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Wireless Federation » archive for 'TDMA'

America Movil net profit soars 31.6% in Q3′08 (Mexico)

  • October 30th, 2008
  • 1:07 pm

America Movil has announced its third quarter results. It posts a rise of 31.6% in net profit, higher sales and lower depreciation and amortisation charges are the driving factors for good results. The net profit was MXN12.4 billion in comparison to MXN9.4 billion for the same period in 2007. It is noted that depreciation and amortisation costs for its older TDMA and CDMA networks had slipped to 11.9% of revenues, down from 15.7% a year earlier. Total revenues for the group mounts 9.8% year-on-year, attributing the possitivite results to the revenues from from value added services in Brazil and Columbia.

Taking into account the subscriber base for third quarter, it had reached the mark of 172.6 million wireless customers and 3.9 million wireline, and signs up 7.3 million new wireless subscribers. America Movil’s Brazilian operations adds 2.6 million subscribers to its kitty, followed by Mexico and Columbia where it added 1.5 million and 1.2 million customers respectively.

BTC starts on TDMA shutdown (Bahamas)

  • October 16th, 2008
  • 8:57 am

The Bahamas telecommunications Company (BTC) began shutting down of its obsolete TDMA network, having spent over USD40 million to upgrade to a GSM-based platform. President and CEO of BTC, I. Kirk Griffin, said, ‘At the end of this year, BTC would have spent USD22 million in GSM upgrades in the Family Islands and USD20 million in New Providence, bringing the nationwide wireless network investment to nearly USD400 million since 2004’. It is anticipated that closure will be completed by the end of this month.

Claro takes a leap ahead of TIM with 25.09% market share (Brazil)

  • September 24th, 2008
  • 6:09 am

Claro takes a leap ahead of TIM and grabs the second position in the Brazilian mobile telephony market. Both operators end the August with a 25.09% share of susbcribers. According to a local consultancy analysis, Claro leads with 5,778 more subscribers. In July, TIM was second with 25.26%, while Claro was third with 24.92%. According to the president of Teleco, Eduardo Tude, Claro is strengthening its brand and leading in 3G coverage, which has provided stronger growth than its rival.
Claro, in August, had more number of addded subscription due to it’s subsidy policy. Vivo still leads the market with a 30.12% market share, a slight drop on July, when the operator had 30.25%. Oi registered growth, reaching 15.62% market share compared to 15.48% the previous month. GSM technology, with 86% of subscribers, is the market leader, while CDMA has 10.8% of accesses and TDMA 1.9%.
   

Tigo instigates commercial 3G services (Bolivia)

  • August 29th, 2008
  • 12:29 pm

According to a local media report, Telecel (Tigo) has launched commercial 3G services in Bolivia, with the operator offering services including videocalling, high speed mobile broadband and music and video downloads. No details of network coverage have been disclosed, although the operator has stated its intention to eventually roll out 3G services nationwide. Tigo had 1.19 million mobile telephony subscribers at the end of the second quarter. Presently, operator is migrating its few remaining TDMA customers across to its GSM network.

Ancel plans for expansion and to shut down its TDMA network(Uruguay)

  • August 22nd, 2008
  • 1:29 pm

According to a local media report, Ancel plans to shut down its TDMA network by the end of 2008. Report discloses that Free GSM handsets will be provided to the 3% of the cellco’s users still using the outdated technology. Ancel’s covers 75% of Uruguay’s territory and 98% of the population, while its 3G network covers Montevideo and other cities such as Punta del Este. Recently operator has announced their plans to expand coverage further, by investing $31 million in 2008 and $50 million in 2009, report said.

Argentina’s mobile market (Argentina)

  • August 4th, 2008
  • 2:17 pm

Argentina’s mobile market is the third largest in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico and in terms of penetration, Argentina is the regional leader. The telecom sector has been growing rapidly, with a penetration of 75% mobile telephony. The three operators, Movistar, Claro, and Telecom Personal, run a close competition for market share. Besides the three main cellular providers, Nextel operates an iDEN network with a small but profitable slice of the market. GSM is the main technology in Argentina, with TDMA and CDMA slated to disappear after June 2008.
All three companies launched 3G services over HSDPA networks in 2007. Approximately 136,000 subscribers use 3G services in Argentina.

Country                       No. of 3G Users
Telecom Personal             75,000
Claro                              50,500
Movistar                         10,500

 

*Total subscribers in Argentina will increase from 38.03 million in 2007 to 44 million in 2010.
* The two largest operators - Movistar Argentina and CTI - will continue to have very similar market shares (by subscribers). It is forecasted that Movistar will increase its current market share from a projected 35.6% in 2007 to 36.8% in 2010 while CTI’s market share will drop slightly to 32.8% in 2010.
* Telecom Argentina will continue to suffer from the highest churn rate in the country at 3% monthly churn rate from 2007 to 2010.
*It is forecasted that Movistar Argentina will have the lowest EBITDA margin of 30.4% in 2010 in Argentina. On the other hand, Telecom Argentina, CTI, and Nextel will enjoy higher EBITDA margins at around 35% - 40% in 2010.
*In 2010 Nextel, will provide services to 2.9% of total subscribers, will receive the highest ARPU of $48.2 per month. It is noted that this is 3 times higher than the closest competitor, Telecom Argentina.

   

Tigo launches 3G in August’08 (Bolivia)

  • July 28th, 2008
  • 12:59 pm

Telecel (Tigo), the Bolivian mobile operator, is all set to launch 3G services in August this year. The new network will have nationwide coverage and will be capable of supporting services such as video calling and mobile broadband.

Tigo is also due to complete the migration of its few remaining TDMA customers on to its GSM network by the end of July. According to a database, Tigo is currently the second largest mobile operator in Bolivia, claiming market share of 31.95% at March 2008, behind rival Entel Movil.

   

Entel Bolivia cuts down prices for prepay subscribers (Bolivia)

  • July 22nd, 2008
  • 11:19 am

Bolivian operator Entel has cut mobile prices for the prepaid segment. Over 1.7 million prepaid GSM and TDMA subscribers will now be charged BOB 1.50 per minute for calls between 07:00 and 21:59 hours, down from BOB 1.80, while prices for calls between 22:00 and 06:59 hours have dropped from BOB 0.90 to BOB 0.70.

Entel has also cut prices for ‘Recarga Entel’ to BOB 5, currently available in over 2,200 sites across the country, and in over 4,000 locations by year-end. The operator has also introduced prepaid cards of BOB 10, while SMS prices have dropped to BOB 0.20 per message.

   

Telemig Celular launches 3G in Belo Horizonte (Brazil)

  • November 15th, 2007
  • 2:48 pm

Brazilian mobile operator Telemig Celular has started marketing 3G services based on a network installed by Ericsson in the 850 MHz band vacated by the former subscribers of the TDMA standard. Telemig’s services are being offered in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, with only one mobile phone from Samsung, with which it is possible to make video calls. The operator is also selling modems for mobile connections on desktops and laptops. The Combo package launched by Telemig includes a data plan and a modem, with prices starting from BRL 99.90.

   

Ericsson, Samsung sign mobile technology license deal

  • July 10th, 2007
  • 11:14 am

Ericsson has signed a licence agreement withSamsung to provide its portfolio of mobile technology. Ericsson will provide portfolio for the GSM, TDMA, GPRS, EDGE and WCDMA mobile telephony standards, to develop, manufacture and sell 2G and 3G subscriber and infrastructure equipment. In return, Samsung provides a royalty payment, as well as a reciprocal licence to Ericsson.