Nokia reached an agreement with Beijing Just Top Network Communications to build the first part of the city’s govt.- shared digital mobile radio network, terms not disclosed. Nokia said the project met the dispatch communications requirements of Beijing’s “Digital Olympic” program and measures needed for its emergency rescue system. The network is designed to allow “seamless” dispatch services in the provinces surrounding Beijing and the Bo Hai Bay area, which would cover all venues for the 2008 Olympics. Nokia will deliver switching equipment, base stations and dispatcher stations for what the companies said would represent the largest digital trunking network in China. The network will provide a platform for dispatch information and wireless communications for Beijing’s Integrated Emergency Response Service, which provides a general data platform for govt. agencies in Beijing. Deployment of the system will begin in the 2nd half of the year. Beijing Just Top Network Communication is owned by Beijing Communication of China Netcom Group, the govt.-owned Assets Management Co. and Beijing Huaxun Group.
Exports to China
Foreign countries continue to produce serous trade barriers for U.S. telecom carriers, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) officials said in a news conference Tues. Commenting on the newly released report “National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers,” the officials expressed particular concerns about significant interconnection rate increase proposed by the Japanese govt. They said the action of the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs & Posts & Telecom (MPHPT) was raising “serious questions about [Japan’s] impartiality and commitment to competition.”
Nokia said it planned to merge its 4 existing joint ventures in China and begin producing CDMA handsets in that country. The newly merged company, as yet un-named, with hq in Beijing, will continue operations in each of the previous locations. Nokia said it would start production of CDMA handsets with Nokia chipsets. The proposal awaits govt. approval, it said, after which it will announce a new slate of directors. It said the new venture would be converted into a “foreign-invested company limited by shares subject to approval from relevant government authorities.” Shareholders include Beijing Capitel, Beijing Hangxing Machinery Manufacturing Co., Dongguan Nan Xin Industrial Development Co., Nokia, Shanghai Alliance Investment. Nokia said the merged company will be one of the largest foreign invested firms in China and the largest manufacturer and exporter in the country’s wireless sector. It said it would have more than 60% ownership of the new firm and that the stakes of its Chinese investors would remain unchanged.
UTStarcom said it signed contracts worth $40 million to provide China Telecom with its IP-based PAS (Personal Access System) equipment. The company said its PAS technology held more than a 60% share China’s market for the sector and had more than 6 million customers there last year.
T-Mobile Pres. Robert Dotson promoted to CEO, replacing John Stanton who remains as chmn… Sirius CFO John Scelfo resigns, effective April 7… Marcia De Sonne, NAB dir. of technical research, leaves afer 23 years… Rainbow Advertising promoted Ed Renicker to senior vp-gen. mgr., N.Y. Interconnect… Promotions at Verizon Wireless Southern Cal. Region: T.J. Fox to dir.-business sales, Melanie Braidich to dir.-retail sales… Reggie Workman, ex- Time Warner Cable, appointed senior vp-network management, Cablevision… Sean O'Boyle, ex-Eyemark/King World, named senior vp-national mgr., NBC Enterprises… Johnathan Rodgers, ex-Discovery, appointed pres.-CEO of new Comcast/Radio One TV channel to be launched later this year… International Trademark Assn. named Chen Min its representative in China and Chen Xuemin of Beijing to its board.
