Press Clippings: September 2010
Major Industry items you might have missed
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Avaya, Skype partner on business communications.
Source: InformationWeek.
Avaya and Skype have announced a strategic partnership aimed at boosting their business communications through a closer collaboration of their respective services.The partnership is scheduled to rollout in two phases — the first a go-to-market campaign to begin almost immediately and the second phase, for Skype-Avaya U.S. solutions scheduled to get underway in a year.
Posted by Judith — 3:45 AM
Eircom unveils new eMobile brand.
Source: Telecompaper.
Eircom has announced the launch of its new mobile service - eMobile. The new service will offer prepaid and postpaid plans and promises to provide simple, straightforward offers.
The company has signed accredited dealers as well as partner deals with Carphone Warehouse, Xtra-Vision and Dixon Store Group.
Posted by Judith — 2:31 AM
MetroPCS launches LTE in Dallas/Fort Worth.
Source: Converge.
MetroPCS Communications has launched commercial LTE service in its second market — the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. LTE service in Las Vegas began earlier this month. The MetroPCS LTE network in Dallas was supplied by Ericsson.
Posted by Judith — 2:28 AM
Apple bites back at Nokia lawsuit.
Source: BBC.
Apple has begun legal proceedings against Nokia in the UK, accusing the mobile giant of infringing nine patents related to smartphone technology.
It is an extension of a lawsuit filed in the US in December 2009.
The long-running row began in October 2009 when Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming the iPhone and the iPad infringed ten of its patents.
Posted by Judith — 1:37 AM
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Telefonica pays first instalment in Vivo deal, will launch further share tender offer.
Source: TeleGeography.
Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica has paid a first instalment of EUR4.5bn. (US$6.1bn.) in a EUR7.5 billion deal to take a 50% share in Brasilcel, the holder of a near-60% share of Brazilian cellco Vivo.
Further, Telefonica has disclosed that it will launch a tender offer for the remaining voting shares of Vivo, for a price equal to 80% of that paid by the Spanish group for each voting share of Vivo owned by Brasilcel.
Posted by Judith — 3:11 AM
Administration seeks ways to monitor Internet communications.
Source: Washington Post.
The Obama administration is planning to seek legislation that would require social networking companies and voice-over-Internet service providers to adapt their technology so law enforcement agents can monitor users’ communications during criminal and terrorism investigations.
Posted by Judith — 3:05 AM
App developer Pinger launches voice calling.
Source: Reuters.
App developer Pinger is rolling out a new voice calling service for the iPod touch and iPhone, aiming to challenge Skype and others by offering free or low-cost phones calls.
Pinger, which is profitable and backed by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, has become one of the most successful of the startup app developers.
Posted by Judith — 2:43 AM
AOL shifts emphasis, bit by bit.
Source: WSJ.
AOL has announced three acquisitions, as it tries to redefine itself as a hub for Internet videos and articles on various trendy topics.
It has acquired TechCrunch, a high-profile tech website, online video company 5min Media and Web-based software company Thing Labs.
Posted by Judith — 1:53 AM
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
OBS, Cisco, EMC, VMware strike cloud computing partnership.
Source: Telecompaper.
Orange Business Services, Cisco, EMC and VMware have formed a business alliance, dubbed Flexible 4 Business, to offer cloud computing services for enterprises. Under the terms of the agreement, Orange Business Services will serve as service provider for the business alliance and will deliver four types of pay-per-use managed cloud services based on technologies from the four partners.
Posted by Judith — 3:09 AM
Everything Everywhere reveals first consolidated results, details integration progress.
Source: TeleGeography.
The joint venture between British mobile operators Orange UK and T-Mobile UK, Everything Everywhere (EE), has outlined its strategy for growth, while also detailing the progress it has made on the integration of the two units and its performance in the three months to end-June 2010.
Posted by Judith — 1:47 AM
Lebara to introduce pay-monthly services in the UK.
Source: TeleGeography.
UK MVNO Lebara has announced that it is introducing pay-monthly services, with tariffs starting from GBP10 (US$15.83) per month. Lebara offers its services over the network of Vodafone UK.
Posted by Judith — 1:39 AM
Monday, September 27, 2010
Ericsson acquires Nortel’s MSS business.
