Press Clippings: June 2011
Major Industry items you might have missed
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Synchronica buys Nokia messaging business in North America.
Source: Telecompaper.
Synchronica has announced a conditional agreement to acquire Nokia’s Operator Branded Messaging (OBM) business, which provides white-label mobile e-mail and instant messaging services to operators in North America. The acquisition will provide Synchronica with a complementary mobile messaging business and a strong foothold in the strategically important North American operator market. Combined with its more than 80 existing carrier contracts in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Russia and Asia, Synchronica aims to become the global leader in mobile messaging.
Posted by Judith — 1:01 AM
AT&T partners Zynga for mobile games.
Source: Telecompaper.
AT&T has announced an agreement with social games developer Zynga to bring new games to AT&T’s mobile customers. The agreement is the first of its kind between Zynga and a US mobile operator.
Posted by Judith — 12:14 AM
Spanish spectrum sale gets underway.
Source: TeleGeography.
With an eye on reducing the country’s budget deficit, Spain has today launched an auction of spectrum across three frequency bands - 800MHz, 900MHz and 2600MHz - which it hopes may raise as much as EUR2bn. (US$2.9bn.).
Posted by Judith — 12:09 AM
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Trials of a new ‘Super WiFi’ begin in Cambridge, U.K.
Source: BBC.
Trials of a new ‘Super WiFi’ begin in Cambridge, U.K.
The new service uses the gaps in frequencies between TV channels, and the sponsors of the technology say it could mean a better internet service for rural areas.
Posted by Judith — 5:06 AM
LightSquared, netTALK ink LTE wholesale deal.
Source: TeleGeography.
LightSquared, the LTE open-access mobile network that will utilise satellite spectrum acquired by New York investment firm Harbinger Capital, has announced that it has entered into a ‘multi-year wholesale agreement’ with telecoms and consumer electronics company netTALK. Under the terms of the deal, netTALK will become a wholesale customer on LightSquared’s imminent hybrid satellite LTE network, developing its own branded voice and high-speed mobile data services.
Posted by Judith — 4:58 AM
Microsoft signs up operators to launch Office 365.
Source: Telecompaper.
Microsoft has announced the official launch of Office 365, with several operators signed up to distribute the cloud-based software. Some of the operators who will bundle the software with their own broadband and hosting services include Bell Canada, Telefonica, NTT Communications, KPN, TDC, UPC, TeliaSonera, Orange, Telmex, Telstra and Vodafone.
Posted by Judith — 2:42 AM
O2 plans fibre-optic broadband.
Source: TeleGeography.
O2 UK has announced plans to launch a commercial trial of fibre-optic broadband before the end of 2011.
Posted by Judith — 2:06 AM
Telkom agrees to sell Multi-Links to Helios Towers Nigeria.
Source: Telecompaper.
South Africa operator Telkom has agreed to sell its loss-making Nigerian unit Multi-Links to Helios Towers Nigeria for US$10m. HTN, which earlier sued Multi-Links for US$252m. over an alleged contract breach for infrastructure services, will acquire full ownership and control of Multi-Links.
Posted by Judith — 1:14 AM
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Ericsson demonstrates LTE Advanced.
Source: TeleGeography.
Swedish company Ericsson has demonstrated the next phase of the LTE mobile broadband standard, LTE Advanced, to the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency. The demonstration achieved speeds more than ten times faster than those currently experienced by LTE consumers in the country. The first LTE Advanced networks are expected to be in commercial operation in 2013.
Posted by Judith — 2:35 AM
Apple and Android now supported by almost half of US companies, but BlackBerry still leads.
Source: cellular-news.
According to recent end-user research, the number of US companies supporting Google Android and Apple iOS has reached unprecedented levels of adoption.
At 42% and 49% respectively, these operating systems still trail the RIM Blackberry which, at
72 %, remains the top corporate mobile phone choice.
Posted by Judith — 1:03 AM
Court of Appeal Court backs Arcep on fibre access.
Source: TeleGeography.
