Telcos of India, Libya & Angola bid for Zamtel
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Three companies from India, Libya and Angola, have submitted their bids for state-run Zambia Telecommunications Co. also known as Zamtel in its partial privatization.
The bidding period ended with the submission of these three offers in Zamtel, informed the acting director general of the Zambia Development Agency, Muhabi Lungu.
According to Lungu, LAP Green of Libya, Unitel of Angola and Bharat Sanchar Nigam of India have submitted their offers to buy up to a 75% stake in the company.
In October the list of suitors had came down to eight from the 30 firms who had earlier shown interest. Criticizing the sale, the opposition party said that Zambia should retain a larger stake in the company. The shortlisted candidates will be announced by January11.
Indian govt opposes Vodafone Essar demerger
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The proposed demerger of mobile network operator Vodafone Essar has been opposed by the Indian government as such a move could allow the company to avoid tax payments. Earlier, Vodafone Essar had announced plans to transfer its passive infrastructure to Vodafone Essar Infrastructure.
Vodafone Essar on the other hand has contended that tower operations of its seven units are being gifted to Vodafone Essar Infrastructure. However, the state has argued in the case heard by Delhi High Court that the move is designed to evade capital gains tax.
According to additional solicitor general appearing for the Income Tax Department, companies can only do transactions and not gift assets to each other.
A petition has been filed by Vodafone to seek approval for the reconstruction and amalgamation of the companies. The court will hear the petition on 18 January 2010.
Orange & SFR warned by Arcep to meet 3G obligations
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: France Telecom and Vivendi SA has been warned by French telecommunications regulator Arcep to respect their obligations in terms of third-generation mobile coverage. According to Arcep, the 3G coverage of both the mobile operators did not meet the commitments made at the time of tenders for 3G licenses.
By August 21, Orange France’s 3G network covered 84% of the population and SFR’s covered 74% and on December 1, Orange covered 87% of the population and SFR covered 81%. However, Orange France has been asked by the regulator to reach 91% of the population by the end of 2010 and 98% by the end of 2011.
SFR is required to improve its coverage to 84% of the population by June 30, 2010, to 88% by the end of 2010, to 98% by the end of 2011 and to 99.3% by the end of 2013.
Bouygues SA’s Bouygues Telecom, on the other hand has already met the target of 75% by the end of 2010 by covering 80% of the population as of December 1.
France fourth 3G license has been given to Internet operator Iliad SA and the operator is committed to covering 27% of the population in 2012, 75% in 2015 and 90% in 2018.
Talks on Borusan’s takeover by Vodafone Turkey about to conclude
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Negotiations for the purchase of a controlling stake in Turkish alternative fixed line telco Borusan Telekom by Vodafone Turkey is on the verge of successful conclusion. Earlier, India’s Dhanus Technologies bought Borusan for USD30 million.
The two parties have three options- a partnership giving the UK-backed mobile operator management control of Borusan, 100% stock takeover or a majority stake purchase.
Vodafone Turkey’s acquisition of Borusan would help it to offer converged fixed, mobile and broadband services, and develop its corporate sector presence. Turkcell and Avea, rival telecom operators have already drafted the converged strategies. ISP unit, TTNet of PSTN operator Turk Telekom, which cross-markets mobile broadband and Wi-Fi packages owns Avea.
Turkcell, a fixed broadband operator Tellcom (Superonline), on the other hand, is aiming at extended high speed internet service coverage both with HSPA mobile and fibre-optic technologies.
Turk Telecom shares resume trade after denying press reports
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Turkish Fixed line operator, Turk Telekom’s shares resumed trade on the Istanbul Stock Exchange after being suspended. The suspension came after a report was published in Turkish press that the government had plans to list 15% stakes in the company next year.
The company received a statement from the privatization agency OIB denying the claims of the newspaper. However, OIB stated that the process to sell the remaining 30% Turk Telekom stake which is controlled by the Treasury has not yet started by them.
Last year the telecom had listed 15% of its shares in an initial public offering. The second phase of privatization of the firm was IPO. The company was party privatized in 2005 following the purchase of 55% of the former monopoly by Oger Telecom for $6.55 billion. However the state still owns the remaining 30% of the company.
ZTE chosen by KPN for HSPA roll-out in Belgium, Germany
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: ZTE, Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer has been selected by KPN for supplying HSPA enabled 3G equipment for expanding and technically upgrading its mobile networks in Germany and Belgium.
Both E-Plus Group and KPN Group Belgium will be supported by ZTE with data network expansion strategy and cutting edge future-proof technologies. This partnership with ZTA is expected to speed up the roll-out of KPN’s 3G network in Belgium and Germany at lesser prices.
It will also offer HSPA speeds of up to 21.6 Mbps to their customers target segments.
Zain to launch Wireless Mifi in Kuwait
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The Middle East and Africa operator Zain Group will soon launch Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot device, ‘Zain Mifi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot’ in Kuwait. The company will extend its services to the other countries later on.
This project will enable all the Zain customers to create their own Wi-Fi using their broadband connection. Apart from this, the connection can be also be shared with five Wi-Fi enables devices including laptops, smart phones, cameras, MIDS’s, UMPCs gaming devices or portable media players.
Zain customers can use this service in any of the other 20 Zain ‘One Network’ countries. The Mifi would not require any kind of installation or previously installed software and will be delivered by Novatel Wireless.
FTTH jv agreement signed by Soneacom & Vodafone
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Sonaecom and Vodafone Portugal, Portuguese telecommunications operators joined hand to share, construct, manage, maintain and operate the next generation fibre optic network (NGN) in the main urban centers.
A new company owned equally by Sonaecom and Vodafone Portugal will look after the implementation of the agreement. The company also foresees the possibility of the NGN being available to other interested operators.
The agreement improves the economic rationale for investment in NGNs, with clear benefits to customers, besides maintaining the competition between the two companies and their commercial independence of action.
iPhone 3G most used handset in the USA
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The USA is celebrating third generation with iPhone 3G becoming the most used mobile phone in the country.
Ruling over 4 percent of an “embedded base of all subscribers” of US market from January to October, the bestselling device of Apple tops the list of several other competing handsets such as RIM’s BlackBerry and mobile phones made by LG, Motorola, and Samsung.
iPhone 3G’s accumulative sale is just past the BlackBerry 8300 series which has 3.7 percent of the market share, followed by the RAZR V3 series with 2.3 percent and the LG enV2 with 2.1 percent.
iPhone game maker Tapulous sale attain $1 million per month
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Sales of Tapulous, a Mobile software developer and the name behind the super hit iPhone game series Tap Tap revenge, reached $1 million per month. This provides the perfect evidence of Apple’s App Store’s ability to help some developers to earn a very handsome living.
With more than 600 million total games played, 99-cent Tap Tap Revenge now tops the 20 million download benchmark. Tapulous revenue is generated via advertising and in-app music purchases and the developer has so far raised $2.8 million from investors including venture capital firm Khosla Ventures and Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff.
