-thirds of a percent on Thursday.
GAS STATIONS, EXPLORATION
The company plans to set up 2,000 gas stations by March, to add retailing margins to its profit and reduce dependence on state-run firms that now own more than 99 percent of India's 20,000 gas stations.
Reliance, India's sole private refiner, has a licence to set up more than 5,800 gas stations.
Founded by the late Dhirubhai Ambani in 1958 to trade synthetic yarn, Reliance Industries has grown into a fully integrated energy behemoth that is India's largest private-sector company by sales.
It became a virtual monopoly in the domestic petrochemicals sector after it acquired its main rival, state-run Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd, over two years ago, while its 660,000 barrels-a-day refinery processes about a quarter of India's requirements.
Reliance is set to become a key player in oil and gas exploration. In 2002, it discovered an estimated 14.5 trillion cubic feet (410.6 billion cubic metres) of gas, India's largest such find in decades.
In the longer term, it sees its gas exploration business contributing up to 10 percent of revenue.
Reliance Industries and other group companies together own a 51 percent stake in Reliance Energy Ltd, a leading private-sector utility that plans to build what it says will be the world's largest gas-fired power plant, with a capacity of 3,800 megawatts.
It made an aggressive entry into telecoms through Reliance Infocom, a 45 percent subsidiary, in December 2002.
The company, which provides mobile phone services based on CDMA (code division multiple access) technology, now has nearly 6.5 million customers and is neck and neck with GSM (global system for mobile communications) rival Bharti Tele-Ventures for the top slot in the booming sector.
Reliance expects to launch fixed-line and broadband services for the enterprise segment within a month.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/040429/137/2cu11.html
5 Million 3G European Users in 2004
30th April , 2004
Europe : Over 5 million Western Europeans will be using a 3G mobile device by the end of 2004 but subscriber numbers will remain low until at least 2005, according to a new report, Western European
Mobile Forecasts and Analysis 20042009, released this week by Analysys Research.
Although there has been a spate of 3G service launches in 2004, including those from high-profile operators such as Telefónica Móviles and Vodafone, the report forecasts that by the end of 2004 there will be just 5.3 million 3G subscribers in Western Europe, up from 600,000 at the end of 2003.
However, with many more massmarket launches expected to happen towards the end of 2004 and in the course of 2005, significant growth in 3G subscriber numbers will begin from 2005 onwards. Demand for 3G services is then expected to rise quickly, with around 70% (240 million) of all Western European mobile subscribers using a 3G-enabled device by the end of 2009.
"Several Western European operators have launched 3G data services in 2004, increasing the likelihood that others like Orange, T-Mobile and TIM will be successful in entering the 3G mass market during the year," said Ariel Dajes, author of the report. "Recent market developments also make it more likely that handset manufacturers like Nokia will be able to deliver sufficient numbers of 3G handsets of the right quality in the second half of 2004."
According to the report, the relatively slow initial growth of 3G subscribers can be attributed to three key factors operators have experienced problems in sourcing 3G handsets, 3G networks are restricted to major built-up areas, and major operators are focusing on getting a return from their GPRS investments.
"3G handset design has been widely criticised by operators with complaints that their size, appearance, and battery life will not be acceptable to customers who, over the last few years, have seen huge innovation in GSM handsets," added Dajes. "At the same time, equipment manufacturers have complained that issues surrounding handset availability are to do with networks not being ready to enable proper testing."
The report notes that network coverage issues are being addressed in some cases through the use of alternative technologies like EDGE. A number of operators such as Orange and TIM are deploying EDGE to enhance their GPRS networks and to complement their 3G W-CDMA coverage in rural and low traffic areas.
With 3G subscriber numbers remaining low until at least 2005, the role to be played by GPRS has increased. The report forecasts that revenue from GPRS subscribers will grow from EUR28 billion in 2004 and peak at EUR63 billion in 2007, before declining as customers move from GPRS to 3G.
Western European Mobile Forecasts and Analysis 20042009 analyses the key factors that are driving the mobile market in Western Europe, and provides detailed forecasts of subscribers, ARPU, revenue, retail spend and average spend per user (ASPU) for Western Europe as a whole, as well as for France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK. It covers four market segments (residential prepaid, residential contract, SMEs and large corporates) and eight service categories (voice, P2P messaging, data networking, browsing, paid information, e-tainment, m-commerce, and videotelephony).