Saying there was an “incredibly powerful connection between economic development and peace,” Commerce Secy. Donald Evans Wed. kicked off a program aimed at creating a global set of uniform standards for key industry sectors. With 80% of the commodity trade out of the U.S. covered by some kind of standard, the U.S.’s objective is to get the world headed toward this country’s standards system, which is industry- rather than govt.-.driven, Evans said at a news briefing. The Dept. of Commerce will: (1) Charge the Technology Administration (TA), through the National Institute of Standards & Technology, with conducting a standards activity assessment of all existing Commerce programs as well as efforts to reduce standards-related trade barriers. (2) Create a best practices database. (3) Expand Commerce’s “early warning system” for market intelligence on standards development in key priority markets in Europe, Latin America and Asia. (4) Partner with the President’s Export Council on Standards Leadership for increased dialog on standards issues. (5) Hold a series of industry-specific roundtables on the most pressing issues and priority foreign markets. (6) Appoint a liaison at the International Trade Administration to liaise with U.S. industry on standards issues. The first roundtable, in late April, will be held with Information Technology Industry Council members, TA Deputy Undersecy. Benjamin Wu said. The initiative will create a cadre of well-trained standards personnel to train others, said Grant Aldonas, undersecy.-international trade. Europe will be part of that focus, he said, because the European Commission is racing to harmonize standards in order to lock out U.S. standards. The program also will home in on China, Aldonas said, to make sure its govt. understands the importance of uniform standards to its marketplace. Asked about industry complaints that U.S. regulatory agencies were blocking common standards, Aldonas said the govt. and Congress needed a “sea change” in their thinking. The U.S. competes on a global level, he said, and the Commerce initiative will help other agencies recognize that.
The U.S. wireless market passed the 50% penetration milestone, growing to 141.4 million subscribers at the end of Dec. 2002, research by analyst group EMC said. EMC’s Michael Woolfrey said “while the U.S. has often been perceived as being behind other mature markets, it is the 2nd largest domestic market in the world, only China has more cellular users.” However, EMC said U.S. wireless market growth slowed in 2002, with 12 million net additions compared with 17 million in 2001. It said the prepaid market had a potential for revenue growth, even though U.S. carriers were “conscious” of the trade-off of increased market share against lower revenue gains from the prepaid sector, which currently accounted for less than 10% of all U.S. users. EMC said CDMA was the leading technology choice in the U.S. market, accounting for 43% of all users, but its position could be challenged by the emergence of new GSM service from existing TDMA operators. GSM currently accounts for 11% of the market, up from 6% in 1999, and EMC forecast that it would account for 33% of all U.S. users in 2007, with CDMA continuing to dominate with a market share of 44% in 2007.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder says the information technology (IT) industry is back on track despite the impact on the economy of the current political crisis over a possible war in the Middle East. Despite his comments, CeBIT, which continues through March 19, this year attracted only 6,526 exhibitors, down from 7,264 last year. The number of U.S. exhibitors this year dropped to 247 from 320, while Asian countries such as China nearly doubled their presence. Schroeder said he would continue to take the position that regulation was necessary only as long as market competition wasn’t strong enough. Volker Jung, pres. of BITKOM, the Assn. of Telecom & New Media in Germany, said that what the economy needed most after the last 12 devastating months was “freedom to breathe in the very volatile market.” There should be cooperation between govts. and industry, Nokia Corp. Chmn. Jorma Ollila said. That kind of cooperation brought about the success of GSM in the early 1990s, he said. He hopes for a similar trend now for 3G mobile telephony, which in his opinion would be the new megatrend: “By the end of the decade there will be 2 billion mobile users.” Not only the sheer size of the mobile trend, but also the fact that it was the only field in which Europe took the leading role, made the junction between the 2nd- and 3rd-generation mobile business so important, Ollila said. Therefore, he said, European govts. should beware of uncertainties about 3G licensing with high license fees and should try to match U.S. expenditures on R&D.
The U.S., Russia, China, Brazil, India and Indonesia will generate more than 500 million net new subscribers and $800 billion in mobile service revenue over the next 5 years, analyst group Pyramid Research said. It said China’s mobile subscriber base would more than double by 2007 to almost 2.5 times larger than the U.S. However, service revenue earned by Chinese operators by 2007 would amount to only half of that earned by U.S. operators, the latter having only 1/3 as many subscribers but among the highest ARPS in the world, Pyramid Research said. It said Russia, with only 10% of the number of subscribers as China, would generate 20% as much revenue by 2007.
China Mobile signed a $36 million contract with Nortel to expand its GSM digital cellular network in northern China by mid-2003. Nortel said the upgrade based on its Univity GSM access would allow China Mobile to increase its network capacity by 1.8 million subscribers. Canada’s telecom equipment vendor said it had deployed wireless networks in 17 of China’s 31 provinces and supplied GSM digital infrastructure equipment to China Mobile in 8 provinces.