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To: Mika Kukkanen who wrote (4239)	8/2/2000 7:22:15 AM
From: Jim Oravetz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5390

Conflicts Stalk Wireless Data Spec By Junko Yoshida, EE Times Jul 28, 2000 (5:34 PM) URL: techweb.com The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Wireless Access Protocol Forum are working to craft the next-generation wireless data delivery specification, WAP 2.0. The delicate work may end up merging underlying technologies used in two dominant mobile wireless data services: NTT (stock: NTT) Docomo's successful i-Mode and the existing WAP. At the heart of the effort is a drive to leverage the groundwork laid by W3C in hopes of converging HTML subsets and variants into a common subset of XHTML. The W3C has produced a working draft of XHTML Basic, edited by three companies, two of which have been in direct competition: Phone.com (stock: PHCM), Redwood City, Calif., which pioneered WAP, and Access Co., Tokyo, which designed Compact HTML, the underlying markup language for i-Mode. The third player, Panasonic, is joining the collaboration to seek a common ground for future markup languages aimed at content for small information appliances. The WAP Forum, using W3C's working draft, is scheduled to complete the first draft of the WAP 2.0 spec in September and to roll out the next-generation WAP specifications before year's end. "The next generation WAP spec will essentially converge WAP protocols with Internet standards," said Peter King, chief architect at Phone.com. Sources close to those developing WAP 2.0, however, noted that debates are heating up within the WAP Forum over the issue of backward compatibility, as software vendors, cell phone OEMs, and wireless service providers scramble to ensure a WAP follow-on that comes as close as possible to their current wireless data service implementations. Phone.com's King said he expects the new markup language in WAP 2.0 will maintain "compatibility with the previous Wireless Markup Language [WML]" used in today's WAP. OEMs designing next-generation handsets are caught in the crossfire. If the WAP 2.0 spec "mandates" backward compatibility with the current WML rather than make it an option, "cell phone manufacturers such as Panasonic, Nokia (stock: NOK) and Ericsson (stock: ERICY) will have to bear the burden of doubling code size -- thus doubling the memory required in a handset -- to support separate WML- and XHTML-enabled browsers," warned Kiyoyasu Oishi, vice president of marketing at Access Systems America, Milpitas, Calif., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Access. Snip<> Jim

To: Mika Kukkanen who wrote (4239)	8/20/2000 1:03:57 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 5390

news that could spell trouble for the likes of Qualcomm (QCOM:Nasdaq - news) and Nokia (NOK:NYSE ADR - news) Siemens Starts its Long March in China By Marc Young German Correspondent 6/28/00 6:28 PM ET BERLIN -- Before Mao Tse-Tung was able to create communist China, he and his followers had to endure the Long March to escape Chiang Kai-Shek's nationalist forces. Now, as China attempts to modernize its economy, it is perhaps fitting that the country may help provide Siemens (SMAWY:Nasdaq ADR) with a chance to end its own long, hard slog to become a mobile communications contender. As part of the German engineering and electronics giant's plans to catch up with its Scandinavian and American wireless rivals, Siemens this week announced plans to invest $1.5 billion in Asia over the next three years, with around $1 billion earmarked for China alone. While the large sums are impressive, more intriguing was the announcement that the company was developing a new wireless technology standard TD-SCDMA with the Chinese Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT). Siemens apparently is working with not only the Chinese but also with French telco equipment maker Alcatel (ALA:NYSE ADR - news) and Swedish mobile giant Ericsson (ERICY:Nasdaq ADR - news) on the standard -- news that could spell trouble for the likes of Qualcomm (QCOM:Nasdaq - news) and Nokia (NOK:NYSE ADR - news), as investors fear the firms may lose future market share in China. Showing the degree of investor sensitivity to the region, Qualcomm fell 7/16 to 63 1/4 on Wednesday, amid concern it would sell fewer chipsets to South Korea in the coming months. However, looking at technical and time considerations more closely suggests that while the new standard may possibly provide Siemens, Alcatel and Ericsson with nice footholds in the world's largest potential wireless market, Qualcomm and others betting on the third-generation (3G) CDMA2000 and WCDMA standards don't have to fear they will be completely shut out of China. (In another issue, Qualcomm does stand to reap fewer royalties should Chinese operators opt for WCDMA over CDMA2000, which is its own standard.) Qualcomm shareholders can take some solace, however. Siemens may be in cahoots with CATT, which has the backing of the Chinese telecom regulator, the Ministry of Information Industry, but TD-SCDMA isn't quite up to the 3G quality offered by other technology. Indeed, its promoters are apparently pushing it as 2.9G, offering near-third generation quality, yet at perhaps a more affordable price or easier upgrade from existing mobile networks. That could go over in a big way in the poorer and more remote areas of China, and with the operators that don't get a coveted 3G license. But in the coastal areas and big cities, many users will likely demand the better quality and international compatibility offered by the 3G. Moreover, with Siemens admitting that commercial applications for TD-SCDMA systems won't be available until early 2002, the question arises whether it might be better to wait just a bit longer for the third-generation CDMA standard. "According to Siemens the reason why an operator would deploy this is that it would be a lot cheaper than CDMA," says Sherief Bakr, an analyst for Merrill Lynch in London. But "it's unlikely a Chinese operator is going to deploy TD-SCDMA in hotspot areas." Merrill Lynch doesn't have an investment banking relationship with Siemens, but rates the stock a buy. However, China's size and low mobile penetration might make Siemens' effort to secure any segment of the country's wireless market worthwhile. Perhaps the most beneficial side effect of TD-SCDMA for Siemens will simply be cultivating relationships with the powerful Chinese authorities and developing ties with the state-influenced China Telecom (CHL:NYSE ADR - news) and China Unicom (CHU:NYSE ADR - news). And according to a recent report by Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, "with China intent on promoting its own 3G technology, foreign suppliers will encounter several new hurdles at once." Those are problems Siemens and any other operators supporting TD-SCDMA won't have, while they can still offer the true 3G goods if they desire. That could make the company's Long March to wireless success just a little shorter indeed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send letters to the editor to letters@thestreet.com. Read our conflicts and disclosure policy. Order reprints of TSC articles.

