Orange upgrades 3G in N Ireland and Scotland, network performance improves by 20%
Orange has boosted its 3G and 3G+ (HSPA) networks in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Some 760 sites have been upgraded across the areas, resulting in a 20% improvement in network performance for both voice and data, claims Orange.
Orange Vice President for IT and networks Pete Marsden said, We are investing heavily in updating and improving our infrastructure to meet our goal of being the best UK network for coverage and reliability.â€
Orange is offering over 94% population 3G coverage and over 70% HSPA across the UK.
Shyam Telelink brings MTS brand to India, enters strategic tie-up
Shyam Telelink, India’s upcoming telco, holding a pan-India licence to launch itself as CDMA operator, enters in to a strategic tie-up with Russian biggie MTS, bringing the MTS brand to India. SLT will be using the brand in all its marketing communication and advertising.
Zain Tanzania launches fastest 3.5G mobile internet service
Zain Tanzania has reportedly launched what it claims is the country’s fastest 3.5G mobile internet service. The Unit’s Managing Director, Mr Khaled Muhtadi, said that the 3.5G technology will offer a theoretical maximum speed of 7Mbps over its mobile network, and will initially be available in the capital Dar es Salaam with other regions covered by the end of 2009. The ultra high speed internet service is currently available to Zain customers in parts of the city centre, Kariakoo and the Peninsular, he added.
The Tanzanian unit’s parent company has invested in excess of US$180 million this year in expanding and enhancing its network in Tanzania including the HSDPA investment.
Telenor expects to close transaction with Unitech in Jan’09 (Norway, India)
Telenor is expecting to close transaction with Unitech Wireless in January next year. Unitech had said that it would sell 60% of its stake in its telecom venture for about Rs 6,120 crore to Telenor, in October. It was earlier announced that, Telenor would be able to complete transaction by the end of 2008. The company is also evaluating alternatives to fund the transaction, it said.
“The closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions being fulfilled. Telenor and its partner, the Unitech Group, anticipate that not all conditions for closing (the deal) will be fulfilled before year-end,” the telecom entity said. The company is also planning to proclaim a decision on the “funding of the investment at, or prior to, the closing of the Unitech Wireless transaction”. Unitech is also planning to launch its services in the first half of 2009.
MTS extends its mobile communication coverage to Serhetabat (Turkmenistan)
MTS, Russia largest mobile phone operator, extends its mobile communication service to the extreme southern place of CIS and former USSR, the city of Serhetabat, within the phased programme of expanding the coverage zone in Turkmenistan. MTS subscribers in Serhetabat can now use mobile communication services, wireless Internet, MMS and other services.
“In 2008, the coverage zone increased 10 times making it possible to extend MTS mobile communication to over 160 settlements across Turkmenistan,” said Dmitriy Shukov, chief manager of “MTS-Turkmenistan”.
Warid launches My5, enables postpaid subscribers to make unlimited calls (Pakistan)
Warid, the Pakistani incumbent, introduces a new package, My5. My5 will allow Warid Post-paid subscribers to make unlimited calls and talk as much as they want on their five Friends and family numbers and will be available at 30 seconds pulse.
Subscribers with the earlier offered Zahi packages may avail this facility by upgrading their billing packages. Subscribers can select and deselect up to five Warid numbers for free calls simply by mentioning their selected numbers through a text message to 129. Warid’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Faisal Ejaz Khan, said ‘Warid has the largest segment of Post-paid subscribers in Pakistan and we wanted to facilitate their mobile phone communications with their associates and loved ones. By introducing My5, Warid is once again leading on providing unlimited convenience to its subscribers’.
Mobile Connections Reach 4 Billion Worldwide
3G Americas, a wireless industry trade association representing the GSM family of technologies including LTE, today announces that a historic milestone was achieved for the wireless industry in December 2008 with 4 billion connections to mobile devices worldwide. This estimate by Informa Telecoms & Media represents 60% of the entire global population today. In some countries, millions of people are now experiencing connectivity to the world for the first time through wireless and changing their economic, social and political fortunes forever.
“The Latin America and Caribbean region continues to show steady consumer growth with 16% year-on-year growth as subscription numbers are expected to reach in excess of 440 million, equating to 76% penetration,” noted Marisol Gomez, Americas regional analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. “The market in the region to have shown the greatest number of net additions in the year was unsurprisingly Brazil [19 million], but in terms of annual growth, we note that Peru has been a particularly fast growing market with 4.6 million net additions, representing annual subscription growth of 33%.”
