Wireless Federation

Digicel completes acquisition of Claro (Jamaica)

On 12.01.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Digicel, a leading mobile telecommunications operator in the Caribbean, has completed the acquisition of America Movil’s Jamaican unit, Claro. According to reports, the operators entered into an agreement wherein Digicel would acquire Claro and sell its assets in Honduras and El Salvador to America Movil.

As per sources, Digicel will reduce the calling charges by US$ 0.035 during peak hours and US$ 0.023 during off-peak hours, across its networks. Further,the acquisition will provide Digicel with 3G access in its domestic market. If sources are to be believed, Digicel is expected to receive a net payment of as much as US$ 350 million in cash for this deal.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: America Movil • Caribbean • Claro • Digicel • El Salvador • Honduras • Jamaica

LIME to modernize mobile network in 12 Caribbean territories

On 09.13.11, In Mobile Operators, By Editor

LIME, Caribbean’s leading communications company, plans to modernize its mobile network in 12 different territories in the Caribbean which will be facilitated by Ericsson. The Sweden based firm will deploy its latest core network and multi-standard radio base stations RBS 6000, enhancing the capabilities of LIME’s network. This state-of-the-art technology will benefit users in 12 Caribbean territories, with particular benefits for smartphone users.

The network modernization will enable all the LIME customers across the region to enjoy fast and seamless connections on their smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Further, people traveling to the islands for business or on holiday will also benefit from the latest mobile broadband services and fast internet access they would expect from any metropolitan network.

According to reports, LIME’s CEO, David Shaw, said that an important part of their mandate is to ensure that the Caribbean is served by the most modern telecoms technology available and that their consumer, enterprise and carrier customers have access to world-class services. He added that Ericsson will vastly improve their mobile network and give their customers the exceptional experience they deserve. The new Ericsson technology will also reduce their energy consumption, which will have a positive impact on the environment.

Martin Roos, Head of Ericsson in the Caribbean, has reportedly said that they are pleased to become LIME’s main supplier for mobile broadband in the Caribbean. With the latest technology from Ericsson, LIME will be able to roll out new advanced services and join the smartphone global boom. With IP-centric network architecture, LIME will have the ability to respond to the fast-changing business models seen today.

Filed under:Mobile Operators Tagged with: Caribbean • CWC • Ericsson • Lime • Sweden

Digicel sets the ball rolling for prepay platform upgrade for Diaspora Customers

On 08.02.11, In Mobile, By Editor

digicel_logo

Digitalk stated that they have inked a deal with Digicel, the Pan-Caribbean mobile network operator with regard to the latter’s Multiservice Platform dedicated to the prepaid services across the USA and the Caribbean islands.

Digicel is known to offer prepaid calling card, in addition to pre/post paid PIN-less services in the USA, Miami and Florida in particular by way of a white label hosted service, specifically targeting the Diaspora communities. The platform architecture adopted by Digicel is characterized by an in-house management of operations, looks to augment greater control over distribution, pricing and promotions, and supports its plans to introduce services in other countries.

To begin with, the Digitalk prepaid consumer platform is expected to accommodate all of Digicel’s existing services. Eventually, it will facilitate the roll-out of services to other countries with significant Diaspora communities from the Caribbean Islands; the UK and France included.

According to Justin Norris, CEO of Digitalk, they have managed a number of large-scale deployments on one side of the Atlantic while they take pride in the fact that their reputation as leaders in prepaid consumer platforms in the traditional European Markets has stood the test in the Americas and Caribbean.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Caribbean • France • operator • USA

Enduring legal fight that involves Turkcell shares ends in favor of Russia’s Altimo

On 07.24.11, In Mobile, By Editor

turkcell-office

The Russia based Alfa announced the win with regard to a long standing legal tussle involving the ownership of shares in Turkcell, the Turkish mobile network. As per the judgment passed by the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, it was valid on the part of Alfa in appropriating shares owned by Turkish conglomerate, Cukurova, in Turkcell in the wake of a number of defaults committed by Cukurova Group as stipulated in the loan agreement offered by Alfa to Cukurova Group in November 2005.

