www.WirelessFederation.com/news: CAT Telecom has reportedly said that it will spend an additional THB1.4 billion (USD41 million) on expansion of 3G CDMA2000 1xEV-DO services across the 51 provinces covered by its CAT CDMA mobile network. The state-run telco’s Executive Vice-President Viroj Toacharoenvanich said that initially about THB800 million will be spent to expand base stations to accommodate outdoor use, and a further USD600 million will be invested in rolling out data services. CAT hopes to gain a total of 500,000 users of the network, up from around 300,000 currently, and to achieve annual revenues of THB1.3 billion, up from THB600 million last year.
CAT had earlier made an investment of THB7.2 billion to roll out its northern/southern provincial CDMA network, whilst its joint venture with Hong Kong’s Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd (HTIL) Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia (HCWM) covers Bangkok and 25 central provinces; ‘Hutch’ branded CDMA services are offered over the central network, which is leased from HTIL subsidiary BFKT and is reportedly worth somewhere in the region of THB30 billion-THB40 billion.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: APBT, the Taiwanese 3G mobile operator, has planned to upgrade its infrastructure to 3.5G by establishing a CDMA 2000 EV-DO network beginning 2010. The APBT intends to set up CDMA 2000 EV-DO infrastructure in three to five years. The firm’s plans are still subject to board of directors’ approval. APBT will begin offering smartphones in the Q3 in cooperation with handset vendors including High Tech Computer and will use its existing CDMA 2000 network to provide data communication services.
APBT anticipates to raise its subscriber base a subscriber base of 2.3 million at 2009-end.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Verizon Wireless, a US mobile network operator and a joint venture between Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE:VOD) (LSE:VOD), announced that it invested over USD30m in Q1 2009 to enhance its network in the US state of Georgia.
The expansion enhancements include building seven new cell sites, upgrading existing towers, increasing the coverage area of its high-speed wireless broadband network and upgrading in-building coverage at key facilities such as the Georgia Dome and Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
In Q1 2009, coverage was enhanced and expanded with new cell towers in the cities of Milledgeville, Wrightsville, Fargo, Swainsboro, Lake Spivey, Warthen and Newton. The company also added network capacity to the Augusta area in preparation for The Masters PGA tournament, in Savannah for the St Patrick’s Day events and in Macon for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival.
For more information, please visit www.verizonwireless.com
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Banglalink, the Bangladeshi mobile operator has posted a subscriber base of 10.836 million at March’09-end, up from 10.337 million in December 2008 and 8.311 million in March 2008. As a result, Banglalink’s market share was 23.9% in Q1, increasing from 23.2% in Q4. Revenues rose to BDT 5.8 billion from BDT 4.8 billion in the year-earlier period, while EBITDA grew to USD 21 million from USD 422,000, driven by solid revenue growth and decrease in subscriber acquisition costs.
The EBITDA margin for Q1 was 25%. In Q1, ARPU fell to BDT 172.5 from BDT 175 in Q4, while MOU increased to 278 from 256.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Jordan Telecom Group (JTG) is anticipated to experience a downfall of between 4-5% in its revenues from the mobile sector in 2009, attributed to the financial crisis and saturation in the mobile market in Jordan. JTG CEO Mickael Ghossein said estimates by international research centres show that a drop is expected in mobile sector’s revenues globally this year by about 8.6%, a matter that he said will affect the Jordanian market. Ghossein reportedly said that the spread of mobile in the country exceeds 90%. The consumers and businesses cut their expenditure in light of the global financial downturn, which contributed to a drop in the mobile sector revenues by 6% during the first quarter of this year, he added.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Samsung has introduced five new touch-screen mobile phones in Brazil. The Star is priced at BRL 699, with a 3 megapixel camera, music player, Bluetooth and 3-inch screen. It also has a microSD card of 1 GB and accepts up to 8 GB of external memory. The handset adorns widgets for social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Gmail and Google Maps. Beat DJ is the top in the line from the Beat Edition series, equipped with a digital amplifier and Bang & Olufsen speakers. It has a 2.8-inch screen with Amoled technology, 3 megapixel camera, FM radio and supports 3G networks, price tagged at BRL 1,399. Samsung also launched three other mobile phones in the Beat Edition series, the Beat Twist for BRL 549, the Beat Disco for BRL 399 and the Beat Pop for BRL 299.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Batelco has begun offering mobile broadband downloads at speed up to 14.4 Mbps. Batelco’s O-net subscribers and those with HSDPA -enabled devices will be able to download bigger emails and attachments on the go, and also music and videos faster than before. An added advantage is that the subscribers will also be able to enjoy video conferencing experience with sharper pictures and better speed. For O-net mobile broadband, variety of packages are available, starting from BHD 2.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Movistar Colombia plans to make an investment of around COP 465 billion (approximately EUR 14 million) throughout 2009 to expand its GSM and 3.5G networks, launch new services and improve customers care services. According to Ariel Ponton, CEO of Telefonica Moviles Colombia, the operator will widen its 3G network to over 67 big and medium cities, covering an overall population of nearly 30 million inhabitants, up from the current coverage of 14 million people.
Movistar also plans to expand its GSM network. The operator also plans to install 499 radio bases in 100 new municipal nodes, to reach a total GSM network coverage of 923 towns and cities, out of Colombia’s 1,100 municipalities.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: OFTA, telecom regulator of Hong Kong, has validated that the three qualified bidders for a new GSM 1800MHz frequency allocation are: China Mobile Hong Kong (which operates as Peoples), Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT, part of PCCW, which offers services as PCCW Mobile) and SmarTone (operating under the SmarTone-Vodafone brand). The auction is only open to existing operators in the Special Administrative Region as the frequency block on offer (2×4.8MHz) is deemed insufficient to support the launch of a competitive new network.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The Iraqi government has imposed fine totaling more than USD 20 million on the three mobile operators in Iraq. The government slapped fine because they fail to meet minimum standard of service. Zain is liable to pay USD 18.6 million. The other two companies are Korek and Asiacell who have to pay a little over USD 1.2 million and USD 1.1 million respectively. According to a cabinet statement, the monetary fines were imposed on the firms for continuing bad service.