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/April2004/7002.htm
SK Telecom's Quarterly Profit Unexpectedly Rises (Update3)
April 29 (Bloomberg) -- SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile-phone operator, reported an unexpected gain in first-quarter profit as revenue for online services such as games and music surged.
Net income rose to 453 billion won ($388 million) from 449 billion won a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing. Wireless Internet revenue surged 48 percent, outpacing a 7 percent overall gain in sales.
The Seoul-based company needs to increase earnings through higher phone usage because seven of 10 Koreans already own a handset, according to investors such as Park Hyung Ryul. SK Telecom is also losing market share to KT Freetel Corp. and LG Telecom Ltd. after the government made it easier for people to switch phone company.
``The key for earnings now is how much will they be able to raise sales from wireless Internet services,'' said Park, who helps manage 1.2 trillion won at KTB Asset Management Co. in Seoul. Park may buy more SK Telecom shares, he said.
The stock, which earlier traded as much as 2.8 percent lower, rose to 196,000 won, up 0.3 percent on the Korea Stock Exchange as of 2:08 p.m., after the earnings were released. Net income was more than the 403 billion won median estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Higher Marketing Costs
SK Telecom says South Korea has the world's fastest mobile data services, allowing Koreans to download games including Tetris and ring tones such as the latest Christina Aguilera songs at speeds of up to 2.4 megabytes per second using Qualcomm Inc.- licensed technology. That's more than 40 times the speed via a computer-modem connection or phone line.
Sales gained to 2.4 trillion won from 2.2 trillion won a year earlier, in line with analysts' expectations. Wireless Internet sales jumped 48 percent to 392 billion won. SK Telecom has said it plans to spend 18 percent of revenue this year on marketing, up from 16.6 percent in 2003.
Rising competition that's boosting marketing expenses prompted Chief Executive Kim Shin Bae to say on March 23 he doesn't expect this year's earnings to meet last year's.
SK's figures are ``the first sign that the company will have difficulty in meeting even last year's numbers,'' said Steve Yoo, an analyst at Nomura Asian Equity Research in Hong Kong.
Operating profit fell 8 percent from a year earlier to 691 billion won, beating the 671 billion won expected by the survey of analysts. Operating profit fell after marketing costs rose 34 percent to 478 billion won, according to a company statement.
``A drop in operating profit was pretty much expected,'' said Kim Jae Ho, who helps manage the equivalent of $257 million at Seoul Investment Trust Management Co. ``It had to spend more money to keep its customers from competitors after the government allowed number portability.''
Market Share
SK Telecom lost market share to its rivals for a third month in March after the government, aiming to loosen the company's grip on the market, allowed SK subscribers to switch services without having to change numbers. The change prompted networks to offer discounts and add sales staff to win users and stem defections.
SK Telecom's market share fell to 52.7 percent at the end of last month, its lowest level since February 2001, from 53.3 percent the previous month.
``The telecommunication industry isn't an industry with higher sales growth anymore because the market has saturated,'' said Seoul Investment's Kim, who's sold some SK Telecom shares since last year.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Young-Sam Cho in Seoul
at ycho2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor on this story:
Charles Bickers in Tokyo
at cbickers@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 29, 2004 02:30 EDT
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=agBTJudh6NTg&refer=asia
Hello, hello ... India calling (Link)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FE01Df03.html
Hello, hello ... India calling
South Asia
By Indrajit Basu
KOLKATA - While the Global System for Mobile telecommunications (GSM) celebrates over 1 billion connected customers worldwide (achieved in February) in just 12 years against 12 decades of fixed lines, with China and Europe taking credit for most of the growth, the fact is that India, unexpectedly, is emerging as one of the fastest-growing mobile markets in the world today.
