Motorola considers demerger plan (USA)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: New ways have been paved by Motorola for the sale of its mobile network infrastructure business but they have also shown interest in forming a joint venture with a rival. A group demerger is also in the plans of the US mobile phone maker resulting in separate stock market listings for its handset and infrastructure businesses early next year.
The company will be lead by Greg Brown, Motorola co-chief executive consisting of the group’s units that make network infrastructure and mobile radio equipment for the emergency services. Two units will be run separately so that he has the ability to sell the network business, or put it into a joint venture with a rival.
China’s Huawei Technologies is reflected as the best suitor for the deal but any transaction risks might encounter opposition from Washington lawmakers.
According to Mr Brown, the network business will be viable for a very long time and if there is an alternative configuration or partnership which provides more economic value to them, the company will consider it.
Telenor sees potential in Pakistan
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: It has been announced by telecom operator Telenor that the operators are not generating enough profit per phone user to have five mobile groups in Pakistan. The operators would have to consider mergers or acquisitions to see significant growth.
Telenor made its entry into Pakistan exactly five years ago and currently it is the second largest cellular phone operator after Mobilink, a subsidiary of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom.Pakistan’s. The other mobile operators include Ufone, Warid Telecom and Zong.
Telenor is considering a broader expansion in Pakistan along with India, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh. 26 per cent of revenues in 2008 by the company were generated in Asia. The rest of the income came from eastern and central Europe and the Nordic region.
Telenor’s has been concentrating its attention on its 67.3 per cent investment in Unitech Wireless of India but big potential is also seen in Pakistan, which has seen a phenomenal increase in the number of mobile phone users over the past decade.
Apple to charge $99+ $6.95 for battery replacement
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: At the cost of $99 plus $6.95, the iPad users whose device has a “diminished ability to hold an electrical charge” can have an entire new unit. $6.95 is the shipping charges.
Both iPhone and iPad manufactured by Apple have sealed-in batteries which cannot be replaced by the owners themselves.
The information has been posted by the company on its website. Apple will introduce its first iPad for sale in the market on April 3. $499 is the cost of the least expensive model.
Zimbabwean telco NetOne aims 1.5m subscribers by mid 2010
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Expansion of network capacity has been carried out by Zimbabwean state-owned mobile operator NetOne to five million subscribers. The company also hopes to more than triple its active customer base to over 1.5 million by end-May 2010.
A subscriber capacity of around 1.2 million and half a million subscribers was there with NetOne before the expansion work commenced. According to managing director Reward Kangai, most of the base stations being installed in this expansion drive are solar energy-powered and this reduces service disruptions arising from erratic power supplies besides switching capacity has also been greatly increased to accommodate five million subscribers.
The aim of the up gradation of pre-paid platform was also to accommodate three million subscribers from a previous limit of one million.
South African giant MTN Group and NetOne, the country’s smallest cellco by users are in negotiation with each other over a possible strategic partnership. The result can be the acquiring of minority stake in the Zimbabwean operator by MTN besides the injection of up to USD600 million in fresh capitals.
Europe gears up for SMS- based mobile payments
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Europeans now seem to be willing to pay for goods from their phones and with the successful trial in Sweden; the continent seems to be ripe enough for SMS-based mobile payments to take off. 20% increase in sales of the seven vending machines in two Stockholm underground stations was reported where the service was trialed by the payment and messaging equipment provider, Ericsson IPX, besides boosting carrier’s ARPU through increased SMS traffic.
The commercial services in Sweden is now planned to be launched and is set to begin fresh trials in Oslo, Norway, by end March. According to Donya Ekstrand, head of marketing and communications at Ericsson IPX, the Swedish trial was successful because consumers are familiar with how SMS works, and using that technology provides a clear revenue stream for carriers.
Partner firm Mobivending, on the other hand, has shown its unwillingness to discuss how many people had used the service in Stockholm. It has also been explained by CEO Katarina Lowenberg that it was up to the carriers to discuss usage, but said that individuals spent around 50% more when paying for goods via SMS because it was more convenient than fishing around their pockets for change.