Source: Telecompaper.
Ericsson has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire Nortel’s Multi-Service Switch business. This acquisition gives Ericsson access to a product portfolio and installed base in the data segment, while ensuring Ericsson’s access to the MSS platform for the CDMA and GSM units it recently acquired from Nortel. The purchase is structured as an asset purchase at a cash purchase price of US$65m.
Posted by Judith — 3:40 AM
EC drops Apple investigation.
Source: Telecompaper.
The European Commission has dropped its antitrust investigation into Apple’s iPhone policies, after the company announced relaxed restrictions on the development tools for iPhone applications and introduced cross-border iPhone warranty repair services within the EU.
Posted by Judith — 2:39 AM
ARC Telecoms launches in South Africa.
Source: TeleGeography.
New telecommunications service provider ARC Telecoms has confirmed that it will launch in South Africa this week, targeting the small- and medium-sized business market. The company, which is 50%-owned by former Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig, plans to provide connectivity, voice, managed services and application delivery through cloud computing.
Posted by Judith — 1:51 AM
Apple threatens search giants’ mobile ad shares.
Source: Businssweek.
Apple may be gaining share in the U.S. mobile advertising market this year at the expense of Google and Microsoft.
Apple will end the year with 21% of the market, Google’s share will drop to 21%, from 27% last year, when combined with results from AdMob, the ad network it bought in May. Microsoft will drop to 7%, from 10%.
Posted by Judith — 1:49 AM
Rostelecom to take over credit obligations of seven regional operators.
Source: TeleGeography.
Russian national operator Rostelecom has announced that it intends to take over the credit obligations of the seven regional operators that are set to combine under the company’s ‘mega-regional’ merger initiative. Rostelecom will take over the obligations of CenterTelecom, North-West Telecom, South Telecom, Volga Telecom, Uralsvyazinform, Sibirtelecom and Dalsvyazinform.
Posted by Judith — 1:06 AM
Saturday, September 25, 2010
BT to hand back Indian long-distance licence.
Source: TeleGeography.
India’s Department of Telecom has accepted a request from UK-based fixed line incumbent BT to surrender its national long-distance licence, although the British firm will not be refunded its entry fee for the concessions. BT first approached the DoT with a view to handing back its NLD licence in 2008 after it purchased i2i Enterprise in 2007, which held a long-distance concession of its own; BT is now using i2i’s NLD licence for operating its service in India.
Posted by Judith — 3:34 AM
4info and WAU Movil to deliver mobile marketing solutions for Latin America.
Source: cellular-news.
Latin America’s largest mobile transaction network, WAU Movil has signed a partnership with the USA based mobile messaging supplier, 4info giving 4info’s customers access to a single point of entry to reach consumers via mobile messaging campaigns across Latin America - a set of markets fragmented by the different currencies, carriers, languages and technologies in each country.
Posted by Judith — 2:30 AM
LION2 planned for Indian Ocean.
Source: TeleGeography.
France Telecom and the other members of the LION2 consortium have signed an agreement to build a new submarine cable in the Indian Ocean. The agreement comes less than a year after the inauguration of the LION (Lower Indian Ocean Network) submarine cable linking Madagascar to the rest of the world via Reunion Island and Mauritius. With this latest agreement, France Telecom enters the second phase of its Indian Ocean development plan, pursuing its strategy for the regional expansion of broadband internet.
Posted by Judith — 1:32 AM
Friday, September 24, 2010
US frees unused airwaves for ‘super wi-fi’ technology.
Source: BBC.
The US broadcasting regulator has announced it will make unused television airwaves available for new “super wi-fi” technology.
In a statement, the FCC described the spectrum between television channels as “prime real estate” for mobile devices.
Posted by Judith — 3:15 AM
Universal internet app platform project wins EU funding.
Source: Telecompaper.
An international research consortium, led by the Frauenhofer Fokus Institute, has been awarded EU funding to drive developments for Future Internet. The Europe-wide Webinos project aims to develop a single universal platform for the development of mobile internet applications and includes over 20 partners from research and industry, representing the mobile web, consumer electronics and the automotive industry.
Posted by Judith — 2:22 AM
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Clearwire inks international roaming deal with UQ Communications in Japan.
