January 11, 2002

TOP STORIES

--Corning to restart operations at four plants in US, Australia and Germany

--Greek CosmOTE reports 42.8% increase in 2001 subscribers

--Motorola Semiconductor to cut up to 1,300 employees in US and Japan

--Mexico's Telcel to seek legal injunction against new tax

--South Korea's LG Electronics wins order to export 500,000 GPRS handsets to China

--Verizon Wireless pulls out of NextWave Telecom talks

ASIA PACIFIC

--Asia Global Crossing lands its East Asia Crossing subsea system in Singapore

--Hong Kong to not limit number of carriers or mandate minimum service or spending levels for new entrants

BUSINESS

--Motorola Semiconductor to cut up to 1,300 employees in US and Japan

--Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. say US telecom industry job cuts in 2001 total 317,777

--Forrester Research to cut 126 employees

--Corning to restart operations at four plants in US, Australia and Germany

--Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc. and Apax Partners join to bid up to $600 million for McLeodUSA's directories business

DEALS

--Exodus wins hosting contract with FusionStorm

--Nextel Communications, Motorola and Qualcomm sign next-generation wireless network technology deal

--RF Micro Devices begins shipments under new deal with large handset maker

EUROPE

--Marconi to sell its Data Systems subsidiary to Danaher Corporation for $400 million

--Cegetel offers local telephone calls across France

--Sweden Post and Telecom Authority invites bids for fourth GSM 900 telephony license

--Greek CosmOTE reports 42.8% increase in 2001 subscribers

--KPNQwest to team with Global VideoCom to offer IP videoconferencing to VPN customers

--Vodafone receives unsolicited offer for its Arcor

FINANCIAL REPORTS

--724 Solutions warns of drop in fourth quarter sales

INTERNET

--Study by Webmergers.com says established companies spent $40 billion in 2001 to help bankrupt dot-com companies

--AOL Time Warner to close its CNN/SI sports cable channel by fall

--EDS to run e-commerce network for SSP Solutions

--Norway indicts Jon Johansen, a teenage programmer

LATIN AMERICA

--Mexico's Telcel to seek legal injunction against new tax

MOBILE & SATELLITE

--Nokia starts deliveries of GSM/EDGE infrastructure to US

--Nokia unveils small color screen mobile phone by March

--Nokia to create subsidiary to make phones with fancy materials

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

--Telia seeks replacement for chief executive officer

--ScreamingMedia in New York names Kirk M. Loevner as president and chief executive

REGULATORY

--Microsoft asks federal judge to bar public access to interviews

SOUTH KOREA

--South Korea's LG Electronics wins order to export 500,000 GPRS handsets to China

--Seoul Metropolitan Police Authority awards Seenode the first TETRA over IP systems in Asia for $5.9 million

--South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor and Micron Technology continues merger talks

--South Korea approves delayed merger between SK Telecom and Shinsegi Telecom

WIRELESS

--Motient Corp. files for Chapter 11, to convert $335 million of debt into equity

--Verizon Wireless pulls out of NextWave Telecom talks

INDIA

--Indian Cellular Base Booms in 2001

--Qualcomm may set up R&D Center in India

NEW BOOK

--WCDMA: Towards IP Mobility And Mobile Internet

________________

ASIA PACIFIC

--Asia Global Crossing lands its East Asia Crossing subsea system in Singapore

Asia Global Crossing said that its East Asia Crossing subsea system has landed in Singapore. The network already links up Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, and the company aims to add the Philippines and Malaysia in early 2002. There are plans to link to China as regulations permit.

The company has a local joint venture, known as StarHub Crossing, with Singapore telco StarHub. The joint venture owns and operates a backhaul network linking the landing station in Shangi North to its Telehouse at Tai Seng. StarHub Crossing provides colocation services and termination in its Telehouse, plus access to local loop providers. When the joint venture was formed in April last year, the company undertook to purchase $70 million of capacity on the East Asia Crossing network. Asia Global Crossing, independent of the joint venture, plans to obtain the last-mile connectivity in Singapore through StarHub's terrestrial network.

--Hong Kong to not limit number of carriers or mandate minimum service or spending levels for new entrants

Hong Kong, which wants to fully liberalize its fixed-line telecom sector from January 2003, will not limit the number of carriers or mandate minimum service for spending levels for new entrants. Hong Kong said it will not grant new wireline licenses to competing carriers that wish simply to re-sell service using other carriers' networks. It also said that current fixed-line competitors, some of whose licenses carry performance commitments, such as number of homes able to access service or minimum investment levels, will receive waivers to those commitments that come due on or after January 1, 2003. Hong Kong said it is ready to invite new service applicants. While they don't have to meet service obligations, new applicants must submit and adhere to three-year business plans, or face fines.

