For the first time, these services will allow mobile users outside North America to access securely Microsoft's broad range of Internet and corporate applications which they rely on in the office and at home. Customers could, for example, access applications such as E-mail, calendaring, personalized Web content and online information services using their digital mobile phone, pager, handheld or laptop computers.
Trials will begin in the United Kingdom in the spring of 1999, with services expected to become available in several countries by early 2000. Under the agreement, the new services will be developed and marketed worldwide by BT and Microsoft, and offered by Concert, BT's global communications company. — BT.
The announcement builds on BT's existing operating company in Spain, BT Telecomunicaciones (BT Tel), which operates that country's second largest data communications network and is a distributor of Concert Communications advanced range of services. — BT.
Deployment of the GSM infrastructure equipment has already started, with completion of the entire expansion project scheduled for early 2000. The network will provide services to 1.13 million subscribers, up from the present 400 000 network subscriber capacity. — Motorola NSS.
Under the plan and amid the ongoing severe economic climate, NTT will upgrade services by surveying customer needs and continue enhancing its operational management through efforts to reduce costs, increase sales and establish smooth interconnection and open access networks. The company will also strengthen its R&D and disaster-prevention measures. — NTT.
The closing of the merger follows the successful receipt of a series of procedural approvals from the Israeli Court, ECI's shareholders, option holders, and creditors. — ECI Telecom.
To publicize the price cuts, BT is running an advertising campaign targeted specifically at the Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities.
The new prices apply to direct dialled calls using coins and BT phonecards. BT currently operates a network of 140 000 public payphones across the United Kingdom. — BT.
With Global Call Center services, Global One offers a complete range of services, including project management, call-routing, network monitoring, management information and uniform invoicing. In addition, Global One provides access to the universal international freephone number (UIFN), the new standardized number plan for the international toll-free service. This enables one free number to be used almost throughout the entire world.
Global One is to implement the voice services of the CSC in three phases, starting with Scandinavia, the Baltic States and Greece. Phase two will allow the Lucent Technologies BCS resellers in East Europe, the Middle East and Africa to make use of the services. The final phase will cover Western Europe. — Global One.
SmartPhotonix is at the leading edge of new optical transmission technologies, using WDM to increase by a factor of 80 or more the communications traffic that can be carried over existing optical fibre — thus satisfying the mushrooming demand for more bandwidth for Internet, data and multimedia applications.
As a wholly-owned subsidiary of GEC, RELTEC will become part of the Marconi Communications group, selling Marconi products into territories with equipment based on United States standards and adding its own products to Marconi's global portfolio. The synergies between RELTEC and Marconi in terms of products and expertise are said to make this acquisition a perfect marriage. — Marconi.
INTELSAT is using a DAMA network infrastructure supplied by STM Wireless of Irvine (California), operating over the Intelsat-603 satellite at 335.5° E, to conduct the trial in Senegal. — INTELSAT.
The winning USD 18 million bid made by Loral Skynet do Brasil, São Paolo, gives the company the right to Brazil's 63° W slot, from which it will offer Ku-band satellite services to customers within Brazil and throughout most of the Western hemisphere. Supplementing these services, Loral Skynet do Brasil will also be able to offer coverage in other parts of the world through the member companies of the Loral Global Alliance. — Loral Skynet.
AsiaSat-3S, a Hughes HS601HP model, carries 28 C-band and 16 Ku-band transponders and will have a fifteen-year operational life. The single C-band footprint on AsiaSat-3S covers over 50 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Australasia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. AsiaSat-3S was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakstan) on 21 March 1999. When in-orbit testing is complete by the end of April 1999, AsiaSat-3S will operate at the orbital position of 105.5° E, the present location of AsiaSat-1. — AsiaSat.
The group was established during the African Telecommunication Summit, a gathering of telecommunication experts across the world, held in Accra in March 1999.
The group adopted a constitution and a tentative action plan for 1999. The plan envisages the establishment of an Internet Web site for the group, and provision of support to regional bodies such as the Pan-African Telecommunications Union (PATU), and the Telecommunication Regulatory Association of Southern Africa (TRASA).
The group will work to produce periodical reports that will assist key players, in the private and public sectors of telecommunications in Africa, to take decisions that will favour and influence a more rapid development of telecommunications on the continent. — African Telecom Think Tank.
Siemens has so far provided over 2 million telephone lines in India, one of the countries with the lowest density of telephones worldwide. It has less than two telephone lines per 100 inhabitants. By comparison, in Germany there are over 56 lines per 100 inhabitants. — Siemens.
In his new position, Mr Tarjanne will be involved in every aspect of developing the Project Oxygen network, from strategic planning to relations with regulators, carriers, and shareholders. The appointment became effective on 1 March 1999.
"I am happy and proud of having been invited to join the Project Oxygen team. The concept of a global fibre-optic high-capacity network is, in my mind, the right one for the next decades — a huge challenge, but mankind will benefit", said Mr Tarjanne.
"We are delighted to have the world's best-known and most highly respected telecommunication industry leader join our project", said Chairman Neil Tagare. — Project Oxygen.
Arcstar's global service area has expanded mainly within Asia to include Indonesia in November 1998 and mainland China in December 1998. The area will expand to Malaysia and Brazil within the first quarter of 1999. — NTT.
The ten landing points are included in the first phase of the Oxygen network. Six of the planned landing stations will be located near Nedonna (Oregon), San Francisco and San Luis Obispo (California), Tuckerton (New Jersey), Boston (Massachusetts) and West Palm Beach (Florida). The other four landing stations will be located at Agana (Guam), Honolulu (Hawaii), San Juan (Puerto Rico) and the Midway Islands. — Project Oxygen LLC.