Source: TeleGeography.
US cellco Clearwire has announced that it has launched international 4G roaming services with Japan, in association with UQ Communications. From this week, customers of both WiMAX networks will be able to sign up for a ‘Day Pass’ and use unlimited data while travelling throughout the covered markets in Japan and the United States.
Posted by Judith — 4:22 AM
Vodafone CEO sees Verizon merger unlikely.
Source: Reuters.
A merger between Vodafone and Verizon Communications would be less likely than other alternatives for the parents of Verizon Wireless, the chief executive of Vodafone said.
Vodafone owns a 45% stake in Verizon Wireless, which is controlled by its majority parent Verizon Communications; but because Vodafone does not receive a dividend from the venture, the British operator has been under pressure from shareholders to find an alternative.
Posted by Judith — 2:09 AM
Sagem Wireless terminates contract with Myriad Group.
Source: Telecompaper.
Mobile software developer Myriad Group’s major customer Sagem Wireless has, due to its difficulties, terminated the contractual agreement with Myriad Group with immediate effect. Myriad has supplied mobile software applications to Sagem Wireless since 2009. Sales of Myriad’s mobile software applications to other major mobile handset manufacturers are not affected by this situation.
Posted by Judith — 1:35 AM
Thai Supreme Court upholds 3G auction freeze.
Source: TeleGeography.
Thailand’s 3G mobile licence auction remains suspended after this morning’s decision from the Supreme Administrative Court, which upheld the Central Administrative Court’s temporary injunction ordering the National Telecommunications Commission to freeze the auction process, which had been due to start on Monday.
Posted by Judith — 1:05 AM
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
NSN employees to transfer to Capgemini in outsourcing deal.
Source: cellular-news.
Capgemini Outsourcing Services says that it has been awarded a long-term contract from NSN to support the company’s global order management operations. Capgemini will provide order management services to NSN, including preparation for delivery, customer order management, distribution and customer invoicing, while customer facing activities will remain with NSN.
Posted by Judith — 4:30 AM
New MVNO JustMobile opens for business in Ireland.
Source: TeleGeography.
From next month the Republic will welcome a new MVNO in the shape of JustMobile, which is partnering with Spar to operate a pre-paid mobile service. JustMobile is the third MVNO to open its doors for business in Ireland after Tesco Mobile and Postfone.
Posted by Judith — 3:45 AM
Apple to acquire Polar Rose face recognition firm.
Source: InformationWeek.
Apple has acquired Polar Rose, a Swedish company that makes facial recognition software that can be used in the cloud, on a computer or on iPhone and Android smartphones.
Posted by Judith — 2:31 AM
Orange confirms EUR640m. 40% acquisition of Meditel.
Source: Telecompaper.
France Telecom-Orange, FinanceCom and Fipart-Holding have signed an MoU with a view to France Telecom acquiring 40% of Moroccan operator Medi Telecom (Meditel) for EUR640m.
Posted by Judith — 1:32 AM
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
LightSquared obtains US$750m. loan.
Source: TeleGeography.
LightSquared, the US$7bn. LTE open-access mobile network that will utilise satellite spectrum acquired by New York investment firm Harbinger Capital, has obtained a four-year US$750m. loan from UBS. The company, which has access to 59MHz of spectrum, has said its network will consist of around 40,000 cellular base stations covering 92% of the US population by 2015.
Posted by Judith — 3:47 AM
IBM to buy analytics company Netezza for US$1.7bn.
Source: Reuters.
IBM, joining the deal-making frenzy, plans to buy data analytics company Netezza for US$1.7bn. to expand in technology services and help clients better analyze market information.
Posted by Judith — 3:02 AM
Bharti picks Ericsson, NSN, Huawei for HSPA network roll-out.
Source: Telecompaper.
Indian carrier Bharti Airtel has chosen Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei Technologies as network partners to launch 3G services. These partners will plan, design, deploy and maintain a HSPA metwork in Bharti Airtel 3G licence circles.
Posted by Judith — 2:02 AM
Telkom SA announces expansion plans.
Source: TeleGeography.
