Network Tech

The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, has voiced concerns over the proposed allocation of a fourth and final 3G licence, notes TeleGeography, citing a Reuters report.

Cellular News notes that Huawei claims to have shipped over 60 million mobile broadband units worldwide, including data cards, dongles and embedded modules, across more than 133 countries.

Wall Street Journal reports that chipmakers NEC and Renesas yesterday said they will receive a total of JPY200 billion (US$2.2 billion) from their respective parent companies as they move toward a planned merger.

Industry group the VoLGA (Voice over LTE via Generic Access) Forum today published its first complete set of approved specifications aimed at delivering mobile voice and SMS services over future LTE networks. The move is important as there is currently no single agreed way of providing voice and SMS capability on next-generation LTE networks.

Chinese equipment vendor Huawei is to commercially launch a new HSPA+ solution next year offering theoretical download speeds of up to 56Mb/s.

Taxi drivers in several Mexican cities have been fitted with equipment enabling them to send pictures and messages to the local police forces when they see incidents that should be reported, notes Cellular News.

Iridium Holdings, the satellite phone company, is to return to the stock market a decade after filing for bankruptcy, reports the Financial Times. Iridium will be acquired by a special purpose acquisition company affiliated with Greenhill & Co, the US investment bank, which has US$400 million in cash and is seeking to raise a further US$160 million through a share offering.