Fibre proposals submitted by Telecom NZ
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A response to the invitation from the government to participate in providing ultra-fast broadband will be submitted by Telecom New Zealand. As per the response, a fully compliant preferred commercial model proposal, and an alternative commercial model proposal will be provided by the Telecom.
The focus of the alternative proposal is on delivering a national network using Telecom’s fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) programme as a springboard for the government’s vision of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH).
The company is also open to discussing other alternative proposals in addition to the above two.
Telcel declared dominant on mobile market by FCC (Mexico)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Federal Competition Commission (FCC) of Mexico has reconfirmed its decision of establishing the market dominance position of Telcel. The decision was ratified after analyzing the arguments presented by Telcel to sustain that it does not apply any anti-competitive practices.
Telcel’s large market share in terms of subscribers and revenue and high levels of profit gained steadily in recent years has been taken into account during the investigations.
Telcel’s capacity to achieve net subscriber additions over its competitors as a result of its high level of coverage and extensive distribution network spread across the country, as well as the existence of significant barriers to the entry of new operators is also added by CFC.
T-Mobile launches 3G network in Czech Republic
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The commercial launch of 3G networks in Czech Republic has been completed by T- Mobile. The high-speed mobile internet will be available to Prague residents in its first stage and the 3G coverage will extend to the largest Bohemian and Moravian cities by the end of this year.
The HSPA technology of the T-Mobile’s 3G network is supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks and is ready for a smooth upgrade to LTE. The network will allow a download and upload speeds of 3 Mbps and 1.5 Mbps respectively while the users without 3G-enabled device can turn to any T-Mobile shop, as 80 percent of all mobile phones offered support 3G technology.
VeriSign teams with Verizon to launch identity protection app
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: VeriSign Identity Protection Access has been launched by network infrastructure services provider VeriSign along with Verizon Wireless. The new service promises additional safeguards to secure subscribers personal data.
A security code is displayed by the free VIP Access for Mobile app which the mobile subscribers can use as a second factor of authentication in addition to usernames and passwords when accessing their online accounts through their phones.
Each code is a unique, one-time password that changes automatically every 30 seconds
Verizon introduces slotRadio+
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: BlackBerry smartphone users can now enjoy hand-selected playlists assembling 1,000 songs from bestselling artists along with additional 4GB of Flash memory for personal media storage.
Thanks to the slotRadio+ microSD card introduced by Verizon Wireless, the users can enjoy music from contemporary hitmakers in modern rock, dance and hip hop, Latin, and country in slotRadio’s Billboard Hits version and the 1980s, the 1990s, classic rock and oldies songs in Billboard Decades version.
Users can download the slotRadio+ application from the BlackBerry smartphone’s browser after inserting the microSD card.
The slotRadio+ card is optimized for smartphones including the BlackBerry Curve 8530, BlackBerry Pearl 8130 and Flip 8230, BlackBerry Storm 9530 and Storm2 9550, BlackBerry Tour 9630 and BlackBerry 8830 World Edition and costs $49.99.
$3 billion earned by AT&T in Q4
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With more than 25 percent increase from year-ago total, a net income of $3 billion for the fourth quarter of 2009 has been earned by AT&T. The mobile operating revenue rose 7.6 percent to $13.8 billion compared to year-ago revenue of $12.9 billion. The total wireless subscriber base also rose to 85.1 million.
While the increase in the revenue has been attributed to the continued subscriber growth, the increase in the users’ base is credited to adoption of smartphones and emerging hardware such as ereaders, netbooks and navigation devices.
26.3 percent year-over-year increase from $805 million to $3.9 billion has been recorded by AT&T in the wireless data revenue from messaging, access to applications and related services. Besides, 2.6 percent increase in postpaid subscriber ARPU and 70% increase in Text messages has also been recorded by the operator.
Etisalat to pay USD800 million to PTCL by March 2010 (Pakistan)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: USD800 million will be paid by UAE-based Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) to the Pakistani government by the end of March 2010 as part of its 2006 acquisition of 26% stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).
According to Pakistan’s minister of privatisation, Waqar Ahmed Khan, only USD1.14 billion of the USD2.6 billion purchase price has been received so far, with issues surrounding a transfer of 3,000 real estate units; under the terms of the acquisition the government agreed to transfer the properties before Etisalat made the full payment.
Payment of the outstanding balance in equal installments over five years was announced by Etisalat in December last year.
Apple launches iPad
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A device to browse the web, to read and send e-mail, to use media like photos, videos, music, games and e-books and including other features like a multi-touch display and twelve specially designed applications. And if you think you want more, then use the software development kit to create your own apps. All these features in just a 1.27 centimeters thick and 680 grams device.
Welcome to the world of a super advanced technology of Apple’s iPad. If you are longing to be the proud owner of this device, you just have to wait till late March and have it at USD 499 for the 16 GB model and USD 699 for the 32 GB model.
The two versions of the iPad, one with Wi-Fi and one with both Wi-Fi and support for 7.2 Mbps HSDPA will run almost all of the apps in the App Store. The Wi-Fi + 3G version will be available in April in the US and selected countries for USD 629 for the 16 GB model, USD 729 for the 32 GB model and USD 829 for the 64 GB model.
Prepaid data plan for the iPad has already been launched by AT&T. A new iBooks app, allowing user to buy and read books on a mobile device has been announced by Apple. Books from major publishers will be featured in the iBookstore.
Outstanding 1.8% of TdA acquired by Telefonica Spain
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The remaining 1.8% of Telefonica Argentina (TdA), the Argentine subsidiary of the Spanish telecoms group Telefonica, has been acquired by the company and the TdA’s shares have also been delisted.
The transaction was approved by Comision Nacional de Valores (CNV), Argentine securities regulator, in December 2009, after the Spanish group offered one Argentinean peso a shares or for the roughly 126 million shares of TdA it did not control the previous June.
A month earlier, Telefonica was called over by a minority shareholder at TdA to launch an offer for the remaining shares, highlighting that under Argentine law, companies must make a 100% offer once they control more than 95% of a company’s shares.
