Mobile operators Hutchison 3G Austria and T-Mobile Austria have entered into a network sharing partnership enabling both operators to roam on each other’s network. According to company reports, the pact, starting in mid 2012, will enable T-Mobile to offer its customers in rural areas 3G services on 3′s network while at the same time providing 3 with access to T-Mobile’s 2G network.

Jan Trionow, CEO, 3, said that for their customers, nothing will change and they continue to enjoy all the benefits of super fast 3MegaNetzes, the best mobile network in Austria, and will in future benefit also from the already well-developed 2G network of their partner T-Mobile. Jan added that they will also parallel the expansion of their LTE network continued with determination.

Robert Chv¡tal, CEO, T-Mobile Austria, said that the mutual use of existing mobile networks for both partners is a win-win situation. He added that winners are ultimately all Austrian mobile customers, who benefit from quality improvements and synergies immediately.

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Mobile network operator Everything Everywhere has reportedly revealed its plans to upgrade its network over the next three years for which it will be spend approximately US$ 2.35 billion. According to reports, Olaf Swantee, CEO, Everything Everywhere has said that with mobile data increasing 250 percent over the past two years, they are making these investments in an attempt to deliver on their ambition to provide the U.K.’s most reliable, biggest and best mobile data network.

Further, as per sources, the company has also said that said it is in the final stages of enabling Orange and T-Mobile customers to use 2G and 3G signals from either of the two networks, which should improve speeds in more locations. The operator added that the customers are already benefiting from a 20 percent reduction in dropped calls in localized areas.

 

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Mobistar, Belgium’s second largest mobile network provider has reportedly said that it plans to replace its entire 2G Nortel equipment with the new Long Term Evolution ready (LTE ready) equipment from Huawei.

The company plans to upgrade its entire network by 2013 citing that the new Huawei base stations would cut the company’s carbon-dioxide by around 50 per cent. As per the contract, nearly 500 cellular antennas will be replaced this year, with the remaining network upgrade spread across the next year, following project completion by 2013.

The new 3G equipment obtained through the $49 million project is expected to increase the firm’s transmission capacity and in-building penetration capabilities.

 

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Asiacell, the first telecom company to provide coverage for all 18 provinces in Iraq, is reportedly planning to roll out mobile voice, broadband and SMS services in remote areas across Iraq, with the help of the Altobridge lite-site solution. Initially, the solution will be deployed in communities in Sulaimaniya in Northern Iraq.

As per reports, Dr. Diar Ahmed Asiacell CEO, claims that the Altobridge lite-site is a cost-effective and energy-efficient solution that helps optimize capital budgets while minimizing backhaul. Further, Mike Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer at Altobridge, says that their solution is optimized for solar power, thereby removing the high cost barriers of diesel generators.

If sources are to be believed, the Altobridge lite-site, which combines the 2G/3G and VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) technologies, uses 50% less backhaul than competing optimized solutions and offers quick and easy deployment with the compact, all-in-one design of the altoPod.

 

Beeline Kyrgyzstan is offering free 3G modem for subscribers buying a notebook or netbook in outlets of the Intermedia retail chain till August 31.

The modems from Beeline also work on its 2G network.

 

 

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Egyptian 3G market, which is mainly operated by three operators, possesses huge potential for future growth. Currently, the penetration level is very less with number of 3G subscribers estimated at less than 1 Million at the end of 2009. According to our research report Booming Egypt Telecom Market”, countries 3G market is expanding at a significant rate since 2007 and is projected to grow five fold by the end of 2012. Moreover, operators are making huge investment to upgrade existing technology with an aim to increase their ARPUs.

Our report finds that the main reasons for huge investments in the 3G infrastructure by the three mobile operators in the country, is the saturation in existing 2G networks and declining ARPU in the 2G segment. Operators are trying to convince their customers to move into the new 3G services as a way of freeing up 2G capacity and halting the steady erosion of the ARPUs. Besides, aggressive marketing strategy is being adopted by all the three operators to lure subscribers in Egypt.

According to our research report, various equipment manufacturers are playing an important role in developing Egypt’s 3G network. Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei have been developing Mobinil’s 3G networks while Alcatel-Lucent and Motorola are cooperating with Mobinil to establish its 2G network. Furthermore, Cisco Systems and Ericsson have had their part in the development and enhancement of the company’s network infrastructure.

Apart from 3G, we have found that Egypt’s mobile market has been growing at a fast pace and is projected to experience smart growth in the coming years. Growth in mobile telephony has been due to an increase in the low-income customer segment over the years. Additionally, stiff price competition between the mobile operators in the country and availability of pre-paid and installment payment options will fuel the segment.

Booming Egypt Telecom Market” provides analysis of Egypt’s telecommunication industry with detail analysis of future potential in different industry segments. The report includes mobile market, fixed line, internet, broadband, 3G, and WiMax market analysis and examines telecom infrastructure in Egypt. The report aims to provide the most accurate outlook of the telecom industry in Egypt.

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The Telecom Ministry has stated that it will decide in a month’s time on cancellation of licenses given by former Telecom Minister A Raja in 2008 to allegedly ineligible firms.

According to Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar, they have received replies from all 85 license holders who were issued showcause notices. They are legally examining them and should be able to take a decision on it in a month’s time. He categorically denied that any license has been cancelled so far.

He added that the Telecom Ministry has issued notices to firms on two issues — ineligibility to get licenses and missing roll-out obligations within the stipulated timeframe; the process to send notices would be completed within a week.

As per the DoT officials, DoT has to give 60 days to the operators to file their response to the showcause notice for cancellation of licenses. In certain cases, 60 days are over while in some, there is till some time.