"Undoubtedly, most of mobile telephony's growth has occurred in China," said a recent Deutsche Bank white paper on wireless telephony called "Brilliant Past Bright Future", "but India represents one of the most exciting growth opportunities for mobile." The paper adds, that with its billion plus people, India is the second most populous country on the planet, but has just 33 million wireless/mobile telephone subscribers. It is expected that the subscriber base will grow to 290 million by the end 2008 and 500 million by 2010. "This makes India one of the fastest-growing markets of this decade," Deutsche Bank said.
Indeed, in the space of less than a decade, with the introduction of wireless telephony in 1995 when the first mobile phone call was made at a princely cost (by Indian standards, because fixed line telephony tariffs were charged at Rs 1 per 5 minutes) of Rs 16.80 per minute (40 cents US), India's emergence as a global growth story on steroids is noteworthy. Perhaps no single telecommunication technology has had as profound an impact on the Indian society as the "wonder" technology called wireless telephony. Take for instance Basheer, one of 100,000 fishermen of modest means in the southern state of Kerala, who uses the mobile phone daily to strike the best deal once the catch is in his boat and well before it reaches shore. "Not just that, we feel more secure in the sea and we can communicate immediately for assistance in rough weather," Basheer says.
Many farmers in the Indian state of Punjab, too, depend solely on mobile telephony to sell their harvest in far off commodity exchanges called mandis right from their farms instead of browsing through newspapers or visiting the mandis first to track rates. And Jiva Institute, a Delhi-based organization for social development, uses the mobile phone exclusively for its TeleDoc, which helps in providing medical attention to remote Indian villages with no easy access to treatment, by transmitting diagnostic data to an information technology-enabled central clinic and then prescribing medication and treatment.
India is not just the fastest-growing market, but also the most competitive, and hence the cheapest. Intense competition in the telecom sector over the past two years has led to a crash in prices for everything from handsets to talk time. Talk time tariffs for instance have come down by 74 percent over the past two years, and handset prices, which were sold at a premium of as high as 40 percent over international prices even until a year back, are now at par. "The telecom service sector has shown unprecedented growth during 2003-04, mainly driven by intense competition and aggressive pricing," says the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman, Pradip Baijal.
And by virtue of its size, growth rate and competitiveness, the country is setting the benchmark for the global telecom industry as well. The recent deal between India's newest and fastest growing wireless telephony company, Reliance Infocomm, and United States-based Lucent Technologies, is a good example of how India is setting the benchmark for lowest equipment prices in the world.
Industry sources say that Reliance Infocomm's negotiating capabilities managed to bring down the equipment cost of infrastructure to under US$40 per subscriber from $100 two years back. Equipment rates for Reliance in fact have slipped even further to come down to $25 per subscriber - once again, among the lowest in the world.
In another landmark agreement, Sweden's equipment vendor Ericsson agreed to a revenue-sharing deal with the Indian mobile telecomm operator company Bharti Televentures that will allow Ericsson to earn a percentage of revenues every time a subscriber downloads video or plays a Java game. This kind of cooperation is quite unusual in the global wireless world, say global vendors, admitting that participating in the Indian market has forced them to radically reduce costs in their own companies.
But how does the Indian telecom story compare with that of China, the other amazing Asian growth story? Although China continues to lead globally in terms of telecom spending and new customers, India's initial pace of growth has been more impressive. In 1996, nine years after China opened up to wireless telecom, it had 6.8 million subscribers. After nine years, India had over 30 million subscribers and was adding 1.5 million more every month, says Vince Mazzola, president and chief executive officer of Lucent Technologies India. "China has reached a high level of teledensity and the wireless spending is relatively flat. While China has already surpassed 250 million mobile subscribers, the rate of growth has slowed down over the past six months."
However, it is not as if India will become a more important market than China, just yet. China's spending on telecom last year was $25 billion and the mobile market is still adding 5 million new subscribers every month. Telecom spending in the Indian market is going to touch $3.1 billion this year, although by the end of the year, India is likely to overtake Korea and Malaysia. Mazzola figures it will take at least five years for India to catch up with China, but where India may surpass China is in the sophistication of the telecom services. Already, some of the cutting edge data technologies that the world has to offer are being tested by Indian operators: Qualcomm's Push to Talk technology by Tata Teleservices, live video downloads on GPRS by Hutchison and the EVDO wireless broadband from Lucent Technologies by Reliance Infocomm are some of these instances. "Innovation in the wireless world will continue to come from the vendors, but increasingly, India features among the first ports of call for rolling out new technological solutions," says Mazzola.
