Orange Jordan launches its 3G network

On 03.31.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The highly anticipated 3G+ network of Orange Jordan has been formally launched which is the first of its kind in the Kingdom. Selected areas in Amman, Irbid and Zarqa will initially receive the service of the new network.

Over the next six months, the network will be gradually expanded to reach most populated areas in the Kingdom to give it 70% population coverage by the end of the summer. According to the company’s CEO Nayla Khawam, the services delivered by Orange’s 3G+ network would greatly bolster internet penetration in the Kingdom, which conforms to the national strategy that aims at increasing internet penetration by 50% by 2011.

Orange has also committed to utilize the full scope of content-driven 3G+ services. A strategic partnership agreement has been signed between Arab television networks MBC and Orange whereby several of the network’s popular programs and series will be streamed exclusively over Orange’s 3G+ network directly to subscribers’ handsets.

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EU5 Countries witness growth in Smartphone Adoption: ComScore

On 03.31.10, In Mobile Marketing, By Editor

A new research by ComScore has revealed that Smartphone users in the EU5 (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) have grown by 32 percent over the past year, to 51.6 million subscribers.

UK has recorded the fastest growth in the number of subscribers with over 70%, to 11.1 million subscribers. While it’s High-tier subscribers (those paying£35 or more a month) witnessed a growth of 60% year on year, mid-to-low tier subscribers (paying under £35 a month) grew by 76%.

France ranks second with the number of Smartphone subscribers up 48% to 7.1 million and Germany accounted for 8.4 million Smartphone subscribers (up 34%). While Spain has 9.9 million subscribers (up 27%), Italy, which has been boasting the largest number of Smartphone subscribers overall has showed the softest growth in the market with 11%.

According to Alistair Hill, senior mobile analyst at ComScore, Smartphones are generally seen as luxury devices that come with big price tags and high monthly tariffs, yet the largest segment of the market and the one demonstrating greatest momentum is actually the low- to mid-tier.

In his opinion, the growth in these tiers suggests that as Smartphones become more affordable to the majority of European consumers; their proliferation will increase considerably, and lead to a surge in mobile content and data consumption.

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Vodacom partners Nedbank to launch M- Pesa in South Africa

On 03.31.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A joint initiative to bring the M-Pesa mobile money transfer service to South Africa has been announced by Nedbank and South African mobile operator Vodacom. Other South African markets already avail the facility of M-Pesa including Afghanistan.

The service enables customers to transfer money from person to person using a mobile phone. In order to ensure that the initiative meets all requirements set out by the South African Reserve Bank, Nedbank has engaged itself with the banking regulator.

Plans to launch M-Pesa in South Africa were first announced by Vodacom’s parent company, Vodafone at the GSMA Mobile World conference in Barcelona earlier this year.

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Telefonica Spain selects NSN for network up gradation

On 03.31.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Nokia Siemens Networks has been selected by Telefonica Spain for the up gradation of its 3G radio network to HSPA+. This aims towards the preparation for the next generation of mobile communications.

s a result of this three year project, data download speeds of Telefonica Spain will increase from 7.2 Mbps to 42 Mbps. Under the terms of the agreement, new functionalities will be deployed by Nokia Siemens in response to Telefonica customers’ demands for more speed, bandwidth and new services. Evolved HSPA+ will be prepared for Telefonica network boosting the bandwidth used for data connections.

Provision of 3G and GSM access simultaneously using the 900 MHz band of radio spectrum will also be supported by the modernized network, once the regulatory authorities allow it. Nokia Siemens’ LTE-ready Flexi Base Stations will be used for the project.

The consequence of the network modernization will be that energy consumption will decrease equaling 27.000 MWh. NetAct network management system to monitor will also be provided by Nokia Siemens besides managing and optimizing the Spanish operator’s network.

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Vodafone, TDC expand Nordic partnership (Denmark)

On 03.31.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The Nordic partnership agreement between Vodafone and Danish mobile operator TDC has been extended by the both the telcos. Sweden and Norway are included in the non-equity partner market contract along with the existing agreement covering Denmark.

According to the agreement signed between the operators, TDC has exclusive access to a range of products, services and devices from Vodafone. These products are promoted under a co-branding model in three Nordic countries.

Acquisition of enterprise customers and improved network inter-working is also included in the terms of the agreement.

