Telkom Kenya (Orange) to conduct 3G trials
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In order to enter Kenya’s fast-growing mobile data market, a series of 3G trials will be conducted by Telkom Kenya (Orange) across its mobile network.
The number of customers of the telecom operator rose from 697,000 a year ago to 772,000, this year. The company now intends to build on this growth by investing in the budding data market and 3G presents the opportunity to achieve fast growth. Submarine cable systems like SEACOM and TEAMS, has also boosted network capacity and bandwidth availability, leading to the growth in demand for data services in Kenya.
Telkom’s rival Safaricom was first to roll out 3G services, to obtain a licence in October 2007 and to launch W CDMA-based services in 2008. Safaricom also announced an increase by 93.6% over the year that ended 30 September 2009, with internet representing 17.7% of its revenues.
Zain Kenya followed suit in October 2009 and purchased its own USD25 million 3G concession in preparation for a network rollout.
Azerfon plans to launch its 3G services in Azerbaijan by year- end
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Azeri mobile operator Azerfon will launch its 3G services by the end of 2009.
According to the general director of the company, Guido Helbich, the tests of the W-CDMA/HSPA network will be completed within 2 weeks after which the service will be made commercially available in the autonomous republic of Nakhchivan, Baku and Absheron. There are plans to extend the service in other regions too.
USD20 million has been invested so far by the telco in its 3 G network. Azerfon was awarded a 3 G license by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies, for AZN11, 000 (USD13,600), early this month.
TOT launches 3G network in Thailand
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The launch of 3G network by Thailand’s state-controlled mobile network TOT got a cold response from the subscribers. However, initially the network will be available only in Bangkok and the areas surrounding it. Expansion of the network in the near future relies on the auction of the 3G license.
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will offer four licenses- three of 10 Mhz and a fourth with 15Mhz of radio spectrum while the reserve price will range between US$100-US$200 million. The process will not take place until next year as there is a lack of executives to form a quorum.
Small trials of 3G networks are already run by the current operators over their existing GSM radio spectrum, while CAT Telecom which is a CDMA operator, is seeking an overseas investor to assist in 3G rollout plans
Azerfon receives first 3G license in Azerbaijan Republic
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Azerfon became the first telecom operator of Azerbaijan Republic to receive 3G license. The service will be launched soon on the 2.1 Ghz frequency and will be available not only in Baku or Absheron peninsula but across the country. 11,000 manat (US$13,681) will be charged to all those operators granted with the license.
According to the Mobile World database, the country has three GSM operators and one CDMA operator. 8.1 million subscribers representing 78 percent of the population were recorded by the end of Q3 2009
CAT gets nod to purchase Hutchison-CAT’s cellular businesses.
The board of CAT Telecom has given the green light to sign a memorandum of understanding with Hutchison Telecom on CAT’s plan to buy four Thai cellular and related businesses from the Hong Kong telecom operator. Hutchison-CAT is a 75:25 joint venture of Hutchison Telecom and CAT.
The board has assigned CAT CEO, Jirayuth Rungsrithong to sign the MOU before the end of this week.
CAT will buy BFKT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Telecom. CAT also plans to buy assets of Hutchison Telecom in the joint venture – its call centre and content businesses.
The CAT board also approved the plan to hire Allen & Overy for legal advisory services, Bualuang Securities for financial advisory services and Chulalongkorn University’s Chula Unisearch for HR advisory services.
CAT will transfer under itself a combined 1,000 employees of the four businesses it plans to buy.
Hutchison Telecom had invested about Bt30 billion in the CDMA business since Hutchison-CAT’s service debut in 2003.
Interestingly also, Krisda said CAT was concerned about a clause in the draft law governing the creation of the new broadcasting and telecom regulator in Thailand. The clause mandates that if CAT were to list shares in the stock exchange, it will have to either pay half of its revenue to the state or return to the state the spectrum it granted to private concessions.
TATA india to offer SIM cards on its CDMA network
Oberthur Technologies the world’s second largest provider of Smart Card based solutions today announced the commercialization of its OMHTM (Open Market Handsets) SIM cards for CDMA (Code Development Multiple Access) networks. OMH SIM cards contain subscriber, network and service configuration data that allow subscribers the freedom to easily change and upgrade their handset, but maintain their network configuration.
Oberthur Technologies collaborated with Tata Teleservices Limited, one of India’s fastest growing private telecom service providers, and Qualcomm Incorporated, a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies, to introduce OMHTM SIM cards into the India market.