The Court of Appeal in Paris has backed the French telecom regulator Arcep over its decision ordering local cableco Numericable to comply with the terms and conditions set down by France Telecom for accessing its cable ducts when upgrading its fibre network.
Posted by Judith — 12:55 AM
Monday, June 27, 2011
UK consortium plans ‘white space’ mobile broadband trial.
Source: Telecompaper.
A Microsoft-led consortium is set to launch a technology trial using ‘white space’ spectrum in the UK. Other consortium members include BT, British Sky Broadcasting and the BBC. They will examine how radio spectrum freed up by the digital TV switchover can be used for new mobile broadband networks.
Posted by Judith — 3:46 AM
Bharti Airtel unveils restructuring plan.
Source: TeleGeography.
India’s Bharti Airtel has revealed that it will undertake a restructuring exercise under which it will merge three separate businesses which currently account for around 90% of the company’s revenues. Airtel has said that it will merge its mobile, satellite TV and fixed line and broadband Telemedia units, with the corporate restructure being performed with a view to cutting costs and boosting efficiency at the telco in the wake of falling profits.
Posted by Judith — 1:27 AM
Nokia, Siemens fail to find buyer for NSN
Source: Telecompaper.
Nokia and Siemens have shelved plans to sell a stake in their network equipment joint venture and will instead look to inject more cash in the company.
Posted by Judith — 12:07 AM
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Google faces FTC competition investigation.
Source: Telecompaper.
The US Federal Trade Commission is set to launch a formal investigation into whether Google abused its dominant position in the online search market. The FTC has been informally questioning the company and industry players for several months already and will soon issue civil subpoenas to launch the formal probe.
Posted by Judith — 1:41 AM
Friday, June 24, 2011
Telstra launches HD Voice on mobile network.
Source: Telecompaper.
Telstra has introduced high definition voice calling across its entire Next G mobile network. The HD Voice service uses Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate coding (WB-AMR) technology. This is the world’s largest HD voice network, covering over 2.1 million square kilometers.
Posted by Judith — 1:47 AM
Wi-Fi trade groups agree to cooperate on future standards.
Source: cellular-news.
The Wi-Fi Alliance and Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) have announced plans to collaborate in order to harmonise their programs related to Wi-Fi hotspot ease of use and roaming. WBA’s inter-operator Wi-Fi roaming efforts and Wi-Fi Alliance’s planned certification program for Wi-Fi equipment will be developed with coordination between the two groups.
Posted by Judith — 12:56 AM
Judge approves Dish Network’s bid for TerraStar assets.
Source: Fierce Wireless.
A U.S. bankruptcy court judge has approved a US$1.375bn. offer from Dish Network for TerreStar Networks’ assets, making the bid the “stalking horse” bid for the assets.
Bidders have until June 27 to make competing bids. If multiple parties make offers, an auction would be held on June 30, the results of which would go before the court for approval July 7.
Posted by Judith — 12:00 AM
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Australia strikes broadband deal with Telstra and Optus.
Source: BBC.
Australia’s two biggest telecoms companies have joined the government’s A$36bn. (GBP24bn.) plan to roll-out high-speed internet across the country.
Telstra and Optus will close down their infrastructure and transfer customers to the state-owned National Broadband Network Company (NBNC).
About 60% of households have broadband, but speeds are slow compared with many industrialised countries.
The plan is to connect more than 90% of households to a super-fast network.
Posted by Judith — 2:53 AM
Danish operators to develop common platform for NFC payments.
Source: Telecompaper.
Danish mobile operators Telia Denmark, TDC, Telenor Denmark and 3 Denmark joined forces to develop a single system for near field communication (NFC) m-payments across all mobile networks.
Posted by Judith — 1:52 AM
Wireless broadband subscriptions top half a billion, says OECD.
Source: cellular-news.
Wireless broadband subscriptions in the 32 developed countries that make up the OECD had exceeded half a billion by the end of 2010, an increase of more than 10% on June 2010, according to new OECD statistics.
Fixed broadband subscriptions reached 300m. for the first time, but growth slowed to 6% year-on-year, the lowest growth rate since the OECD started collecting broadband statistics just over a decade ago. This reflects higher broadband penetration and market saturation in some countries.