Telkom South Africa has secured operating licences in east, south and west Africa, the company revealed yesterday. The telco announced that it has secured operating licences in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Swaziland and Namibia.
Posted by Judith — 1:44 AM
Indian handset manufacturer secures additional investment funding.
Source: cellular-news.
India’s largest domestic mobile phone manufacturer, Micromax has announced that the private equity groups, Sequoia Capital and Sandstone Capital are taking minority stakes in the company. With this investment, Mohit Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital, will join the board of the company.
Posted by Judith — 1:38 AM
Monday, September 20, 2010
Huawei to invest US$500m. in Indian factory.
Source: cellular-news.
China’s Huawei has confirmed plans to invest at least US$500m. in a manufacturing plant in India, with the first phase of the facility opening before the end of this year. The move is expected to assist the Chinese vendor in overcoming security concerns that the Indian government has expressed about importing network infrastructure from China.
Posted by Judith — 3:07 AM
Apple’s latest iPhone to go on sale in China on Saturday.
Source: Reuters.
China Unicom has said that it will launch Apple’s latest iPhone in China on Saturday, as it attempts to claw back market share with a rollout of the U.S. company’s popular smartphones.
The iPhone 4 will be sold through China Unicom on two-year phone contracts and also through Apple retail stores in China, the world’s largest mobile phone market with more than 790 million subscribers.
Posted by Judith — 1:56 AM
Calix to acquire Occam, reshaping network access market.
Source: Converge.
Calix will acquire Occam Networks in a stock and cash deal valued at approximately US$171m.
The merger brings together two leading suppliers of broadband network access systems for North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, and select global markets.
Posted by Judith — 1:02 AM
Saturday, September 18, 2010
AT&T testing 4G wireless network.
Source: TeleGeography.
AT&T aims to cover 70 million to 75 million people with its LTE network by the end of 2011. The cellco is currently testing the technology in Dallas and Baltimore and expects to be able to launch commercially by the middle of next year.
Posted by Judith — 2:46 AM
Friday, September 17, 2010
Bharti Airtel signs 10-year deal with IBM.
Source: cellular-news.
India’s Bharti Airtel and computer giant, IBM are to announce details of a ten-year contract later today. Under the terms of the 10-year collaboration, IBM will manage the computing technology and services that power Bharti Airtel’s 16-country mobile communications network.
Posted by Judith — 4:09 AM
Samsung launches Galaxy tablet for U.S. market.
Source: Reuters.
Samsung Electronics has struck deals with four U.S. carriers to begin selling a Google Android-powered tablet computer during the coming holiday season, taking on Apple’s iPad on its home turf.
Samsung announced details of its new 7-inch touchscreen Galaxy, to be sold through Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and AT&T, which also carries the iPad.
Posted by Judith — 3:17 AM
CVC acquires Swiss operator Sunrise from TDC.
Source: Telecompaper.
CVC Capital Partners (CVC) and TDC have reached a definitive agreement for investment funds advised by CVC to acquire Swiss telecommunications operator Sunrise. The sale follows the cancellation of the merger between Sunrise and Orange Switzerland in June, after the merger was prohibited by the Swiss cartel office.
Posted by Judith — 1:58 AM
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Clearwire ‘too expensive’ for Sprint, for now.
Source: TeleGeography.
Sprint Nextel is not currently interested in buying out its partners in Clearwire, the US WiMAX network operator, but may consider such a transaction later. Sprint Nextel’s chief financial officer, told investors that a Clearwire buyout would be too expensive at present. He was responding to analysts’ speculation that Sprint Nextel might seek full ownership of Clearwire in order to increase its control of operational issues such as plans to expand into new markets and adopt other 4G technologies.
Posted by Judith — 3:26 AM
Ericsson secures Vodafone Germany managed services contract.
Source: TeleGeography.
Swedish telecoms equipment provider Ericsson has signed a five-year agreement with Vodafone Germany, a unit of UK-based Vodafone Group, to manage the operator’s fixed and mobile networks. Under the deal, which is the first time Vodafone Germany has outsourced any part of its telecom network operations, Ericsson will manage the field services of the operator’s transmission network, as well as fixed core network nodes.
Posted by Judith — 2:28 AM
Orange to discuss joint mobile OS with Vodafone, others.
