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RCOM to sign new agreements - GSM Operator (India)

  • August 7th, 2008
  • 2:00 pm

Speaking over a controversy between GSM operators and RCOM (Reliance Communication) the GSM operators’ body has stated that RCom needs to sign new agreements with the operators.The Cellular Operators’ Association of India has stated that the present agreement between RCom and GSM players dates back to 2003, and this does not include the new GSM operations that the company is planning to enter. The reason for the lack of inter-connectivity agreements is the lack of a commercial agreement between RCom and the GSM operators. Moreover, RCom is completely unwilling to re-negotiate the terms of interconnection and this was hindering the interconnect issues, COAI said in a letter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). However, there arises a need to ‘mutually establish the technical and commercial terms of interconnection for RCom’s new GSM network, and consequently establish the physical interconnectivity for the same,’ it said. ‘Based on this, Mobile Switching Code (MSC) could be tested and opened,’ it added.

Vodafone and Zon Multimedia sign a contract to launch MVNO (Portugal)

  • August 4th, 2008
  • 11:05 am

Vodafone Portugal and Zon Multimedia, Portugese cable operator have signed a 5 year contract to supply mobile communication services as a MVNO through mobile operator’s network. Zon is planning to launch it’s mobile services in Q4′08, using the 929 prefix, in turn complementing its telecommunications offer, by providing its entire client base with mobile broadband, home-zoning products and a mobile voice service.

   

Vivo reports a net loss of $38 million in Q2′08 (Brazil)

  • July 31st, 2008
  • 12:36 pm

Vivo, Brazil’s number one mobile operator by subscribers, posted a net loss of BRL59.5 million (USD38 million) in the three months to end-June, narrowing a net loss of BRL65.1 million in the same period last year. The improved performance was attributed to an increase in interest rates and to the debt necessary for the purchase of regional mobile operator Telemig Celular.

Vivo’s operational net revenues in the quarter climbed 12.9% year-on-year from BRL3.36 billion to BRL3.79 billion, while group EBITDA rose 16% from BRL756 million to BRL879 million. The EBITDA margin rose marginally by point six of one percent to 23.2%. The operator said it added two million net new subscribers in the period under review to end June with 40.4 million users, up 19.4% compared to 33.7 million in Q2 2007. Of the total, 7.7 million are post-paid and the remaining 32.7 pre-paid. Vivo’s GSM operations reached 22.5 million users, or 55% of the total, while overall, the cellco had a market share of 30.4% at the start of July 2008. The company said its strong net additions in the second quarter were the result of aggressive marketing campaigns and the completion of the acquisition of fellow mobile carrier Telemig Celular on 3 April. Operational costs in the period totalled BRL2.91 billion, up 12% y-o-y, and CAPEX was BRL1.56 billion, up 332% on 2Q 2007, as Vivo progressed plans to expand its GSM coverage and made a part-payment on its 3G licences.

   

Consent to carrier sale and 3rd mobile operator in Kuwait

  • July 22nd, 2008
  • 6:42 am

Kuwait gave the final nod for the privatisation plans of loss-making Kuwait Airways Corp [KA.UL] (KAC) and to set up a third mobile operator. Kuwait’s parliament in January approved a long-delayed government plan to sell 40 percent of the carrier to the public and 35 percent to a long-term investor within two years.

Communications Minister Abdulrahman al-Ghunaim said that the privatisation was expected to be concluded at the end of next year or earlier depending on a planned evaluation of the carrier’s assets.The plan still has to be approved by the Gulf Arab state’s emir, who usually signs government-endorsed bills. The cabinet approved plans for a third mobile operator in the Gulf Arab state, of which 50 percent would be sold in an initial public offering to citizens, he further added.

Saudi Telecom 7010.SE, which last year won the third mobile licence, will hold a 26 percent stake in the company which is expected to launch operations later this year.

The new company, in which the government will retain a 24 percent stake, will compete with Mobile Telecommunications Co (ZAIN.KW: Quote, Profile, Research) (Zain) and National Mobile Telecommunications Co (NMTC.KW: Quote, Profile, Research) (Wataniya), a unit of Qatar Telecommunications Co (Qtel) QTEL.QA.

3 launches neXt website for mobile internet applications (UK)

  • July 13th, 2007
  • 11:23 am

UK mobile operator 3 has launched the neXt website, the next development in its X-Series of mobile internet services. NeXt is a website designed to act as a community-built guide to mobile resources on the internet. The website is a free service aimed at X-Series and other mobile internet users from any country or network to enable them to find and use mobile applications and mobile optimised websites. The 3 neXt website is a gateway to existing independently developed applications for mobile internet capable devices. The website catalogues these, describes and reviews functionality and provides links for download and further investigation. New applications and services will be added to the site regularly by the neXt team. The services and applications featured on neXt represent some of the new tools developed for the mobile internet. At launch, the website will feature products from internet and mobile start-ups around the world, including social networking applications from Jaiku, mapping services from Mapsolute, a mobile-optimised version of Wikipedia from SevenVal and a photo-upload and handset backup service from Shozu.