BUSINESS

--Motorola Semiconductor to cut up to 1,300 employees in US and Japan

Motorola Semiconductor will cut up to 1,300 employees in Austin, Texas, and Sendai, Japan, as more plants are closed due to the availability of cheaper sites in Malaysia and China. The job reductions, to take place over the next 9 to 15 months, form part of a previously announced 4,000 employee downsizing across the company.

In Sendai, Japan, Motorola will close the fabrication and final manufacturing operations at the TSC-8 line of its Tohoku Semiconductors subsidiary, and an assembly and test unit in Texas. The company said the wafer fabrication work will be shifted to plants in Arizona and Scotland, as well as another Sendai facility, while all the final assembly work will now be moved to plants in Malaysia and China. It is seeking to return to profitability by cutting costs across the globe.

--Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. say US telecom industry job cuts in 2001 total 317,777

According to data collected by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., the telecom industry job cuts in 2001 totaled 317,777, nine times more than the 34,903 cuts announced in 2000. Challenger, which has been monitoring job cuts since 1993, said that this total helped contribute to the largest downsizing year on record. Telecom companies laid off 88% more people than the second-ranked industry, computing. Of the technology-related sectors, computers cut 168,395 employees; electronics cut 153,432 employees; and e-commerce cut 56,527 employees. It also reported that the total job cuts across the US for the year reached 1,956,876, compared to 613,960 in 2000.

--Forrester Research to cut 126 employees

Forrester Research, a Cambridge, MA-based research and consulting company that prospered with the technology boom, will lay off 126 employees, almost a quarter of its work force. The news comes after only six months the company cut 111 employees, or 15% of its work force. The cuts are partly the result of increased productivity in operations and sales. The company, which tracks technological change and provides research for business executives, will not close any of its larger research and sales sites worldwide. Its fourth quarter results for 2001 are expected at the end of the month. For the first quarter of this year, the company expects to record a one-time accounting charge of $4 million to $6 million to reflect the costs of the reorganization and job cuts. The move will save the company $18 million to $20 million a year. The company has offices in San Francisco, Amsterdam, London, and Frankfurt as well as Cambridge.

--Corning to restart operations at four plants in US, Australia and Germany

Corning, an optical fiber manufacturer, will restart operations at four plants in the US, Australia and Germany. The company said this was part of ongoing plans and not a sign of recovery in the market. The production will resume at the optical fiber facilities in Wilmington and Concord, North Carolina, as well as in Noble Park, Australia, at the end of January. The production will restart in Neustadt bei Coburg, Germany, in early February. The company said that some of the 2,000 people who have previously worked at the North Carolina plants will be recalled.

--Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc. and Apax Partners join to bid up to $600 million for McLeodUSA's directories business

Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc. and Apax Partners joined to bid up to $600 million for McLeodUSA's directories business, topping a bid by Forstmann Little & Co. In December, Forstmann Little, which owns 20% of McLeod, agreed to acquire its yellow-page and directory business for $535 million, as part of a proposed restructuring plan for the company. Some of the bidders are concerned that the cash-flow of the directories business is not as rich as initially projected, making it hard to justify paying a higher price than the Forstmann offer. Forstmann is paying roughly nine times trailing EBITDA.

DEALS

--Exodus wins hosting contract with FusionStorm

Exodus, a hosting company which is currently operating under Chapter 11 protection and has entered an agreement to sell most of its assets to Cable & Wireless, won a hosting deal with FusionStorm. The company will host a number of FusionStorm's online properties. FusionStorm offers remote IT managed services and professional services to emerging and midsize companies. It builds their IT and Web infrastructure.

--Nextel Communications, Motorola and Qualcomm sign next-generation wireless network technology deal

Nextel Communications, Motorola and Qualcomm signed a deal to develop a version of Nextel's proprietary feature based on Qualcomm's next-generation wireless network technology. The product will be available on a global basis. The agreement ensures that Nextel will be able to upgrade its networks with a global standard and still provide customers with its trademark two-way radio feature, Direct Connect, which allows customers to communicate quickly with their co-workers.

