Reza says to reissue licence tender (Iran)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Reza Taqipour reportedly said that the failed tender for the country’s third national mobile licence will be reissued. Taqipour further said, ‘We believe that foreign investors are interested in the third operator project.’ The licence was initially auctioned in December 2008, with Etisalat of the UAE winning the concession. However, the regulator withdrew the joint 2G and 3G concession in May 2009, claiming that Etisalat had failed ‘to give necessary guarantees and licence fees on time.’
Motorola Israel asks for final MIRS bids by mid-Sept
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Motorola Israel has asked the interested bidders for its iDEN subsidiary MIRS Communications to submit final offers by the middle of September. Three telecoms operator namely Pelephone, Cellcom and Partner Communications have announced plans to bid for MIRS, despite opposition from the Israeli Ministry of Communication (MoC).
3 UK announces market leading package on-sale
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 3 UKcompletes the picture of its Mobile Wi-Fi offer, announcing both pricing and availability.
Mobile Wi-Fi, the service that allows you to create your own mobile Wi-Fi connection, will be available via telesales and online at www.three.co.uk from Thursday 17th September, and in 3 Stores across the country from Friday 18th September.
Nokia to launch Nokia messaging in India by December-end
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Nokia plans to launch the push email service in the Indian mobile market by December’09. Nokia Messaging will be competing with similar service being offered by RIM via BlackBerry devices. The handset manufacturer is also working on getting the required approvals from the Indian department of telecommunications.
The service will be offered on more than 20 Nokia smartphones operating on Symbian S60 platform.
Japan operators add 366,900 new subscribers in August
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Japan operators has gained 366,900 new subscribers and ended August with 109.27 million mobile subscribers, as per the figures published from the Telecommunications Carrier Association. Softbank Mobile is leading the market with the addition 115,100 new subscribers to reach a total of 21.21 million.Followed to this is NTT DoCoMo with the net addition of 112,900 subscribers and taking its total base to 55.12 million. Emobile reported a subscriber base of 1.81 million, up by 61,100.
PHS provider Willcom has lost 40,500 subscribers, taking its total base to 4.48 million. willcom has reported an increase in its ‘Core 3G’ service from 43,000 in July to 52,700 in August.
MTS introduces its first own-branded handset, the MTS 236 (Russia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: MTS Russia has introduced its first own-branded handset, the MTS 236.The phone was developed partner Vodafone and equipment supplier ZTE. MTS said the Russian market was ready for a new distribution model of attractively priced feature phones bundled with service plans. Earlier this year, the operator also started a co-branding project with Alcatel mobile phones.
The new handset is a basic GSM handset that comes unlocked and is available from MTS and other retailers, in Moscow from 7 September and the rest of Russia from 14 September.The handset is priced at RUB 1,050 with no service plan or RUB 890-980 with a MTS prepaid plan, depending on the amount of the deposit.
KCC asks mobile operators to slash call charges (South Korea)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Choi See-joong, the Chairman of South Korean regulator, has reportedly asked mobile operators to lower call charges on the back of an OECD report highlighting the country as one of the world’s most expensive for mobile phone use .
As per his recommendations, a similar pledge by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to cut mobile rates by 20%. The regulator is considering a variety of methods to force rate reductions, including the banning of handset subsidies to promote cheaper call rates, expanding pre-paid tariffs and most notably allowing the introduction of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). However, all three telcos are not in favour of this. SK Telecom has claimed that government interference could have a negative effect on competitiveness in the wireless sector.
M1 inks deal with Novatel Wireless (Singapore)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Novatel Wireless has inked a deal to supply Singaporean mobile operator MobileOne (M1) with its ‘MiFi’ battery-powered Intelligent Mobile Hotspot solution. With this Mobile hotspot, the subscribers can create their own personal Wi-Fi hotspots, revolutionising the way mobile broadband is used, it claims.
Svyazinvest gets approval for stake sale (Russia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: According to a media report, Russia’s economy ministry has approved the government purchase of Sistema’s holdings in fixed line group Svyazinvest and mobile operator SkyLink. The state will take on Sistema’s RUB26 billion (USD827.7 million) debt to Siberbank in order to acquire the conglomerate’s 25% plus one share stake in Svyazinvest and its 50% stake in SkyLink. The deal will also see Sistema’s fixed line subsidiary, Comstar UTS, take on a 23% stake in Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS), owner of the capital’s fixed line network, bringing its total stake in the operator to 94.9%.
