Telecommunications
- NEC has initiated IP telephony trials for subscribers to its Biglobe Internet service. For this trial service, NEC will distribute IP telephony phone numbers and special modems to a maximum of 10,000 subscribers with ADSL connections to the Biglobe Internet service. The special phone numbers will be 11-digit numbers that begin with ô050.ö
- Ministry of Telecommunications to create a DSL standards committee. The ministry is taking over the work from the Telecommunications Technology Committee, a private Japanese telecom organization, in light of the difficulties that the committee faced in attempting to set standards.
- Tokyo Gas to switch its entire internal phone network to IP based telephones, to halve its roughly Ñ1 billion ($8.2 million) annual telecom costs. Tokyo Gas would be the first big Japanese firm to switch to IP telephony, and will likely prompt other companies to follow suit. Revenue of fixed-line carriers such as Nippon Telegraph and Telephone is likely to suffer as a result.
Mobile / Wireless
- DoCoMo Systems developing an inexpensive type of remote monitoring system based on FOMA, the 3G mobile phone service offered by parent company NTT DoCoMo. The system, dubbed m@watch, enables users to monitor places and control the video camera from their FOMA handset in real time.
Internet
- Yahoo Japan starts service to show short corporate promotional dramas on its web site, in a bid to generate more revenue. The service is designed to promote corporate brands using sponsors' products in the dramas. It expects 10 firms to use the service in the initial year. Yahoo will show the dramas for free after examining their content during the planning stage.
Hardware
- NEC integrates management of computer-system sales and development subsidiaries - two in mainland China, one in Hong Kong and one in Taiwan. The integrated management is part of what the firm calls its "Greater China Plan," considering China and Taiwan as a single market.
- Toshiba to invest $2.85 billion in two plants making chips for cell phones and other consumer electronics. The plant in Oita prefecture will make system chips, which combine memory and processor functions on a single piece of silicon. The plant in Mie prefecture will produce flash-memory chips, which store photos and music for digital cameras and portable digital music players.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
- Nintendo releases in Japan the latest adventure in its ôThe Legend of Zeldaö series, a game analysts say holds the key to the future of the world's second-largest video-game maker. ôThe Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker,ö made for Nintendo's GameCube console and priced at 6,800 yen ($55), features the escapades of Link, a pixie.
A week in Korea tech
e-Commerce
- Samsungmall beset by dwindling subscriber growth and shrinking revenues. At the end of November, Samsungmall ranked sixth among online retailers in terms of customer subscriptions, according to Ranky.com. The top five online shopping retailers included Interpark.com, LG group's online retailer eShop, CJmall, Lotte.com and Hansol CS Club.
Telecommunications
- Hanaro Telecom was authorized to handle long-distance and overseas call services from January in 2004, according to the Ministry of Information and Communication. Currently KT, Dacom and Onse Telecom are major players in the long-distance and overseas call services.
- KT-ICOM and SK-IMT accelerating moves to introduce W-CDMA 3G service next year. Major foreign carriers are hesitating to implement W-CDMA 3G services, citing uncertainty in the commercial viability of the next-generation mobile standard. The two Korean players in the global telecom market, however are taking concrete steps towards implementing the full-fledged W-CDMA service.
- SK Telecom inks $30-million deal to supply a wireless Internet platform and related solutions to Taiwanese 3G mobile licensee, APBW. The signing ceremony was held yesterday in Taipei, with ranking officials from both companies in attendance, marking a major deal between a Korean mobile carrier and a Taiwanese counterpart.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
- NCsoft to acquire ArenaNet, a Seattle-based game development studio, for W18.7 billion. For the acquisition, NCsoft will issue overseas convertible bonds worth 7.9 billion won and the bonds will be purchased by the three core developers of ArenaNet, the company said. The U.S. game studio was a JV of three key developers in creating mega-hit computer games such as Warcraft and StarCraft.
- Skylife reportedly unable to secure deals with four cable channels for 2003. ôTooniverse,ö ôOCN Action,ö ôMTVö and movie channel ôHome CGVö have announced that they will not renew contracts, posing a serious challenge to Skylife's viability. Analysts say could jeopardize the company's channel variety and disappoint subscribers.
