www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobile data and broadband Internet segments has been predicted to be the largest contributor to the South Africa’s growth over the next five years, the place being the most developed telecom markets in the Africa & Middle East region.

The telecom market is expected to grow at a CAGR of only 1.6 percent over the next five years, to $15.1 billion in 2014. According to a research, 72 percent of total market revenue in 2009 was generated by mobile segment accelerated by mobile voice and data.

According to a senior analyst, mobile voice will continue to generate most of the segment’s revenue, specifically mobile data; driven by mobile email and mobile broadband Internet services, its anticipated that  mobile data revenue will grow from $1.4 billion in 2009 to $2.2 billion in 2014, a CAGR of 9.4 percent.

Operators will be provided with the required extra capacity by a number of undersea and land-based cable projects offering IP services at more affordable prices, thus capturing a wider population.

Filed under:Mobile  Tagged with:
 

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telecom New Zealand has admitted that it breached the Fair Trading Act as it mislead more than 130,000 broadband customers. The admission was made in a settlement with the Commerce Commission.

A broadband internet service was launched by Telecom NZ in 1999, offering its existing dial-up customers the opportunity to migrate to broadband, although these customers would continue to have a dial-up connection, but would not be charged. But customers who took up the offer between 1999 and 2006 continued to be billed monthly account charges for dial-up due to some administrative errors.

After admitting the breach of Fair Trading Act, from March 2007 Telecom began refunding the affected customers and writing to all those customers to advise them of the error. The company extended full co-operation in the investigation carried out by Commission. It also undertook a costly internal exercise to refund all affected customers.

It is not for the first time that the company has been acted in breach of the Fair Trading Act. Since 2003 Telecom has been the subject of Fair Trading Act convictions, settlements or warnings on at least eight occasions. The Commission encouraged Telecom to make compliance with the Act a top priority.

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a move to tighten its grip in the highly competitive digital market, Sasatel came up with the cheapest internet connection charges for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These SMEs occupies biggest
chunk of the corporate sector.

The mobile operator said that the move aims at enabling companies prove the high speed and reliability of its broadband Internet services. The SMEs will be given free internet connection for a week and the one who will join after the testing period would be offered several digital devices free of charge.

According to Marketing manager Derick Byarugaba, after one week the company will issue excellent internet connection devices for free to all those who sign up for any of Sasatel’s post-paid internet bundles, depending on their average monthly data usage. The kit will include EVDO WiFi Router, the USB Modem and the Fixed Wireless Phone.

In these new internet bundles, without paying any extra money the customers could carry forward the balance of unutilized volume on their internet bundles at the end of any month to the following month. Besides, the purchased data volume can be used for over six month.

Filed under:Mobile  Tagged with:
 

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c42991) has announced the addition of 2006 Asia Telco Company Profiles to their offering.

This report presents 12 profiles of selected major telecommunications companies in Asia. Each profile provides a descriptive overview of the business of the particular company as well as the latest available financial and operational statistics.

Topics Covered

1. BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LTD 2. CHINA MOBILE LIMITED 3. CHINA NETCOM GROUP 4. CHINA TELECOM CORPORATION 5. HUTCHISON WHAMPOA LTD 6. NTT DOCOMO 7. PACIFIC INTERNET LTD 8. PCCW LTD 9. SINGTEL 10. STARHUB PTE LTD 11. TELEKOM MALAYSIA 12. VIETNAM POSTS & TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION 13. GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS List of Tables & Exhibits

Summary

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) – India’s state-owned BSNL owns around 85% of the country’s copper wire local loop networks. The company is the largest telecom operator and the largest public sector enterprise in India, providing basic fixed-line services nationwide, except for the cities of Mumbai and Delhi. BSNL lost its exclusive rights to local access and national telephony in 2001. To compensate for reduced revenues, it built a national GSM network and entered the mobile sector, becoming one of the country’s biggest GSM operators. The company also entered the international telephony market in February 2003.