Posted by Judith — 1:13 AM
Dutch parliament approves new net neutrality law.
Source: TeleGeography.
The Dutch parliament has approved a new net neutrality law that will ensure end users have free access to bolt-on services such as Skype (VoIP) and WhatsApp (IM). As a result of the decision, the Netherlands becomes the first European Union (EU) member state to ensure web providers cannot charge more to access certain services. The proposal will effectively prevent incumbents KPN Mobile, Vodafone and T-Mobile from charging or blocking access to ‘over the top’ services such as Skype or WhatsApp.
Posted by Judith — 1:13 AM
Gulf countries to cut roaming rates by another 30%.
Source: Telecompaper.
GCC countries will cut regional roaming rates by a further 30% in July. The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE. The meeting also discussed the transition to digital broadcasting in the region, service charges among Arab countries and other cross-border issues.
Posted by Judith — 12:01 AM
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Nokia revamps operations.
Source: Reuters.
Finnish cellphone maker Nokia is revamping its business to bolster location-based services as it tries to gain profitability and compete more effectively against rivals such as Apple.
Nokia has announced that it will incorporate Navteq, an independent unit specializing in the fast-growing digital mapping, into its broader services business.
Posted by Judith — 2:11 AM
Idea Cellular cleared in Indian telecoms scandal investigation.
Source: cellular-news.
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has closed an investigation into Idea Cellular after finding that it had not engaged in illegal activities during the controversial 2008 GSM license awards process.
Although the company was awarded six licenses during the tender process, it had requested 12 licenses and did not seek to bribe officials to get the additional licenses.
Posted by Judith — 12:55 AM
Smartphones average 35-40% offload to Wi-Fi .
Source: Converge.
On average, smartphones are making 8 Wi-Fi connections per day and offloading a huge amount of data traffic from the mobile network infrastructure to the cheaper and faster Wi-Fi connection.
1 million smartphones and their data-roaming patterns from cellular to WiFi were surveyed.
By turning to Wi-Fi, carriers have been able to significantly reduce their capital and operating expenditure.
Posted by Judith — 12:00 AM
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Ofcom gives green light for mobile spectrum trading.
Source: Telecompaper.
UK communications regulator Ofcom has given the green light for mobile operators to trade radio spectrum.
The new regulations cover spectrum at 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz, and will allow operators with a greater need for spectrum to make offers for spectrum from operators who need it less. Ofcom hopes this flexibility will help operators respond more efficiently to demand for mobile data services.
Posted by Judith — 2:51 AM
Samsung enters Japanese LTE market through KDDI deal.
Source: TeleGeography.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. has signed a contract with Japan’s second largest telecoms group KDDI Corp for the provision of LTE solutions in the country. The pair hope the deal will result in a commercial launch of LTE services in 2012.
Posted by Judith — 1:52 AM
Amdocs to acquire Bridgewater Systems.
Source: Telecompaper.
Customer systems provider Amdocs has signed an agreement to acquire Canada-based mobile personalisation service developer Bridgewater Systems. The acquisition will enable Bridgewater Systems to enhance its corporate growth strategy, centred around global expansion, enabling the transformation to enhanced converged networks.
Posted by Judith — 1:26 AM
TIM Brasil unveils US$626m. investment.
Source: TeleGeography.
Brazilian mobile operator TIM Brasil has signed contracts worth BRL1bn. (US$626m.) with equipment makers NSN, Huawei and Ericsson. Under the latest plan TIM Brasil is looking to increase its various network elements by about 130% as it looks to double transmission capacity in 2011.
Posted by Judith — 12:54 AM
Monday, June 20, 2011
Average US smartphone data usage grows 89%.
Source: Telecompaper.
Average US smartphone data usage has grown 89% as cost per MB goes down 46%. Smartphone owners are consuming more data than before on a per-user basis.
Posted by Judith — 1:13 AM
Foreign companies will be allowed to acquire NZ Telecom’s retail arm.
Source: TeleGeography.