The matter is being examined by various investigating agencies and also a parliamentary panel.Notices have been issued to Swan Telecom (now Etisalat DB), Datacom (now Videocon Telecom), S Tel, Uninor and others, either due to ineligibility or for missing roll out obligations.

In its reply to the Public Accounts Committee, headed by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, the DoT again rejected the allegation of any notional loss due to the issuance of 122 new licences in 2008 . He stated that the premium placed on the scarce resource from the perspective of a producer need not necessarily translate into a loss when seen from the view point of the consumer and public welfare.

According to DoT, the concept of notional loss when spectrum is given at a price discovered few years earlier has to be balanced with the gains accruing to the consumers and the general improvement in public welfare in the form of faster economic growth.

The PAC had sent 40 questions to the DoT related to the 2G spectrum scam.

Suggesting that the notional loss reported by the audit report should be seen in light of the benefit that it has given to consumers and general public welfare in the form of quick economic growth, the DoT stated that the objectives of the Telecom Policy since 1999 was to increase teledensity and affordability for consumers, while maintaining a level playing field between incumbents and new players as well as revenue accrual for the government.

Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) is seeking permission to share mobile networks with three major operators.

According to reports, EVN has asked the ICT Ministry for approval to share networks with Viettel, VinaPhone, and MobiFone. EVN has proposed to share 2G and 3G networks with the three operators to offer roaming services to areas where EVN does not yet have coverage.

According to EVN, by sharing telecommunications facilities by roaming the 2G and 3G networks, mobile network providers would save at least US$1 billion. This is the second time that EVN has floated this proposal. In January last year, the company had asked the ICT ministry to talk with the three major operators about it.

 

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Beeline Uzbekistan has expanded it 2G and 3G network coverage in Karakalpakistan Republic.

The capacity of the network has been raised in Nukus city, Takhtiash town as well as in the Chimbay and Khodjeyli municipalities.

Beeline Uzbekistan is also planning to launch its 3G network in the Kashkandarya and Surkhandarya municipalities soon.

 

Azimuth Systems, Inc., a leading provider of wireless channel emulators and targeted test solutions, today announced that Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), the world’s number one mobile infrastructure provider, has selected the Azimuth Field-to-Labâ„¢ solution to perform benchmark testing for upcoming User Equipment (UE) and LTE eNodeB releases using drive test data collected from real-world locations of interest. The Azimuth Field-to-Lab solution provides the ability to accurately reproduce the same channel conditions observed during drive testing, in the lab, with the addition of fading and noise, offering a highly repeatable and reliable test methodology that will enable NSN to ensure that LTE equipment will perform with the high quality expected when deployed.

Every day, a quarter of the world’s population connects using Nokia Siemens Networks infrastructure and solutions. As the world’s number one provider of mobile infrastructure, with the most LTE commercial deals of any vendor, NSN is focused on delivering the best quality experience to its customers and consumers worldwide.

“We constantly innovate to provide the smartest solutions to our customers and expect our suppliers to meet the same standards of excellence. We performed a detailed evaluation of potential testing solutions and the Azimuth Field-to-Lab solution was the only one available that met all of our testing goals in terms of capabilities,” said Frank Weyerich, head of LTE E2E development at Nokia Siemens Networks. “NSN has come to rely on Azimuth’s easy-to-setup and use, bi-directional ACE MX wireless channel emulator for MIMO testing and the addition of the Field-to-Lab capabilities provide NSN with a market-leading, highly reliable solution for accurate verification of equipment performance.”

By allowing real-world RF conditions collected by drive test tools/scanners to be replayed in the laboratory through the Azimuth ACEâ„¢ MX MIMO channel emulator, the Azimuth Field-to-Lab solution bridges the gap between laboratory and field-measured test results. By utilizing actual channel conditions, test engineers can validate or benchmark mobile equipment performance and/or recreate network trouble spots/conditions for analysis and resolution. It is also the firstin the industry that allows users to automate the entire testbed, with an automation architecture that facilitates sharing of automation modules not only within individual companies, but also across ecosystems to drive consistency in the way things are tested while providing more reliable and repeatable results. These capabilities enable the entire mobile ecosystem, including operators, handset manufacturers and infrastructure vendors to troubleshoot, improve and optimize performance prior to and post deployment. In addition, the Field-to-Lab solution features a host of other features for unprecedented ease-of-use.

“The Azimuth Field-to-Lab solution will enable NSN products to be tested using industry standard models and real-world conditions from actual field data collected from locations of interest,” said Pete Paglia, senior vice president of field operations at Azimuth Systems. “This provides a comprehensive, repeatable and reliable test environment that is closer to the ‘real world’ than ever before, further enhancing NSN’s ability to deliver the high quality products that the company has built a reputation on providing, while saving NSN a substantial amount of time and money.”

Azimuth Systems will be showcasing the Field-to-Lab solution in booth #263 at this week’s CTIA Wireless conference, taking place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL from March 22-24. Contact Azimuth to schedule an in-person meeting or product demonstration.

About Azimuth Systems

Azimuth Systems is a leading provider of wireless channel emulators and targeted test solutions for LTE/LTE-Advanced, WiMAX, 2G/3G cellular and Wi-Fi technologies. Azimuth’s products are used by the world’s foremost wireless semiconductor designers, infrastructure and mobile equipment vendors, and service providers to improve wireless product quality and speed time-to-market. Azimuth’s wireless test and channel emulation products and solutions enable research, development, quality assurance and systems engineers to test the performance, conformance, certification and interoperability of broadband wireless devices and networks while greatly reducing the cost and time of manual testing.

The company is based near Boston, Massachusetts, USA and may be contacted at +1 (978) 263-6610 or at www.azimuthsystems.com. Follow Azimuth Systems on Twitter at:http://twitter.com/azimuthsystems.

 

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