A week in China tech
Telecommunications
- China Netcom's purchase of Asia Global Crossing hits a hurdle after a petition was filed to wind up a subsidiary of the bankrupt undersea cable operator. China Netcom chief financial officer Fan Xing Cha told the South China Morning Business Post the company was aware of the pending litigation from PCCW-Telstra joint venture Reach, but said it would not affect the ongoing transaction.
- Increase in IDD charges from the United States to China not in response to China Telecom's sharp rate rise, a telecommunications chief said on Thursday. AT&T China president Arthur Kobler said some US carriers had been raising IDD charges across the board. China Telecom announced a 772% increase in interconnection charges to 17 US cents per minute.
- China United Telecommunications close to achieving target of seven million subscribers to its CDMA standard mobile network this year. As of Wednesday, it had signed up 6.3 million users. China United's network, launched in January, attracted a disappointing initial subscriber take-up and aroused speculation about whether such networks would be successful.
Internet
- IBM expects industries in Greater China to adopt a global initiative next year that will allow enterprises to access computing services and software in a similar way to electricity from a wall socket. Launched in October, IBM's e-business on demand strategy is backed by an initial $10 billion investment this year and designed as a utility business that charges customers per transaction.
Hardware
- TCL Mobile Communications rated Asia's fastest-growing technology company over the past three years by accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. TCL Mobile has increased its revenues by 263 times since 2000, outpacing rivals to become China's No. 1 domestic brand and third overall behind Finland's Nokia and Motorola of the United States.
A week in Taiwan tech
Telecommunications
- Chunghwa Telecom's profit next year might drop as much as 22% as it faces five new rivals. However, the gloomy forecast has not altered plans to seek a higher-than-market price in a NT$63.8 billion share sale. The phone company, Taiwan's biggest, could see net profit drop to NT$38.6 billion from an estimated NT$49.5 billion this year.
Hardware
- Taiwan puts TSMC's application to build a semiconductor plant in China on hold as it awaits more information from the chipmaker. TSMC the world's largest contract chipmaker, applied to build a plant in China in September, becoming the first local semiconductor firm to take advantage of deregulation in investment rules this year.
A week in Singapore / Malaysia tech
Telecommunications
- Maxis Communications to pay $389 million for Time dotCom cellular assets. "The company wishes to announce that Maxis had...confirmed to Time its agreement to a total financial commitment of 1.475 billion ringgit," Maxis said in a late statement to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
Hardware
- Flextronics launches a product testing facility at its Guadalajara, Mexico, industrial park, a bid by the contract manufacturer to boost revenues by selling services to technology companies, the company said on Tuesday. Flextronics has been branching out from contract manufacturing by offering tech companies outsourced services such as product testing so they may further cut costs, analysts said.
A week in Hong Kong tech
Telecommunications
- New World Telephone (NWT) registers the highest growth among Hong Kong's second network operators with a doubling of its subscriber base to 120,000 this year, according to chief executive Albert Wong Chi-chu. The fourth-largest fixed-line operator poses another challenge to dominant operator PCCW, which saw its four main competitors amass more than 830,000 users.
Software
- Hong Kong government receives an unenthusiastic response to its initiative to support HK-registered software companies seeking mainland business opportunities has, with just over 10 per cent of invitees accepting the government's invitation to attend an exhibition in Beijing. Only 16 firms accepted, according to the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau.
Internet
- Hang Seng Bank joins ranks of foreign financial institutions to launch online banking services on the mainland. The HSBC subsidiary had received approval from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to provide online banking services for retail customers and expected to launch the service around the middle of next year.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
- Sunday Communications to reduce the pay of two-fifths of its Hong Kong workers as much as 13% next year, with Managing Director Bruce Hicks taking a bigger cut. The company will cut pay as much as 8% for about 30% of workers, reduce wages about 10% for 2% of employees and cut salaries between 12% and 13% for a tenth of staff.
Information Technology
- Two technology listings on GEM have miserable debuts, closing below their initial offering prices. CCID Consulting, a subsidiary of the mainland's Ministry of Information Industry, plunged 18.4% to close at 20.4 HK cents. Powerleader Science & Technology close at 26.5 cents or 5.35 per cent below the 28 cents offering price. Powerleader designs and sells application servers in China.
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