New Zealand’s communications minister has announced that foreign companies will be permitted to purchase Telecom New Zealand’s retail business when the company de-merges later this year. Under the current rules, foreign firms are not allowed to own more than 49.9% of Telecom, whilst additional government clearance is required for foreign stakes larger than 10%.
Posted by Judith — 1:04 AM
Spain attracts 11 bidders in mobile spectrum auction.
Source: Telecompaper.
Eleven operators have placed their bids in the tender for 270 MHz of spectrum in Spain. The bidders include Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange, Ono and Jazztel. Spain is auctioning 58 blocks in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 2.6 GHz frequency bands.
Posted by Judith — 12:57 AM
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Microsoft gets antitrust approval to buy Skype.
Source: Reuters.
Microsoft has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy the Internet phone service Skype, the Federal Trade Commission said in a website posting.
Microsoft announced in May it was buying Skype for US$8.5bn., its biggest-ever acquisition.
Posted by Judith — 4:44 AM
Friday, June 17, 2011
Vodafone moves away from fixed line ops to focus on LTE.
Source: TeleGeography.
The German subsidiary of UK-based telecoms company Vodafone Group is investing less in its fixed line operations as it aims to capitalise on the growth potential of the wireless market. The company cited unattractive regulation in the fixed line sector and better prospects for 4G LTE wireless technology as the main reasons behind the shift.
Posted by Judith — 4:16 AM
Oracle seeks damages in lawsuit against Google.
Source: Reuters.
Oracle is seeking damages “in the billions of dollars” from Google in a patent lawsuit over the smartphone market.
Oracle sued Google last year, claiming the Web search company’s Android mobile operating technology infringes Oracle’s Java patents. Oracle bought the Java programing language through its acquisition of Sun Microsystems in January 2010.
Posted by Judith — 2:55 AM
Cellcom to purchase NetVision and merge operations.
Source: TeleGeography.
Israel’s largest mobile network operator by subscribers, Cellcom, has announced that it will acquire local ISP and international call carrier NetVision and merge the operations of the latter with its own.
Posted by Judith — 12:19 AM
Vodafone signs off on US$11bn. sale of SFR stake.
Source: TeleGeography.
UK mobile giant Vodafone Group yesterday announced that it has completed the EUR7.95bn. (US$11.25bn.) sale of its 44% stake in French mobile and broadband operator SFR to its joint venture partner Vivendi. In addition, the UK group will receive a final dividend from SFR of around EUR200m.
Posted by Judith — 12:00 AM
Thursday, June 16, 2011
UK mobile networks set up m-commerce, payments JV.
Source: Telecompaper.
UK mobile network operators Everything Everywhere, Telefonica UK and Vodafone UK have joined forces to launch a mobile marketing and payments joint venture. The standalone m-commerce JV will be the first of its kind in the UK and will support the rapid development of new mobile marketing and payment services.
Posted by Judith — 5:57 AM
Telstra to invest over AU$800m. in cloud computing.
Source: Telecompaper.
Telstra will invest more than AU$800m.(US$841m.) in cloud computing over the next five years. Telstra has partnered with leading cloud technology vendors Cisco, VMware and its integration and go to market partner Accenture, to build the next phase of its integrated cloud platform as well as using cloud technology partners such as Microsoft to deliver cloud services.
Posted by Judith — 2:32 AM
Dolby sues BlackBerry maker over patents.
Source: NYT.
Dolby International, a unit of the audio equipment maker Dolby Laboratories, has sued RIM in the United States and Germany for patent infringement.
Dolby claims that RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook tablet devices use its patented digital audio compression technology without a license.
Posted by Judith — 2:16 AM
Essar Group to exit telecom business in Africa.
Source: Telecompaper.
Indian conglomerate Essar Group is exiting its telecommunication businesses in Africa. The telecommunication service operations it acquired from Warid Telecom in Uganda and Congo are being returned and the group is looking for a buyer for its Kenya operations.
Posted by Judith — 12:56 AM
KeyOn acquires business VOIP provider CommX.
