Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC) has obtained the second 3G license in Albania, after Vodafone. According to reports, Dimitris Blatsios, chief executive officer at AMC, claims that the company is set to break the monopoly on 3G in Albania. The company aims to provide the Albanian market with reliable and cost effective data products, based on the latest and most advanced 3G technology.

With both Vodafone and AMC having obtained 3G licenses, Eagle Mobile is the only operator in Albania still to win a 3G spectrum license.

 

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ZTE Corporation, a publicly-listed global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, today announced it has won the IMS network development contract for five key developed provinces in China, including Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Sichuan.

With its advanced IMS+xPON fixed network transformation solution and innovative ETCA (Enhanced Telecom Computing Architecture) platform, ZTE is now the major player in China Telecom’s IMS commercial network construction in China.

Based on its vision of Driving business growth from its network development programs, China Telecom has been actively building its IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) network since 2009. Key project milestones included network testing were completed in July 2010, and the IMS commercial bidding was kicked off in January 2011.

ZTE is the only vendor to support all different access technology (include H.323, No-IMS SIP, MGCP, H.248, V5, PRI etc) with unified ETCA platform in China Telecom. By working closely with China Telecom, ZTE also builds together the IMS+xPON fixed network transformation model, which is fully compatible with the existing network services The two parties also worked together to ensure smooth network evolution, commercially developed by Fujian Telecom first.

By having a deep knowledge of China Telecom’s existing network, ZTE provided a full range of IMS network elements based on its ETCA platform, delivering operational benefits of higher integration, stronger performance, seamless scalability and increased energy efficiency.

As the world’s leading IMS vendor and a long-term strategic partner of China Telecom, ZTE is committed to building a top performance IMS network that delivers an enhanced end-user experience with greater network convergence and efficiency, said Ye Zheng, Vice President of Core Network Product, ZTE. With our IMS network benefit and efficient project deployment capabilities, ZTE is confident in delivering a top quality solution for China Telecom to enhance its network services.

As one of the few vendors that provide end-to-end IMS solutions and efficient project deployment, ZTE’s zMILE (ZTE’s Multimedia Integrated Life Experience) solution can seamlessly interface with any operator’s overall service development and evolution. It can provide seamless access over multiple networks, and solutions that help operators deliver multimedia services for enterprise, home and individual users.

As of Q4 2010, ZTE leads all telecommunication brands in China on IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) deployments having signed 110 commercial deployment or solution testing contracts in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Albania, Philippines, Singapore, India, Saudi Arabia, U.S. and China.

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Plus, which operates in Albania, has introduced two promotional prepaid add-ons, dubbed ‘Plus Weekly’ and ‘Plus Monthly.’

With th­e former, customers get 1,300 on-net minutes, 10 national minutes and 190 MB at US$4.03 (VAT included). The alternative comprises 4,500 on-net minutes, 10 minutes with th­e oth­er national operators, as well as 490 MB and costs US$10.07.

Buying one of th­ese add-ons is possible by accessing th­e Klik Plus menu #100# or calling Customer Service at 140.

In related news, new Plus customers who activate a new number and benefit from th­e unique feature of choosing th­e favourite number are offered a bundle comprising 1,300 on-net minutes, 10 minutes with th­e oth­er national operators, 40 on-net SMS and 150 MB.

 

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PosteMobile, which is an  Italian MVNO, ha introduced the PM1109 Mondo, a new mobile phone designed to meet the needs of foreign nationals.

The device provides a multi-language menu and T9 writing system in the following languages: English, Italian, French, Spanish, Albanian, Romanian, Russian and Polish.

The device is a dual-band GSM phone with 2.8-inch full touch LCD, 1.3 MP camera and 2GB microSD included in the package. It also features include FM radio, Bluetooth and a stereo headset.

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Today Argela announced that the company completed the development of Eagle Mobile´s number portability solution and integrated the operator´s infrastructure into the Number Portability system, which allows mobile users to change their service providers while retaining their numbers. Eagle Mobile became the first operator to complete the MNP integration in Albania.