Olivier Leroux, Head of the Mobile Product Line for the Card Systems Division at Oberthur Technologies said, “Oberthur Technologies is the first to commercially launch OMHTM SIM cards. We are pleased to partner with industry leaders such as Tata Teleservices and Qualcomm who are enhancing the subscriber experience for Indian consumers.”
The OMHTM SIM card, referred to as a removable user identity module (R-UIM), is a state of the art smartcard that stores operator and subscriber specific configuration parameters, separate from the handset memory. By having this configuration parameters located on the OMHTM SIM card rather than the device, subscribers can more easily switch or upgrade their handsets. These cards allow CDMA network operators to increase the selection of devices and services while lowering distribution and inventory costs.
“These are exciting times in the Indian telecom space where innovation, research and development are the key to success and remain competitive in the business. In our constant effort to redefine the telecom space keeping customers at the central point, Tata Teleservices decided to partner with Qualcomm and Oberthur Technologies to further develop the Open Market Handset initiative and offer more choice to customers”, said Lloyd Mathias, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Teleservices Limited.
“Qualcomm is pleased to work with Oberthur Technologies for its leadership as one of the first companies to develop OMH SIM cards,” said Nakul Duggal, Senior Director and OMH Project Lead, Qualcomm Corporate Engineering Services. “The OMH initiative is focused on increasing device variety by offering new channels and distribution options within the CDMA ecosystem to provide greater subscriber flexibility.”
About Oberthur Technologies
With sales of 882 million Euros in 2008, Oberthur Technologies is a world leader in the field of secure technologies. Innovation and high quality services ensure Oberthur Technologies’ strong positioning in its main target markets:
– Card Systems: The world’s second largest provider of security and identification based on smart card technology and associated services for mobile, payment, transport, digital TV and convergence markets. – Identity: Leading international supplier for the manufacture and personalization of secure identity documents such as passport, identity card, driving license or health care card – traditional and electronic – and associated services for both governmental and corporate markets. – Security printing: World’s third largest private security printer specialized in high security for the production of banknotes, checks and other fiduciary documents in more than fifty countries. – Cash protection: World leader in the emerging market of intelligent systems to secure cash-in-transit and ATM.
Close to its customers, Oberthur Technologies benefits from an industrial and commercial presence across all five continents.
Oberthur Technologies S.A. is a limited liability company (societe anonyme) registered in France with its registered office at 50 quai Michelet 92 532 Levallois Perret, France. Oberthur Technologies S.A.’s corporate registration number is 340 709 534 R.C.S. Paris.
Website: http://www.oberthur.com
About Tata Teleservices Limited
Tata Teleservices Limited is one of India’s leading private telecom service providers, having a pan-India presence across all of India’s 22 telecom Circles. The company offers integrated telecom solutions to its customers under the Tata Indicom, Tata DOCOMO, Photon and Walky brands, and uses both the CDMA and GSM technology platform(s) for its wireless networks. Tata Teleservices Limited, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited, operates in more than 325,000 towns and villages across the country. In November 2008, Tata Teleservices entered into an agreement with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO, and this transaction marks a key step in the strategic evolution of Tata Teleservices Limited. Tata DOCOMO has so far launched GSM services in eight telecom Circles, and the remaining part of the country is also expected to be covered shortly. In December 2008, Tata Teleservices announced a unique reverse equity swap strategic agreement between its fully-owned telecom tower subsidiary-Wireless TT Info-Services Limited-and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Limited, thereby becoming the largest independent entity in this space. Tata Teleservices’ bouquet of telephony services includes mobile services, wireless desktop phones, public booth telephony and Wireline services.
For details, visit http://www.tatateleservices.com, http://www.tatadocomo.com or http://www.tataindicom.com.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
TATA and BSNL enter Network Sharing deal (India)
Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), India’s fastest-growing pan India telecom service provider, today announced the signing of a landmark ‘Master Services Agreement for Passive Infrastructure Sharing’ with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Becoming the first Indian private telecom operator to enter into an agreement of this nature. The agreement which is valid for 15 years will be applicable to both Tata Teleservices Limited and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited in all of India’s 22 telecom Circles.
This is a moment of pride for us, as we have become the first private telecom operator to enter into such a strategically important agreement with BSNL, one that will allow us to expand our telecom footprint across the country much more quickly,†Mr Madhav Joshi, President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Tata Teleservices Limited, said.
The agreement comes at a very strategic time for Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML), as both companies have been aggressively expanding their network presence on the CDMA side with Tata Indicom, while also rolling out GSM services under the TATA DOCOMO brand name. In the short space of just three months, we have already rolled out our GSM services in nine Circles—Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh and Haryana,†Mr AG Rao, Chief Technology Officer, Tata Teleservices Limited, said. This agreement has the potential to not just speed up our network expansion and rollout process, but would also have a substantial impact in terms of reduced costs,†he added.