Source: connected planet
KeyOn Communications, a company that has acquired 13 broadband wireless providers in rural parts of the U.S., has announced that it has purchased the assets of business VOIP provider CommX.
KeyOn delivers broadband services using a variety of technologies, including WiMax, unlicensed 2.4 GHz equipment and the Motorola Canopy offering.
The acquisition of the CommX assets brings the company new customers as well as cloud service infrastructure to support hosted PBX and other business VOIP services.
Posted by Judith — 12:00 AM
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Ericsson to buy Telcordia for US$1.15bn.
Source: Telecompaper.
Ericsson has agreed to buy Telcordia from its private equity owners for US$1.15bn. In addition to adding to Ericsson’s network services operations, Telcordia will help with the challenge of monetising and supporting the growing mobile data business for operators, a core growth area for Ericsson.
Posted by Judith — 4:35 AM
Comcast to offer Skype video calls service on TV.
Source: Telecompaper.
US cable operator Comcast has agreed to launch a video calls service with Skype. Customers will be able to buy a package with an HD webcam, adaptor and remote control with keyboard, that will allow them to use the service on their HDTV sets..
Posted by Judith — 1:44 AM
Time Warner Cable to acquire NewWave cable assets for US$260m.
Source: TeleGeography.
Time Warner Cable has announced that it has agreed to acquire cable assets in Kentucky and western Tennessee from NewWave Communications for US$260m. The cable systems serve approximately 70,000 basic video subscribers, 42,000 ‘high-speed data’ users and 26,000 voice telephony customers.
Posted by Judith — 1:24 AM
Arcep kicks off 4G auction.
Source: TeleGeography.
The French telecom regulator Arcep today launched the auction of 4G mobile licences in the country, hoping to raise a minimum EUR2.5bn. (US$3.6bn.) in the process. Arcep has set a deadline of 15 September for bids for 2600MHz spectrum and 15 December for spectrum applications in the 800MHz band; the latter are considered the most valuable.
Posted by Judith — 12:20 AM
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Nokia and Apple settle patent dispute.
Source: BBC
Nokia has announced that Apple has agreed to pay royalties for use of its technologies, ending the long-running legal dispute between the two firms.
Nokia sued Apple for patent infringements in 2009 and extended the action in December last year.
Apple had countersued, accusing Nokia of infringing its patents.
Nokia said its agreement with Apple consisted of a one-off payment, the value of which was not disclosed, and ongoing royalties.
Posted by Judith — 2:10 AM
Kenyan networks in talks to merge tower assets.
Source: cellular-news.
Kenyan mobile networks, Safaricom and Telkom Kenya (Orange) have announced plans to form a jointly owned tower management company.
In a regional first, the two companies indicated that they were in advanced negotiations, expected to be concluded in the next three months, towards the formation of an independently-managed infrastructure company.
Posted by Judith — 1:25 AM
Telia, Telenor to share network infrastructure in Denmark.
Source: Telecompaper.
Telia and Telenor have agreed to share network infrastructure in Denmark. The mobile operators will establish a common infrastructure company to operate the joint network. The agreement involves the 2G, 3G and 4G networks.
Posted by Judith — 12:36 AM
SingTel launches priority mobile internet service.
Source: Telecompaper.
Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has launched a premium priority mobile broadband service and published the average speeds of its mobile data services. Named Priority Pass, the service offers faster and more reliable mobile internet connectivity as customers get priority for their data traffic when the network is heavily loaded.
Posted by Judith — 12:01 AM
Monday, June 13, 2011
Telus tie-up sees Skype bonding with cellcos.
Source: TeleGeography.
Telus has partnered VoIP call provider Skype to offer its mobile customers a Skype-branded smartphone with international VoIP calling credits this summer, the first such partnership between a Canadian cellular company and a VoIP operator.
Posted by Judith — 5:25 AM
T-Mobile, AT&T file support statement with FCC.
Source: Telecompaper.
Deutsche Telekom, parent company of T-Mobile USA and AT&T have filed with the FCC a joint opposition to petitions to deny their application seeking approval of AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile. The filing is supported by economic and technical declarations, which highlight the numerous consumer and public interest that will be gained through combining the two companies and it refutes the arguments set forth by parties opposed to the transaction.