Nextel signed a licensing agreement with Qualcomm to develop Direct Connect product for Qualcomm's next-generation CDMA technology. That next-generation version called CDMA2000 allows wireless companies to offer high-speed always-on Internet access and high-quality video and audio. The agreement will enhance a two-way radio product in development by Qualcomm called QChat. As part of the deal, Motorola, which already makes Nextel's equipment, will integrate the infrastructure for CDMA networks and ensure that the CDMA version of Direct Connect will be compatible with Nextel's unique network.

--RF Micro Devices begins shipments under new deal with large handset maker

RF Micro Devices, which makes circuits for mobile telephones and other wireless systems, began shipments under a new deal with a large handset maker. The company did not identify the customer. In addition, the company said it will announce contract wins with other handset makers over the next six months as the company works to diversify its customer base. The company expects to continue increasing share in its core power amplifier business. It also expects global handset sales this year to increase by 10% to 20%. RF Micro Devices also expects to recognize revenues in March quarter from GPS products, and expects to introduce in the same quarter products developed to work with Bluetooth.

EUROPE

--Marconi to sell its Data Systems subsidiary to Danaher Corporation for $400 million

Marconi announced it will sell its Data Systems subsidiary to Danaher Corporation for $400 million. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close before end of March. The deal will help the company's objective of maximizing cash proceeds from non-core assets disposals and further help the company's management team to apply focus and commitment towards its core communications business. The proceeds will be used to cut its net debt.

--Cegetel offers local telephone calls across France

Cegetel, a Vivendi Universal-owned company, began offering local telephone calls across France, luring more business away from France Telecom. The company, one of France Telecom's main fixed-line rivals with 2.9 million residential clients and 14,000 business clients, is one of an alternative for operators taking advantage of the opening of France's local call market from Jan. 1. Cegetel, which currently has an 8.5% of France's fixed-line subscriber base of 34 million households, said local calls will increase its fixed-line business. It said fixed-line revenues will grow 65% in 2002.

--Sweden Post and Telecom Authority invites bids for fourth GSM 900 telephony license

The Sweden Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) invited bids for the country's fourth cellular GSM 900 telephony license, which it plans to award before the end of June. PTS said the reason for the fourth license is to increase competition on the mobile phone market. Therefore, none of the existing three operators, Telia, Tele2 and Europolitan, could apply. The applications have to include details on financing of the company's operations and what technology it will employ. The applicants have to show a valid commercial business plan, including the planned set-up of a network. The only fee for the license is $9,660 for the application. The deadline for the applications is March 27.

--Greek CosmOTE reports 42.8% increase in 2001 subscribers

Greek mobile operator CosmOTE, a mobile operator, had about 2.95 million subscribers at the end of 2001, a 42.8% increase year-on-year and at the top end of the market expectations. The company said it added 203,185 new subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2001. Of these, 12.8% were contract customers, while the rest were prepaid. The overall split between contract and prepaid customers at the end of 2001 was 49.7% and 50.3%, respectively. The company also said its 85% owned Albanian operation, AMC, continued to grow, adding 68,762 new subscribers in the fourth quarter. The total number of AMC customers at the end of 2001 reached 273,088, representing a 33.7% quarterly increase compared to the third quarter in 2001.

--KPNQwest to team with Global VideoCom to offer IP videoconferencing to VPN customers

KPNQwest, a pan-European service provider, teamed up with Global VideoCom (GVC), a UK-based videoconferencing specialist, to offer its IP VPN customers a cheap and easy-to-use videoconferencing service. The companies that sign up for an IP VPN from the Netherlands-based carrier can use GVC's IP videoconferencing service at a $505 per month per site. They can then set up and manage a videoconference, using a Web-based management tool, whenever they want for as long as they want at not extra cost in addition to the price of having the VPN.

KPNQwest connected three of GVC's locations to its EuroRings networks, and is hosting GVC's equipment at its London CyberCenter, providing its IP VPN customers with access to the system that sets up the conferences. The sales teams from KPNQwest and Global VideoCom will work together to sell, implement and support each other's technology.

--Vodafone receives unsolicited offer for its Arcor

Vodafone received an unsolicited offer for Arcor, its German fixed-line telecom operation. It is thought that a decision on Arcor's trackside signaling and communications activities could make way for a trade sale or flotation. The move will help Vodafone with the non-core operations inherited with the $200 billion acquisition of Mannesmann two years ago, and cut its debt. It is understood that Vodafone is unlikely to make a decision on Arcor's future until it completes its deal over the rail-related operations, which will remove the element of government ownership. Arcor is 74% owned by Vodafone, with 18% held by Deutsche Bahn, a German state-owned rail company.