Together with Argela, Eagle Mobile has completed the account activation process infrastructure within the number portability system and has integrated its systems with the AKEP Central Reference Database. Thanks to this integration, subscribers now are able to port their numbers to the desired operator without any problems.

Providing information on the project Dr. Orhan Coskun, Eagle Mobile and Albtelecom´s CEO, stated: “For this very critical project, we have been working closely with our partner Argela, whose knowledge, experience, and expertise in the telecommunications industry we trust. Argela managed to understand what we exactly needed in this project: A solution that is smooth, flexible, trusted, adaptable to changes and variable conditions, hassle free for our subscribers. Thanks to our partner´s devoted work, we now have a solution providing us all these and that let the Albanian mobile users choose the desired operator with their own number. We are now working on the next phases of the project which aim to provide even better service to our subscribers. We would like to thank our partner Argela for their intensive work and hope to work again in other projects.”

Mr. Bulent Kaytaz, Argela´s CEO said: “We are pleased to see that the system is working without any problems and complaints thanks to the harmonious work of Eagle Mobile and Argela project teams. We hope that Eagle Mobile will benefit from this landmark in the telecommunications industry and become the preferred operator. ”
About Argela

Argela collaborates with telecom operators around the world to help them increase their revenue and customer satisfaction, contain their costs, and decrease churn through distinguished and innovative turn-key solutions including, but not limited to, the award-winning Argela iTV, femtocell & home gateway, the award-winning advertising platform-Argela ADz-on, mobile number portability, network performance monitoring and IN & Applications.

Argela combines its extensive telecom expertise with its high energy and ultimate passion to add value to its customers´ businesses.

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AMC, which operates in Albania, has launched a new prepaid add-on for all its AMCKarta and AlbaKarta prepaid customers. With the new 10 days add-on, users will get 500 on-net minutes at a price of US$ 4.99 (VAT included).

The add-on is valid during the period and users can check the remaining minutes by sending at  an SMS BA500 to 55404 at no extra cost or via the ‘AMC Easy’ menu.

 

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AMC Q1 revenues down by 18.5% (Albania)

AMC has reported that its revenues fall 18.5 percent to US$33.83 million in the first quarter.

EBITDA fell 29.1 percent to US$13.06 million, while EBITDA margin declined by 5.8 percent to 38.6 percent in the same quarter.

AMC’s revenues and EBITDA margin in the quarter were negatively impacted by regulation affecting both wholesale and retail tariffs.

Other unfavourable factors included the lower interconnection traffic and roaming revenues, as well as price erosion due to intense competition and the difficult economic circumstances. In Q1, AMC’s total customer base reached approximately 2 million, an increase of nearly 1 percent compared to Q1 2010.

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Brightpoint Slovakia has inked a  distribution agreement with Research In Motion to expand the availability of BlackBerry products in Central Eastern Europe (CEE).

Using its global operations in CEE, Brightpoint will begin distributing BlackBerry smartphones, software and accessories to customers located in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Macedonia and Poland.

BlackBerry smartphones will be available from various network operators and retail outlets throughout the CEE region.

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Vodafone Greece has launched a promotion whereby residential or business Kartoprogrammatos customers who activate an add-on for making calls to Vodafone Albania and Vodafone Italy by 30 June get double the bundle’s standard credit.

More specifically, end-users who activate the aforementioned add-on get 80 minutes for calls to Vodafone Albania and Vodafone Italy instead of the standard 40 minutes with the same charge of US$7 (VAT included).

The add-on comes with an availability period of 30 days. Under the terms of the offer, unused credit is not carried over to the next month and five activations are possible in 30 days.

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Albania rolls out MNP

Albania has finalised the project for implementing number portability for mobile telephones.

On this occasion, a ceremony was held at the Tirana headquarters of the company which was responsible for the implementation of the mobile number portability project, namely Infosoft Systems.

Attending the event was minister for Innovation and ICT Genc Pollo, general director of the General Directorate of Posts and Telecommunications Pirro Xhixho and general administrator of Infosoft Systems Grigor Joti.

Thanks to the implementation of mobile phone number portability, Albanians are now able to change their network operator without needing to replace their SIM card and phone number.

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