International Rescue launched on iPhone
UK-based fleet tracking, traffic and navigation provider, Trafficmaster has launched the first ever international mobile phone travel emergency and concierge service. Under this a user will be offered 24/7 access to a team of travel experts located in more than 40 countries, who will be available in case of an emergency.
Travellers can now get connected to Trafficmaster personal assistants in the UK at the press of a button. These assistant have exclusive access to in-country local teams and will be able to provide a liaison between the user, the police, British embassies, border controls and emergency services.
Apart from this, they will also help in locating a restaurant or a hotel or cash machine. The calls will be charged at normal UK landline rate.
According to Trafficmaster Chief Executive, Tony Eales, following on from launching International Rescue on Blackberry, Symbian and Windows-based mobile phones, the company is delighted to be able to offer this on iPhone. It is a fantastic service that offers peace of mind, security and local knowledge to all travelers.
The application costs £20 a month or £65 for an annual subscription. It can be downloaded from the Apple App Store, or from the Trafficmaster website.
Brazilian telco Oi reports fall in revenue
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A heavy fourth-quarter loss of 365 million Brazilian reals ($207 million) due to non-recurring expenses and declining revenue has been posted by Brazil’s largest telecommunications company, Oi. A net profit of BRL13 million was generated by the company in the fourth quarter of 2008.
EBITDA of the company came down from BRL2.44 billion in the year-earlier quarter to BRL2.37 billion while the EBITDA margin dropped to 31.4% in the fourth quarter from 31.9% in the same period the prior year. Due to sliding fixed-line telephone usage, the fourth-quarter net revenue went down to BRL7.5 billion, from BRL7.6 billion a year earlier.
Due to the expenses on legal action related to the integration of rival operator Brasil Telecom and deferment of subsidies on prepaid phones, Oi recorded non-recurring costs of BRL305 million. A swallow increased costs has been suffered by the company because of the integration of Brasil Telecom and the entrance into the Sao Paulo mobile phone market last year.
The company’s debt level rose to 2.2 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, in 2009 following the purchase of Brasil Telecom, a rival operator, and the campaign to enter into the Sao Paulo mobile market.
Aerosmith drummer challenges fans to “Hit Hard†competition
Rock solid rhythms of Aerosmith’s legendary drummer, Joey Kramer is unbeatable. However now iPhone users can challenge their drumming skills on Kramer’s recently launched iPhone application Hit Hardâ€. This move has come after celebrity Services Company Paid Inc. collaborated with Kramer to challenge iPhone fans drumming skills with a new application.
According to Keith Garde, President of Paid Inc. Boston, Aerosmith and Joey Kramer have always been about connecting with their fans in the most cutting-edge ways and this new application is another step in that direction. It consistently continues to support the band in reaching their fans in whatever platform, technologies and methods they are using.
The application also has a different feature for those users who do not want to compete with Kramer’s beat. These users can create their own beats in a freestyle play. Each level in the game has a mock lesson where users can tap the correct sequence to match his beat. Players who will be able to finish all the levels of the game can enter the high score contest for a chance to win a prize from Kramer.
According to Garde, though the application is currently available only for the iPhone and iPod touch, the company is looking forward to expand it into other smartphone platforms.
Brazilian telco Oi to invest $1.7bn-$2.3bn in 2010
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An investment of 3 billion to 4 billion Brazilian reals ($1.7 billion to $2.3 billion) in 2010 has been considered by Brazil’s largest telecommunications company, Tele Norte Leste Participacoes S/A. The focus of the investment is on expanding broadband Internet capacity for fixed and mobile networks.
BRL5.1 billion was invested by the operator in 2009 and 70% of that amount was pumped into networks. The investment will also allow the company to reduce debt levels. The company’s debt level rose to 2.2 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, in 2009 following the purchase of Brasil Telecom, a rival operator, and the campaign to enter into the Sao Paulo mobile market.
The aim of the company is to reduce that debt amount to 1.7 times to 1.9 times EBITDA by the end of this year. There are probabilities that the Sao Paulo mobile operation reach break-even in April of this year, which will take some pressure off finances.
Bridgewater to participate in LTE Interoperability Tests
Bridgewater has announced that it will be participating in the Global MultiService Forum (MSF) interoperability testing event. This event will take place at Vodafone’s Centre for Test and Innovation in Dusseldorf and the China Mobile Research Institute Lab in Beijing. The focus of the testing is on validating Evolved Packet Core network interfaces to enable multi-vendor deployment strategies for LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology.