Posted by Judith — 2:42 AM
Megafon acquires Moscow ISP NetByNet.
Source: Telecompaper.
Russian mobile operator Megafon has acquired 100% of Moscow-based ISP NetByNet for US$ 270m. NetByNet provides fixed broadband, digital TV and IP telephony services in Moscow city and various regions.
Posted by Judith — 1:36 AM
Friday, June 10, 2011
Sprint cuts Clearwire voting stake to below 50% to appease investors.
Source: TeleGeography.
Sprint Nextel, the United States’ third-largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, has reduced its voting stake in WiMAX operator Clearwire to less than 50%, in an effort to placate investor concerns that Clearwire may be considered a subsidiary and thus render Sprint liable for its outstanding debt.
Posted by Judith — 4:04 AM
O2 UK criticises Ofcom’s mobile spectrum auction proposals.
Source: TeleGeography.
UK mobile operator O2 UK, a unit of Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, has criticised the British telecoms regulator’s plans for the sale of mobile spectrum next year, claiming that some of the proposals amount to state aid.The cellco has claimed that the proposed rules for the auction could allow for discrimination against it, with O2 arguing that ‘spectrum floors’ proposed by Ofcom could see some of its rivals pay around GBP1bn. (US$1.6bn.) less for sub 1GHz spectrum than they would otherwise have to.
Posted by Judith — 3:46 AM
Sprint Nextel commits to selling 10 new Motorola devices.
Source: cellular-news.
USA based Sprint Nextel has announced a commitment to stock at least 10 new Motorola mobile phones during 2011 - and Motorola has committed to launch at least 10 new models.
Posted by Judith — 3:42 AM
Two bidders withdraw from NSN sale.
Source: cellular-news.
Two private equity groups are reported to have dropped out of the bidding to buy a stake in its Nokia Siemens Networks joint venture after disagreements about the price and degree of control the investors would get over the company.
Two USA based private equity groups, KKR and TPG have dropped out of bidding, leaving just Gores Group and Platinum Equity as a possible investor.
Posted by Judith — 1:57 AM
Microsoft loses Supreme Court patent case.
Source: internetnews.
The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday denied Microsoft’s appeal of a US$290m. patent infringement verdict against it by a tiny Toronto technology firm, i4i, ruling that the standards for challenging the validity of patents are more stringent than the software giant had claimed in its defense.
Posted by Judith — 12:46 AM
Thursday, June 9, 2011
OECD calls for lower data roaming costs.
Source: Telecompaper.
Regulators and policymakers should boost competition among mobile operators in order to drive down the cost of international data roaming, the OECD recommends in a new report. Analysis of pricing plans at 68 operators in the 34 OECD countries indicates that there is in general insufficient retail or wholesale competition.
Posted by Judith — 3:29 AM
Globalive wins court ruling, Public Mobile to appeal.
Source: Telecompaper.
Canadian mobile operator Globalive has won an appeal court ruling, upholding the government decision to allow the operator’s roll-out to go ahead. The Federal Court of Appeal rejected a case brought by rival Public Mobile questioning whether Globalive meets rules limiting foreign ownership in communication companies. Globalive was started by Orascom Telecom in a joint venture with local investors and has since passed to Vimpelcom. After the regulator CRTC blocked the company’s launch as Wind Mobile in 2009, the government intervened to allow the launch to go ahead. Public Mobile then appealed the decision. The company said it would appeal again to the Supreme Court.
Posted by Judith — 2:25 AM
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
AT&T wins Indonesian licence as it looks to grow its enterprise business.
Source: Telecompaper.
US-based telecoms operator AT&T has been awarded a licence to operate in Indonesia as it looks to expand its enterprise business in Asia. The company is the first foreign telco to secure a full concession in the country.
Posted by Judith — 1:34 PM
Alfa sells 6% of Vimpelcom, cancelling shareholder agreement with Telenor.
Source: TeleGeography.