Source: Telecompaper.
France Telecom-Orange CEO Stephane Richard has invited the heads of Vodafone, Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile) to Paris to discuss the possible development of a common operating system for mobile devices.
Posted by Judith — 1:55 AM
Alibaba Group ends talks to buy stake back from Yahoo.
Source: Businessweek.
Alibaba Group, China’s biggest electronic commerce company, has announced that it has ended talks to buy back shares held by Yahoo! after the offer was rejected by the U.S. investor.
Posted by Judith — 1:49 AM
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Deutsche Telekom is focus of corruption investigation.
Source: NYT.
German prosecutors have confirmed that they have opened an investigation to determine whether officials at Deutsche Telekom, including the current chief executive, pressured government officials in Macedonia to keep competitors out of the market.
Posted by Judith — 5:46 AM
Nokia begins smartphone fightback with new handsets.
Source: BBC.
Finnish phone giant Nokia has vowed to fight back as it battles for customers in the increasingly competitive smartphone market.
The company unveiled three new smartphones - E7, C7 and an updated C6 - at London’s Nokia World conference.
Nokia is still the largest maker of smartphones but is facing stiff competition from the likes of Apple, Google and Blackberry maker RIM.
Posted by Judith — 2:52 AM
Telenor and Telefonica to jointly support business customers.
Source: cellular-news.
Telenor and Telefonica have jointly announced a partnership agreement that will help both companies to support the requirements of their multinational customers (MNC) in each other’s markets, with focus on mobile services.
Under the terms of the agreement, Telenor will support Telefonica in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and Telefonica will support Telenor in the 19 European and Latin American countries where Telefonica currently has mobile operations.
Posted by Judith — 2:20 AM
Italian NGN telco committee falls apart.
Source: TeleGeography.
Italian telcos FastWeb, Wind and Vodafone Italy have withdrawn from the NGN committee set up to develop a shared national fibre-optic broadband network involving alternative broadband operators and incumbent Telecom Italia.
Posted by Judith — 1:54 AM
Telekom Austria buys 2 Bulgarian cable network operators.
Source: Telecompaper.
Telekom Austria Group has agreed to acquire the Bulgarian cable network operators Megalan Network and Spectrum Net. Telekom Austria will acquire both companies through its Bulgarian subsidiary Mobiltel.
Posted by Judith — 1:31 AM
Marshall Capital to be largest minority shareholder in enlarged Rostelecom.
Source: TeleGeography.
Asset management firm Marshall Capital Partners has agreed a US$700m. deal to acquire a fund from Gazprombank that will give it a 7% stake in the new Rostelecom when the Russian telco completes its restructuring. The Russian state is aiming to retain a shareholding of around 50% in the remodelled operator.
Posted by Judith — 1:00 AM
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Ofcom prompts mobile broadband speed tests.
Source: TeleGeography.
The UK’s telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has revealed that it has called on broadband test company Epitiro to examine the download speeds of the country’s five mobile network operators’ mobile broadband services. Ofcom said that it had decided to instigate the research following increasing dissatisfaction of British subscribers related to the actual speeds they receive, as opposed to those that operators advertise.
Posted by Judith — 3:07 AM
Walmart launches Family Mobile service with T-Mobile.
Source: Telecompaper.
Retailer Walmart has launched a postpaid mobile service in the US. Walmart Family Mobile uses the T-Mobile USA network and will be available in over 2,500 Walmart stores from 20 September.
Posted by Judith — 2:55 AM
Telstra and Indigo Telecom sign GSM roaming deal.
Source: TeleGeography.
Australian satellite telephone and data provider Indigo Telecom has inked a three-year agreement with incumbent Telstra under which the former will be able to offer mobile services nationwide. The wholesale deal between the two companies will grant Indigo access to Telstra’s GSM network, allowing its customers to roam using the infrastructure and to drop back on to Indigo’s satellite service when outside of GSM coverage.
Posted by Judith — 2:29 AM
Nexit invests in Blyk.
Source: Telecompaper.
Mobile media company Blyk has secured a EUR17m. financing round from a consortium of investors led by mobile venture capital firm Nexit Ventures. This investment will help Blyk to accelerate its strategic partnering with mobile operators around the globe. Blyk works with mobile operators to link young people with brands and services. At present, it is a partner of Orange in the UK and Vodafone in the Netherlands.
