MTNL posts a net profit of Rs.173.73 crore in Q4’08 (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mahanagar Telecom Nigam (MTNL) posted a net loss of Rs 83.8 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, attributed to an increased staff costs in the period. The firm reports net profit of Rs 173.73 crore in the January-March quarter of 2007-08. “Staff cost during this year has gone up by Rs 4,61.1 crore, mainly due to merger of dearness allowance with basic pay, which was implemented with effect from January 1, 2007,” the public sector firm said. The total income dipped to Rs 1,287.16 crore in Q4 of FY’09 from Rs 1,448.83 crore in the same quarter of FY08.
Telcordia gains momentum in India through Mobile Number Portability Initiative
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: India represents one of the most dynamically evolving mobile markets in the world, with 10+ million new subscribers each month, and remains a strategic area of focus for Telcordia, a global leader in the development of fixed, mobile, and broadband communications software and services. With its unmatched expertise in highly scalable communications networks, Telcordia is ideally positioned to help both the country’s government and leading mobile operators successfully manage the sharply rising demands for advanced mobile services.
Recently, MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of Telcordia, was selected by the India Department of Telecommunications (DoT) as the provider of number portability clearinghouse and centralized database services for the country’s southern and eastern regions for the next 10 years. This will facilitate accurate number porting for subscribers, enabling the transfer of telephone numbers when subscribers want to keep their numbers if they move from one operator to another.
“Telcordia is committed to the India market and is helping operators successfully manage the unprecedented growth,
realize operational efficiencies, and maintain a competitive edge that will drive communications usage and revenue,” said Mark Greenquist, President & CEO, Telcordia. “The recent number portability clearinghouse deal will bring added choice and convenience to India’s 400 million mobile subscribers and accelerate the rollout and adoption of brand-differentiating, value-added services.”
Telcordia is a leading global provider of fixed, mobile, and broadband communications software and services. For 25 years, the company has created the innovations that have helped organizations deploy advanced networks and groundbreaking new communications services. On the number portability front, Telcordia is the world’s market leader in number portability clearinghouse and gateway solutions supporting fixed and mobile number portability services.
Telcordia market leading number portability solutions are already deployed in 14 countries, including the United States, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Greece, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.
Telcordia’s operator customers in India include:
- TATA Teleservices, which selected the Telcordia service delivery solution to grow its prepaid customer base, and introduce new and innovative value-added services in the converged environment
- Idea Cellular, which relies on the Telcordia® Converged Application Server to consolidate prepaid services on a single real-time charging platform
- Reliance Infocomm, which uses the Telcordia® Network Engineer planning and design solution to streamline the outside plant engineering process.
“Telcordia has made a substantial investment in India to fully understand the various cultures and business challenges that this hyper-growth market presents,” said Greenquist. “We are seeing this commitment result in business opportunities throughout the country, highlighted by the recent number portability initiative.”
Telcordia established an entity in India, Telcordia Technologies India Private Limited, in 2006. The business is headquartered in Gurgaon, with program delivery offices in Hyderabad. The entity also includes Telcordia India Labs, a state-of-the-art facility based in Chennai. The office in Tidel Park provides dedicated software resources, including development, for mobile, fixed line and cable operators throughout India.
For more information about Telcordia, visit www.telcordia.com. For more information about Telcordia India, visit http://www.telcordia.com/news_events/presskit/india-snapshot.html and http://www.telcordia.co.in.
About Telcordia
Telcordia, a global leader in the development of fixed, mobile and broadband communications software and services, enables Communications Service Providers (CSPs), enterprises, suppliers and government entities to successfully deploy innovative and advanced services in the new era of services-dominated communications. With its innovation, experience, and reach, Telcordia has the elements to deliver the communications software and services that help our customers realize operational efficiencies, drive revenue, and maintain a competitive edge. Telcordia is headquartered in Piscataway, N.J, with offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Central and Latin America.
(www.telcordia.com)
America Movil subscriber base reaches 17.1Mn in Q1’09
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: America Movil’s combined first-quarter revenues from operations in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay have raised by 17.4% y-o-y to ARS 2 billion. Data Revenues climbed 49.6%, accounting for 34.4% of service revenues, almost seven percentage points more than in the first quarter of 2008, mainly augmented by 3G services development. The subscriber base in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay totals to 17.1 million in Q1, up 2.9% from 16.5 million users in December 2008 and 11.8% higher in comparison to the same period year-earlier. The operator ended March, with 2.2 million postpaid subscribers and 14.86 million prepaid subscribers across Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. EBITDA climbed 20.7% to ARS 637 million. The EBITDA margin for the period slightly rose to 32.4 % from 31.6% in the same period a year ago.
Chunghwa Telecom & HTC unleash traditional Chinese HTC Magic (Taiwan)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Chunghwa Telecom and HTC have introduced world’s first traditional Chinese-language Android based mobile handset, the HTC Magic. The Android powered handset will be available on various price plans for the Chunghwa subscribers. The handset features a 3.2 inch HVGA touch screen display and features a trackball, a 3.2 mega-pixel camera and GPS. It also offers access to Android Market, where users can find and download unique applications to expand and personalise their phones.