To: Mika Kukkanen who wrote (4239)	9/15/2000 7:03:54 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5390

Siemens Rules Out Mobile Unit IPO for Now By Paul Carrel Sep 15 4:19am ET COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - The head of Siemens AG's mobile phone division said on Friday the German group has no immediate plans float the fast-growing unit, but left the door open to such a move in the future. Media reports of a potential flotation of the unit refuse to die as investors lick their lips at its fast growth and calculate the value that could be broken out from the wider Siemens group, which is also active in ``old economy'' engineering businesses. But Rudi Lamprecht, president of Siemens' Information and Communication Mobile (ICM) arm, said the unit could operate successfully as a free agent without being split out from the Siemens group. ``At this particular point in time, there are no plans to spin off ICM,'' he said in an interview with Reuters, but added: ''This is the position today. What it could be in the future I can't tell.'' The successful listing of Siemens' Infineon semiconductor unit and Epcos passive components joint venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co has added to the interest in a flotation of ICM. COMPETITIVE VALUATION ICM booked sales of 1.9 billion euros ($1.65 billion) in Siemens' third quarter to June 30, with EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) rising to 193 million euros from 123 million in the same quarter the previous year. Schroder Salomon Smith Barney analyst Mark Davies-Jones calculates ICM currently has a value of about 34 billion euros ($29.44 billion) -- about four times Siemens's forecast for ICM 1999/2000 sales of 16 billion marks ($7.08 billion). That compares to a market value of more than eight times forecast 2000 sales for market leader Nokia, almost six times for Ericsson and twice for Motorola. Siemens says it is grabbing market share and is aiming to become one of the world's top three mobile phone makers. Industry research group Dataquest released figures in May showing Siemens in the market share ``also rans,'' which grouped together had 32.8 percent of total sales. Nokia led the way with 27.9 percent, Motorola had 16 percent, Ericsson 11.5 percent, Samsung 6.3 percent and Alcatel 5.5 percent. ``I think we have gained market share in the last couple of months,'' Lamprecht said, adding he thought Siemens's share of the pie was now about six percent. JOINING FORCES WITH OTHER SIEMENS UNITS Lamprecht said that by remaining within the Siemens group, the ICM unit can bundle its handsets with software provided by the Siemens Business Services division to differentiate itself from competitors. ``I think this is something not many companies can offer to the market. I think we are in a unique position,'' he said. ''This combination works quite nicely and we are positive about it, so why should we give it up?'' The arrival of UMTS third generation mobile phone services -- due to come to market in 2002/3 -- will open up a new range of opportunities for telecoms operators to run their own ''mobile commerce'' activities. The chief of Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile unit told Reuters on Wednesday he expected his company to generate just 40 percent of its sales in the UMTS era from voice traffic, with 60 percent coming from data traffic. This is where Lamprecht plans to leverage Siemens' expertise in software applications to offer mobile commerce, banking, travel and entertainment services. Lamprecht also plans to further broaden Siemens' range of cellphones, which now includes six models after being limited to just two six months ago. ``Every three months you will see at least one new product coming from Siemens for very specific market segments,'' he said. ``We are not yet at the highest end of the (handset) market and we are not yet at the lowest end of the market. That gives us room to capture market segments.'' Lamprecht added that Siemens would have cellphones for the GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) standard -- a stepping stone to UMTS -- ready for the market ``at