FINANCIAL REPORTS

--724 Solutions warns of drop in fourth quarter sales

724 Solutions, an Internet infrastructure company, said revenues in the fourth quarter fell as much as 25% below earlier estimates and further restructuring will include more cuts to its work force. The company said revenues in the quarter were about $5.6 million to $6 million, down from an earlier estimate of $7 million to $8 million. For the full year, revenues were seen doubling from 2001 levels, increasing to $43.6 million to $44 million. The losses in the fourth quarter will range between 23 cents and 25 cents per share, for a full year loss of between $1.16 and $1.18 per share.

The company also will cut annualized operating expenses by a further 20% from previously announced levels, which will involve reductions of its work force and facilities.

INTERNET

--Study by Webmergers.com says established companies spent $40 billion in 2001 to help bankrupt dot-com companies

According to a study by Webmergers.com, a San Francisco online marketplace for Internet companies, said established companies spent almost $40 billion last year to help out bankrupt dot-com companies, taking advantage of bargain prices left by the Internet shake-out to increase their online assets. It also said a total of $39.7 billion was spent in 2001 for 1,289 Internet companies after a downfall in the market that forced many Web start-ups into bankruptcy sales.

Companies such as IBM and Microsoft joined in the shopping spree, but only for certain items. Altogether, they spent about $19.9 billion for 575 companies that provide software, network tools and other infrastructure technology allowing commerce over the Internet. Technology of particular interest to buyers included tools for digital content management of documents and images, security measures to combat the spread of computer viruses and track hackers, and wireless Internet access and applications.

--AOL Time Warner to close its CNN/SI sports cable channel by fall

AOL Time Warner will close its CNN/SI sports cable channel by fall as the company's Internet and media company continues talks with the National Basketball Association to create a network. Many of the 190 employees associated with CNN/SI will be absorbed into CNN as part of the sports department for a new sports network. The company, which competes with Walt Disney's ESPN, reached about 20 million homes.

--EDS to run e-commerce network for SSP Solutions

Electronic Data Systems (EDS) will run an e-commerce network for SSP Solutions. EDS will host and manage SSP's Trusted Assurance Network, which is designed to offer digital rights management for online content providers including entertainment companies, bans and hospitals. The SSP system uses Wave Systems ' EMBASSY microprocessor and software that encrypts content, allowing only authorized people to view it. The EMBASSY chip also enables content providers to offer micro-payment transactions, such as pay-per-view uses. In addition to SSP outsourcing its network to EDS, EDS sells SSP products and services under a previous 10-year alliance.

--Norway indicts Jon Johansen, a teenage programmer

Jon Johansen, a Norwegian teenager who helped create a program that can break the technological safeguards on DVD's, was indicted on charges originally intended to protect telephone and bank records. If convicted, he could receive up to two years in prison. The indictment comes two years after the Motion Picture Association of America asked the authorities in Norway to investigate Johansen, whose DeCSS program unlocks the contents of DVD's, making it possible to copy them. Johansen said the program is intended to enable people to play DVD's on computers running the Linux operating system.

LATIN AMERICA

--Mexico's Telcel to seek legal injunction against new tax

Mexico's Telcel, a unit of America Movil, said it will seek a legal injunction against a new tax it said was confusing, discriminatory and will place an unfair burden on the company. The legal challenge will be filed before the end of January. On Jan. 1, congress passed a raft of new taxes in Mexico, aiming to add $7 billion to government income this year. Among the new taxes was a 10% tax on some telecommunications services, including contract cellular telephones, data services, high-speed Internet and pagers. Long-distance and local calls, basic Internet service and prepaid cellular telephone cards are all exempt from the new tax.

Telcel will challenge the law on the grounds that it is inconsistent and contradictory. Another legal basis for the challenge is unfair practices. The company said, under the new tax, it will pay some 35% of all its income to the government, including a 15% value-added tax that currently applies to services and 10% concession fees.

