Telefonica to invest US$14.6 billion in Brazil
Spanish telecom giant Telefonica will invest US$14.6 billion in Brazil over three years (2011-2014).
This represents an increase of 52% over the last four years.
The company increased its investment to tap the growing demand for telecommunication services in Latin America. We believe Telefonica continues to invest in growth and transformation projects, fostering the development of broadband services (both fixed and wireless).
Latin America is one of the best performing regions and remains the principal growth region for Telefonica with a penetration rate of 99% at the end of fiscal 2010. The company reported solid growth in Latin America in the recently concluded quarter.
Brazil was the largest contributor to Latin America’s revenue that improved roughly 55% in the fourth quarter of 2010. Further, Telefonica bolstered its position in the country after acquiring the full stake in Vivo Participa§µes in October 2010. Vivo generated a massive 150% growth in revenue in the recently concluded quarter.
The consolidation of Vivo makes Telefonica the leader in Brazilian telecom market. It enables the company to offer full competitive bundled service and enhances its competitive position against America Movil. Telefonica merged Vivo with its Brazilian fixed-line voice and broadband unit Telesp, which is struggling to perform.
Telefonica is the leading telecommunications company in Spain by customer accesses, which has now become saturated with the penetration rate of more than 100%. We believe Telefonica’s dominant position in the Spanish telecom market and the strengthening position in the Brazilian market make it attractive for investment. The stock retains a Strong Buy rating with the Zacks #1 Rank for the short term (13 months).
However, for the long term, we are maintaining our Neutral rating as Telefonica remains challenged by a weak Spanish economy and ongoing reduction in mobile termination rates. We are also concerned about the company’s highly leveraged balance sheet, increasing competition (especially in Brazil and U.K.) and regulatory involvement, all of which may limit upside potential of the stock.
China Telecom Q4 profits increase by 5%
China Telecom Corp Ltd has reported an increase of about 5% in fourth-quarter net profit, helped by growing revenue from mobile and broadband services.
According to reports, China Telecom posted a net profit of US$482.97 million for the fourth quarter of 2010 and reported a net profit of US$2.4 billion for the full year.
China Telecom, a newcomer to China’s mobile market, operates the country’s largest fixed-line network and is aggressively promoting broadband over that channel.
Its shares went up by about 25% in 2010, beating a 5% advance by the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
3G Based Wi-Fi Router for Rural Areas Goes on Sale (UK)
Deltenna’s WiBE, a device to deliver fast broadband to rural areas that are too far from the landline exchange for broadband services, will now be available to consumers and businesses in the UK and Ireland through its reseller network.
The device connects to the 3G mobile networks and creates a web hotspot – even when a mobile phone, dongle or a consumer Mi-Fi device couldn’t find 3G signal. The WiBE’s maximum throughput is 7.2Mbps and extensive tests in the UK demonstrate a typical download speed of 2.8Mbps in rural regions. These are achieved through Deltenna’s patented directional antennas and alignment algorithms.
The device automatically tests each mobile cell in range to determine the fastest available download speed and configures its aerials to achieve the best possible connection and block any interference.
Latest independent tests for a UK broadcaster showed that in areas of weak signal the device delivers a data throughput 30-times greater than a 3G USB modem dongle, and the connection range is typically between three and five-times that of the 3G dongle.
O2 set to enter UK fixed-line voice market
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: UK can now avail the facility of landline broadband services by O2 from March, as the company is entering the fixed-line voice market for the first time against its former parent BT. The move signifies the aim of the company to move beyond mobile in a bid to win market share with bundled services with an anticipation that other mobile competitors will follow.
According to O2 UK marketing director Sally Cowdry, this is the most important launch for the company in the home space since it entered the broadband market and is part of its strategy to evolve beyond mobile to a leading connectivity brand.
However, the entry of O2 in the fixed broadband market is relatively late which will make it difficult to sustain rapid growth, since almost two-thirds of UK households have already subscribe to a fixed broadband service.
Telekom Srpske to receive converged backbone solution from Alca-Lu
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: French-US vendor Alcatel-Lucent and Bosnia’s Telekom Srpske signed a deal to consolidate the telco’s IP and optical networks into a leveraged IP network infrastructure. According to Predrag Culibrk, Telekom Srpske’s general manager, the deal will enable the company to provide its business and residential customers a wide range of beneficial, easy-to-use broadband services.
Converged Backbone Transformation solution which more tightly integrates IP and optical transport resources will be provided by Alca-Lu enabling service providers to optimise and leverage their transport networks to deal with the growing demand for bandwidth.
The solution will not only allow for a reduction of the number of required network elements, but will also improve efficiencies in power and rack space, simplify network provisioning and fault management, minimise latency, and enhance reliability.
Mobile technologies can boost SMEs
Small businesses in this country are struggling to get to grips with advanced new mobile technologies, despite the advantages they offer, according to the latest findings of the Mobility 2006 research project.
This was among the key conclusions of a study conducted by World Wide Worx as part of its Mobility 2006 project, backed by FNB, Virgin mobile and Verizon Business. In the first phase of the project, entitled: “The impact of mobile technology on SMEs in SA 2006″, 1 152 SMEs were interviewed on their deployment and usage of mobile technologies. The findings reveal that SMEs are at a great disadvantage to large corporates in their ability to make new mobile technologies work for them.
More than half of SMEs, or 53% of respondents, felt they were advanced in their usage of common mobile technologies, like laptops and cellular phones. However, less than a fifth – only 17% of respondents – believed they were advanced in their usage of more complex technologies, like wireless networking and mobile broadband technology.
“We have only seen the start of the adoption of cellphone banking services by SMEs. The challenge will be for banks to design and offer services to SMEs that will give them access to the same services and functionality that big corporates currently have, but at an affordable cost,” says Len Pienaar, CEO of FNB Mobile and Transact Solutions.
Underlining the findings of the SME phase of the research, it was found that only 17% of SMEs who use mobile technologies were using wireless broadband services like 3G and MyWireless, and most respondents did not intend to change their connectivity habits in the next year.
“This emphasises a phenomenon we have come across in related research, which shows that SMEs are resistant to change and require a strong educational approach in any effort to sell new technology to them,” says World Wide Worx MD, Arthur Goldstuck.
It is expected that the next phase of the study, on corporate use of mobile technologies, will show that large organisations are dramatically more advanced in their use of mobile technologies. Preliminary data suggests that they are able to leverage these technologies to give themselves a competitive advantage over those who are at only a basic level of use.
These findings will be further explored at the Mobility 2006 conference in Johannesburg on September 14, which will also see the release of research into consumer usage of mobile technologies in SA, he adds.
“Corporate SA is embracing mobile and wireless technologies at a rapidly increasing pace, but small business is being left behind as the options become too complex and the choice too bewildering,” says Goldstuck, who will present the core findings of the SME and corporate phases of Mobility 2006. “We will address the key question of how the technology can be leveraged to ensure the benefit flows through to all.”
“As we have seen with consumers, whatever mobile service is offered to SMEs, it has to be easy to register for and simple to use,” concludes Pienaar.
Source- http://www.mybroadband.co.za