In view of a number of defaults by Cukurova Group, Alfa appropriated the shares representing the Cukurova’s stake in Turkcell which Cukurova charged to Alfa as security for its outstanding loan of $1.35 billion, in the year 2007

Currently, Altimo officially holds 26.9 percent stake in the Turkish mobile network, increased from 13.7 percent. The formal incorporation of the additional shares will only suffice once Cukurova’s 30-period for appeal at the UK’s Privy Council expires.

37 percent of Turkcell is also owned by TeliaSonera that has been struggling to gain control of the company.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Caribbean • operator • Russia • Turkey

Regulatory pressures fail to deter America Movil’s increase in profits (Mexico)

On 07.22.11, In Mobile, By Editor

America Movil posts increase in profits in the second quarter. The profits for the second quarter stand at $2.1 billion which represents a 14 percent rise, attributed to subscriber growth for one and then currency fluctuations on the other. Ironically, the company’s native Mexican market was known to have been affected by regulatory pressures.

There was an overall revenue rise by 7.8 percent to $13.7 billion. In addition, the subscriber base increased to 236 million customers. On the other hand, 9.4 percent rise in mobile revenue was propelled by a 26.7% rise in mobile data revenues, in addition to 5.2% rise in fixed-line revenues supported by PayTV and broadband revenues.

At the end of June, the company saw 5.1 million new subscribers joining in, within three months. The company also boasts of has 28.9 million landlines, 14.0 million broadband customers and 11.6 million PayTV units.

In comparison to the preceding year, wireless subscriptions in Mexico rose by 1.3 million, representing a 22.2% increase. In addition, the company gained 2.1 million new customers in Brazil, representing a rise of 59% as compared to last year while 669,000 new subscribers joined the company in Colombia that represents close to three times the number added the previous year for the same period.

The company’s subscriber base at June end stood at 66.9 million in Mexico, 55.5 million in Brazil, 30.6 million in Colombia and 18.6 million in Argentina, in addition to 18.8 million and 17.5 million in the USA and Central America, including the Caribbean respectively.

The company’s net debt shot up to $18.72 billion from $17.86 billion in December 2010, in a bid to fund capital expenditures of $3.53 billion and share buybacks and dividends of nearly $2.76 billion.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Argentina • Brazil • Caribbean • Colombia • Mexico • operator • USA

Comverse set to give Guyana Telephone & Telegraph a business overhaul

On 07.07.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Presently, Guyana Telephone & Telegraph (GT&T) is the telecommunications service provider in Guyana. It has taken to Comverse to propel the operator’s business transformation process. A range of Comverse’s products have been chosen that comprise converged BSS, Billing & Active Customer Management Solution with Mobile Internet, and HUB Voice & Messaging Value-Added Services (VAS).

GT&T’s selection of Comverse ONE suggests that the former looks to make use of a single product catalog and rating engine. This selection of product stands to benefit Guyana Telephone & Telegraph in bringing all of its subscribers (prepaid and postpaid) under one roof across mobile, wireline and internet that constitute all lines of business. It is being seen to make it viable for the operator in offering innovative bundles, cross services, real-time personalized promotions, rewards etc., in addition to considerable reduction in operating costs.

According to Lionel Chmilewsky, Senior Vice President, Head of Customer Facing Group at Comverse, they offer advanced technologies that are capable of delivering absolute business transformation. Comverse is known to be a major player in BSS, mobile internet and VAS and provide closely related solutions that are ideal for communication service providers (CSPs). They also look to provide GT&T with an edge for success in a cutthroat market, in addition to pushing it toward convergence and IPfication.