Nevertheless, despite the scorching growth prospects that India offers, the road ahead for wireless telephony players in the country may not be without hurdles. That's because once the government raises the bar on foreign investment to 74 percent, a move that is expected to come through after the ongoing general elections, the level of competition is likely to be among the highest in the world.
Interest among foreign operators is already evident. According to global consultancy firm McKinsey's, virtually every week the consultancy firm gets a call from a major operator evincing their interest in India. Moreover, recent reports suggest that Singapore Technology Telemedia and Temasek Holdings (a Singapore-based investment company), as well as Telekom Malaysia, have shown keen interest in acquiring the 33 percent stake in India's mobile telecom provider Idea, of which AT&T wishes to sell out. Vodafone, the leading European wireless player, too, is reportedly scouting around in the country for opportunities "to play the game".
(Copyright 2004 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication policies.)
Nokia sets up CDMA center in India
By Staff, CNET News.com
Thursday, April 29 2004 10:31 AM
Handset giant Nokia on Wednesday announced a new research center in India that will focus on the Code Division Multiple Access standard for cell phones.
The facility, located in the city of Mumbai, will provide software and technical support to the growing number of CDMA customers in India and other countries in the Asia-Pacific. The center will serve as Nokia's premier CDMA research hub. CDMA is the most popular standard used in cell phones in the United States, but many countries in the Asia-Pacific region also have begun to embrace it.
Nokia also announced it will release a new CDMA phone, the Nokia 2112, in India. The company said the new handset, built around Nokia's proprietary CDMA2000 1X chipset, will be available by the third quarter of this year. The phone features an integrated hands-free speaker, MIDI polyphonic ring tones and picture messaging.
CDMA has been gaining ground against the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard, which is more popular in Europe. One attraction of CDMA technology is that, unlike many competing technologies, it has no hard limit for the number of users who may share one base station. CDMA networks operate in the 800MHz and 1900MHz frequency bands with primary markets in the Americas and Asia.
Disparate standards such as GSM and CDMA have been creating obstacles in the telecom business. Competing standards and interoperability problems could slow the growth of popular services, such as push-to-talk, that are gaining acceptance among carriers around the world.
http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/communications/0,39001141,39177455,00.htm
Reliance Q4 profit jumps as product prices rise
BOMBAY (Reuters) - Reliance Industries, India's largest petrochemicals maker and a leading refiner, said on Thursday its quarterly profit jumped a better-than-expected 28 percent on growing demand and slowing capacity expansion in the two sectors.
But Reliance shares, weighed down in a bearish Indian market, fell 1.7 percent to the day's low of 531.1 rupees after the results were announced.
The flagship of the powerful Reliance group, India's biggest conglomerate by sales, reported a net profit of 14.19 billion rupees for its fourth quarter ended March 31, up from 11.01 billion rupees a year earlier.
The median forecast was 13.37 billion rupees in a Reuters poll of 10 analysts.
It reported a total income of 145.85 billion rupees, up 11 percent from 130.81 billion rupees a year earlier.
"The topline is slightly higher than our forecast. Reliance continues to be a big beneficiary of the upswing in petrochemical prices," said Jigar Shah, head of research at local brokerage K.R. Choksey.
"Given the strong demand for oil products, the core business will still be the growth driver."
The shares, which have the highest weighting in India's key index, have already lost 5.7 percent in 2004 through Wednesday's close, while the index has dropped two percent.
Founded by the late Dhirubhai Ambani in 1958 to trade synthetic yarn, Reliance Industries has grown into a fully integrated energy behemoth that is India's largest private-sector company by sales.
It became a virtual monopoly in the domestic petrochemicals sector after it acquired its main rival, state-run Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd, over two years ago, while its 620,000 barrels-a-day refinery processes about a quarter of India's annual requirements.
Reliance is set to become a key player in oil and gas exploration, with rights to more than 35 blocks. In 2002, it discovered an estimated 14.5 trillion cubic feet (410.6 billion cubic metres) of gas, India's largest such find in decades.
