Digicel will roll out its new mobile network in Fiji soon (Fiji)
Caribbean-based Digicel Group said it could roll out its new mobile network in Fiji next week. The launch of Digicel mobile network will be going to give competition to Vodafone Fiji which has long enjoyed the monopoly on the provision of cellular services there. The interim government of Fiji issued Digicel Fiji with its mobile operating licence in July’08, it was announced five months after the firm had won the right to offer services in competition with Vodafone. Commerce Minister Tom Ricketts said that Digicel would be issued with its concession once it had paid the licence fee of USD10.25 million.
Orange signs the sixth MVNO deal, many more to come (UK)
Orange signs virtual network deal, with Lycamobile, third past 12 months, taking the total to six. According to Orange’s VP new business and wholesale strategy, Mark Overton, the operator has some more deals in the pipeline with Sainsbury’s believed to be its biggest target. He also added that the six MVNOs are ‘only the beginning’. Lycamobile, the ethnic MVNO has been long established in the UK as an international calling card company. Its stock is sold by 50,000 independent retailers in the UK alone.
The MVNO will work in competition with Lebara Mobile which has 90,000 UK retail outlets, and Carphone’s Talkmobile business, sold through Carphone’s retail channels, as well as a host of other sub-agents.
The entrant has invested £10m into marketing its new Sim-only product that will target the UK migrant population. Subaskaran Allirajah, chairman of Lycamobile, said: ‘We aim to acquire one million subscribers within 12 months.’
Overton said that ‘as a brand it resonates’, and he also showed that the strong ‘distribution it has and the relationships with shopkeepers’ was the reason Orange had decided to partner Lycamobile.
Overton was confident that Lycamobile would be able to compete against the other ethnic MVNOs already in the UK market. He said: ‘We’ve not reached saturation yet.’
Lycamobile, will increase the number of stores to 85000 from October, with the addition of e-Pay, Payzone and the Post Office.
Telekom Slovenije intends to earn a quarter of its total group profits in foreign markets by 2010 (Slovenia)
According to CEO of Telekom Slovenije, Bojan Dremelj, the company aims to earn a quarter of its total group profits in foreign markets by 2010. He further said that 5% of consolidated pre-tax profit is currently generated abroad, and 10% of total revenues. On.Net (Macedonia), IPKO (Kosovo, Serbia), Gibtelecom (Gibraltar), Netkom, Aneks and Blic (Bosnia & Herzegovina), H-Communications and AOL SP (both Albania) are included in Telekom’s foreign subsidiaries as per the recent data.
MTS selects NSN for network extension (Serbia)
MTS selects Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for the 2G and 3G network extension. ‘Over the years, Nokia Siemens Networks has proved to be a strong, competent and most reliable partner for us,’ said Vladimir Lucic, of Telekom Srbija. ‘They understand our needs and provide us with top-of-the-class solutions, like the green network solution featuring unmatched multi-radio base stations with low power consumption.’
The completed project will cover 2G and 3G radio and core equipment, a broad range of services including network implementation, integration and care as well as an upgrade of the network and service management solution to reduce dropped calls. NSN will also be extending the existing pre-paid charging platform to allow MTS to offer loyalty programs to its subscriber
Illinois Supreme Court declines Sprint Nextel’s appeal (USA)
The Illinois Supreme Court denies the hearing of Sprint Nextel’s appeal of a March ruling by the Appellate Court of Illinois that would require Sprint to dismantle its Nextel network in Illinois, Michigan, Iowa and parts of Nebraska. The Appellate court ruling is follwed by a argument with affiliate IPCS who claims that Sprint’s Nextel operations in these areas violate a territorial exclusivity clause in its contract with IPCS.
GTEL-Mobile receives GSM concession & associated frequencies (Vietnam)
Vimpelcom discloses that its 40% owned Vietnamese subsidiary GTEL-Mobile has received a GSM concession and associated frequencies. According to CEO of Vimpelcom, the registration of GTEL-Mobile and the receipt of the GSM licence and frequencies is the key milestone in the building of our Vietnamese business. With this we have crossed the major hurdle now we can focus all our efforts on the network launch and the preparation of the commercial launch, he added.
Batelco gives it’s subscribers, ‘Batelco World Freedom’ (Bahrain)
Batelco (Bahrain Telecommunications Company) introduces a new service for it’s subscribers, ‘Batelco World Freedom’. This new service will allow it’s subscribers to recieve free incoming calls from across the world in 21 nations. Subscribers who roam in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Norway, Luxemburg, Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Mozambique, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia will be able to use the service.
Moldcell launches 3G services (Moldova)
Moldova’s mobile operator, Moldcell has reportedly launched it’s 3G services. The Moldcell’s W-CDMA network’s deployment cost is USD11 million. Moldcell’s is country’s second largest operator by subscribers with a market share of 30%.
Sprint Nextel completes the sale of 3,080 towers for USD670 million (USA)
Sprint Nextel completes the sale of 3,080 towers to TowerCo, for an amount of USD670 million. The number of towers and the price are still in a process fo post – close adjustment. Sprint’s Senior VP, Bob Azzi says, ‘Leasing rather than owning these network facilities is a more efficient use of resources’.
Samsung’s Omnia hits Indian market (South Korea, India)
Samsung launches Samsung’s Omnia (SGH-i900) all in-one phone in Indian market.
Key Features:
- Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
- MS Office
- 100% touch screen
- Optical mouse for easy navigation
- A 3.2-inch WideQVGA display (240 x 400 pixels)
- Five megapixel auto focus snapper with a face and smile detection plus auto-panorama shot
Two versions:
- 24 GB memory (internal memory of 8 GB and an extendible memory of 16 GB)
- 32 GB memory (internal memory of 16 GB and an external memory of 16 GB)
With all the features included in the mobile phone, one can easily make out the difference. It is our flagship model, aimed at users who desire a lot of functionality, style, usability and entertainment in one device. It will help users to be at the forefront of work and play at the same time and stay connected anytime, anywhere, said Samsung Telecom country head Sunil Dutt.
Price
- 32 GB-Rs 39,999
- 24 GB -Rs 37,999