Altimo, the telecoms holding arm of Russian conglomerate Alfa, has agreed to sell a 6% voting stake in cellular operator Vimpelcom. Altimo said it will sell 123.6m. Vimpelcom preferred shares to Russian businessman Oleg Kiselev for US$100m., signalling the end to a shareholder agreement with fellow Vimpelcom stakeholder Telenor.
Posted by Judith — 2:46 AM
Orange and T-Mobile UK to open 30 more co-branded retail stores.
Source: cellular-news.
UK based Everything Everywhere - the holding company that owns Orange and T-Mobile - has announced plans to open 30 new Everything Everywhere branded stores this year.
The company currently owns over 700 stores under the Orange and T-Mobile brands. The 30 new stores will be branded Everything Everywhere and will offer both Orange and T-Mobile products and services.
Posted by Judith — 1:49 AM
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Regulator orders shut-down of Virgin Mobile in Qatar.
Source: cellular-news.
Qatar’s telecoms regulator has ordered Qatar Telecom to close all Qtel Virgin Mobile-branded services in the country.
The regulator said that it had conducted a study into the “non-compliant” launch of the MVNO in May 2010 and found that not only were the services marketed in a misleading manner, the company also ignored instructions to change its policies.
The regulator also accused Qtel of engaging an anti-competitive behaviour during the launch of the Virgin Mobile service.
Posted by Judith — 3:46 AM
Apple introduces iCloud storage service.
Source: Telecompaper.
Apple introduced iCloud at its developers conference, a new service for customers to store downloads and data in the cloud and share Apple purchased content across multiple devices. The service will launch this autumn on the upcoming iOS 5 for the iPhone, iPad and iPod and OS X Lion for Mac computers.
Posted by Judith — 1:27 AM
Virgin to launch MVNO in LatAm with Tribe Mobile.
Source: Telecompaper.
Virgin Group plans to launch Virgin-branded MVNO services in Latin America. The service will be provided in partnership with wireless communications company Tribe Mobile. Virgin will launch its first MVNO business in the region within the next 12 to 15 months. The two partners plan to invest around US$300m. over the next five years to roll out the mobile operations across Latin America.
Posted by Judith — 12:29 AM
Monday, June 6, 2011
Virgin Mobile signs France’s first full MVNO deal with SFR.
Source: Telecompaper.
French MVNO Virgin Mobile France’s parent company, Omea Telecom, has signed a five-year renewable full MVNO contract with French mobile and broadband network operator SFR to enable it to install its own equipment on masts and gain more control over its customer base.
Posted by Judith — 1:52 AM
PCCW allowed to spin off telecom business.
Source: Telecompaper.
Hong Kong telecommunications firm PCCW has been granted approval to spin off its telecommunications business into a separately listed business trust. The proposal was earlier rejected by the stock market regulator but the company has made some changes to the plan, which has now been approved by the Listing Committee.
Posted by Judith — 12:55 AM
Rostelecom acquires 39.87% of Bashinformsvyaz.
Source: TeleGeography.
Russian telecoms giant Rostelecom has acquired a 39.9% stake in regional market leader Bashinformsvyaz for RUB3.64bn. (US$131.1m.). The deal is effectively a continuation of Rostelecom’s strategy to strengthen market positions in regions where it has a limited presence, following the completion of its so-called ‘mega-regional merger’, which saw the company absorb the operations of seven regional subsidiaries affiliated to parent company Svyazinvest.
Posted by Judith — 12:03 AM
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Apple takes second place among US smartphone platforms.
Source: cellular-news.
For the three month average period ending in April, 234m. Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 24.5% of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 20.9% share and Motorola with 15.6% share. Apple jumped to the #4 position with 8.3% share of mobile subscribers, while RIM rounded out the top five with 8.2% share.
Smartphone Platform Market Share
Google Android ranked as the top operating system with 36.4% of U.S. smartphone subscribers. Apple also gained share, capturing the #2 position with 26.0% of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 25.7%, followed by Microsoft (6.7%) and Palm (2.6%).
