Wireless Federation

RCom’s has crossed 100,000 subscribers on the first day of the launch of its GSM service in Mumbai. ”The high volume sales can be attributed to the company’s aggressive strategy,” an R-Com spokesperson said. The company is offering up to 100% savings to subscribers-Rs.300 ARPU (average revenue per person) mobile customers at a one-time subscription charge (including GSM SIM) of Rs.25.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Econet Wireless’s SIM cards are up for sale in Zimbabwe and are a hit in the market in South Africa from where the black marketers are doing brisk business. These SIM cards are easily available to everybody at many bus stations here at a price of R700 each, compared to those of South Africa’s three mobile phone networks which are priced at least 99 (SA) cents.
“I buy the sim cards from traders who buy them on the black market in Zimbabwe. They range from R400 to R500. I sell them to Zimbabwe-bound travellers at R700,” said a trader at Johannesburg Park Station. The trade seems to be lucrative for the black marketers in South Africa and the demand for these SIMs have increased in Zimbabwe where the supply is short.Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Mobilink, the Pakistani incumbent, has lost more than 2,000,000 subscribers driven by interrupted service and blocking of illegal SIM by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Mobilink’s subscriber base now slided from 32 million to 30 million.
It is seen that out of the 20,00,000 subscribers, 7,50,000 have ported their numbers to other cellcos and the rest 12,50,000 have been blocked by PTA after they were identified as illegal SIMs. Mobilink has been facing such problems due to poor quality of services.
On the financial front the operator is going through a crisis bringing the jobs of many on stake and has been fined in past with million of rupees by PTA for interrupted service.
The subscribers with Mobilink are seen to be using number portability more than any other Pakitani operator.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, has been selected by China Mobile for the commercial launch of its latest generation of SIM cards.
First deployed during the Olympic Games, these advanced technology cards host specific applications and content designed to bring value to CMCC subscribers.
The FullMultimedia cards, which embody the latest innovations of the SIM card industry, offer large memory capacity, which means that CMCC can deploy applications transparently and with greater ease.
The applications include the specially designed CMCC multimedia phonebook and a host of dedicated applications, such as e-books, a local information search engine, a Chinese/English translator and preloaded content to provide the ultimate package of services to China Mobile subscribers.
Through this enhanced experience for consumers, China Mobile demonstrates its leadership as the largest operator of the worldwide Telecom market, together with its strong sense of innovation in bringing new, rich services to the market. With Gemalto”s FullMultimedia cards, China Mobile deploys a powerful enabler that reinforces its already strong positioning in the global mobile eco-system.
In a second phase, CMCC has selected the smart card web server technology as the basis of its mobile service deployment. The Smart Card Web server, impressively housed inside the SIM, makes the most of the handset browser to deploy rich content and applications with no need to customize the handset.
Michel Canitrot, Senior Vice President of the Gemalto Telecom Business Unit comments “China Mobile with this commercial launch is once again leading the pack by demonstrating how operators can introduce new, innovative services to the market that greatly enrich the subscriber experience. With this new technology, Gemalto is concentrating all its innovation capability to reposition the SIM as a strong and central actor of the Mobile 2.0 eco-system”.
A spokesperson from China Mobile explained: “We selected the smart card web server as we envisage a future where smart card web server compliancy will be widely available on mobile handsets. The SCWS is optimal way for the future of service deployment as it requires no further software to be installed on the handset. Gemalto”s offer was the most mature solution on the market and we are happy to work with them once again on this innovation”.

About Gemalto
Gemalto is the leader in digital security with pro forma 2007 annual revenues of over “1.6 billion, more than 85 offices in 40 countries and about 10,000 employees including 1,300 R&D engineers.
In a world where the digital revolution is increasingly transforming our lives, Gemalto”s solutions are designed to make personal digital interactions more convenient, secure and enjoyable.
Gemalto provides end-to-end digital security solutions, from the development of software applications through design and production of secure personal devices such as smart cards, SIMs, e-passports, and tokens to the deployment of managed services for its customers.
More than a billion people worldwide use the company’s products and services for telecommunications, financial services, e-government, identity management, multimedia content, digital rights management, IT security, mass transit and many other applications.
As the use of Gemalto”s software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

For more information please visit www.gemalto.com
About Wireless Federation

Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.

For more information please visit www.wirelessfederation.com

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

A new entrant in European mobile phone market is soon going to give tough competition to the existing one. An independent distribution company called Hyundai Mobile Europe have been set up by Austrian distributor Leitz Austria. They are planning to sell Hyundai phones in 23 Western and Eastern European countries. The company was launched in September and has already marketed eight mobile phones in Austria. CEO of Hyundai Mobile Europe, Norbert Winkler said that they are confident that the company will break even in 2009 and reach a market share of between 3 and 5% within the next five years.

Hyundai mobile has inked agreements with Hungarian mobile operator Pannon and Slovenian mobile operator Mobiltel to market its mobile phones, while deals with mobile operators in Austria are expected to be finalised soon. The firm is planning to roll out between 10 and 15 mobile devices in the categories Basic, Music, Lifestyle, Innovation and Business.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), a supplier of smart card ICs and security chips, disclosed that it is readying a production facility in India to support the country’s booming market with Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards for mobile communications and with payment cards.

With a population of 1.1 billion, India is among the world’s fastest growing chip card markets. There are already around 65 million wireless customers with SIM cards in their cellphones, and that number is increasing by around 20 percent annually. The use of payment transaction cards, too, is growing rapidly throughout the country, at a rate of 35 percent per year.

G&D says when working to full capacity, the plant near Delhi will be the largest of its kind in India. Besides SIM cards for mobile communications, the plant will also be producing cards for other applications such as electronic payment and ID cards.

The plant is located in the Noida high-tech industrial zone to the east of Delhi and designed for an annual production capacity of more than 40 million chip cards. Output will also be exported to other countries in Asia. G&D stresses the production facilities will meet the demanding security standards called for by Asian customers and have the appropriate certification of network operators.

“The new factory in Noida will give us a very high degree of flexibility in terms of supplying our customers in India and Asia. This flexibility is particularly important where India’s mobile communications market is concerned, given that the country’s major mobile operators are subdivided into a large number of regional operating companies with highly varying requirements,” said Michael Kuemmerle, G&D group executive for cards and services.

G&D is the second-biggest SIM card supplier in India, and supplies the country’s major mobile network operators, including Idea, MTNL, BSNL and Bharti.

Source- http://www.eetasia.com

Technorati : India, Mobile, SIM
Ice Rocket : India, Mobile, SIM