The company, India's sole private refiner, also plans to retail petrol and diesel and has a licence to set up more than 5,800 gas stations.
Reliance Industries and other group companies together own a 51 percent stake in Reliance Energy Ltd, a leading private-sector utility that plans to build what it says will be the world's largest gas-fired power plant, with a capacity of 3,800 megawatts.
It made an aggressive entry into telecoms through Reliance Infocomm, a 45 percent subsidiary, in December 2002.
The company, which provides mobile phone services based on CDMA (code division multiple access) technology, now has nearly 6.5 million customers and is neck and neck with GSM (global system for mobile communications) rival Bharti Tele-Ventures for the top slot in the booming sector.
Reliance expects to launch fixed-line and broadband services for the enterprise segment within a month.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/040429/137/2ctof.html
CDMA goes underground
Bell Canada is the first wireless carrier to extend CDMA2000 1X network coverage underground to the Montréal métro subway system as part of a pilot project currently underway involving five stations: Berri-UQAM, Saint- Laurent, Place-des-Arts, McGill and Peel.
These stations are used by 88% of subway passengers, making them among the busiest of the Montréal métro system. Bell subscribers can now use their mobile phones in the indoor areas of these stations, including tunnels and platforms. Bell Canada is funding this pilot project to assess the feasibility of offering coverage in subway systems in Montréal and elsewhere in Canada.
"This innovative project demonstrates Bell Canada's leadership in developing technology to deliver more extensive access to the most advanced wireless network in the country," said Pierre Blouin, group president, Consumer Markets at Bell Canada. "In fact, Bell was the first company to develop Montréal's underground city nearly 10 years ago, installing its network over 12 kilometres of tunnels and underground spaces downtown and in the surrounding areas. We are expanding and adding to the quality of our IX network all the time. This innovative pilot project in the Montréal métro is part of that ongoing investment and effort."
"Thanks to its partnership with Bell, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) is pleased to be the first public transit company in Canada to offer this value-added service to its subway customers," said Claude Dauphin, chairman of the board of the STM. "With the métro being modernized, this is an excellent opportunity for us to test new technologies that promote seamless communications and efficiency in our underground network."
In a recent survey conducted by Bell Canada, 84% of riders noted that mobile phone service in the subway would be beneficial.
The pilot project will assess the different methods available to provide coverage and access to the 1X digital network inside the tunnels and in the stations. Data on the types of wireless usage by passengers will also be compiled. The 1X digital network is currently used by nearly 80% of Bell Canada's wireless customers.
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/11070.shtml
Euro 3G Slow Until 2005
04.29.04
CAMBRIDGE, U.K. -- Over 5 million Western Europeans will be using a 3G mobile device by the end of 2004 but subscriber numbers will remain low until at least 2005, according to a new report, Western European Mobile Forecasts and Analysis 2004-2009, released this week by Analysys Research, the global advisers on telecoms, IT and media.
Although there has been a spate of 3G service launches in 2004, including those from high-profile operators such as Telefónica Móviles and Vodafone, the report forecasts that by the end of 2004 there will be just 5.3 million 3G subscribers in Western Europe, up from 600,000 at the end of 2003. However, with many more massmarket launches expected to happen towards the end of 2004 and in the course of 2005, significant growth in 3G subscriber numbers will begin from 2005 onwards. Demand for 3G services is then expected to rise quickly, with around 70% (240 million) of all Western European mobile subscribers using a 3G-enabled device by the end of 2009.
“Several Western European operators have launched 3G data services in 2004, increasing the likelihood that others like Orange, T-Mobile and TIM will be successful in entering the 3G mass market during the year,” said Ariel Dajes, author of the report. “Recent market developments also make it more likely that handset manufacturers like Nokia will be able to deliver sufficient numbers of 3G handsets of the right quality in the second half of 2004.”
According to the report, the relatively slow initial growth of 3G subscribers can be attributed to three key factors operators have experienced problems in sourcing 3G handsets, 3G networks are restricted to major built-up areas, and major operators are focusing on getting a return from their GPRS investments.