Under the terms of the agreement, TTSL and TTML will have access to thousands of BSNL towers all across the country.
MTS India joins CDMA Development Group
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: MTS, the mobile telephony services brand of Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL), announced that it has joined the CDMA Development Group (CDG), an international consortium of CDMA service providers and manufacturers, application developers and content providers. Founded in December 1993, the CDG has more than 140 members worldwide, including operators, equipment vendors, application developers, content providers and other telecommunications companies that work together to ensure interoperability among systems while expediting the adoption of CDMA2000 wireless systems across the globe.
The association with CDG will help MTS to interact with industry decision makers and innovators from CDMA service providers and manufacturers worldwide, and will give critical insights into the CDMA technology, industry patterns, customer buying patterns and customer needs. MTS will be able to network with the pioneers of CDMA technology in this space and discuss industry trends, roadblocks and future technologies on the CDMA platform.
Making the announcement, Vsevolod Rozanov, President and CEO of Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited, said, MTS India is currently launching CDMA2000 services very aggressively across different telecom circles of the country.‚ As a consortium of international CDMA service providers and manufacturers, CDG provides the right platform for MTS India to connect with the global CDMA community. We can share our experiences and also learn about new emerging technologies. Our participation in CDG also reinstates our long-term commitment to CDMA in India and ensures that the benefits of latest breakthroughs in CDMA technology can percolate through the diaspora of both the urban as well as the vastly untapped rural population of the nation.
Telefonica says EU tariff reforms to leave a hole in investment budget
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: According to Telefonica’s COO, the tariff cut by European Union regulators will reportedly burn a multi-billion-euro hole in the telecoms sector’s investment budget. It was on 1 July, that EU implemented new series of mobile roaming tariffs.
“Those two measures alone will cut investments by 6 billion euros ($8.57 billion),” COO Julio Linares.
As far as revenues are concerned, the cuts to roaming tariffs will have a impact of 6 billion euros and European operators will lose a further 34 billion from the decrease in call termination rates, Linares said.
CDMA to GSM Migration: Pelephone
The management of cellular telephone provider Pelephone has recommended that the company migrate from CDMA to GSM wireless technology. Installing a new network will cost around $200 million.
The board of directors has already discussed the issue and is apparently about to green-light using the same technology already adopted by rivals Cellcom and Partner (Orange) – the third generation of UMTS.
The Pelephone board sees the move as a revolution, and an opportunity to dramatically improve the company’s bottom line. As the only one of Israel’s main three cellular providers to still be using CDMA, Pelephone is lagging sorely behind Partner and Cellcom.
Some members of the Pelephone board are expecting profits to increase by up to NIS 230 million a year once the migration is completed. Their calculation is based on the fact that the company is currently missing out on the roaming fees that its technologically more advanced competitors receive when their customers use their phones abroad, to the tune of over NIS 250 million a year in revenues.
Once Pelephone switches over to GSM, it too will be able to benefit directly from calls made abroad by its subscribers.
Assuming 50-percent marginal contribution to profits, roaming agreements with foreign wireless providers could add more than NIS 130 million to Pelephone’s profits annually. Pelephone is also hit hard by the need to pay up to $50 more per phone than its rivals, and its maintenance costs are higher as well. Eliminating these two profit drains could pad Pelephone’s profits by an additional NIS 90 million to NIS 100 million per year.
The change is likely to accelerate Pelephone’s marketing and sales of 3G devices, since it will give the company a motive to shift as many subscribers as possible over to the new network. That may also be the reason behind Pelephone CEO Gil Sharon’s plans to retool the company’s service division over the next year.
Since Pelephone has nearly 2.4 million subscribers, the migration will not be easy. It will have to be done gradually. In the initial stages it will require maintaining two networks simultaneously, putting added pressure on the company’s maintenance and operations budgets. One of the main challenges faced by Pelephone will be the creation of a new antenna network to support it.
If the board of directors approves the technology switchover, it will be the most important decision taken by Sharon since taking the helm. The decision will also have far-reaching consequences for Bezeq’s owners Haim Saban, Apax and Mori Arkin.
Approximately five years ago, when a major tender process was held for radio frequencies, Pelephone made the decision to back up its technology with UMTS at a cost of about NIS 220 million. The company paid the entire amount for the frequencies, but it has not paid frequency fees for them. If it makes use of the frequencies, it will face fee bills amounting to tens of millions of shekels.