The HTC Magic is scheduled to be available in Taiwan from May 2009 and is likely to be price at TWD 20,900.
M-Tel introduces ‘Data Prima’ mobile internet package (Bulgaria)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: M-Tel, Bulgarian mobile operator, has introduced a mobile internet package dubbed as Data Prima. The subscribers can avail this package at a monthly installment of BGN 10 and includes a USB modem for mobile internet access in the M-Tel network and 1500 MB for internet traffic in the first two months. This package is also available on prepay mode at a 21% discount to BGN 99. ?-Tel has also slashed the price for its Free Surf 250 MB data package by 20 percent to BGN 18.90. The package now entails 350 MB available for internet traffic monthly. The intensive mobile internet subscribers can also use the M-Tel Free Surf package with 1 GB for internet traffic for a monthly fee of BGN 29.90.
T-Mobile Croatia ends Q1’09 with 2.78Mn subscribers
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: T-Hrvatski Telekom, the Croatian telco posted a rise of 1.7% in Q1’09 revenues to HRK 2.068 billion (EUR 279 million), driven by strong growth in mobile and internet revenues. EBITDA grew by 2.5% to 950 million, bringing the EBITDA margin to 45.9%. Net profits increased by 6.4% to HRK 583 million.
T-Mobile Croatia, the mobile arm of the Croatian telco, reported a subscriber base of 2.78 million in Q1, compared to 2.69 million subscribers at the end of 2008, taking the operator’s market share to 46.1% by SIM. The postpaid revenues rose by 5.7% to HRK 567 million, representing 57.2% of T-Mobile revenues. The prepaid usage dropped taking down the MOU to 104.6 versus 125.5 a year ago, while ARPU dropped 10.4% year-on-year to HRK 102.1 per month.
Despite a positive Q1, T-HT anticipates a downfall in full-year revenues due to the weaker Croatian economy. The EBITDA margin is also forecast down this year, while capex should be in line with last year’s level.
Vodafone brings HTC Magic to UK
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: HTC Magic, the android-powered smartphone, is now available at vodafone.co.uk/magic, through Vodafone’s retail stores and from telesales. The price starts from free on a two year contract at GBP 35 monthly, entails unlimited mobile internet use, 600 minutes and unlimited texts. It also comes with a 2GB memory card.
Claro ends Q1’09 with 3.1Mn subscribers (Chile)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Claro, the Chilean mobile operator, a subsidiary of America Movil, has added 78,000 new subscribers to its base in Q1’09, taking the total to 3.1 million subscribers at March-end. The subscriber base rose by 13.9% on a yearly basis and 2.6% since Q4’08.
Claro’s postpaid subscriber base hiked by 6.8% on a yearly basis to 400,000 subscribers, whereas the prepaid subscriber base went up 15.1% to 2.6 million subscribers at March-end.
The revenues for Q1’09 rose by 8.4% to CLP 66.9 billion since 2008, while EBITDA totalled to CLP 1.4 billion, up by 1.5% year-on-year. Data was the most dynamic component of service revenues, rising 74.9% year-on-year. ARPU dropped by 8.5% since a year earlier, while MOU rose 18.4% in the period to 143 minutes per subscriber.
Telcel Churn drops to 3.1% (Mexico)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telcel, Mexican mobile operator, a unit of America Movil, has gained 1.2 million in Q1 this year. The operator ended March with a subscriber base of 57.5 million, up 2.1% from 56.3 million at 31 December 2008. At the end of this quarter, prepaid subscribers reached 53.1 and 4.1 million postpaid. Revenues had reached MXN 33.6 billion in the period, rose 4.3% in comparison to the same period a year earlier. Service Revenues has grown almost twice as fast, namely by 8.3%, augmented by data revenues.
The company reported EBITDA of MXN 18.6 billion, up 11.1 percent year-on-year from MXN 16.7 billion in the same period last year. EBITDA margin mounted 3.4 percentage points to 55% at end-March. The operator’s EBIT grew 11.3 percent to MXN 16.37 billion versus MXN 14.71 billion in the year-ago quarter. ARPU stands at MXN 168, down 3.4%. Churn dropped to 3.1% from 3.4% in the same period a year earlier.
Azercell launches ‘li boyu hediyye’ campaign for SimSim subscribers (Azerbaijan)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Azercell Telecom, the Azerbaijani mobile operator, has launched its ‘li boyu hediyye’ campaign. Under the campaign, the subscribers who restore or register with the SimSim service will receive 300 free units per month for one year.
SimSim subscribers will also enjoy fee GizletCell service for one year. Gift units can be used only for on-net calls. The new subscribers will be offered 500 units and one month open line. The offer is valid from 24 April to 24 June.
