Sprint to connect with China Telecom
Struggling US-based mobile operator Sprint Nextel has agreed to connect its virtual private network with that of China’s state-owned China Telecom, an Associated Press report said.
Financial terms were not disclosed. Sprint said the deal will help extend its existing footprint in China.
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T-Mobile Netherlands taps phone migration tool from ZYB
ZYB, inventors of the ZYB Phonebook for mobiles, announced that T-Mobile Netherlands BV is using a version of ZYB’s proprietary Phone Migration Tool to enable Orange customers to migration to its network.
This follows T-Mobile’s acquisition of Orange in 2007.
The Phone Migration Tool, which went live this week, is available online and takes Orange Netherlands users through a step-by-step process to transfer contacts and calendar events from Orange to T-Mobile phones.
The process is claimed to be quick and easy, over the air meaning that it is globally accessible from any PC or Mac free of charge. However, over the air transfers are not always straight forward and in the past have inhibited take up of some mobile applications.
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Nokia admits to lobbying for patent and visa issues
Nokia spent €346,342/US$540,000 in 2007 lobbying on patent and immigration reform legislation among many other issues, an Associated Press report said. It also stated that Nokia had spent €275,791/US$430,000 lobbying on its own behalf in the second half of 2007, according to a disclosure form posted online February 13 by the US Senate’s public records office.
The Finnish company also lobbied on data security, intellectual property, tax credits for research and development, recycling programmes, and Internet and trade-related matters, according to the report.
The technology industry, facing increasing global competition, has lobbied intensely for more visas for highly skilled foreign professionals, more funding for US maths and science education programmes and a permanent extension of tax credits for research and development.
Nokia lobbied Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the White House and other agencies, the report found.
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Deutsche Telekom shares fall 12% after T-Home outlook (Germany)
Shares of Deutsche Telekom slid as much as 12% after the company announced that sales at its T-Home unit, which offers land lines and Internet services, would slow this year, an Associated Press report said.
It also quoted Europe’s biggest telecom operator saying that it expected pretax earnings at the unit to fall between 5% and 8% in 2008 with sales likely to drop between 4% and 6%.
That pushed Deutsche Telekom shares down as much as 12% before they recovered slightly to €10.54 (US$16.62), or down nearly 7.4% in Frankfurt trading. The figures were not unexpected T-Home faces tough competition from cable companies and other rivals but it stoked growing fears that the German incumbent will issue a profits warning. It posted an oprating loss last quarter and is in the midst of restructuring to get rid of 32,000 positions with the aim of reducing costs by €2 billion.
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India’s DoT confirms global 3G auction (India)
Indian regulator imposes stringent licence obligations for successful 3G bidders.
India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Thursday announced plans that will enable new players including foreign operators to acquire 3G spectrum in the country.
In a report by India’s Economic Times, the DoT said that new GSM entrants will be allowed to bid for up to 10 MHz of 3G spectrum, or two blocks, which would give them enough capacity to launch 3G services.
The decision overrules the Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which earlier proposed that only existing GSM operators be allowed to bid for single blocks of 5 MHz spectrum, which would boost their existing capacity and enable them to launch 3G services. Under the DoT’s new guidelines, that rule regarding existing players remains in place.
The DoT has also specified that successful bidders will receive unified access service (UAS) licences for 3G services, meaning they will not be eligible to launch 2G services.
The Indian government approved a global 3G auction last year, but the TRAI opposed the move, claiming it would not be financially viable for new players to build out new networks, compared to existing GSM operators, which have already made substantial infrastructure investments.
Thursday’s decision by the DoT is likely to be welcome news to U.S. telecoms giant AT&T.
The carrier’s CEO Randall Stephenson has been lobbying the Indian government to give the green light for AT&T to bid for 3G spectrum.
However, the DoT has imposed strict licence obligations for operators that are successful in their 3G bids, and reiterated Thursday that it will come down heavily on those that fail to meet them.
Operators that do not achieve their rollout obligations will be given one further year to meet them, during which they will be fined 2.5% of their winning auction bid per quarter.
“If operators do not complete their rollout obligations even within the one year grace period, their spectrum assignment would be cancelled and the spectrum would be allocated via an auction to a new operator,” said the DoT.
What’s more, no entity related to the defaulting operator would be allowed to bid in the resulting auction.
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Bigger Is Better for China Mobile
If investors believe that a company can become too big to remain a growth stock, China Mobile is here to change your mind. Despite a market capitalization of $275 billion, the largest base of mobile subscribers in the world at 376 million, and a network that spans all 31 Chinese provinces and Hong Kong, China Mobile still rings in double-digit growth.
In its latest earnings release, China’s dominant mobile-services company showed unequivocally that the big can indeed get bigger. For the full year 2007, revenue grew 21% to $50.4 billion, while profits accelerated by 32% to $12.3 billion. The company added an average of 5.67 million new subscribers each month in 2007, with most of these coming from rural areas.