The contract covers the turnkey supply of a GSM, with a total capacity of over 300 000 users. This project will also allow expansion to the main cities in the province where networks supplied by Italtel over the last few years, providing capacity of just under a million users, are already in operation. — Italtel.
"Together, we can provide worldwide, ubiquitous coverage under one standard — the GSM standard — with GSM technology covering the developed areas and Iridium satellite service filling in the gaps", Mr Staiano said. "Think about this from the standpoint of the customer: The ability to roam anywhere — in cities, in remote areas, on the oceans or in the airways — with one phone and one phone number and one bill at the end of the month. What we are talking about here is the making of an ideal partnership. The bottom line is that we think the Iridium service offering is a fabulous tool for terrestrial wireless operators to retain their high-end, high-usage customers — and to expand market share. In return, the GSM operators provide Iridium customers wireless coverage when they are in urban areas." — Iridium LLC.
At this meeting, Yoshio Utsumi, ITU's Secretary-General, and Hamadoun Touré, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) reassured the Assembly of their full support to WorldTel. The Chairman of WorldTel, Sam Pitroda, also took part in the event.
The Assembly reviewed the progress of WorldTel and invited other developing countries to join its ranks in order to gain access to private equity capital for their telecommunication and Internet projects. WorldTel is a project development company formed under the auspices of ITU. Its objective is to arrange and provide private equity capital for basic telecommunications and Internet projects in the emerging economies of Africa, Asia and Latin America. WorldTel shareholders include GE Capital Corporation, America International Group (AIG), Intel, International Investment Group (IIG) of Kuwait, Natwest Securities and other private investors in Europe and Asia. The Assembly of Governors of WorldTel include China, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The company has launched two large scale projects in Mexico and Azerbaijan and is active in project negotiations in many countries of the developing world. — WorldTel.
This practical encyclopedia of Internet's history, operation, technologies and practices is put out on the Web in French, with a new episode every two weeks.
Using unpublished material, Net Express is the first information and online training service on Internet. It is aimed at all publics, and particularly at new users discovering Internet. From the outset, provision has been made to enable an advertiser to be associated with the series, and it is designed to be easily adaptable to foreign languages — France Télécom.
TelecomOda, 50.01% of whose capital will be held by CTE/ANTEL and 49.99% by Oda, will be responsible for publishing El Salvador's official telephone directory.
The first edition of this new directory will be published in the first quarter of 2000 in its printed version and will be available in its Internet version from 1 January 2000.
In setting up TelecomOda, CTE/ANTEL is thus demonstrating its desire to offer Salvadorians a global range of services, taking advantage inter alia of the expertise possessed in different fields by the France Télécom group, which, following privatization of the historical operator, has been participating actively in telecommunication development in El Salvador since September 1998. — France Télécom.
The NetBox decoder offers easy and user-friendly access to Internet on a television screen via a simple telephone line. The HomeTop Solutions platform facilitates access to Internet services via the new terminals and enables operators to launch, run and promote online services such as unified messaging, home banking, online shopping, weather or traffic reports, or indeed stock prices, whatever terminal the subscriber has: an Internet telephone, a GSM, and now a television set. — Alcatel.
TEN operates the biggest fibre-optic network in Europe. IPS will focus essentially on the extension of channels on the IP network, rationalization of electronic commerce of the business-to-business type and improvement of electronic customer support. The TOS group is responsible for the company's submarine fibre-optic cable systems worldwide. — GTS Carrier Services.
Swisscom is ICO's partner in Switzerland and will distribute ICO services and products, including portable terminals.
Landis & Gyr are among the suppliers of ICO terminals and have received an order for satellite payphones.
The ICO portable terminals, ordered from six different suppliers, will be similar in appearance, size and weight to the mobile telephones on the market. They will be available for less than CHF 1500. The price per minute will range from CHF 0.75 to 4.50.
The first of the 12 satellites in the ICO constellation is scheduled to be launched in June 1999, from Baikonur (Kazakstan). Three other satellites will be launched this year. — ICO.
The tariff for 0800 services has been reduced for diAx by 11% for 1999 and by 5% for 1998. For ISDN-Data (digital), the price has been adjusted to the basic services (analogue) level (reduction of some 35% for 1999). This is of great importance, particularly in relation to the rapid growth of the Internet market. — diAx.
in Malaysia
As from 1 November 1998, the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and Post has been renamed Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia.
in the Central African Republic
Mr Désiré Pendemou has been appointed Minister of Communication, Posts and Telecommunications.
in Finland
Mr Kimmo Sasi has been appointed Minister of Transport and Communications.
in Guatemala
Mr José Toledo Ordoñez has been appointed Superintendent of Telecommunications, Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones Guatemala, C.A.
in India
Mr Jagmohan has been appointed Minister of Communications.
in The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Mr Mile Veljanov has been appointed Assistant Minister of Radiocommunications, Ministry of Transport and Communications. Mr Daniel Doncev has been appointed General Manager, MT "Macedonia Telecommunications".
in Lithuania
Mr Rimantas Didziokas has been appointed Minister of Transport and Communications. Mr Jonas Usas has been appointed Director, Department of Communications, Ministry of Transport and Communications.
in Peru
Ms Ena Garland Hilbck has been appointed Vice-Minister of Communications.
in Sweden
Ms Mona Sahlin and Mr Anders Ahlund have been appointed Minister and Director, Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications, respectively.
in Turkey
Messrs Bülent Ecevit and Hasan Basri Aktan have been appointed Prime Minister and Minister of Transports, respectively.
in Venezuela
Messrs José Vicente Rangel Vale and Luis Reyes Reyes have been appointed Minister of External Relations and Minister of Transports and Communications, respectively. — ITU Notification Nos. 1375 and 1376.