Comverse’s involvement with GT&T’s business transformation efforts puts the former in good stead. It already boasts of omnipresence both in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Caribbean • Guyana • operator

ONYX inks deal to offer Digium Communications Software and Hardware to Latin America and Caribbean

On 06.03.11, In Mobile, By Editor

ONYX Tech Distribution, a distributor of core IP Products and Computer Accessories, announced today that they are pleased to have signed an agreement to become an authorized Digium® distributor for the Latin American and Caribbean regions.

“We are excited to add the Digium product line to our IP telephony portfolio of brands”

“We are excited to add the Digium product line to our IP telephony portfolio of brands,” said Redford Roach, Director of ONYX Tech Distribution. “Digium products complement the lines that we offer to our channels in Latin America, especially those resellers servicing small to medium sized businesses and providing high-end business phone systems that companies could not generally afford with traditional PBX costs. Our customers, corporations with multiple-branches nationally or internationally, are adopting IP technology rapidly. It’s an exploding digital universe. We know IP telephony is the future of enterprise telecommunications, and Digium is IP telephony.”

Digium is the creator, sponsor and driving force behind Asterisk®, the most widely used open source telephony software. The company’s product lines include a wide range of hardware and software to enable resellers and businesses to implement custom solutions or to design their own voice over IP (VoIP) systems. Digium also provides the award-winning Switchvox family of turnkey unified communications (UC) solutions for small and medium enterprises.

Roach continued: “Being a Digium distributor and partner will boost our strategy and focus of IP technology in our markets. We are excited about the opportunity to supply Latin American companies with the finest in IP-PBX and voice technology products.”

“Organizations in nearly every country of the world have chosen to create business phone systems based on Asterisk and Digium hardware because they can be customized to meet nearly any telephony requirements, work with existing phones and are very cost-effective,” said Gayle Magee, director of worldwide distribution sales at Digium. “Partnering with ONYX Tech Distribution will allow us to better access and serve businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean with Asterisk and Digium hardware, as well as our Switchvox family of unified communications solutions for companies that want an easy, out-of-the-box solution.”

About Digium

Digium®, Inc., the Asterisk® Company, created, owns and is the innovative force behind Asterisk, the most widely used open source telephony software. Since its founding in 1999, Digium has become the open source alternative to proprietary communication providers, with offerings that cost as much as 80 percent less. Digium offers Asterisk software free to the open source community and offers Switchvox IP PBX software to power a broad family of products for small, medium and large businesses. The company’s product line includes a wide range of hardware and software to enable resellers and customers to implement turnkey VoIP systems or to design their own custom telephony solutions. More information is available at http://www.digium.com.

The Digium logo, Digium, Asterisk, Asterisk SCF, Switchvox, Asterisk Business Edition, AsteriskNOW, Asterisk Appliance and the Asterisk logo are trademarks of Digium, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

www.digium.com

About ONYX Tech Distribution

ONYX Tech Distribution services resellers, VARS and original equipment manufacturers in Latin America.

Onyx provides specialized lines in IP Products, Computer Hardware, and Accessories. Onyx’s multi-market expertise, focused account reps, service and ongoing educational programs, provides a one-stop-stop solution to its customer base. This level of all-around support enables ONYX resellers and dealers to become pioneers (and beneficiaries) of the new technological revolutions, in IP technologies, computer Onyx’s effort is focused on creating, building, maintaining, and improving efficient, profitable, and mutually beneficial relationships with their brands, revolutionary technologies, and channel partners. www.onyxtd.com

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Caribbean • Latin America • Mobile

Cable & Wireless Communications to launch iPhone4 in Caribbean

On 05.25.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) today announced it will launch iPhone 4 in its Caribbean businesses in the coming weeks.

