Airspan Networks said Monday that it would allow Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe to resell its WiMAX base-station products. Specifically, Fujitsu will resell the HiperMAX, MacroMAX and MicroMAX base stations, as well as the EasyST and ProST customer premises equipment, which use the Intel “Rosedale” WiMAX chipset. Airspan also clarified the timing of the EasyST’s deployment, which will occur during the third quarter.
Launched last week by one of the leaders in the content provider market, a service called INFON offers 20 karaoke song files that can be downloaded on all mobile networks. The sing-along craze that originated in Japan moved into mobile telephony two years ago, based on Java applications that Irish technology firm Alatto developed for the European market. In 2003, Vodafone Japan launched a service that allowed subscribers to “practise” songs and, later, to plug their handset into a TV to watch the lyrics on the big screen, while singing into the phone mouthpiece.
According to the company, NTT DoCoMo will participate in 3GSM World Congress 2005, an exhibition of the latest telecommunications technologies, services and R&D. The event will be held 14-17 February 2005 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres in Cannes, France. The company says it will exhibit its world-leading 3G services, which are based on W-CDMA technology. Visitors can enjoy demonstrations of videophones and movies on the latest FOMA 901i-series terminals, learn about the technology supporting 3G networks, and see i-mode FeliCa mobile phones equipped with contactless FeliCa IC technology. NTT DoCoMo will also provide touch & try demonstrations of 3G services.
NEC Corporation today announced that it has received an order for its Messaging Intelligent Router MMS (MIR) solution from Telefonica Moviles Espana, S.A., Spain’s largest mobile operator with 18.7 million subscribers. With a population of 41.11 million people and an 83% mobile phone penetration rate, Spain boasts one of the highest levels of mobile phone penetration in Europe. The MIR Solution is a server software system that can easily be added on to existing MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) and mail server systems of mobile operators. The MIR solution is an advanced, new method to extract necessary data from MMSs and transfer it to a charging system enabling flexible and attractive charging menus.
Funded by the European Commission as part of the IST programme, MuLiMob SSA aims to make the most of Europe’s multilingual and multicultural diversity for the benefit of its mobile users and workers, by making information available on current and potential developments and by identifying research to be done.
A joint press release from London and Tokyo this morning confirms the deal between DoCoMo and mmO2 for i-mode in the UK. O2 UK and O2 Ireland will have exclusive use of i-mode branding and technology in their respective markets; in Germany, O2 will launch the service based on i-mode technology under its own brand. O2 plans to introduce i-mode in the UK and Ireland during the second half of 2005. In Germany, the service will be offered from Spring 2006.
mmO2 plc, a leading European mobile operator, and NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Japan’s largest mobile communications provider, today signed a long-term strategic agreement under which O2 will launch the i-mode mobile internet service in the UK, Germany and Ireland. This partnership will complement O2’s existing expertise in data services with DoCoMo’s experience in non-sms data and its extensive research and development capabilities. Customers will benefit from easy to use services, rich content applications and messaging across a range of advanced handsets.
Happy Thanksgiving to WWJ’s US readers and for those in the UK, we’ve glad tidings of an early Christmas present: i-mode will launch on mmO2 in mid-2005, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. A Reuters report earlier today quoted the paper as stating that NTT DoCoMo has reached a basic agreement to offer i-mode to Britain’s mmO2 Plc. What started with an under-attended press conference almost six years ago in Tokyo (when DoCoMo was generating some 10 percent of mobile revenues from SMS-type messaging) will now land in London. The Big Question: Will i-mode gobble up Vodafone live!’s lunch right on home turf?
Index has announced that it has reached an agreement with 123 Multimedia of France to acquire 66.65% of 123MM’s outstanding shares. As Europe’s largest mobile content provider, 123MM provides various mobile Internet services based on i-mode, WAP, and Java, as well as mobile content using premium SSM, MMS, and SMS services. The French company’s content delivery network covers France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Morocco, the Netherlands, and Thailand.
A British company has made international mobile phone ownership a cheaper and more convenient option, compared to mobile phone rental, for the 70%+ of the Japanese population whose own mobile phones do not work in the UK or Europe. Mobell Communications Ltd. realized that many Japanese travelers to the UK and Europe have to organize and pay for mobile phone rental every trip because their own phones use incompatible technology. By selling the GSM World Phone access free from only 9,450 Yen for outright purchase — with absolutely no monthly or annual fees —Japanese travelers can now afford to buy a second phone just for international use.