China Mobile absolutely dominates its closest competitor, China Unicom, in almost every measure. Its 24.4% profit margin is the envy of local telecoms China Telecom and China Netcom , and even of U.S. wireless powerhouses such as AT&T and Verizon.
China Mobile was also able to maintain its average revenue per user (ARPU) at $12.56 per month with value-added services that now make up 25.7% of its total revenue. The company reported that it sees great interest in mobile information products tailored toward customer groups in categories such as agriculture, finance, and business. Plans to launch further profitable services include introducing Research In Motion’s Blackberry product and potentially offering the Apple iPhone though no deal has been struck yet with Steve Jobs.
So if China Mobile’s continued growth is all so great, why is the stock down 4% after the earnings release? It’s been said here many times before — China Mobile was reasonably priced before its big run-up, but it now stands as one of the pricier Chinese plays. At a current earnings multiple of about 26, China Mobile is still a bit above fair price for its 21% projected future growth. With this type of performance, I’d be tempted to pick up shares if they fall down into the mid-$50 range, but somehow, I doubt the market will let that happen anytime soon.
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DIDMO Introduces Award-Winning Mobile Game Advertising Service to US and European Markets
DIDMO, a leader in the Scandinavian mobile advertising market, today announced plans to bring its successful advertising-based mobile content platform to the US, UK, Germany and Spain. The company has seen strong acceptance of its service, which digitally delivers free, full-version games to mobile phones in an ad-supported shell for 24 hours. Users are exposed to just four seconds of full-screen advertising to get into a game, a feature that has resulted in click-through rates 500% higher than traditional WAP advertising.
“DIDMO’s proven track record in Scandinavia and solid technology platform have prepared us for success and a leadership position in these key global markets,” said Joseph Oliver, newly appointed CEO of DIDMO. “Our team’s innovation and the company’s unique revenue model respect consumers as well as content providers, by delivering free mobile game content to millions of mobile users, while providing unparalleled value to advertisers in the mobile space.”
The DIDMO technology platform essentially takes a publisher’s game, strips it down to the code-level, and re-packages it to create an entirely new application wrapped with the advertising content, timed to last 24 hours. DIDMO co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Rikard Bj¶rklind, further explained, “Our platform enables us to deliver full-screen, high-quality advertising to users with a built-in campaign management system for advertisers, including real-time statistics on impressions, click-throughs, demographic data and more.”
- How DIDMO Works -
Users download a game and before the game loads, they are shown four seconds of full-screen advertising. At the end of the game, an additional four-second advertisement is also shown, but in between, the user is playing a free, full-featured version of the game. After 24 hours, the user is given the opportunity to purchase the game, or download a new game for an additional 24 hours. The model allows users to try before they buy with minimal investment, and lets publishers generate revenue on game sales.
According to recent research by leading industry analysts Mind Commerce and Gartner Group, the mobile advertising market is anticipated to grow anywhere from $14.6 billion in 2011, to $19 billion in 2012. DIDMO currently counts advertisers such as 7-Eleven, Activision, Unilever, and other well-known Scandinavian brands as clients due to its ability to deliver a 5-10% click-through rate on the ads it serves, as compared to 1-2% for WAP banners.
Since DIDMO’s June 2006 launch in Sweden, the company has established strategic partnerships with Scandinavia’s top mobile carriers including Telia, Halebop, and Tele2, and online portals such as Nokia MOSH, and GetJar.com, which offer direct downloads of DIDMO mobile games. As of January 2008, the DIDMO application has achieved an impressive two million downloads with an average of 220,000 game downloads per month in Scandinavia alone and growing rapidly. By entering the US, Germany, Spain and UK markets, 3.5 million users are expected to be using DIDMO on a regular basis by August 2008. DIDMO content is optimized for each mobile phone, runs on a standardized platform, and currently supports 99% of all java-enabled mobile phone models on the market today.
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China’s Focus Media Q4 results beat guidance on strong elevator, mobile ops
China’s Focus Media Holding Ltd said its fourth quarter results beat expectations with revenue and net profit rising 171.4 pct and 45.6 pct year-on-year to 184.6 mln usd and 43.8 mln usd, respectively, thanks to a strong performance by its elevator and mobile phone advertising businesses.
”Fourth quarter results far exceeded our own guidance. The upside was driven by robust growth in our in-elevator poster frame business … strong momentum in our mobile handset advertising business, and continued strength in our Internet advertising business,’ Focus executive chairman Jason Jiang said.
Net income, excluding non-cash share-based compensation expenses and amortization of acquired intangible assets from acquisitions, was 68.0 mln usd or 0.52 usd per fully diluted ADS in the fourth quarter.
Focus had projected 62-62 mln usd.
Fully diluted net income per ADS for the fourth quarter was 0.34 usd, Focus said.
Digital out-of-home advertising revenue rose 75.3 pct from a year earlier to 111 mln usd, Focus said.