the end of this year.'' ($1-1.155 Euro) ($1-2.259 Mark) Siemens Rules Out Mobile Unit IPO for Now By Paul Carrel Sep 15 4:19am ET COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - The head of Siemens AG's mobile phone division said on Friday the German group has no immediate plans float the fast-growing unit, but left the door open to such a move in the future. Media reports of a potential flotation of the unit refuse to die as investors lick their lips at its fast growth and calculate the value that could be broken out from the wider Siemens group, which is also active in ``old economy'' engineering businesses. But Rudi Lamprecht, president of Siemens' Information and Communication Mobile (ICM) arm, said the unit could operate successfully as a free agent without being split out from the Siemens group. ``At this particular point in time, there are no plans to spin off ICM,'' he said in an interview with Reuters, but added: ''This is the position today. What it could be in the future I can't tell.'' The successful listing of Siemens' Infineon semiconductor unit and Epcos passive components joint venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co has added to the interest in a flotation of ICM. COMPETITIVE VALUATION ICM booked sales of 1.9 billion euros ($1.65 billion) in Siemens' third quarter to June 30, with EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) rising to 193 million euros from 123 million in the same quarter the previous year. Schroder Salomon Smith Barney analyst Mark Davies-Jones calculates ICM currently has a value of about 34 billion euros ($29.44 billion) -- about four times Siemens's forecast for ICM 1999/2000 sales of 16 billion marks ($7.08 billion). That compares to a market value of more than eight times forecast 2000 sales for market leader Nokia, almost six times for Ericsson and twice for Motorola. Siemens says it is grabbing market share and is aiming to become one of the world's top three mobile phone makers. Industry research group Dataquest released figures in May showing Siemens in the market share ``also rans,'' which grouped together had 32.8 percent of total sales. Nokia led the way with 27.9 percent, Motorola had 16 percent, Ericsson 11.5 percent, Samsung 6.3 percent and Alcatel 5.5 percent. ``I think we have gained market share in the last couple of months,'' Lamprecht said, adding he thought Siemens's share of the pie was now about six percent. JOINING FORCES WITH OTHER SIEMENS UNITS Lamprecht said that by remaining within the Siemens group, the ICM unit can bundle its handsets with software provided by the Siemens Business Services division to differentiate itself from competitors. ``I think this is something not many companies can offer to the market. I think we are in a unique position,'' he said. ''This combination works quite nicely and we are positive about it, so why should we give it up?'' The arrival of UMTS third generation mobile phone services -- due to come to market in 2002/3 -- will open up a new range of opportunities for telecoms operators to run their own ''mobile commerce'' activities. The chief of Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile unit told Reuters on Wednesday he expected his company to generate just 40 percent of its sales in the UMTS era from voice traffic, with 60 percent coming from data traffic. This is where Lamprecht plans to leverage Siemens' expertise in software applications to offer mobile commerce, banking, travel and entertainment services. Lamprecht also plans to further broaden Siemens' range of cellphones, which now includes six models after being limited to just two six months ago. ``Every three months you will see at least one new product coming from Siemens for very specific market segments,'' he said. ``We are not yet at the highest end of the (handset) market and we are not yet at the lowest end of the market. That gives us room to capture market segments.'' Lamprecht added that Siemens would have cellphones for the GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) standard -- a stepping stone to UMTS -- ready for the market ``at the end of this year.'' ($1-1.155 Euro) ($1-2.259 Mark)