As many emerging markets are achieving a new level of communication, wireless technology continues its rapid advancement into next generation mobile networks. Currently, more than 100 operators worldwide, including most industry leaders, have announced expectations to migrate networks to LTE from 2010 and beyond. LTE is the next evolution of mobile broadband technology that utilizes OFDM-based technology and a flat-IP core network allowing an enhanced Internet experience on mobile devices.
“Third generation technologies continue to evolve and the GSM operator today has a clear path towards LTE,” stated Chris Pearson, President of 3G Americas. “In addition to the evolution to LTE by GSM operators, LTE is proving to be the technology choice for CDMA operators as well.”
The number of wireless users on 3G services continues to rise. Informa estimates that there are nearly 415 million 3G subscriptions to date, with 77% share of the 3G market on UMTS/HSPA networks or 320 million connections, and the remaining 95 million on CDMA EV-DO. The number of commercial UMTS/HSPA networks has risen to 258 in more than 100 countries, including 41 networks in 20 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
“HSPA and HSPA+ will compete with any and all mobile wireless technologies available today and in the near future,” concluded Pearson. “In fact, recent commercial launches of HSPA+, such as that of Telstra in Australia, are reporting peak theoretical downlink speeds of 21.6 Mbps. 3G is more than capable of delivering the bandwidth customers need today, and the emerging LTE technology provides us with a clear evolution path for the future.”
3G Americas is endorsing the two-day conference by ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industries Solutions) and 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project), LTE: Towards Mobile Broadband, which will be held in Dallas on January 26 and 27. A 3G Americas HSPA+ and LTE Executive Briefing will be offered as part of the agenda and will feature Kris Rinne, Senior Vice President of Architecture and Planning, AT&T; Neville Ray, Sr. Vice President of Engineering and Operations, T-Mobile USA; and other senior executives from 3G Americas’ Board of Governors member companies. For more information and to register visit: http://www.atis.org/lte/
About 3G Americas: Unifying the Americas through Wireless Technology
3G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization’s mission is to promote and facilitate the seamless deployment throughout the Americas of the GSM family of technologies, including LTE. 3G Americas has contributed to the successful commercial rollout of GSM across the Americas and its place as the number one technology in the region, as well as the global adoption of EDGE. The organization aims to develop the expansive wireless ecosystem of networks, devices, and applications enabled by GSM and its evolution to LTE. 3G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, WA with an office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Dallas, Texas. More information is available at www.3gamericas.org.
Zain Tanzania plans to expand its subscriber base to 5.5Mn in 2009
Zain Tanzania intends to reach a subscriber base of 5.5 million in 2009 from its current base which stands at 4 million. According to Khaled Muhtadi, Managing director, firms subscriber base has grown from 3.3 million to 3.8 million since July till November. “We plan to continue to invest in our world-class network next year to ensure that we have access to the latest technologies and high quality telecommunication services,” Mr Muhtadi said. He further revealed that the global economic crisis din’t affect the company’s operations negatively. “We have not seen the impact on our business because we have already taken initiatives to counter that. Before the crisis became entrenched, the company had invested $4.5 billion by September this year to bolster operations,” he noted.
life:) subscribers will enjoy sending 2009 SMS/month in new year (Ukraine)
The Ukranian incumbent life:) has launched a new year promotional campaign named ‘2009 SMS’, enabling its subscribers to enjoy 2009 free SMS monthly to the life:) numbers. From 17 Dec 2008 to 31 Jan 2009 subscribers to any life:) tariff plan can join the ‘2009 SMS’ promo-campaign and enjoy this offer all year long.
Topping up the account with at least $3.17 in a single payment every 30 days will allow the subscriber an opportunity until 2010 to send up to 2009 SMS every month for free to any life:) number. The offer is free of charge for new subscribers, who join life:) network during the period of the campaign. The existing life:) subscribers can use the promotional offer for a one-off payment of just $1.26. To subscribe to the promotional offer the client will have to send an empty SMS message to a short number 2009 and then confirm his/her participation by following SMS tips.
Digicel expands mobile coverage, targets 5,000 subscribers by year-end (Honduras)
Digicel has reportedly expanded its mobile coverage to five additional municipalities in Honduras. The five areas covered are in the departments of Atlantida, Francisco Morazan, Choluteca, Olancho and Cortes. It is planning to invest USD450 million (including USD80.1 million for its licence) to deploy at least 1,200 cellsites and other related infrastructure and currently has 500 points of sale nationwide. Digicel is targeting 5,000 customers by the year-end and hopes to become the country’s second largest mobile operator within a year of launching.
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