Posted by Judith — 1:52 AM
Paetec to buy Cavalier Telephone for US$460m.
Source: Telecompaper.
US operator Paetec has agreed to acquire Cavalier Telephone for US$460m. cash from its majority owner M/C Venture Partners, a private equity firm based in Boston. The acquisition will add nearly 17,000 fiber-route miles to Paetec’s footprint, as welll as increase its colocation sites by 95% to 1,178.
Posted by Judith — 1:04 AM
Monday, September 13, 2010
E.U. to back plan for pan-European mobile market.
Source: NYT.
The European Commission is poised to back a plan that would divert a portion of the valuable broadcast spectrum used by television stations to mobile operators by 2013, in a bid to create an European Union-wide market for wireless broadband services.
The proposal is part of a package of broadband changes drafted by Neelie Kroes, the E.U. commissioner for telecommunications, that would require the 27 members of the bloc to set aside the 800 megahertz frequency band for mobile broadband by Jan. 1, 2013.
Posted by Judith — 2:57 AM
Optus reveals ‘The Open Network’ brand for mobile.
Source: Telecompaper.
Optus has unveiled a new name for its mobile networks, The Open Network, to bring its 3G dual band, 3G single band, and 2G mobile networks under one umbrella.
Posted by Judith — 1:30 AM
Ericsson consolidates 10,000th site for MBNL.
Source: TeleGeography.
Ericsson has announced that it has now consolidated more than 10,000 shared mobile cell sites for Mobile Broadband Network Ltd (MBNL), the joint venture between British cellcos H3G UK and T-Mobile UK. Under the JV the two mobile operators are aiming to pare down their joint networks from a total of 18,000 2G and 3G sites to around 12,500 in total, with the duo saying that the project will increase coverage and capacity for both.
Posted by Judith — 1:00 AM
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Bell Canada to retake control of Canadian TV network.
Source: NYT.
Despite an unhappy experience in the media business, Bell Canada has announced that it will retake control of CTV, the country’s largest private television broadcaster.
Bell will pay CND$1.3bn. (US$1.25bn.) to acquire the 85% of CTVglobemedia it currently does not own. Bell paid CND$2.3bn. in 2000 to buy a much smaller version of the company, illustrating the decline of the conventional media companies over the last decade.
Posted by Judith — 2:58 AM
Friday, September 10, 2010
Vodafone Group unveils corporate restructuring plans.
Source: TeleGeography.
Vodafone Group has announced that it is reorganising its corporate structure with a view to enabling ‘continued improvement in the delivery of [its] strategic goals’.
Under the proposed changes the main restructuring will see the group simplify accountability for its subsidiaries with the creation of two ‘operating regions’: Europe, which will include operations in European countries in addition to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Turkey; and Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific, which will include Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
Posted by Judith — 3:58 AM
Mobilicity to go toe-to-toe with Rogers over ‘fighting brand’.
Source: TeleGeography.
New Canadian mobile operator Mobilicity has fulfilled its threat from July to file a legal complaint against Rogers Wireless. The newcomer says that Rogers is in breach of competition laws after the company launched its new discount service Chatr.
Posted by Judith — 1:31 AM
Thursday, September 9, 2010
RIM buys DataViz for cross-platform mobile apps.
Source: InformationWeek.
Blackberry maker RIM has confirmed that it has acquired assets of software firm DataViz, provider of some of the most popular mobile productivity apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Mobile and RIM’s own Blackberry.
Posted by Judith — 5:17 AM
BT accelerates major growth programme across Asia Pacific.
Source: BTplc.
BT has announced the roll-out of the first phase of its recently publicised investment programme into the Asia Pacific region, covering additional resourcing, new infrastructure and expanded portfolio of services.
Posted by Judith — 3:01 AM
Dutch operators, banks to bring mobile payments to checkouts.
Source: Telecompaper.
Dutch mobile operators KPN, T-Mobile Netherlands and Vodafone Netherlands, as well as banking groups ABN Amro, ING, and Rabobank have signed a letter of intent to jointly introduce mobile payments at checkouts in the Netherlands. The companies claim it is the first time that major banks and mobile operators in a European country have joined forces with regard to mobile payments.
