Europe in the News

Europe Assigns Two More Wi-Fi Bands
Sensing that it was lagging behind its technological rivals, the European Telecommunications Union has assigned two additional frequencies for the wireless local area networks (WLANs). The two newly allocated bands in the 5 GHz spectrum are already available for wireless in America and the Asia/Pacific region, because of an agreement reached at the World Radiocommunications Conference in 2003. Their availability will remedy capacity shortages in the 2.4 GHz spectrum presently used for Wi-Fi in Europe. The additional frequencies will allow companies, as well as users in densely populated areas, to switch to wireless protocols allowing for higher bandwidth.

Global Telecom Ambition in Russia
Mikhail Fridman, the head of Alfa Group and one of Russia's most ambitious businessmen, enjoys a good fight with an established Western company. In 1997, Alfa tussled with BP in a battle over oil assets. In the last month, Fridman seems to have taken on the entire Scandinavian telecommunications industry. Alfa has been in dispute with Norway's Telenor over the strategy of Vimpelcom, Russia's second-largest mobile phone operator, and has further alienated TeliaSonera, the leading telecom operator in the Nordic and Baltic regions, by effectively ruining its deal to buy a controlling stake in Turkcell, Turkey's largest mobile operator.

Wi-Fi Connects Small-Town Italy
For €6,000, municipalities in Italy can buy a kit that provides an internet access point via satellite. For €9,000, the kit includes video surveillance for civil protection. The National Association of Small Italian Municipalities (ANPCI) and Wifi-Company, an Italian Wi-Fi and satellite communications solutions provider, have signed an agreement to deliver broadband Internet access to small Italian towns with Wi-Fi and satellite. The move will deliver Web access to 3,742 ANPCI members, representing some 20 percent of Italy’s population.

Telecom Italia’s Nightmare in Brazil
Telecom Italia may sell its stake in fixed line operator Brasil Telecom, Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo reported. "This investment has become a nightmare. We want our money back," according to Paolo dal Pino, president of Telecom Italia's Brazilian division. Telecom Italia has endured a long running ownership dispute with other Brasil Telecom (BrT) shareholders, particularly local investment bank Opportunity.

ITU Launches Connectivity Campaign
To bring ICTs to the estimated one billion people worldwide for whom making a simple telephone call remains out of reach, ITU’s Connect the World initiative is a global multi-stakeholder effort established within the context of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to encourage new projects and partnerships to bridge the digital divide. By showcasing development efforts now underway and by identifying areas where needs are the most pressing, Connect the World will create a critical mass that will generate the momentum needed to connect all communities by 2015. At present, ITU estimates that around 800,000 villagesor 30% of all villages worldwideare still without any kind of connection.

Wi-Fi in 100 Countries, 65,000 Hotspots
The United States tops JiWire's list of Wi-Fi-friendly countries with the most hotspots, followed by the UK, Germany and France:

Finland Mobile Broadband to Be American
Finland will select a new wireless network technology from the United States next week in a move being watched by other European governments that are opening radio spectrum for mobile broadband Internet. Seven consortiums have put in bids for the 450 Megahertz (MHz) radio spectrum that was left unused after operator Sonera shut down an analogue mobile network in 2002. All have proposed U.S.-made wireless network technology to cover even remote areas with fast Web access. If Finland opts for CDMA, this would create a stronghold for the technology as neighboring Sweden and Norway have in the past year issued 450 MHz licences to Nordisk Mobiltelefon which uses CDMA. "What goes on in the Nordics is watched around the world and what happens here has credibility far beyond the number of inhabitants," said David Poticny, head of European operations of Lucent Technologies, which makes CDMA equipment.

Intel and Nokia Team on WiMAX
Intel and Nokia have agreed to work together on mobile WiMAX, or IEEE 802.16e Standard. The two industry leaders have been under increasing pressure from Korean-backed companies that appear to be ahead in the game with their WiBRO technology. The alliance is likely to give both companies leverage in countering their Korean counterparts. WiMAX is still under development, but Intel and Nokia expect the standard to be finalized by next year.

Orascom Buys Italian Telecom Giant Wind
In a reversal of fortunes, the Egyptian-owned Orascom has acquired Italian Telecom Giant Wind. The third largest mobile operator, after Telecom Italia (TIM) and Vodafone in Italy, 67.75 percent shares of Wind are reported to have been valued at $15,249 billion (12.138 billion euros) including debt to Orascom. Owned by Egyptian businessman Necib Sawiris, Orascom will build a Mediterranean-based global tele-communications company.

Cardiff Congregation Served by Wi-Fi
Vicar Keith Kimber is aiming to bring more people to God by installing a wireless broadband hotspot in his church-a BT Openzone corner where they can send or receive emails or surf the Web. The unique brainwave may answer the prayers of many busy parishioners whose thoughts have drifted from the Sunday sermon to Monday's e-mail or work presentation. The Rev Kimber is happy for them to quietly slip off to the BT Openzone area of St John's in Cardiff city center and take care of business on their laptop. "The church has to move with the times, and I wanted to make St John's a sanctuary for everyone, including business people with laptops and mobiles."

Public-Private Partnership in Westminster
The Westminster City Council has struck a deal with British Telecom to install a Wi-Fi network on lampposts across Soho in London. Internet users will be able to access BT Openzone hotspots by September. Low-powered microconnect distributed antennas will also be installed to improve mobile phone and 3G coverage. “The antennas will be a lot smaller and there won't be the same concerns there are with existing ones,” said Westminster City Council head Simon Milton. “We are hoping to remove some of the older ones from the streets and buildings in the area.”

Russia Ends Long-Distance Monopoly
The Russian government said on May 30 that it had issued its first long-distance and international phone service license to a private company, ending the monopoly of state-controlled Rostelecom. The Federal Communications Monitoring Service said in a statement it had issued the license to CenterInfocom, a little-known company that groups five of the Moscow region’s alternative operators. “Similar requests from other bidders will be considered soon,” the statement, quoted by Reuters, said. Russia has promised the European Union it will end Rostelekom’s monopoly by 2007 as part of Moscow’s efforts to join the World Trade Organization.

Ericsson: 2 Billion Wireless Users Soon
Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg said the world will soon see two billion mobile phone users, close to one third of the global population. He was optimistic of the 3G wireless technology and optimistic about the wireless industry in general. Both Ericsson and Nokia have predicted two billion mobile wireless users in the recent future. In addition, Leichtman Research Group, Inc. reports that the 20 largest cable and DSL providers in the USrepresenting about 95% of the marketacquired a record 2.5 million net additional subscribers in the first quarter of 2005
• Source: (, 10 May 2005, )

European Telecoms Look to E. Europe
Having tapped out markets on their home turf, European telecoms are aggressively exploring Eastern Europe. The signing last week of a $3.58 billion deal between the Czech government and Spain's Telefonica SA for 51.1 percent of Cesky Telecom illustrates where the companies are looking for new customers. Also last week, Hungary-based Matav Rt. took over Montenegro's telecom company under a $151.7 million deal for a 51.12 percent stake in Telekom. And British telecom Vodafone Group PLC, said last month it would acquire two cell phone operators in Romania and the Czech Republic for $3.5 billion, expanding its reach into what it sees as attractive markets.