Posted by Judith — 2:16 AM
Friday, June 3, 2011
AT&T buys out minority stakes in wireless networks in Cincinnati.
Source: cellular-news.
Convergys is selling holdings in the “cellular partnerships” located in the Cincinnati metropolitan area to AT&T for approximately US$320m. in cash.
As a result of its spin-off from Cincinnati Bell in 1998, Convergys received a 34% limited partnership interest in Cincinnati SMSA and a 45% limited partnership interest in Cincinnati SMSA Tower Holdings. Together, these two properties are referred to as the “cellular partnerships.”
Posted by Judith — 2:39 AM
Greece to sell 10% in OTE to Deutsche Telekom.
Source: Telecompaper.
Greece will sell 10% of its remaining share in OTE by activating an option with Deutsche Telekom. The Greek state currently has a 16% stake in OTE.
Posted by Judith — 1:45 AM
French LTE auction imminent.
Source: TeleGeography.
The planned auction of spectrum frequencies for 4G LTE services is all set to begin in France, after the digital economy minister signed off on a decree launching the tender for bids. Operators wishing to participate in the process will have until September to submit bids.
Posted by Judith — 12:04 AM
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Polycom announces operator videoconferencing alliance.
Source: Telecompaper.
Polycom has announced a new alliance of telecom operators formed to deliver interoperable videoconferencing and telepresence worldwide. The Open Visual Communications Consortium will connect businesses and public organisations across service provider networks and videoconferencing systems worldwide. Sponsored by Polycom, the OVCC includes as founding members Airtel, AT&T, BCS Global, BT Conferencing, Cable&Wireless Worldwide, Global Crossing, Glowpoint, iFormata Communications, Masergy, Orange Business Services, PCCW Global, Telefonica, Telstra, and Verizon.
Posted by Judith — 3:31 AM
Vodafone Ireland ups 2012 investment by 20%.
Source: TeleGeography.
Vodafone Ireland has revealed it is looking to increase investment by 20% in fiscal 2012, with a focus on improving its network and information technology infrastructure.
Posted by Judith — 1:33 AM
UK’s 4G networks could interfere with domestic television reception.
Source: cellular-news.
The UK’s telecoms regulator has warned future 800Mhz based mobile phone services may interfere with TV broadcasts, and that bidders for the forthcoming Digital Dividend spectrum will have to pick up the cost of dealing the interference.
It is intended that the auction will take place in the first quarter of 2012 and the 800Mhz bands are expected to be used for LTE based 4G services.
Posted by Judith — 1:08 AM
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Sprint asks FCC to block AT&T takeover of T-Mobile.
Source: Telecompaper.
Sprint has formally requested that the FCC block AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile USA. In its “Petition to Deny” filed with the FCC, Sprint said the proposed acquisition cannot be remedied through divestitures or conditions imposed by the regulator.
Posted by Judith — 3:47 AM
Yahoo! partners MediaTek to expand mobile services.
Source: Telecompaper.
Yahoo! has announced a global partnership with MediaTek to help expand its services on mobile devices. The partnership allows the company to pre-load Yahoo! products directly on the handset. MediaTek plans to extend its distribution coverage to other emerging markets worldwide, giving Yahoo! the opportunity to reach a broader mobile audience. This is the first time Yahoo! has partnered globally with a mobile chipset manufacturer.
Posted by Judith — 2:44 AM
Ericsson wins AU$1bn. contract for rural LTE in Australia.
Source: Telecompaper.
Ericsson has announced an AU$1bn. contract to bring LTE services to rural Australia. NBN, the company established by the Australian government t o build and operate the national broadband network, awarded the contract to Ericsson to build and operate a 2.3GHz fixed-wireless broadband network based on LTE technology.
Posted by Judith — 1:41 AM
Imagine sues Motorola for US$153m. over alleged rollout delays.
Source: TeleGeography.
Irish alternative broadband services provider Imagine Communications Group is suing telecoms equipment maker Motorola for EUR107m. (US$153m.) over alleged difficulties with connecting its WiMAX customers to the internet.
Posted by Judith — 12:09 AM
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