China Mobile Limited – China Mobile has the world’s largest mobile subscriber base (over 260 million) and the largest geographically contiguous mobile network. The company also has a strategic alliance with Vodafone. Listed on the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges since 1997, China Mobile has been facing competition from cheaper city-based PHS mobile services offered by the country’s two big fixed-line operators. In preparation for 3G services in China, the company submitted its application for a WCDMA licence in July 2005.
China Netcom Group – China Netcom Group is the second largest fixed-line operator in China. The group owns 30% of the country’s fixed-line infrastructure and serves 35% of its fixed-line customers. As part of its infrastructure it has a 360Gb/s IP backbone network and the Asia Netcom submarine cable network. Its services include PSTN and VoIP telephony, the ‘Little Smart’ PHS service, broadband Internet access, leased lines and VPNs. With an IPO in November 2004, it was the last of the major telcos in China to go public.
China Telecom Corporation Ltd – China Telecom Corporation Ltd is the principal provider of local, domestic and international voice and data services, dial-up and broadband Internet access in 20 of the 31 regions in China. The company commenced operations in September 2002, then went public on the HKSE and NYSE in November of that year, after the government split the original state-owned China Telecom into the China Netcom and the current China Telecom. Revenue growth engines have included the company’s PHS mobile service and its broadband Internet service. In mid-2005, China Telecom signed a landmark cooperative agreement with ZTE to provide the world’s largest fixed-line Next-Generation Network (NGN) in China covering 30 provinces.

Hutchison Whampoa Ltd – Hutchison Whampoa, a huge Hong Kong based conglomerate, has become heavily involved in telecommunications and is now a serious global player. As well as its Hong Kong business, it has a presence in a growing number of countries throughout Asia, Europe, Australasia, the Middle East, Africa and South America. Specialising in mobile communications, the company has invested billions in Third Generation (3G) licences and infrastructure and has been at the forefront of the global 3G roll-out.

NTT DoCoMo – Listed on the Tokyo, London and New York Stock Exchanges, NTT DoCoMo is controlled by NTT Corporation and is the mobile arm of the NTT group. DoCoMo is one of the largest mobile carriers in the world. In 2001, it became the first operator in the world to launch a 3G service. The company provides 2G and PHS mobile telephony, FOMA 3G mobile communications based on the WCDMA standard, i-mode mobile Internet access and email messaging platform and satellite mobile communications. DoCoMo’s 3G service surged in sales in 2004/05 after three years of weak sales. DoCoMo was determined to launch its 4G services during 2006, several years ahead of its competitors.

Pacific Internet Ltd – NASDAQ-listed Pacific Internet Ltd is one of the largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the Asia Pacific, providing Internet access and services in Singapore, Australia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, India and Malaysia. Pacific Internet provides end-to-end Internet services for corporate and residential customers, including dial-up access, DSL and wireless broadband access, leased line services, web hosting and e-commerce services. Listed on the NASDAQ, Pacific Internet Ltd no longer has the government-owned SembCorp Ventures as a major shareholder. SembCorp sold its remaining shares to an investment company, Kingsville Capital, in 2005. Some months later, Kingsville sold its shareholding to venture capitalist Vantage Corporation.

PCCW Ltd – PCCW has been Hong Kong’s dominant fixed-line telecommunications provider since it acquired the incumbent, Cable and Wireless HKT, in 2000. Since the takeover, the company has been struggling with debt and organisational restructuring in its effort to remain viable. In January 2005, China Netcom reached an agreement with PCCW on the purchase of a 20% stake in PCCW for US$1 billion.

Singapore Telecom (SingTel) – Listed on the Singapore and Australian Stock Exchanges, SingTel is majority owned by the Singapore government. SingTel is the leading provider of fixed-line, mobile and Internet services in Singapore. With a small, saturated and competitive home market, SingTel has significant offshore interests, which now contribute a majority of its revenue. Its main subsidiary is Optus in Australia. Others include Telkomsel in Indonesia, Globe Telecom in the Philippines, Bharti Telecom in India and AIS in Thailand. The company has significant investments in international submarine cable networks, satellite systems and data centres.

StarHub Pte Ltd – StarHub provides voice and data services over fixed, mobile and Internet platforms. After a period of strong growth, the company has passed MobileOne to take second position behind SingTel in the mobile market and is now closing in on the incumbent. StarHub has deployed an IP-based network to serve corporate customers and has been building a nationwide network to serve the residential market. In April 2001, the operator was awarded a 3G mobile licence and launched a 3G service in 2005. Singapore Cable Vision merged with StarHub in July 2002, renaming itself StarHub Cable Vision, providing cable TV and broadband services. The operator’s broadband base represented over 50% of the residential broadband market in Singapore by end-2005.

Source- http://www.redorbit.com