Fibre network management to be outsourced by Bharti & BSNL (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Interested parties are invited by India’s Bharti Airtel to submit bids for the outsourcing of the management of its fibre-optic cable network with a view to completing a deal before the end of March 2010. State- owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has also decided to invite bids in February to outsource the management of its network.
According to Bharti’s CEO Manoj Kohli, joint venture will be formed and the company contracted by Bharti will have a stake in the company. Bharti deal is estimated to be worth as much as USD1 billion over a five-year period. BSNL expects to close a deal by the end of the second half of this fiscal year.
Google’s Android platform would not be limited: China
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China, Google’s Android mobile phone platform in the Chinese market would not be limited until it complied with Chinese law.
Earlier this month, the world’s top search engine announced that it may shut its Chinese-language google.cn website and offices in China after a cyber-attack originating from China that also targeted other firms.
Togo set to get its first 3G network (Africa)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Togo Cellulaire, the leading mobile operator in South African country of Togo is set to provide the country with its first wireless 3G network by contracting Alcatel-Lucent for 22 million euro to extend its network capacity in GSM and build the first 3G wireless broadband network.
Advanced mobile broadband services to over 2.2 million subscribers and businesses throughout the country would be offered by Togo through this new network. The service may start by the end of the year.
An end-to-end turnkey solution will also build by Alcatel-Lucent, including a converged radio access network portfolio to support both 2G- and 3G-based services.
Overseas borrowing rules relaxed by India ahead of 3G auction
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The Indian government has relaxed overseas borrowing rules in order to help telecom operators arrange short-term funds for the next months 3G auction. The prospective bidders can now raise money from the domestic market to pay for the spectrum and later refinance those amounts within 12 months through cheaper overseas borrowings.
According to the finance ministry, the amount involved will be huge and has to be raised within a limited period of time and payable directly to the government, hence, it has been decided that the fee for spectrum allocation may be met out of rupee resources by successful bidders, to be refinanced with a long-term ECB [external commercial borrowings].
Successful bidders for 3G have to pay 25% of the bid amount within five days of the close of the auction and the balance amount within 15 days of the auction closure.
Overseas borrowing rules relaxed by India ahead of 3G auction
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The Indian government has relaxed overseas borrowing rules in order to help telecom operators arrange short-term funds for the next months 3G auction. The prospective bidders can now raise money from the domestic market to pay for the spectrum and later refinance those amounts within 12 months through cheaper overseas borrowings.
According to the finance ministry, the amount involved will be huge and has to be raised within a limited period of time and payable directly to the government, hence, it has been decided that the fee for spectrum allocation may be met out of rupee resources by successful bidders, to be refinanced with a long-term ECB [external commercial borrowings].
Successful bidders for 3G have to pay 25% of the bid amount within five days of the close of the auction and the balance amount within 15 days of the auction closure.
Vodafone’s DRM-free music service a hit
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After attracting almost half-a-million paying subscribers to its DRM-free services since March 2009, Vodafone has claimed to rule Europe’s mobile music market. The clear pricing policy of the carrier has been credited behind the subscription of 450,000 users for its music services.
A monthly bundle allowing the users to download 10 tracks, or a variety of all-you-can-eat packages has been provided to the subscribers. Some 100,000 subscribers have signed up in December alone in Vodafone’s eight key European markets Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK.
The company has signed deals with Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music, and Universal Music, to provide DRM-free MP3 content.
Windows Mobile 7 to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The long-awaited Windows Mobile 7 software will be unveiled by Microsoft next month at Mobile World Congress. The code for the OS update is yet to be finalized and the development is expected to be mostly complete by the end of summer, allowing the new OS to ship on devices by the end of the year.
However, there are also rumors that the launch of the Windows Mobile 7 launch may be delayed until 2011 as companies wait for the major revision, many of the recent smartphone introductions have focused on other platforms such as Android.
Full details regarding Windows Mobile 7 are yet not disclosed.
T Mobile & Orange UK merger vital for competition: T Mobile
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The 50-50 joint venture, between Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile and France Telecom’s Orange in UK announced on September 8, 2009 is crucial for the two companies to be able to compete against bigger rivals.
The announcement was made by T-Mobile UK Managing Director Richard Moat. According to Moat, the margin pressures are altering the competitive landscape and altering the ability to fund the future.
The joint venture proposal is waiting for the nod from European Commission, which will investigate whether there will be any adverse effect on the market, has until Feb. 15 to rule on the joint venture.
UK’s largest mobile operator with a 37% market share will be created if the propsed venture is successful.
Network supply deal signed between ZTE and Cell C (Africa)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: South African mobile operator Cell C along with its controlling shareholder Oger Telecom signed a network supply and managed services agreements with ZTE. Under the agreement, Cell C will receive GSM/UMTS network turnkey solutions and operations services in total USD 378 million.
Product sales and engineering services are specified in the agreements in relation to ZTE’s daily operations. The project is expected to be completed within three years.
USA operators questioned by FCC over termination fees
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: More information on termination fees charged customers for ending their service contracts early has been asked by the US Federal Communications Commission from all the top mobile operators. The list includes- Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Google, T-Mobile USA and Sprint.
According to the FCC, the lack of a standard approach for applying the fees may be hindering mobile users’ ability to change operators. FCC has asked the operators about how they set the fees and inform consumers about the rates, how they apply handset subsidies and how the termination fees vary in relation to the cost of the phone.