Posted by Judith — 2:59 AM
Google seeks to speed up Web searches.
Source: Reuters.
The new technology, dubbed Google Instant, can shave two seconds to five seconds off every Internet search.
It was made available in the United States on Wednesday, and means Google’s search engine can serve up a local weather forecast as soon as a user types the letter “W” in the search box. If the user continues typing a word other than “weather” into the search box, the results on the page instantly refresh and change accordingly.
Posted by Judith — 1:55 AM
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Vodafone to sell China Mobile stake.
Source: Telecompaper.
Vodafone Group has confirmed it will sell its 3.2% stake in China Mobile. The company will sell its 642.9m. shares in China Mobile in a public offering that will be led by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS.
Posted by Judith — 2:56 AM
Videotron launching mobile network tomorrow.
Source: TeleGeography.
Canadian cableco Videotron is launching its own HSPA-based 3G mobile network tomorrow (9 September), with coverage across Quebec. The company is Bell Canada’s largest competitor in the province’s home telephony market and is also Quebec’s largest provider of both pay-TV and fixed internet access.
Posted by Judith — 1:33 AM
Swisscom to buy rest of Fastweb for EUR 256m.
Source: Telecompaper.
Swisscom is preparing an offer to buy the remaining shares in Italian broadband operator Fastweb. Swisscom already owns 82.05% of Fastweb and wants to acquire the remaining shares for EUR256m.
Posted by Judith — 1:29 AM
India court rules against Vodafone.
Source: WSJ.
An Indian court has ruled that the country’s authorities have the right to tax Vodafone International Holdings B.V.’s 2007 purchase of a majority stake in a local mobile service provider, a decision that could leave foreign investors jittery about pouring money into the country.
Posted by Judith — 1:08 AM
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
MTS acquires 95% stake in Metro-Telecom.
Source: TeleGeography.
Russian telco Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has acquired a 95% stake in Metro-Telecom from Svyazinvest, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sistema. The acquisition of Metro-Telecom, which currently operates an optical fibre network in Moscow, is likely to precede MTS’ entrance into the Moscow broadband market.
Posted by Judith — 3:53 AM
Deutsche Bank raises France Telecom stake to 5.07%.
Source: Telecompaper.
Deutsche Bank has informed French stock market authority AMF that its holding of France Telecom voting rights passed the 5% ownership threshold. France Telecom dismissed claims by the CFE-CGC/Unsa trade union that this indicated some kind of rapprochement between it and Deutsche Telekom.
Posted by Judith — 2:22 AM
US$3bn. jackpot for kit-makers in India.
Source: TeleGeography.
The recent 3G auctions in India are set to net mobile equipment makers a US$3bn. bonanza, according to the Economic Times in India. The newspaper claims that the wave of network building set to take place across the subcontinent will make it the hottest telecoms market over the next twelve months.
Posted by Judith — 1:57 AM
Monday, September 6, 2010
Orange and T-Mobile merge networks.
Source: BBC.
Customers of Orange and T-Mobile will soon be able to hop between the two mobile networks.
The deal is one of the first practical benefits from the recent merger of the two firms, which have 30 million customers combined.
Posted by Judith — 6:45 AM
BT to allow alternative providers to select exchanges for fibre activation.
Source: TeleGeography.
British fixed line incumbent BT has announced that it is to start a trial scheme under which it will allow other communications providers to nominate exchanges for fibre enablement. The pilot will run from September 2010 to December 2010, with alternative operators allowed to nominate up to six exchanges each for inclusion in phase 7 of BT’s ongoing nationwide fibre rollout.
Posted by Judith — 5:11 AM
Reliance scraps talks to sell towers.
Source: Businessweek.
Reliance Communications has ended talks to sell some assets to GTL Infrastructure after both sides failed to agree on a deal to create India’s second-largest operator of mobile-phone towers.
Posted by Judith — 4:58 AM
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Tata sources Huawei for five 3G circles.
Source: TeleGeography.