The Nasdaq-listed company added that advertising revenue from its in-elevator poster frame network grew 126.4 pct to 31.2 mln usd, thanks to an upgrade of its digital Frame 2.0.
Mobile handset advertising revenue grew 355.8 pct to 16 mln usd, while Internet advertising revenue was 57.2 mln usd.
For 2007, Shanghai-based Focus posted revenue of 506.6 mln usd, up 139.1 pct.
Net profit rose 73.6 pct to 144.4 mln usd in 2007, while fully diluted earnings per ADS was 1.19 usd, compared to 0.80 usd in 2006.
Excluding non-cash share-based compensation expenses and amortization of intangible assets, fully diluted earnings per ADS amounted to 1.57 usd in 2007, up from 0.93 usd in 2006.
Jiang said the company expects the current growth momentum in China’s advertising industry to continue after the Olympic Games this summer, driven by increasing domestic consumer demand for goods and services.
At the end of last year, Focus had 112,298 installed LCD displays and digital frames nationwide.
The company added that, based on organic growth, total revenue for 2008 will range between 900-930 mln usd. Digital out-of-home advertising is expected to contribute about 63 pct of the total, Internet advertising about 31 pct, and mobile handset advertising about six pct.
Net income for 2008 excluding share-based compensation expenses and amortization of intangible assets resulting from acquisitions is projected at 280-300 mln usd.
First quarter revenue is seen at 160-165 mln usd, while net income is expected to reach 44-45 mln usd, or 0.33-0.34 usd per fully diluted ADS
The company said it expects capital expenditure for 2008 to be about 50 mln usd.
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Mobile search revenues ‘to reach US$4.8bn by 2013′
Mobile search services are tipped to be worth US$4.8bn annually by 2013.
Last month the value of the mobile search market for 2007 was estimated at US$83m.
While revenue generated by data charges associated with mobile search is significantly higher than that generated by mobile advertising at the present time, the gap will close over the next five years, as the relatively young mobile advertising market establishes itself.
Reduction in data costs and the increased availability of flat-rate data tariffs will drive the increase in mobile search revenue, as will the impetus provided by major search brands such as Google and Yahoo! focusing on the mobile sphere.
Local search services will be the most popular with advertisers, attracting 40pc of mobile search ad spend over the next five years.
Operators need to be wary of providing an advertising overload†to consumers, however, which could turn people off.
Last month, analyst firm Research and Markets forecast the value of the mobile search market to hit US$3.8bn by 2012, up from US$83m for 2007.
Boost Mobile Launches New Mobile Advertising Program, First Partners to Sign on Are Acura and Fox Searchlight Pictures
Boost Mobile®, a lifestyle-based telecommunications brand and wholly-owned division of Sprint Nextel, today announced the launch of a new mobile advertising platform for mobile phones. Acura (www.acura.com), the advanced luxury automotive brand, and Fox Searchlight Pictures, a specialty film company that both finances and acquires motion pictures, are among the first companies to advertise on Boost Mobile’s mobile advertising platform.
Amobee, a world leader in mobile advertising solutions for wireless service providers, is Boost’s official ad-selling and ad-serving partner. Amobee enables brands such as Boost Mobile to conduct relevant mobile advertising campaigns.
Boost Mobile and Amobee will work together to deliver ads to Boost Mobile’s 4.6 million consumers, the majority of which are under the age of 30, who will be able to interact and respond. The first ads, which are expected to appear today, will feature information on Fox Searchlight Pictures’ April 11 release of Street Kings.†Shortly thereafter, consumers will begin seeing ads for Acura’s new 2009 TSX. Boost customers are not charged for viewing the advertisements, and they may opt-out from receiving advertisements by calling Boost customer service at 1-888-BOOST-4U.
Mobile advertising will appear initially on Boost Mobile’s BoostLIVE and Web Home. BoostLIVE is Boost Mobile’s handset storefront where customers can purchase digital content such as ring-tones, wallpapers, music, and games. Boost plans to expand advertising content to include messaging and key applications in the near future.
Mobile advertising is an excellent vehicle for reaching a growing segment of younger consumers who are drifting away from traditional mediums such as TV and print,†said Neil Lindsay, vice president of product development, Boost Mobile. The unique advantage Boost Mobile offers advertisers is access to today’s under 30 audience a massive and growing crowd of consumers who are more likely to embrace advertising on their wireless phones.â€
The Boost-Amobee relationship aims to show the power of Boost as a media company. Boost has an influence on the mobile media habits of the under 30 demographic in the US. This relationship was created to attract youth and lifestyle brands which haven’t traditionally invested in interactive advertising. Working with these brands will position Boost as a leader in mobile advertising,†said Zohar Levkovitz, CEO of Amobee.
Amobee has previously announced a relationship with Winstar Interactive to sell mobile inventory and develop relationships with major advertising agencies. Brands that are interested in advertising on Boost Mobile phones.
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