“3G handset design has been widely criticised by operators with complaints that their size, appearance, and battery life will not be acceptable to customers who, over the last few years, have seen huge innovation in GSM handsets,” added Dajes. “At the same time, equipment manufacturers have complained that issues surrounding handset availability are to do with networks not being ready to enable proper testing.”
The report notes that network coverage issues are being addressed in some cases through the use of alternative technologies like EDGE. A number of operators such as Orange and TIM are deploying EDGE to enhance their GPRS networks and to complement their 3G W-CDMA coverage in rural and low traffic areas.
With 3G subscriber numbers remaining low until at least 2005, the role to be played by GPRS has increased. The report forecasts that revenue from GPRS subscribers will grow from EUR28 billion in 2004 and peak at EUR63 billion in 2007, before declining as customers move from GPRS to 3G.
Analysys Research Ltd.
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=51894
Nokia ramps up CDMA push
By Aloysius Choong, CNETAsia
Thursday, April 29 2004 5:40 PM
Mumbai, INDIA--Nokia is hoping to make up for its slow start by intensifying efforts in the CDMA handset market.
Despite taking a dominant position in mobile phones harnessing Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the most widely-used cellular standard today, the Finnish phone giant has lagged behind in the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) arena, where it trails hard-charging rivals Samsung and LG of Korea as well as US-based Motorola.
"In the initial phase, we misjudged the depth of the work. We just misjudged how different it was from GSM," admitted Larry Paulson, Nokia's vice president for its CDMA Business Unit.
In addition, he said Nokia's CDMA ambitions were hampered by the firm's decision to develop its proprietary CDMA technology as opposed to licensing from others.
"We would not source Qualcomm's chipsets. We would do our own. That probably piled on two years to the effort," Paulson told CNETAsia.
The San Diego-based executive believes such hiccups are behind Nokia now.
"We've got the portfolio in nice shape," he said.
His belief was bolstered yesterday by Nokia's launch of two new CDMA2000 1X models in India, where CDMA operators Tata Indicom and Reliance Infocomm are also gathering momentum. The entry-level 2112 comes with features such as polyphony and picture messaging, while the Nokia 3125 has a color display and supports multimedia messaging service (MMS).
Both phones will be available in selected Asia-Pacific countries in the third quarter.
At the event, the company also unveiled a new CDMA research facility here. With an initial headcount of 30, its primary focus will be on providing local software support and technical expertise in CDMA technology.
The center is expected to grow "exponentially", with staff numbers hitting the "low one hundreds" within the next three years, said Paulson.
Nokia's CDMA drive comes at a time when it is showing rare signs of weakness. The company recently posted lower than expected revenues in the first quarter, losing ground on its target of a 40 percent market share. It has also been criticized for the slide in the average selling prices of its handsets.
But according to Paulson, Nokia's CDMA division is faring better. The company estimates that it doubled its share in the CDMA handset market to 17 percent in 2003, up from 8 percent the year before. Nokia previously said it aims to garner a 25 market worldwide share in the CDMA handset market by 2005.
To meet that target however, Nokia will have to do without CDMA hotbeds South Korea and Japan. The firm has no CDMA presence in these two countries and plans to keep it that way, Paulson said.
"Korea was extremely dominated by the local Korean manufacturers," he said. "We watched some of our American and European competitors go in there and make some acquisitions. None of them met with success," he stressed.
"We just made the decision that we would be better served by CDMA markets where we had branding, distribution as well as sales and marketing organizations, rather than trying to start them in Korea," Paulson explained.
In Japan, where Nokia has released third-generation wideband-CDMA phones, Paulson went through the same evaluation process and came to a similar conclusion.
"I don't have any second thoughts about those decisions," he said.
CNETAsia’s Aloysius Choong reported from Mumbai
http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/communications/0,39001141,39177482,00.htm
Bharti quadruples final quarter profits on back of mobile boom
April 26, 2004
Reuters
Bharti Tele-Ventures profits quadrupled after it doubled subscribers in the world's fastest growing wireless market.
The company posted a consolidated net profit of 699.8 million rupees in the fourth quarter last year and 1.61 billion rupees last quarter.
