Videocon applies for wireless licences for all 22 circles (India)
Indian industrial conglomerate Videocon has applied for mobile licences for all 22 telecoms circles of India, writes the Economic Times. According to industry sources, this could mark the entry of US telco Verizon to the sub-continent, as the latter is speculated to be Videocon’s partner for the wireless venture. Earlier this year Verizon partnered Leo Communications, a subsidiary of the Videocon Group, while applying for national and international long-distance licences in India. Leo holds 26% of the joint venture.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Mobile number portability timeline published (Peru)
Peru’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) has published a proposed decree laying out the conditions for the implementation of mobile number portability (MNP), writes BNamericas quoting local daily Diario Gesti³n. The bill stipulates three stages for implementation. The first will see the drawing up of technical guidelines for implementing MNP infrastructure. This phase will start when the decree comes into force and is due for completion by 30 June 2008. The second phase, in which MTC will determine other requirements for operators, is due to start on 1 July 2008 and run until the end of the year. The final stage involves technical tests, to be carried out from 1 January 2009 to 30 September 2009.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
14 bidders line up for wireless concessions (Panama)
Panama’s public services regulator Asep is quoted by BNamericas as saying that there have been 14 expressions of interest in the forthcoming auction of two wireless concessions. Possible bidders include Iusacell (of Mexico), America Movil, Orange, Millicom International Cellular, Digicel and US group Vitel, as well as Panamanian firms Vtel, Global Star, Clarocom, Cable Onda, Advanced Communication, Innovation Wireless, Torres Troncales and Pan American Wireless.
Asep is scheduled to publish the bidding rules on 21 October and will respond to consultations about the prequalification process during November and December. The regulator will accept prequalification applications from 28 January 2008 and expects to announce prequalified bidders on 27 February. The auction itself will start with reception of financial offers on 19 April, with the winners to be announced on May 21. The government expects to raise at least USD36 million for each new 20-year concession awarded, according to the Mexican press.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Non-uniform 3G in circles to delay spectrum policy (India)
Spectrum for 3G networks will not be available uniformly across the country from April next year, according to the Department of Telecom (DoT)’s estimates. The availability of radio frequency services will reportedly range from zero to 30MHz across the country. A DoT internal note on the issue notes that Delhi will be the only circle where 30MHz of spectrum is expected to be vacated by the defence forces by April 2008. The DoT memo also states that the circles of Rajasthan, Haryana and West Bengal are likely to have about 25MHz of 3G spectrum, while Mumbai, Punjab, UP (west) and Himachal Pradesh will have about 20MHz, while in the circles of Maharashtra, Gujarat and UP (east) and Bihar, the defence forces will have vacated about 15MHz. In ten telecom circles, including Kolkata, Chennai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Assam and North-East, the availability of 3G spectrum by April 2008 cannot be ascertained.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
France Telecom gets scent of Wind (Italy,Egypt,Greece)
France Telecom is examining the possibility of making a bid for 20% of Egyptian-owned holding company Weather Investments, which controls Egypt’s Orascom Telecom, Italy’s Wind Telecomunicazioni and Greek sister companies Wind Hellas (formerly TIM Hellas) and Tellas (also to be rebranded under the Wind name), reports Italian daily Finanza & Mercati. Head of Weather, Naguib Sawiris, is seeking the sale of a 30% stake in the company to a private equity group, with Blackstone, Texas Pacific Group and Permira said to be interested, but potential investors have reportedly baulked at the EUR2.5 billion (USD3.5 billion) asking price. According to the Italian paper, France Telecom is interested in the stake to help it strategically reposition in Europe and gain a foothold in the Italian market.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Romania, Slovenia to join Oger’s club? (Romania,Turkey)
Middle East telecoms holding company Oger Telecom and its largest subsidiary Turk Telekom are interested in investing in the Romanian and Slovenian fixed line telephony markets, according to a report by Reuters. In related news, French media and telecoms group Vivendi is interested in buying up to 33% of Oger Telecom.
Golden expands triple-play capabilities (Russia)
Technology provider Alcatel-Lucent has announced the successful implementation of a series of upgrades to expand Golden Telecom’s broadband network capacity and triple-play capabilities, to support a wide range of multimedia and convergent services including high-speed internet access, VoIP, video delivery and other data services. Under the terms of a series of contracts signed in the second quarter of 2007, Alcatel-Lucent has supplied the following equipment from its broadband access portfolio: the 7302 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM), the 7330 ISAM Fibre-to-the-Node and the 7324 Remote Unit with a total capacity of up to 33,000 DSL lines, as well as an upgrade of Golden’s existing management system with the 5523 ADSL Work Station (AWS) to manage DSL network elements.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Telus’s business telephony services deregulated (Canada)
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has deregulated Vancouver-based telco Telus Communications’ local telephony services for business customers in 35 local exchanges in Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, covering all major metropolitan areas in those provinces. The move follows the deregulation of Telus’s residential local telephony services in various regional markets, which began in July, and similar allowances granted to other incumbent telcos, including the largest fixed line provider in the country, Bell Canada. The regulator’s new rules allow incumbent PSTN operators to apply for deregulation in any community where customers have a choice of service providers and where they can meet specific quality of service measures for six months. Local business services will be deregulated where there is a choice of at least two phone providers with their own network infrastructure. Telus is Canada’s second largest fixed line operator, with 4.5 million local access lines in service and over a million high speed internet subscribers at the end of June 2007.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
MTNL sees bright future in Suntel, despite legal issue (Sri Lanka)
Indian state-run telco Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has submitted a formal bid to acquire Sri Lankan fixed-wireless operator Suntel, in the range of USD100 million to USD120 million, factoring out liability costs related to an ongoing legal case involving a Suntel customer, according to Indian media reports. MTNL plans to form a partnership with a local company to launch services if its bid is successful, according to local sources. Companies lining up rival bids for Suntel are Indian international telecoms carrier VSNL, Telekom Malaysia and a consortium led by Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings. The result of the tender is expected in the next fortnight. Suntel posted a net profit of LKR311 million (USD2.74 million) for the first half ending June 2007, whilst revenues rose to LKR3.6 billion, up from LKR3.3 billion in the first half of 2006. Suntel offers fixed line services based on CDMA WiLL technology, and claimed around 300,000 WiLL lines in service at the end of March 2007. Nordic telco TeliaSonera is Suntel’s top shareholder with a 55% stake via holding vehicle Overseas Telecom. The remaining shares are held by Sri Lanka’s Metrocorp, the National Development Bank of Sri Lanka, Townsend Ltd of Hong Kong and International Finance Corporation.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Chunghwa awards 3G expansion deal to NSN (Taiwan)
Chunghwa Telecom has awarded a 3G network expansion and services contract to Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) covering the installation of 3G and High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology, and additional systems to reduce operational costs. The contract extends the existing cooperation between NSN and Chunghwa Telecom. The project will further expand Chunghwa’s 3G network coverage and boost the maximum data speeds of its HSDPA services (launched in September 2006), whilst a new ‘hybrid backhaul solution’ will allow Taiwan’s largest cellco to utilise IP transmission in base station backhaul to increase cost efficiency. Under the deal, NSN is also providing Chunghwa with its multi-technology NetAct system to help the operator manage network and service quality for subscribers. Deliveries will start immediately and are scheduled for completion by September 2008.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
