Brazil's Telesp Celular offers Web surfing phones
SAO PAULO, June 27 (Reuters) - Telesp Celular <TSPP3.SA>, a Brazilian cellular phone company controlled by Portugal Telecom <PTCO.IN>, said on Tuesday it began offering the latest mobile phone technology that allows users to navigate the Web.
Telesp Celular, which operates in the powerhouse state of Sao Paulo, invested 100 million reais ($54.9 million) to introduce the technology, known as WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), to Brazil, the company said.
"By December, we'll have more than 500,000 clients with handsets that allow them to access this service," said Abilio Anca Henriques, president of Telesp Celular, in a statement.
WAP phones, gaining ground in more developed telecom markets but yet to make significant inroads in Brazil, allow users to receive and send electronic mail messages, access Web sites and check up on news and traffic information on their screens.
Telesp Celular joins a number of Brazilian cellular companies seeking to get a head start in offering the new technology. Earlier this month, Telecom Italia <TIT.MI> said two cellular operators it controls in Brazil partnered up to introduce WAP.
ZipNet, an Internet company belonging to PT Multimedia <PTMN.IN>, a unit of Portugal Telecom, will provide content for Telesp Celular's new WAP customers. Telesp Celular has almost 3.4 million clients in Sao Paulo state, equal to 66 percent of the cellular market.
14:26 06-27-00
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[telesp is a cdma operator. question: if a gsm network is built out in brazil, (a) how long would it take to switch on, (b) how fast will be the data rates when it is turned on, and (c) will telesp upgrade to 1X, and if so, when?. It seems to me that cdma is so far ahead in brazil that it would be pointless to build out a slower, less efficient technology.) |
