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To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (40333)9/10/1999 10:16:00 AM
From: Kayaker  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 152472
 
Thanks to Ibexx in the other thread. Lots of BSing in here.

INTERVIEW-Telecom group offers China mobile standard
By Jeremy Page

BEIJING, Sept 10 (Reuters) - An international consortium of telecommunications firms said on Friday it had joined the battle for China's potentially vast mobile phone market by offering a new technology standard.

The Universal Wireless Communications (UWC) consortium met Chinese officials and telecommunications firms this week to promote the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) standard, UWC president Sheila Mickool told Reuters in an interview.

China has 22 million cellular phone subscribers, mainly using the European GSM standard, but Beijing has said it is ready to adopt the rival U.S.-backed Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) standard.

Mickool said she was confident there was room for another player in the market.

``I would escalate our activities in China based on what I've seen and heard over the last few days,' she said.

UWC is a non-profit international association of more than 100 carriers and vendors supporting TDMA, including AT&T Wireless Services and BellSouth Cellular Corp of the United States.

TDMA is the dominant technology standard in the Americas, with 18.5 million subscribers at the end of 1998, UWC said.

TDMA offered greater capacity and flexibility and the ability to switch wireless users automatically between analogue and digital channels without disruption to service, said UWC vice president of marketing Chris Pearson.

But more significantly, it was an open standard -- with no patent -- and would soon be compatible with GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) networks, he said.

From the second half of 2000, a single mobile phone would be able to switch automatically between a GSM network in China and a TDMA network in Brazil, for example, he said.

"There's an opportunity, even if they (China) don't deploy TDMA, to be involved in the process of its development and manufacturing of the telephones, Pearson said.

``Because there is no IPR (intellectual property rights) issue, there is also a possibility that it would be good for the manufacturing development and economic development of China.'

Pearson said UWC hoped to avoid the growing pains of CDMA in China.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji told U.S. officials in March Beijing would allow China Unicom, one of China's two telecommunications service providers, to build CDMA networks.

But two ministries have since barred the rollout, according to industry sources who said China was trying to force firms into divulging CDMA technology in exchange for market access.

CDMA was developed by Qualcomm Inc (Nasdaq:QCOM - news) of the United States, but Sweden's Ericsson bought its infrastructure division in March this year.

U.S. officials have also said China was holding CDMA hostage until Washington and Beijing reached a deal on entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Mickool said WTO entry would be helpful, but not crucial, to the success of TDMA in China.

She said she expected China to have 35 million cellphone subscribers by the end of 1999 and that number would grow by at least one million per month over the next few years.

Meetings with the Ministry of Information Industry and Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, and with telecommunications firms China Mobile and China Unicom had indicated Beijing was interested in multiple standards, she said.

``We may be late, GSM may be the dominant platform and Unicom may have chosen CDMA, but we have a groundswell of global support for GSM TDMA interoperability,' said Pearson.



To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (40333)9/10/1999 10:27:00 AM
From: gdichaz  Respond to of 152472
 
Jim Willie When there is a pause in the heavy lifting - money making - late today or this weekend would you comment on this please:

From Briefing Com:

30-yr bond +23/32 at 6.04%
PPI +0.5%; core PPI -0.1%

STOCKS TO WATCH
09:16 ET ******

Producer Price Index : Another month, another good inflation report. We say it every month, and it's still true. Inflation hawks will tell you with every month of good inflation data to wait until next month. And then next month, you see another good inflation report. How many months have we been waiting now? 36? Yes, there are inflationary pressures in some commodity prices, but as was the case in 1994 and 1997, these pressures are not feeding through to inflation in finished goods or services. A productivity boom is not only preventing accelerating inflation, it has produced outright deflation this year in core PPI. Energy prices have been rising this year after falling last year, but core PPI is offering a better view of the underlying trend in inflation, and it has been excellent. After today's 0.1% decline, core PPI is now down at a 0.4% annual rate thus far in 1999. If it is still down in December, it will mark the first time in the 26 year history of the series that we will have seen a December/December decline. Though the Fed already raised rates twice in preemptive strikes against inflation (or perhaps preemptive strikes against growth), there have been many indications that an additional Fed move will be reactive; in other words, the Fed will want to see signs of actual inflation before tightening again. Fed officials indicated as much in their announcement of the August 24 tightening and in many subsequent speeches. There is therefore only one hurdle ahead of the October 5 FOMC meeting -- next Wednesday's CPI report. Assuming another good report -- and there's no reason to expect otherwise -- the Fed will be holding steady in October. The fed funds futures contract currently indicates a tightening probability of about 35% for October, down from 45% yesterday. If CPI is friendly, this probability should fall to nearly zero. Of course, another friendly inflation report will only prompt more calls from inflation zealots to wait until next month. You can wait if you want, but we're done waiting. Inflation is not rising. Game over. - GJ