Bharti's fourth-quarter operating margin rose to 34% from 26% a year earlier. Other income surged to 227.5 million rupees from 21.2 million rupees, while interest costs fell to 342.8 million rupees from 518.1 million rupees.
Bharti aims to boost its mobile user base to 25 million by the end of 2005 on the back of a massive expansion drive and explosive demand in the billion-plus nation.
"Growth has been delightful," chairman Sunil Mittal said." I still envision a market size of 100 million users by December 2005 and we can legitimately claim 20 to 25 million users."
The company currently has 6.5 million mobile users, giving it a 19.5% share of a market expanding by 1.5 million to 1.9 million users a month thanks to some of the lowest tariffs in the world.
While the operational performance was in line with forecasts, analysts said investors were pleased with an unexpected rise in other income, tax write-backs, as well as lower interest costs.
"There's still an upside to the stock as the country's mobile phone market is set to expand rapidly," said Rahul Singh at SSKI Securities, who has a target price of 210 rupees for end-August.
Only three in a 100 people own a mobile handset in India compared with 21 per 100 in China and more than 60 in Europe.
Bharti said earlier this month its total customer base, including fixed-line users, doubled to 7.14 million. It is expanding to cover the entire nation and recently bought rival Hexacom India for 4.3 billion rupees.
Bharti plans to spend between $700-$750 million in the year to March 2005 to take on Reliance and other rivals such as state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam. Reliance sells both GSM and CDMA services.
"Roughly two-thirds of the amount will be toward the mobile side and one-third on the fixed-line side," said Akhil Gupta, joint managing director at Bharti. The amount would be raised through internal cash generation and overseas borrowings.
Bharti also competes with another CDMA operator, the Tata group, as well as a unit of Hutchison Whampoa.
One of the industry's earliest entrants and also one of its most aggressive players, Bharti earns more than two-thirds of its revenue from mobile services. It sells wireless services in 15 of the 23 zones, or circles, that make up India's market.
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=93260
Convergence of 3G standards bodies
The truly global nature of the evolving 3rd Generation mobile technologies has been reinforced in a signing ceremony that formally brought standards organizations from China and the USA into an international partnership.
The ceremony took place during a meeting of the Organizational Partners of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPPT) at the hill-top village of St-Paul-de-Vence, in southern France. 3GPP is an association of standards organizations from around the world (referred to as Organizational Partners), supported by other industry groups (Market Representation Partners including GSA) and several hundred member companies.
The signing ceremony welcomed the China Communications Standards Association (CCSA) and the USA's Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) as new Organizational Partners.
Mr Karl Heinz Rosenbrock, Director-General of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), one of the founding Organizational Partners, led the formalities. Mr Rosenbrock remarked: "ATIS has a long track record as a leading standards organization within the telecommunications industry. By contrast, CCSA is newly-created, but it represents a formidable body of technical abilities that have already been contributing to the work of 3GPP for a number of years. With this formal acceptance of these organizations within the project, we can look forward to even closer co-operation and a sharing of truly international skills that will make the 3GPP technologies an unbeatable success."
The Chairman of the 3GPP Project Co-ordination Group, Dr Kyu-Jin Wee, of the Telecommunications Technology Association of the Republic of Korea said: "It is a delight to welcome these associations as partners in 3GPP. Their active commitment to the project confirms the world-wide support for the technologies that 3GPP is specifying, and will help to ensure successful deployment of systems based on these technologies in all regions of the world."
The participation in 3GPP of organizations from around the world is helping to ensure a truly global deployment of the technologies, making life increasingly convenient for the growing number of international travellers.
Alan Hadden, President, GSA - which is a 3GPP Market Representation Partner, added: "3GPP delivers open standards benefiting users and industry worldwide. Already 16 WCDMA networks have entered commercial service using 3GPP specifications, serving 4.1 million users (end March 2004), with a further 25 WCDMA networks currently at pre-commercial stage. There are now 120 WCDMA licenses awarded in 40 countries worldwide."
3GPP's specifications cover several technologies that form part of the IMT-2000 "family" defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU): Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), Time Division Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA). These are all advanced radio communication technologies that will ensure effective multimedia mobile communications for users wherever they may be.