The MSF event will promote and foster compatibility and interoperability with leading network equipment vendors and operators including Vodafone, China Mobile, NEC, Starent Networks, Huawei, ZTE, Alcatel Lucent, Agilent and Codenomicon.
The event will prove out to be an important step towards validating MSF architectural framework release 5 for LTE, developed to incorporate 3GPP System Architecture Evolution.
Telecom Egypt eyes integrated telecom company
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Acquisition of an integrated telecom company has been considered by state-owned Telecom Egypt which is the only provider of fixed-line services in the country. If the fourth mobile license arrives in the market, the company would consider making a bid for it.
However, no timeline for the acquisitions has been given and the possibility of a fourth mobile license depends on the Egyptian regulator.
According to firm’s chief executive officer, Tarek Tantawy, the company is interested in increasing its exposure to mobile and the market can sustain a fourth player and if it comes up the firm is more than interested.
Profit contribution in 2009 from Vodafone Egypt increased 8% year-on-year to EGP1.4 billion and its total customers stood at 23.3 million at the end of December. Telecom Egypt has a 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt.
NearVerse unveils LoKast Media-sharing App
NearVerse, mobile networking firm has unveiled its first mobile application, LoKast. It allows its users to share media between iPhones and iPod touch devices at super-fast speeds. The application can also be downloaded from the Apple App Store.
Also known as ‘Local-casting’, LoKast aims to eliminate the need for sharing content through physical media such as DVDs or CDs. LoKasters can share certain parts of their digital profile with other people, also using the application, within a limited proximity. Its process is very similar to browsing for Facebook profiles, but its target limits to people who are physically closer.
Users can easily download the free app and add photos, videos, music, contacts and web links to their personalized portal. The application will automatically allow other users to view and download their content if they are within proximity of 300 feet of another LoKast user.
The best part of LoKast is that it does not require 3G connectivity; it functions in subways, underground and heavily congested areas such as stadiums where 3G connectivity are not reliable.
The aim of the application is to offer its users the opportunity to distribute exclusive content they receive at shows to other. It thus becomes a walking media distribution hub to help spread the content to others nearby.
Bharti hails audit reports from Indian govt
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The findings of the government-appointed special auditor have been welcomed by Bharti Airtel. According to the operator, the audit showed that the license fees and spectrum charges paid by the company conform to the license conditions and rulings of the regulator.
However, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has got an option to claim Rs 98 crore from the company as additional license fee and spectrum charges because of the reports. The amount is the likely license fee impact on distributor margin.
However, it has not been specified in the 306-page audit report, which was submitted last week to the government whether Bharti is liable to pay this amount and has left it to DoT to take a final view on the issue.
However, it has been categorized that Bharti will not need to make any additional payment. According to company spokesman, based on specific request from DoT, the auditors have done their own estimates of the likely license fee impact on distributor margin and there is no liability whatsoever on this account as the company has paid license fees on actual realized revenues.
MTNL setting up networks for the October Commonwealth Games (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Three communication networks is under the process of construction by Indian state owned telco, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, at a cost of INR2.85 billion for the October Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
INR1.82 billion will be provided by the Ministry of Sports to the telco for setting up the networks. According to junior minister for telecommunications, Gurudas Kamat, MTNL is further negotiating to receive INR300 million from the Ministry of Home Affairs and INR730 million from the organizing committee.
Besides, MTNL is setting up networks for games data, security data and video broadcast.
Android gains while iPhone sale diminishes in the USA
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Earning over four percentage points of market share, Google’s Android OS has emerged as the only mobile platform experiencing significant growth in the US during the three months ending in January.
Even after an increase in the market share to 7.1% from 2.8%, Android continued to occupy the fourth place. Microsoft’s share of the smartphone market shrank four percentage points to 15.7%. The loss has been attributed to the gain in the Google’s share.
Sale of the iPhones has been stalled with just 0.3 percentage point’s increase in the Apple’s share to 24.8%. However, even after the loss, Apple maintained the second spot behind RIM, whose market share grew from 41.3% to 43%.
Fall in the share of Palm continued with a loss of 2.1 percentage points but it also continued to hold its fifth place with a 5.7% share.