MOBILE & SATELLITE

--Nokia starts deliveries of GSM/EDGE infrastructure to US

Nokia started volume deliveries of GSM/EDGE infrastructure to US operators using the 800 and 1900 megahertz frequencies. The company said it is the first vendor of 3G equipment to ship EDGE network hardware in volume. EDGE (enhanced data for GSM evolution) will be deployed by several US operators in a bid to offer 3G-like services without the need for the extra spectrum and licenses with 3G. Nokia said EDGE will enhance the spectrum efficiency of current GSM network three to four fold and will enable data rates of up to 473 kilobits per second for GSM/GPRS subscribers.

--Nokia unveils small color screen mobile phone by March

Nokia will unveil by March a small color screen mobile phone to match a successful rival model from Ericsson. The company is developing a color display of the new 8310 phone. Nokia plans to start selling the device early in the second quarter. The company has already announced one color screen phone, a digital camera phone called 7650, which will be on the market by the middle of this year, but it will be bulky and expensive. Nokia's new color screen phone, which will be squeezed into the product line before the 7650 model comes out, is believed to be similar to the tiny 8310 monochrome screen model. It is a recently introduced model that caters to the high-end consumer segment. It offers GPRS access and has a built-in FM radio and changeable covers.

--Nokia to create subsidiary to make phones with fancy materials

Nokia is creating a subsidiary to sell hand-crafted mobile phones encased in precious metals or luxury materials. The company plans to offer the devices under a new brand name, Vertu. The unit, Vertu Ltd., which will have separate management from Nokia, will be launched globally in January 21. The project has been under development since 1997.

Frank Nuovo, head of Nokia's design team since 1995, will be Vertu's chief designer. Nuovo will maintain his position as Nokia's chief designer. The company aims to bring to the communication-technology industry what the watch and car industries have, brands with hand-crafted products and an emphasis on style and service. It is unclear how much the phones will cost. Virtu has hired about 200 people and contracted jewelry makers and craftsmen to make the devices, which will use existing technologies.

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

--Telia seeks replacement for chief executive officer

Telia is seeking a replacement for the chief executive officer, Marianne Nivert, who plans to retire in September, and remains open to acquisitions in the region. The company said it is looking for a leader with an international perspective, strong client focus and experience of leading a listed company in the telecom sector.

--ScreamingMedia in New York names Kirk M. Loevner as president and chief executive

ScreamingMedia in New York, which offers online content and technology services, named Kirk M. Loevner as its president and chief executive. He will succeed Kevin Clark, who continues as chairman. Lovener had been executive vice president at InterTrust Technologies in San Francisco. He joined InterTrust in January 2001, when it bought PublishOne, a digital rights management company that he had founded.

REGULATORY

--Microsoft asks federal judge to bar public access to interviews

Microsoft's lawyers in its antitrust case asked a federal judge to bar public access to interviews with witnesses that are being conducted in preparation for the remedy phase of the lawsuit. During the antitrust trial, a federal court opened the depositions to the public after a request was made by a group of news organizations, including The New York Times. The request was based on a 1913 law that requires depositions in antitrust cases to be made public. Microsoft maintained that the law did not apply to the proceedings between the company and the nine states that refused to join a proposed settlement with the Justice Department. Several news organizations, including The Times and The Washington Post, said they were considering whether to challenge Microsoft's latest request.

SOUTH KOREA

--South Korea's LG Electronics wins order to export 500,000 GPRS handsets to China

South Korea's LG Electronics, an electronics manufacturer, won an order to export 500,000 GPRS handsets to China. The company declined to give the names of several companies who made the order. LG said it is aiming to establish a concrete base in the GSM market in China and Europe this year. The company said it won an approval from the Chinese government earlier this week for the local production of CDMA handsets.

It plans to invest $15 million this year followed by an additional $45 million in the near future in its CDMA joint venture with Lanchai Electronic Information Industry Corporation. Yan Tai Development Zone Distribution Center and Cherry S/W to expand the company's production capacity to 100,000 units per month. The company also said it plans to make six to seven new models of CDMA handsets this year, increasing a User Identity Module (UIM) card to allow roaming. The company expects the number of CDMA subscribers in China to increase to over 53 million in the next four years, with over 6 million subscribers expected for 2002.

--Seoul Metropolitan Police Authority awards Seenode the first TETRA over IP systems in Asia for $5.9 million

Seoul Metropolitan Police Authority (SMPA) awarded Seenode, Korean partner of SDS, the first TETRA over IP system in Asia, for $5.9 million. The contract will replace the current analogue system. Working, within the 800MHz band, the coverage across Seoul will be provided from 9 sites with 18 basic stations. In addition, there will be 5000 handheld radios and 1,168 mobile terminals, 134 of which will be installed on Police motorcycles.