TSTT, the Trinidad & Tobago telecoms group in which CWC owns a minority stake, will also launch iPhone 4.

iPhone 4 is the most innovative phone in the world, featuring Apple’s stunning Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone and FaceTime, which makes video calling a reality. For more information on iPhone 4 please visit www.apple.com/iphone.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Caribbean • operator

Telefonica partners with Cellcrypt to launch encrypted Voice services (Latin America)

On 05.20.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Cellcrypt, the leading provider of encrypted voice calling on mobile phones, today announced that it reached an agreement with Telefónica, one of the largest telecom operators in the world, to include Cellcrypt Mobile™ in their product and service portfolio across the 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean where Telefónica operates.

Cellcrypt Mobile is used by governments and corporations globally and is a downloadable application for off-the-shelf smartphones that provides end-to-end encryption of voice calls over cellular (2G, 3G), Wi-Fi and satellite networks. Cellcrypt Mobile is certified to U.S. government National Institute of Standards and Technology FIPS 140-2 security standard and has been awarded the CESG Claims Tested Mark (CCTM) from the U.K. government’s information assurance authority.

The announcement is part of an extensive partnership agreement that allows Telefónica to promote, sell and support Cellcrypt Mobile and associated technologies within certain countries.

As Governments and Corporations increasingly use cell phones for operational and administrative communications they have an increased need for government-grade protection from increasingly sophisticated unauthorized interception threats. This protection is required end-to-end so as to assure users that they control the security of calls along all points of the call path between caller and recipient, and have adequately mitigated risks in compliance with internal security policies.

Cellcrypt’s software provides end-to-end voice call encryption on smartphones making secure calling with high voice quality and low latency as easy as a normal cell phone call. Utilizing the IP data channel, secure calls can be made using both Telefónica’s cellular and Wi-Fi® networks from the same handset. As a software-only solution, deployment to personnel can take as little as 10 minutes anywhere in the world. Only Internet access is required.

“We are delighted to be able to offer our government and corporate customers an end-to-end encrypted voice calling capability with strong, accredited cryptography and requiring no physical hardware. This is important as our customers have a need for rapid and flexible deployment and redeployment,” said Raul Fraile, Deputy Director Business Development, Applications and Partner Relationships of Telefónica Latinoamérica, “and the ability to have interoperability between several different brands of popular smartphones is also very important to more broadly meet the diverse needs of our customers.“

“Cell phones are the most convenient, and often only, option for many operational and administrative communications across governments and business – just as they are in our personal lives,” said Richard Greco, CEO of Cellcrypt. “One problem with cell phone eavesdropping is that you rarely know it has happened. Rather than hope that the inevitable sensitive and confidential conversations that occur on cell phones are not compromised, this solution means that Telefónica customers can depend on their cell phones to be a secure and exploit their mobility, convenience, ease-of-use and interoperability as an important communications asset.”

Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world in terms of number of accesses and market capitalization. Its activities are centered mainly on the fixed and mobile telephony businesses with broadband as the key tool for the development of both. The company has a customer base of more than 290 million customers around the world. Telefónica has a strong presence in Europe and Latin America, where the company focuses an important part of its growth strategy. Telefónica is a 100% listed company, with more than 1.5 million direct shareholders.

For more information please visit: www.telefonica.com.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: 1 • Argentina • Brazil • Caribbean • Chile • Colombia • Costa Rica • Dominican Republic • Ecuador • Guatemala • Latin America • operator • Panama • Peru • Puerto Rico • Telefonica • Venezuela

Lime to introduce 4G mobile services in 13 Caribbean markets

On 05.19.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Lime is planning to upgrade the most of its mobile networks to 4G.

The network’s upgrade process will be launched in Grand Cayman this summer, to be gradually expanded across other markets where the company operates.

Over the next 18 months, Lime will upgrade networks from 2G technology to EDGE in all markets, except Jamaica, where a 3G upgrade was completed earlier this year. In numerous locations within the particular markets, LIME will be installing 4G technology.

Lime will be upgrading networks to utilize HSPA+ technology. Lime will also launching mobile broadband services, allowing laptop and computer tablet users to stay connected to the internet on the move.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Caribbean • Grand Cayman • Jamaica • operator