Mexico’s spectrum auction delayed
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: MVS Comunicaciones and Iusacell appeal to suspend the auction of mobile spectrum in the 1850MHz-1990MHz and 1710MHz-2170MHz bands has been granted by a court of Mexico.
The two operators has cited the bidding rules as unfair and argued that the Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) should first renew its licenses in the 2.5GHz band before the process begins.
Telcel, Mexico’s largest operator by subscribers has also voiced its discontent with the bidding rules. According to Daniel Hajj, CEO of America Movil, Telcel’s parent company, although the company is participating in the auction, they are not very happy.
Verizon’s 1st ZTE phone approved by Bluetooth SIG
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A ZTE phone with Verizon branding on it has been recently approved by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, making it the first ZTE phone picked up by Verizon if it goes on sale. CDMA 1x and Bluetooth radios, a camera and voice controls are some of the features of the ZTE phone. Announcement regarding ZTE F350 has not been made yet.
Bhutan Telecom to invest BTN2.03 billion in network upgrade
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An investment of BTN2.03 billion (USD43.99 million) in the networks has been planned by state-owned Bhutan Telecom over the next four years. The news came after an investment of BTN52.61 billion was announced by Druk Holding and Investment (DHI), the state-owned holding company, in its operations in the same time-frame.
Bhutan Telecom has revealed its plans to use the funds to expand the networks of its B-Mobile subsidiary, besides continuing work to upgrade the PSTN. Recently B- Mobile completed the expansion projects in the Paro, Samdrupjongkhar, Samtse, Chukha and Haa dzongkhags (regions) and it is currently upgrading its GSM network in the rural areas.
Danish telco TDC’s revenue rises 0.9% in 2009
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With 0.9% year-on-year increase, Danish telecoms operator TDC ended the year 2009 with a revenue of DKK35.94 billion (USD6.67 billion). Gross profit in full year 2009 amounted to DKK25.79 billion, up 2.4% and company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the year increased 6.9% compared to 2008 to reach DKK13.05 billion.
Due to cost reductions across all business lines, EBITDA of the company grew by 5% to DKK10.54 million in 2009. According to TDC’s President and CEO, Henrik Poulsen, the company managed to increase its revenue as well as secured significant earnings growth in a difficult market.
The company has expressed its aim to become the best performing telecom company in Europe by 2012, expecting net revenue to grow by 1%-3% in 2010 and EBITDA to increase by 3%-4%.
Russian telco Svyazinvest aims for IPO in April 2011
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The structural reorganization of Russia’s state-run telecoms conglomerate Svyazinvest is scheduled to be completed by April 2011. The company also hopes to hold an initial public offering (IPO) to offload around 25% of the company.
Currently, Svyazinvest is combining long-distance operator Rostelecom with its seven ‘mega-regional’ operators to create a single, national network. The seven operators include Center Telecom, North-West Telecom, Volga Telecom, South Telecom, Uralsvyazinform, Siberia Telecom (Sibirtelecom) and Far East Telecom (Dalnevostochnaya)
MTN Rwanda’s 2010 investment cut by 55%
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 55% cut in the total annual investment in the year 2010 has been announced by MTN Rwanda. According to MTN Rwanda’s CEO, Khaled Mikkawi, there is no need to invest heavily in building capacity and coverage every year as the investment made in 2009 can serve in 2010 and what is required now is to maintain what was built last year.
Currently, MTN has close to two million subscribers and this year they are targeting an extra million subscribers to make up the three million.
Around USD100 million has been invested by MTN in 2009 in the expansion of network coverage and increased capacity to serve three million customers.
Filipino telco BayanTel petitions court to ditch Extelcom’s rehab plan
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The supreme court of Philippines has been requested by Bayan Telecommunications Inc (BayanTel) to shelve court-imposed rehabilitation plan for troubled domestic operator Express Telecommunications Company (Extelcom).
106-page petition has been submitted by BayanTel and its partner Marifil Holdings Corp arguing that their proposed rehabilitation plan would enable Extelcom to generate cumulative revenue of PHP1.8 billion over ten years.
BayanTel, has claimed that it is a perfect commercial partner for Extelcom because of its sufficient capital and technical expertise in wireless communications service besides offering to share its provincial wireless local loop revenues and its EBITDA from roaming service for foreign visitors with Extelcom in exchange for the use of the latter’s frequencies in the 800MHz band.
Vodafone Ireland to make heavy investment in 3.5G
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: To upgrade the national mobile network to so-called ‘3.5G’ technology, tens of millions of Euros will be spent by Vodafone’s Irish subsidiary, Vodafone Ireland. The announcement came after the parent group predicted better than expected cash flow and profits for the full-year ended March 31, 2010.
26,000 net new mobile subscribers during three months to December 31, 2009 have been made by Vodafone Ireland despite a difficult economic climate in the Republic. This raised the total to just under 2.15 million, the highest among the country’s mobile operators.
9,000 fixed line customers during the last quarter have also been added by Vodafone, bringing its total to 186,000.