--South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor and Micron Technology continues merger talks

South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor and Micron Technoloy are still continuing their talks of a joint venture. A top-level negotiating team from Micron Technology reportedly offered to take over all of Hynix Semiconductor's memory chip facilities. The team, led by the Micron chairman, Steven Appleton, was expected to encounter difficulties reaching an agreement on a price. Micron was said to have offered as little as $2 billion for a joint venture while Hynix suggested as much as three times that amount. Although the two companies might work out a memorandum of understanding, they were not believed likely to come to final terms any time soon.

--South Korea approves delayed merger between SK Telecom and Shinsegi Telecom

South Korea's Ministry of Information and Communications approved a delayed merger between SK Telecom and Shinsegi Telecom, which will leave the companies with more than half of the mobile phone market. The merger between the two companies were delayed due to the opposition from competitors. It said the conditions included a ban on discounted handset sales. SK and Shinsegi, with 15 million subscribers, have 52% of the market. SK and Shinsegi were ordered to cut their combined market share to below 50% by the end of last June as a condition for government approval, but were allowed to raise it again later.

WIRELESS

--Motient Corp. files for Chapter 11, to convert $335 million of debt into equity

Motient Corp., a wireless communications provider, filed for Chapter 11 and plans to convert $335 million of debt into equity. The company said the operations of its data network will not be affected by the filing. It has more than 250,000 subscribers. It expects to emerge from bankruptcy by spring.

The company said converting its senior notes into equity could save the company $40 million a year in interest payments and allow it to break even this year in terms of EBITDA. Holders of a majority of the notes have agreed to the conversion. Its shares fell on the bankruptcy news, falling more than 31% to 26 cents on Nasdaq.

--Verizon Wireless pulls out of NextWave Telecom talks

Verizon Wireless withdrew from negotiations with NextWave, ending the possibility of reviving the controversial $16 billion deal. The company told the 12 other companies struggling to make a settlement that it was dropping out. However, Verizon left open the possibility that it could return to the negotiations if it can retrieve a $1.7 billion deposit it placed with the government last February on its $8.7 billion bid for NextWave spectrum licenses reauctioned by the government. The company said it will not discuss further options until it receives the deposits back.

The collapse of the deal ensures that the long controversy over the spectrum will continue. NextWave's bid $4.7 billion for the licenses in 1996, but sought bankruptcy court protection after paying only $500 million to the government. The FCC took back the spectrum for nonpayment and auctioned it off early last year. The negotiations include all of the nation's major wireless carriers, but Verizon had by far the largest stake in the auction.

INDIA

--Indian Cellular Base Booms in 2001

The subscriber base of the mobile phone industry in India grew by 76 percent to 5.48 million subscribers in 2001. According to data released by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), 2.37 million new mobile subscribers were added in 2001. In December, the subscriber base grew by 46 percent to 254,419 subscribers. Compared to November 2001, the new additions to the subscriber base were up 20 percent. In 2001, the mobile subscriber base in the "C" circles - market with the lowest subscriber potential - grew by 110 percent, while in the lucrative "metro" circles, it grew by 81 per cent. According to COAI, subscriber base in "A" circles expanded by 90.5 per cent while that in the "B" circles it grew by 50 percent. At the end of 2001, metro circles had 2.16 million subscribers, "A" circles 1.87 million, "B" circles 1.25 million and "C" circles 193,317 subscribers, COAI said.

--Qualcomm may set up R&D Center in India

Qualcomm Inc is contemplating setting up a research center in India, according to Jeff Jacobs, president - global development, Qualcomm. "We are still at an early stage on this and details have not been firmed up," said Jacobs. According to Jacobs, this will be based on the Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (Brew) applications platform. "This will facilitate downloading applications on mobile handsets using Brew," said Jacobs. Brew provides a common platform for different types of wireless devices and applications.

NEW BOOK

--WCDMA: Towards IP Mobility And Mobile Internet

by Tero Ojanpera

While covering the basics of wideband CDMA, this major revision of the bestselling "Wideband CDMA for Third Generation Mobile Communications" brings design engineers and technical managers up to date with all the latest developments and technologies in third generation mobile communications. This cutting-edge book gives professionals a complete understanding of the complex standardization environment of 3G networks and the design and development of 3G systems.

2001, 440 pages, $117.95 USD + shipping

To order this book and/or find out information about other telecommunications books, click here.