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Huawei revenue jumps 19%

On 03.31.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 19% rise in the full-year revenues has been announced by Huawei which reported that its revenue reached RMB149.1 billion (US$21.8 billion) and the net profit jumped from RMB7.8 billion (US$1.1 billion) a year ago to RMB18.3 billion (US$2.7 billion). The net profit increased 26.5% in 2009 over the previous year after excluding the effects of change in exchange gains or losses totaling RMB6.9 billion between 2009 and 2008.

According to Ken Hu, Chief Marketing Officer, Huawei, the company sees its business momentum continuing in 2010 and expect year-on-year revenue growth of 20% driven by increased deployments of mobile and fixed broadband networks, further take-up of customized smart devices, and higher demand for professional managed services.

The total expense ratio (total operating expenses and other income as a percentage of revenue) declined 1.4% year-over-year due to comprehensive initiatives to improve process efficiency and manage costs in 2009. Improving the operational efficiency through the adoption of recommendations from IBM and Accenture is also on Huawei cards.
The financial results were independently audited by international accounting firm KPMG.

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Bharti Chief thanks partners after signing Zain Africa deal

On 03.31.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With the consummation of the US$10.7 billion deal with Zain Africa, Bharti Airtel chief Sunil Mittal extended his gratitude to its partner Sing Tel for providing its much needed support. As a co-promoter, SingTel holds 31 per cent stake in India-listed Bharti Airtel and therefore its support is critical to any major M&A deal by the company.

According to Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Mittal who signed the deal in Amsterdam, the extremely tight time lines and the enormity of the task posed a real challenge. Bharti was able to achieve this important milestone through much hard work and support from SingTel and the external advisors.

All the team members involved in the completion of this hyped deal was also thanked by Mittal making the company world’s fifth largest mobile operator in terms of subscriber base and second largest in terms of population covered by its services. Representatives of the Singapore based telecom giant, Sing Tel have been present in almost all the board meetings discussing the transaction.

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Verizon and Skype launch free mobile calling service (USA)

On 03.31.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Consumers can now make free Skype-to-Skype calls anywhere in the world through Skype Mobile debuted by Verizon Wireless and Skype.

According to Raney, executive director of corporate communications at Verizon Wireless, New York, Verizon Wireless and Skype wanted to bring a very cool, exciting application that adds value to smartphones and that is Skype mobile and the app “untethers” Skype users from their PCs and gives them the opportunity to make free Skype-to-Skype calls anywhere in the world.

Skype is a kind of software enabling individuals and businesses to make free video and voice calls besides sending instant messages and sharing files with other Skype users. Skype is also used to make low-cost calls to landlines and mobile phones.

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T-Mobile launches Night In service

On 03.31.10, In Mobile Marketing, By Editor

T-Mobile UK has partnered with Blockbuster, an entertainment rental company to launch a loyalty programme named ‘Night In’. This programme aims at encouraging customers to plan more nights with friends and family during the week.

It also offers T-Mobile customers to rent a game and a movie or two movies for two nights and grab some snacks and a bottle of soft drink for £5. Customers are provided with an array of choices for DVDs like Blu-ray discs and games.

According to T-Mobile UK Head of Brand and Communications, Lysa Hardy, Customers tell them that more than anything else, they love spending time with family and friends, and with the ongoing trend of staying in rather than going out, Night In is their way of saying thank you to them for their loyalty.

In his opinion, this Night In offer with Blackbuster is a great value deal that gives their customers everything they need for a perfect night in, and is a great excuse for people to pile in front of the TV and enjoy the latest movie release or computer release or computer game.

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MTN, NetOne deal under clouds (Africa)

On 03.31.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Danger seems to be looming on the planned acquisition of a 49% stake in Zimbabwean cellco NetOne by South African telco MTN. The deal seems to be collapsing after it has been revealed that some members of the government are opposed to its privatization. Growing discomfort over the sale has also been witnessed by the government.

According to Finance Minister Tendai Biti, the government believes that NetOne’s poor performance is a management issue the mobile network business was ‘like printing money,’ and that there was no reason for NetOne to be in its current state when rival cellco Econet Wireless Zimbabwe was ‘making USD65 million every month.

Although, NetOne was the first telecom operator to be launched in the country it is still the smallest wireless network operator by subscribers. At the end of 2009 the company claimed approximately 10% of the country’s wireless subscriber market.

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