Indian mobile network operator Tata Teleservices has reportedly selected Chinese hardware vendor Huawei to supply the necessary equipment for its launch of 3G services. TTSL, which successfully won UMTS concessions in nine circles in May 2010, has inked a deal that will see Huawei take responsibility for equipment in five of those regions; NSN has already been announced as the Indian company’s 3G partner in the other four circles.
Posted by Judith — 3:38 AM
Friday, September 3, 2010
HP wins 3PAR for US$2.4bn. as Dell drops out.
Source: Reuters.
Hewlett-Packard Co won the bidding war to buy data storage company 3PAR for US$2.4bn. as rival Dell bowed out.
HP raised its cash offer by $3 to $33 per share, beating Dell’s $32-a-share offer and ending an escalation of bids that many analysts said had gone too far.
Posted by Judith — 3:24 AM
Verizon unveils prepaid option for smartphones.
Source: Reuters.
Verizon Wireless has started giving smartphone users the option of paying for calls in advance instead of committing to long-term contracts, a move that pits it directly against rivals like Leap Wireless.
Posted by Judith — 2:07 AM
India’s DoT allocates 3G spectrum.
Source: TeleGeography.
India’s DoT has allocated third-generation spectrum to those operators that successfully won UMTS concessions in the much-delayed auction that closed in May 2010. The regulator has handed out frequencies to all seven winning bidders: Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular, Vodafone Essar, Aircel, STel and Tata Teleservices. State-owned operators BSNL and MTNL had already been handed 3G spectrum in July 2008.
Posted by Judith — 1:09 AM
Thursday, September 2, 2010
U.S. delays Web traffic rules by seeking more comment.
Source: Reuters.
U.S. communications regulators have put off a controversial decision on Internet traffic rules, giving industry and consumer groups a chance to forge a compromise while avoiding a politically sensitive issue ahead of the November elections.
Posted by Judith — 3:46 AM
India Asks RIM, Google, Skype to build local servers.
Source: Businessweek.
India said it will ask RIM, Google, Skype and other service providers to set up servers locally and enable security agencies to monitor mail traffic.
The Indian government, concerned that terrorists may take advantage of the encryption in smartphones to plan attacks or other illegal activity, is urging equipment makers and service providers to come up with solutions to meet its security needs.
Posted by Judith — 2:18 AM
Nokia to close down data access service Ovi Files.
Source: Reuters.
Nokia has decided to close down its Ovi Files service which allows consumers to access their computer data remotely, the world’s top cellphone maker said in an e-mail to users of the service.
Nokia started to build its own Internet services offering in 2007, but has lately ramped down several unsuccessful products.
Posted by Judith — 1:59 AM
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
New Australian alliance pushes NBN 3.0 proposal.
Source: Telecompaper.
A number of network and internet companies in Australia have formed the Alliance for Affordable Broadband and published a manifesto. The manifesto was signed by the the CEOs of Allegro Networks, BigAir, Vocus Communications, AAPT, Eftel, and Polyfone, as well as the founder of Pipe Networks. The plan pushed by he Alliance is called NBN 3.0 and calls for a market solution, not an infrastructure monopoly.
Posted by Judith — 2:25 AM
Verizon to buy 700MHz spectrum in Alaska.
Source: TeleGeography.
Verizon Wireless has filed an application with the FCC to acquire the 700MHz C Block spectrum licence covering Alaska. Verizon intends to purchase the spectrum from Triad, a company that purchased the licence during the FCC’s 700MHz spectrum auction in 2008. Triad originally paid around USD1.8 million for the licence.
Posted by Judith — 1:55 AM
Orange rolls out high-definition voice for mobiles.
Source: BBC.
Mobile firm Orange has become the first UK network to use a technology that offers higher quality voice calls.
HD voice claims to reduce background noise and the “hisses and crackles” often heard on a normal mobile call.
The technology, known as, Adaptive Multi Rate Wideband (AMR-WB) has been adopted as an international standard for 3G mobile networks.
Posted by Judith — 1:45 AM
Motorola unit to be spun off with US$3.5bn.
Source: Businessweek.
Motorola, the communications- equipment maker that’s splitting in two, said it plans to put US$3.5bn. into the mobile-phone and set-top box units that will be spun off together in the first quarter of next year.
Posted by Judith — 1:28 AM
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