   

Spanish regulator asks govt to appeal Telefonica fine (Spain)

  • July 13th, 2007
  • 11:19 am

The Spanish telecoms regulator is calling on the Spanish government to appeal the record EU fine imposed on Telefonica. The European Commission ordered Spain’s ex-monopoly operator to pay EUR 152 million for abusing its dominant position in the ADSL market. At a meeting, the CMT decided the Commission decision encroached on its powers and threatened the powers of all national regulators. It asked the Spanish government to appeal at the European Court. The Commission’s ruling was after complaints by ADSL operator Wanadoo, now Orange. The CMT said “wholesale indirect [ADSL] access is a non-existent service in many member states and the European Commission has never demanded its regulation understanding that it is not determining in the competitive development of markets”.

   

FT wages war over Paris’ free Wi-Fi networks (France)

  • July 13th, 2007
  • 7:57 am

France Télécom (FT) is taking Paris city hall to court over plans for what it calls an ‘unfair’ free Wi-Fi service in the city. The Paris authorities are looking to provide free Wi-Fi access in libraries, parks and museums in the capital from mid-July, but FT argues the plans violate rules barring local authorities from providing ‘unfair’ competition to private companies. The telco told Agence France-Presse it filed its complaint about the service on 28 March this year, basing its argument on a clause in the code governing regional authorities, which is aimed at preventing ‘unfair competition between (service) operators and local authorities.’ The incumbent claims city hall is forbidden from operating its own public telecoms network unless (a) it agrees to provide access for all operators to use the system or (b) if the actual tender for the provision of the service attracted no bids in the first place. However, in February 2007 French mobile operator SFR was awarded the contract to run the 400 hotspots being deployed, while Alcatel-Lucent won the equipment supply contract. FT, which has its own network of 2,250 commercial hotspots in Paris, now argues that the European Commission set a precedent when it prevented the Czech capital Prague from setting up a free Wi-Fi network in 2005 on competition grounds.

 

 

 

   

TeliaSonera to acquire Eurasian telecom holding company MCT

  • July 12th, 2007
  • 1:29 pm

TeliaSonera AB said it has signed an agreement to acquire up to 100 pct of the outstanding shares in MCT Corp, a US-based company with majority, controlling shareholdings in three Eurasian GSM operators in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and a minority interest in the leading GSM operator in Afghanistan.

The acquisition price was not disclosed.

The four GSM operators are: The Uzbek-American Joint Venture Coscom LLC, the third-largest mobile operator in Uzbekistan, where MCT has a 99.97 pct interest; CJSC Indigo Tajikistan and CJSC Joint Venture Somoncom, which combined is the second-largest mobile operation in Tajikistan and in which MCT has 60.0 pct and 59.4 pct respectively; and Telecom Development Co Afghanistan Ltd (Roshan), the largest mobile operator in Afghanistan, in which MCT has a 12.25 pct interest.

TeliaSonera said it expected the deal to close during the third quarter.

 

 

   

 

Benin suspends SA’s mobile network

  • July 12th, 2007
  • 12:10 pm

Benin has suspended two mobile phone operators, including South Africa-based MTN. The West African country’s Telecommunications Authority has issued a statement suspending the operating contracts of MTN and Emirates-based Atlantique Telecom from yesterday.

The authority says both companies have changed their local names without its permission.

It has threatened to silence their networks from Thursday if they do not sign new contracts that include a $50 million, or 500%, increase in the operator fee.

 

 

 

 

   

SK Telecom denies Sprint Nextel takeover bid

  • July 12th, 2007
  • 11:05 am

 South Korea’s SK Telecom denied that it is preparing a bid for Sprint Nextel.

“It’s a groundless rumor,” said Im Igsoon an official of the company’s investor relations department.

Earlier,  SK Telecom has been talking with several global equity funds this year about funding a takeover of the US carrier.

SK Telecom is South Korea’s leading mobile carrier and holds more than half of the country’s cellular market of about 40 million subscribers.

Most of SK Telecom’s customers are on its CDMA network although it is currently launching a nationwide network based on the competing W-CDMA technology.
Sprint Nextel uses a combination of CDMA and a proprietary network technology called iDEN.

In January 2005 SK Telecom partnered with Internet service provider Earthlink to launch a mobile virtual network operator called Helio.

The carrier hasn’t performed to expectations and continues to lose money. It’s current goal is to attract 250,000 subscribers by the end of the year and 3.3 million by the end of 2009.

SK Telecom has also targeted China and Vietnam with overseas investment. Last year it spent about $1 billion on bonds in China Unicom, China’s No. 2 cellular carrier.