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/11054.shtml
3G/UMTS is the way forward for India
26th April , 2004
US : The UMTS Forum Chairman Jean-Pierre Bienaimé today emphasised on UMTS being India's best choice for 3G platform and underlined the benefits of adopting W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) radio access technology which provides a clear path ahead for Indian mobile operators evolving to 3G / UMTS and beyond.
Inset is Jean-Pierre Bienaimé, chairman of the UMTS Forum quoted below. The UMTS Forum is the trade body promoting the global uptake of UMTS third generation mobile services.
"3G / UMTS 'future-proofs' Indian mobile operators' existing investments in GSM - the world's #1 choice of wireless technology, leveraging the enormous economies of an open system", indicated Jean-Pierre Bienaimé, Chairman of the UMTS Forum while addressing the India Mobility Summit 2004 hosted by the Institute for International Research (IIR) in New Delhi.
Outlining the key benefits of the 3G / UMTS technology, Bienaimé said, "3G / UMTS offers significant future additional capacity in fresh radio spectrum at lower incremental cost, allowing Indian operators to upgrade their existing networks, enabling them to well address the exponential increase in cellular traffic in India, provide superior quality and offer an array of services and applications on this technology, in a cost efficient manner." He also stated that by adopting W-CDMA radio access technology in harmonised frequency bands identified universally for IMT 2000, India could align itself with the global mobile telecommunications industry.
Bienaimé stressed the importance of including 3G / UMTS in India's regulatory and technology decisions so that the country can participate in the global UMTS opportunity: "In the global family of third generation mobile technologies, UMTS is the natural evolutionary choice for operators of GSM networks, presently representing ~ 75% of the global mobile customer base. We believe, that India will greatly benefit from a timely 3G licensing process. With the availability of a vast pool of talented and skilled manpower, India can play a vital role in providing R&D and software and application development support in areas such as computing infrastructure, multiple access technologies, channel coding, etc. to the enormous global marketplace that is enabled by 3G / UMTS."
W-CDMA has been adopted by 98% of the operators that have been awarded 3G licenses so far and is the natural evolution from GSM, which exceeds one billion subscribers worldwide. GSM is a rapidly growing technology with more than 620 operators in over 200 countries. As the world's leading and fastest growing mobile standard, GSM is the globally most preferred wireless technology benefiting mobile operators, manufacturers and end-users by offering high quality and secure mobile voice & data services with full roaming capabilities across the world, significant economies of scale and interoperability. For present GSM operators, UMTS helps generate additional capacity by leveraging the current infrastructure enabling efficient optimisation of existing networks, provides an open platform for development of applications and offers the widest choice for terminals. For customers already availing voice and data services on 2 / 2.5 G, 3G's capacity and speed advantages assure enhanced customer experience.
3G / UMTS is already a reality today and rapidly gaining strength globally with over 4 million customers worldwide, which is estimated to grow to 12 - 15 million by the end of 2004. 15 3G / UMTS networks have been launched in Asia and Europe (Austria, Australia, Denmark, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK) with operators like NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone and Orange already in the process of providing customers a gamut of services and applications on this technology
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/April2004/6981.htm
US and S. Korea agree on wireless stand
US and South Korea agree on wireless standard
The US and South Korea have agreed to allow US wireless suppliers to market their products in South Korea and use a Korean web downloading standard.
In the past two years, South Korea has moved toward a mandated standard called Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability (WIPI) for downloading content from the internet onto mobile phones.
The agreement gives US wireless equipment makers access to the WIPI standard, which makes use of Sun Microsystems' Java 2 Micro Edition.
The mandate shut out competing download technologies from Qualcomm, but under the new agreement Qualcomm can use WIPI.
The US hopes that the resolution of this issue can provide momentum for resolution of another telecommunications standards issue: Korea's plan to mandate an exclusive domestic transmission standard for portable broadband wireless internet.
The agreement between the two countries follows an agreement negotiated with China over a wireless encryption standard the country was set to mandate in June. Last week, China had agreed to suspend indefinitely its proposed proprietary national encryption standard for wireless Lans. China also agreed to adopt a policy of technology neutrality for licensing new cellular services.
http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=130167&liArticleT ypeID=1&liCategoryID=1&liChannelID=7&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1